By
Dan
It happened again. For the second straight year, a PocketFiver has taken down the World Poker Tour Bellagio Cup tournament. In 2007, Kevin BeL0WaB0Ve Saul pocketed $1.3 million for winning the Bellagio Cup III. Late last night, Mike SirWatts Watson (pictured) defeated World Series of Poker bracelet winner David Benyamine heads up to win the fourth Bellagio Cup, the first tournament that will air on Fox Sports Net in Season VII. Watson cashed for nearly $1.7 million. Also at the final table was Luke IWEARGOGGLES Staudenmaier, who finished third. Thursday marked a profitable night for PocketFivers, who are fresh off winning eight bracelets and nearly $20 million from the WSOP.
Mike SirWatts Watson took a big pot off of Benyamine holding A-K against Benyamine’s pocket queens. Watson was all in pre-flop. Heading into the it, Benyamine held a slight chip lead, making this the watershed hand in the Bellagio Cup. The WSOP bracelet winner was ahead the entire hand with his ladies until Watson spiked an ace on the river, dishing out a big blow to Benyamine’s chip stack. On the final hand, Watson pushed with Q-9 and was called by Benyamine, who held K-9. A queen hit on the flop, sealing the victory and $1.7 million for Watson.
Tony Bond18 Dunst, according to the World Poker Tour’s coverage, held a 5% stake in Watson and was among the many fans of the online poker prodigy in attendance. Watson commented on his cheering section at the Bellagio Cup, which included a bevy of other online players: “Those are all of the other online players that have been out here for the World Series and are still here to support me. It’s great to have all of those guys. It keeps you going.”
Watson is ranked 93rd on PocketFives.com. He took sixth in the Full Tilt $750K Guarantee one month ago for $23,025. On July 6th, he finished second in the PokerStars $215 rebuy, $150K Guaranteed for $31,168. He had finished higher than 34th just once in his seven WSOP cashes. Since June 1st, he’s won $78,258 in tournaments that are tracked for the PocketFives Rankings.
Luke
IWEARGOGGLES Staudenmaier was knocked out in third place, cashing for $452,465. Watson was the bane of his existence in two key pots. The first one occurred on Hand 117 of final table play. Staudenmaier pushed over the top of a raise by Watson with A-10 in a battle of the blinds. Watson flipped over A-Q and the board ran out K-J-9-7-7, doubling up Watson and leaving Staudenmaier’s chip stack in dire straights. Two hands later, Staudenmaier’s K-4 could not hold up against Watson’s Q-8 and he was sent to the rails. Watson commented to WPT staff after the tournament about eliminating IWEARGOGGLES, “You never want to have to knock your friends out, but that’s part of the game. In tournaments, it happens all of the time.”
Staudenmaier is ranked 53rd on PocketFives.com. He has several impressive wins online, including victory in the PokerStars Sunday Warm-Up in March for $108,524.68. He’s also taken down the $750K Guaranteed on Full Tilt Poker for $142,154.95. In tournaments that are tracked for the PocketFives.com Worldwide Rankings, he’s won nearly $50,000 since May 1st.
Others at the final table included Ralph Perry, John Phan, and Gabriel Thaler. Phan has been one of the most successful players on the live poker circuit this year. He won not one, but two World Series of Poker bracelets in 2008. Phan emerged victorious in Event #29, a $3,000 buy-in no limit tournament, cashing for $434,789. He also tasted victory in Event #40, a $2,500 buy-in Limit 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball tournament. His first WSOP cash came all the way back in 2000. He owns $1.3 million in winnings from WSOP play and it was his third WPT final table. He finished fourth in the WPT Championship in Season III for $518,920 and landed sixth in the Bay 101 Shooting Star tournament in Season VI for $135,000.
Watson commented on playing against Phan, Benyamine, and others at the final table to new WPT Live Updates Hostess Amanda blondechick20 Leatherman: “This was definitely a tough final table. They’re all really good players and there were no soft spots at all.” Congratulations to Mike SirWatts Watson and Luke IWEARGOGGLES Staudenmaier for their showing at the World Poker Tour’s Bellagio Cup.