Event #7 of the July Power Weekend, the $100 + $10 NL Short Deck Hold’em Re-entry, brought out a large contingent of players looking for action. And that’s exactly what they got, with 46 re-entries out of a field of 93 players serving as testament. In all, the event gathered 139 entries, enough to greatly surpass the $8,000 guarantee on the prize pool.
It was a night of wild action. At first, many players were unsure how to adjust to the wrinkles in the traditional hold’em format but before long everyone realized that their equity calculations had to be revised in a big way. The result was lots and lots of pre-flop action where players were happy to take their chances with big pocket pairs or two broadway cards or suited connectors, and those hands come around pretty often when playing with a short deck. So it comes as no surprise that there were so many re-entries in this event.
The only lull in the action was shortly before the money bubble. The money bubble had a major influence on the play and the field remained stuck at 20 players for nearly two levels. And there was an unusual resolution to this impasse; the bubble was resolved when an abandoned stack was finally blinded out. After that the action came roaring back, reducing the 18-player field to the final nine within a few minutes.
The chips went in quickly at the final table, sending two players to the rail within the first orbit. From there, the remaining players agreed to an ICM chop of the prize pool, leaving $283 to play for. Following the chop, the players had a great time at the final table with jokes and friendly barbs flying faster than the chips.
In the end, it came down to Alberto Scuderi and Anderson Frank-Graham. The two Playground regulars have lots of playing history between them and equally booming voices that can often be heard throughout the tournament hall. They went through a series of flips, and Scuderi eventually came out on top.
Event #7 Champion: Alberto Scuderi (right), $1,753
Last hand of play:
