ATLANTIC CITY, NJ – This year’s MPT Champion did not come as a complete surprise, but not many people expected RowanB to take home the Main Event trophy last month. After failing to cash in the last four events of 2008 and the first three events of 2009, it looked like RowanB had lost the form that made him a Player of the Year candidate early in the 2008 season and looked more like the player who finished in last place in three of his first six MPT events (and second to last in another). An agonizing loss on the bubble in Las Vegas against Trojanrabbit’s pocket aces could have made 2009 a lost year for one of the MPT’s season veterans, but RowanB regained his lost confidence at his own tournament during this year’s ECLVA Fall Classic, when he began a series of four straight cashes, culminating in December’s Main Event victory.The tournament started with Baccarat King providing the early action, losing a big pot to TSS777 and taking those chips back and then some before the end of the first blind level. Baccarat King also crippled Bigfus early in the event and took what appeared to be a commanding chip lead. Baccarat King was looking like the player who ran over a field of MPT veterans back in October, 2007, but lost a series of big pots to fall back into the pack before eventually falling out just after the short-stacked Bigfus finally was the first player eliminated for the second time in her last four events. Both former MPT champs, Bigfus and Baccarat King, finished out of the money for the sixth straight event, one short of RowanB’s record seven straight tournaments without a cash.
With Amazon knocking out Bigfus and Harv29 eliminating Baccarat King, it looked like RowanB’s run at Player of the Year was just about over. Despite cashing in the three previous events, recording kills in the last four events, and never finishing more than two spots out of the money since the first event of the season, Sass’ amazingly consistent season of four second place finishes and one third in the first six events of the year barely left the door ajar for the biggest comeback since the Sealy Cup was first presented after the 2007 season. However, a fortuitous flop for RowanB ended Sass’ day early in the Main Event and by eliminating the Player of the Year leader, he kept his slim hopes for the season championship alive.
It appeared for a while that two-time MPT champion Amazon might be poised for another run at a championship, but both she and TSS777 fell victim to Betdponies. Those two kills not only vaulted to three-time defending Main Event Champion back into contention to win again, but all but sealed his wife’s Player of the Year title. RowanB took the chip lead in the later stages of the tournament, but failed to translate this edge into the early kills he needed to overtake Sass for the season title. Still, it was shaping up to be an interesting battle in the later stages of the tournament.
Betdponies had a lot of momentum going in the late stages of the event, but never could amass enough chips to run over the table as he has done many times. However, despite his chip disadvantage, he did have the positional advantage over RowanB, as the two MPT regulars were the most aggressive remaining players and appeared to be the favorites to win as the bubble loomed. 2009 ECLVA Fall Classic champion Syrorange3042 was next the fall, as both he and Harv29 fell victim to RowanB’s bigger chip stack after calling preflop all-ins. The Tournament Director, Harv29, appeared ready to double back into contention, but a runner-runner straight sent him to the rail in fourth place.
Following those two eliminations, only Judykq stood between a heads-up battle between two MPT regulars, but she didn’t seem too eager to let that happen. She had played a patient tournament up to that point, not putting her chip stack at risk until she was forced to, but also not being afraid to move all of her chips in with an above average hand in the late stages. She doubled through RowanB at one point when he called her preflop all-in with a smaller pair than she showed, but eventually fell victim to Betdponies. In the process, she continued the trend of at least one woman cashing in every MPT Main Event and also for the sixteenth time in the last seventeen events (with this year’s Las Vegas spectacular being the only event in that stretch where all the money went to the men in the field).
With two experienced players and the blinds and antes representing such a big portion of each player’s stack the heads-up battle didn’t figure to last very long, but after a quick double up when Betdponies had an ace in the big blind against RowanB’s king in the small blind it took a while before we saw a flop. Each player moved all-in a few times, with Betdponies being a little more aggressive and eventually overcoming his chip deficit to take the lead when he chose to call RowanB’s all-in with 6-4 suited. RowanB showed 10-7 suited and his hand held up, leaving Betdponies with fewer chips than the blinds. Shortly afterwards, RowanB’s K-7 finished off Betdponies who turned over J-7 and the MPT crowned a new Main Event Champion for the first time since 2006.
RowanB’s victory broke a string of thirteen straight tournaments between victories, the longest in MPT history. His win plus four “kills” almost allowed to close the gap from to a single point behind Sass for the MPT Player of the Year, where going into the Main Event he trailed by 19. The one point margin of victory by Sass ties the previous closest margin by TSS777 in 2006, where he edged out Betdponies, 20-19 (places 1 to 7 were all separated by 1 point). The win moved RowanB to second place on the 2009 money list with $220, behind Sass’ $320, and moved him moves into first place in career points with 140, leading Harv29 (129). RowanB also became the fourth player in MPT history to win more than one series event - joining Betdponies, TSS777, and Amazon – while also extending his record to five straight events with at least one “kill”. Bigfus became the fifth player to finish in last place in more than one MPT event.
The results:
- RowanB
- Betdponies
- Judykq
- Harv29
- Syrorange3042
- Tss777
- Amazon
- Sass
- Baccarat King
- Bigfus
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