David Peters Wins Pseudo “North American Poker Championship”
Source: World Series of Poker
Apr 28, 2008 - 7:36:08 AM
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21-year-old Ohio native earns $86,908 for victory in what was a WSOP first – U.S., Canada, and Mexico all represented at final table
Las Vegas, NV – David Peters, a 21-year-old aspiring poker professional, won first place at the most recent poker championships, held at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. The eighth event on Caesars’ World Series of Poker Circuit schedule, the $1,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em tournament attracted a highly-competitive field of 280 entries. The prize pool totaled $271,600. Peters enjoyed advantages throughout the tournament, most evidenced by his lofty chip lead during most of play at the final table. He collected $86,908 as the top cash prize, plus a gold ring, presented to all WSOP Circuit winners at Caesars.
Peters took first place, but the real winners may have been the reputations of Mexican poker players everywhere. For the first-time in WSOP history, two Mexican nationals made it to the final table. In impressive fashion, Francisco Navarro (from Guadalajara) and Leo Guerra (from Monterrey) ended up finishing second and third respectively. Perhaps fitting, a Canadian player finished in fourth place, making this event the de facto “North American” championship.
Note: The reason this has not occurred in the past is because there are few Mexican poker players who compete at the WSOP. However, this is beginning to change. In July 2006, Victoriano Perches became the first and only WSOP gold bracelet winner in history.
After 271 competitors were eliminated, the final nine players resumed play with David Peters in the chip lead with 182,500. Theo Tran was close behind with 151,500. Five players were bunched together in third place, while the two remaining players were somewhat short-stacked. The exact starting chip counts were as follows:
Seat 1: J.R. Reiss 131,000
Seat 2: Richard Slocum 126,000
Seat 3: Leo Guerra 70,500
Seat 4: Lionel Tan 88,500
Seat 5: “Miami John” Cernuto 124,500
Seat 6: Rob Robbins 116,500
Seat 7: Theo Tran 151,500
Seat 8: David Peters 182,500
Seat 9: Francisco Navarro 119,000
Opening blinds were 2,000-4,000 with 500 antes. During the first 25 hands, there were three all-in moves, but no one called. All players were sufficiently stacked enough to avoid any desperate moves. Then, on the 26th hand of play the first elimination took place.
9th Place – The final table was an absolute nightmare for Theo Tran, who was expected to go much deeper, based on his talent and chip position. Tran gradually lost a third of his chips over the first hour and then made a bold move holding A-8 versus “Miami John” Cernuto, who woke up and called the all-in bet with A-K. Neither player connected with a pair, but Cernuto’s king played as a high card, leaving Tran left with only 1,000 in chips. Three hands later, Tran was gone. Tran, a.k.a. “Pitt Rounder” has over $1 million in lifetime tournament earnings. He added $5,432 to that figure in a disappointing ninth-place finish.
8th Place – A few hands later, Richard Slocum was short-stacked and moved all-in after the flop came 9-7-4. Slocum had 10-9 suited – good for top pair, but he also had severe kicker problems as big-stacked David Peters called the bet with J-9. The stronger hand held up (jack-high kicker) which meant Slocum was gone. Richard Slocum, who has made over a dozen final tables at tournaments in the Los Angeles area over the past few years, took eighth-place, worth $8,148.
7th Place – Blinds increased to 4,000-8,000 with a 1,000 ante. David Peters maintained his chip lead, with “Miami John” Cernuto closing the gap in second place. Then, things turned out badly for Cernuto. The three-time WSOP gold bracelet winner and Omaha High-Low specialist first raised on the button with A-Q. He was re-raised back by Rob Robbins in the big blind, holding 5-5, which was called. With more than 320,000 in the pot, the chip lead was at stake. Robbins ended up making a full house, which left Cernuto crippled. A few hands later, the former air-traffic controller crashed in seventh-place, which paid $10,864. Cernuto now has over $3.5 million in tournament earnings.
6th Place – Cernuto’s elimination catapulted Rob Robbins into a brief stint as the chip leader. Then on the 50th hand of play, Lionel Tan got into a race against Leo Guerra. With 190,000 in the pot, Tan’s pocket tens enjoyed a slight lead over Guerra’s A-K. Then, a king flopped and Tan was left drawing to two tens. No bad beat came, leaving Tan as the sixth-place finisher. Lionel Tan, a medical resident specializing in internal medicine in Loma Linda, California, earned $13,580 in prize money.
5th Place – Six hands later, J.R. Reiss was down to about 90,000 in chips. He moved all-in with A-9 and was called by David Peters, who showed 8-8. It was an interesting flop for everyone, as Peters spiked trip-eights when the board showed J-10-8. But Riess still had several outs with two cards to come, with his outside straight draw. Unfortunately, two low blanks fell on the turn and river, leaving the pro gambler from Omaha, NE out in fifth-place. Reiss, who has made three previous WSOP final tables, collected $16,296 for a fine effort.
4th Place – Peters was up to about 500,000 in chips when play became four-handed – as two Mexicans, one American, and one Canadian competed for the championship. On the 67th hand of the finale, Canadian Rob Robbins overplayed his hand and got busted. He raised 44,000 from the button. David Peters re-raised all-in from the small blind. Robbins thought for a few minutes then finally announced “call.” It turned out to be a devastating error in judgment. Robbins tabled K-J and winced when Robbins revealed K-Q. The final board showed A-Q-J-Q-3 which meant Peters made trip queens. Meanwhile, Rob Robbins, who is now retired from ownership of a metallurgy business, welded himself to fourth-place. He collected $19,012 in prize money.
3rd Place – A short time later, the Mexican civil war broke out when Leo Guerra moved all-in with K-9 hoping to take a round of blinds and antes. It was the wrong time to steal as fellow countryman Francisco Navarro called with A-K. An ace on board ended Guerra’s hopes, which meant a third place finish for the engineer from Monterrey. Guerra had revealed earlier that he is a big fan of bullfighting. But this time, Navarro ended up as the matador. Guerra’s payout amounted to $24,444.
2nd Place – On hand number 80, the tournament ended. Peters held about a 2 to 1 chip advantage over Navarro when heads-up play began. However, he won a few early pots (hands were not shown) which made Navarro soon realize that he had to do something to stop his opponent’s aggression. In a horrible case of bad timing and poor luck, Navarro decided to raise the blinds holding K-3 suited. Peters came over the top with an all-in bet and Navarro called. Then, Peters showed A-A. Navarro dejection turned to surrender when the flop came 8-8-8, giving Peters an instant full house. Navarro was nearly drawing dead (his only outs were running kings). A fourth eight on the river made both players quad fours. But Peters held the higher kicker with his ace. Quite possibly, Navarro became first player in poker history to lose the final hand of a major tournament with four-of-a-kind. Still, the medical doctor from Mexico’s second city, Guadalajara, received $47,802 as the runner up.
1st Place – David Peters, from Toledo, OH was the winner. He attended college for two years at Bowling Green University before taking up poker as a means of support. Prior to his victory at Caesars, Peters’ best finish had been 12th place in the European Poker Tour championship at Monte Carlo (Monaco) last year.
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