MPT 2010 #3 - Las Vegas Hilton (8/1/2010)

LAS VEGAS, NV - It was a tale of two tables and TSS777 had the best of times. From the start of the third annual Mattress Poker Tour Las Vegas Spectacular it was clear that one table would be more lively than the other. When the winningest player in series history quickly built a big stack by eliminating his most unpredictable opponents he was well positioned to earn his second MPT title of the season and first Las Vegas victory. At the same time, hammah rebounded from a disappointing early exit in 2009 to take command of the more sedate "Feature Table" and came close to taking the MPT chip trophy back to California for third straight Las Vegas event. Ultimately, veterans of the Las Vegas Advisor Kill Phil tournament series swept the four paying positions, while perennial MPT money machine, Sass, fell just short of the money.

Feature Table

• hammah
  
• Tennis_bum
  
• 2timeace
  
• Harv29
• Betdponies
  
• Eileen
• RowanB
  

Satellite Mattress

• Bigfus
• Sass
• JTinLV
• Amazon
• mghenry
• noahcat
  
• Baccarat King
• TSS777
  

With loose aggressive players noahcat and Baccarat King acting before him and notoriously tight passive MPT veterans to his left, TSS777 sat well in the early going and even better when he chipped up against the tournament's biggest wild cards. With Baccarat King and noahcat's early exits at the hands of the early chipleader, TSS777 took command of the mattress. Back on the table, play was less exciting in the early going, with players exchanging small pots until Hammah took a big chunk of Betdponies stack right before the first break. Only five players had more chips than they started with when the action resumed, and only two players had chipped up significantly in the early rounds.

Chip Counts at First Break:

• TSS777 = 7,575
  
• hammah = 5,025
  
• Bigfus = 3,025
  
• Amazon = 2,775
  
• Eileen = 2,650
  
• RowanB = 2,425
  
• Tennis_bum = 2,375
  
• JTinLV = 2,375
  
• Harv29 = 2,175
  
• Sass = 2,125
  
• mghenry = 2,125
  
• 2timeace = 2,050
  
• Betdponies = 800
  
• noahcat = 0
  
• Baccarat King = 0
  

The table and mattress alternated eliminations as the blinds grew bigger, with Eileen being first eliminated from the table. RowanB also fell out shortly after the break, losing with A-K against Harv29's Q-Q a few hands after doubling the short-stacked Betdponies when his A-J lost out to the A-5 of the multiple Main Event winner. Shortly afterward, Betdponies and Bigfus joined fellow MPT regular RowanB on the rail and the final table was set.

Chip Counts as Final Table Began

• TSS777 = 12,975
  
• hammah = 7,500
  
• Harv29 = 4,900
• Sass = 3,550
• 2timeace = 3,325
• mghenry = 2,275
  
• Tennis_bum = 1,750
  
• Amazon = 1,200
  

Play was fast as desperate short-stacks tried to double up and were quickly dispatched to the sidlines by the bigger stacks. After 2timeace eliminated mghenry and Tennis_bum on the same hand, TSS777 did most of the damage, eliminating the last five players, doing so in just over half an hour. Harv29 hung on for his third straight cash in three MPT Las Vegas Spectaculars, the only player to achieve that feat, while 2timeace took on the chip leader and lost his promising chip position to fall to fourth, still earning his first MPT cash in his first MPT appearance. Hammah's solid play throughout the tournament kept her in position to win before falling short to the big stack of TSS777. Hammah went out fighting, trying to steal blinds during heads up play, but running into TSS777's pocket sixes. After flopping a ten for a glimmer of hope, the river brought a straight and back-to-back MPT titles for TSS777 for the second time in his career.


The results:

• TSS777
• hammah
• Harv29
• 2timeace
  
• Sass
• Amazon
• Tennis_bum
• mghenry
• Bigfus
• Betdponies
• RowanB
• JTinLV
• Eileen
  
• noahcat
• Baccarat King