By
Dan
Just a few weeks before the start of what could be the largest live poker tournament in the history of the world, 309 players ponied up $10,000 each in the World Poker Tour’s Mirage Poker Showdown. The event was covered live on PocketFivesLive.com. In the end, PocketFiver Jonathan “
FieryJustice” Little (pictured at right) won the event and its $1.06 million first place prize. Half of the final table was composed of PocketFives members, which is an uprecedented total. Runner up Cory "
UGOTPZD" Carroll won over a half million dollars. Darrell “
Gigabet” Dicken took third in an amazing all-around performance by top online players.
WSOP bracelet winner Jon “pokertrip” Friedberg finished in eighth place and Jared “TheWacoKidd” Hamby finished 26th, proving once again his status as an elite player on the live circuit.
Little and Carroll (pictured at right) entered heads up play with nearly identical chip stacks, about three million each. Down to under two million in chips, Little doubled up on a race situation using pocket fives karma when they held against Carroll’s A-8. In the final hand, Little moved all in and Carroll made the call. Little flipped over A-2 and Carroll showed A-7 for a sizeable lead pre-flop. However, a 2-5-10 flop would put Little in the lead for the hand, and he never looked back. Little not only won over $1 million; he also netted a seat in the $25,000 World Poker Tour Championship next April.
Dicken was eliminated in third place when Cory "UGOTPZD" Carroll called in the small blind and Dicken checked in the big blind. The flop came K-4-2. Carroll bet 100,000 and Dicken pushed. Carroll called and flipped over K-J for top pair and Dicken showed 3-5 for a straight draw. The turn and river were no help to Dicken, who walked away with $259,000.
With blinds of 10,000/20,000, Friedberg raised to 60,000 in the cutoff and poker pro Phil Ivey re-raised to 200,000 from the button. Friedberg shoved for 280,000 more and Ivey called with pocket jacks. Friedberg showed A-10 of hearts. The jacks held, and Friedberg was sent to the rail after an impressive run. Friedberg won Event #17 of the 2006 WSOP, a $1,000 buy in No Limit Hold’em tournament and walked away with over a half million dollars. He will be a force to be reckoned with at the WSOP once again this year.
Hamby’s ride through the Mirage Poker Showdown ended with the following hand: After Dicken limped, poker pro Alan Goehring raised to 12,000. Phil Ivey, Hamby, and Dicken all called. The flop came 6-6-4 with two clubs. The first to act, Hamby instantly shoved all in for about 45,000. The all-in was called by Dicken, and everyone else folded. Hamby flipped over 9-7 of clubs for a flush draw and Dicken turned over 6-5 for three sixes. The turn brought the eight of clubs, making Hamby's flush. However, the river card was the four of spades, making a boat for Dicken and eliminating Hamby in 26th place. Hamby just won two preliminary events at the WPT Championship last month and another at the Mirage in May.
Day Three bust outs included Eric "EFro" Froehlich (pictured at right), who made a move with A-2 and ran into pocket aces. Jonathan "HoosierAlum" Depa went out on the money bubble when he called David Peat’s 10-4 offsuit all in with A-8 of hearts. The 10 hit the flop, and that was all she wrote for Depa. Owen "ocrowe" Crowe went out 29th, just two away from making the money.
The 1-2-3 finish is a first for our site. The tournament will make for quite a spectacle when it airs in 2008 on GSN. PocketFives.com Co-Founder Adam Small commented on the amazing feat: “This is the best showing yet in a WPT event for PocketFives members. All three of these guys are people we track regularly in tournaments, and it's exciting to see them do so well.” The momentum for PocketFivers is strong, to say the least, heading into the WSOP and the rest of Season Six of the WPT.
Both Little and Carroll will be appearing on next week's PocketFives.com Podcast.
Next up for the PocketFives.com crew is the Super Bowl of poker events: the 2007 World Series of Poker. Check out PocketFivesLive.com for details on which events we’ll be covering. Planning on playing in the 2007 WSOP? This is your chance to get some great exposure. We'll be happy to cover your progress for your friends and family back home.