WCP Heat #5: Third Place Playoff decided

By Brad "Otis" Willis on May 19, 2005 8:05 PM |
World Cup of Poker Playoffs: Scotland Clinches third place; Austria takes fourth

Thomas Pratter (Team Austria)
VS


Andy Richmond (Team Scotland)


After a week of battling across the felt with no match shorter than 11 hands, the deciding contest for third place set a new record here in London. After Teams Austria and Scotland went 2-2 in the third place playoff, the decisive match came down to Team Scotland's Andy "The Wee Stinker" Richmond and Team Austria's Thomas Pratter.

In the commentary booth with the venerable James Hartigan, I was shaking off the cobwebs from some residual jet lag and determining how easy it would be to run an IV of caffeine directly into my arm. As with any work, I knew, as soon as I got a few hands behind me, my sense would pick up and all would be well.

The players never gave me a chance.

Hands one through four were nothing of which to speak. We saw a flop, but no real action and by hand five both players still maintained their 150,000 start stack.
With the blinds just at 1000/2000, we were looking for a match that couuld last well into the early afternoon.

Staring down at the hole card monitors, we saw Andy Richmond peel up a pair of aces. Presently, Pratter pulled up a pair of queens. Richmond was first to act and brought it in for a raise. Pratter, playing it cool, simply called.

I remarked, "Unless we see an ace or king on this flop, there's a good chance we couuld see all the chips go in the middle."

The flop obliged, coming down 238 with two clubs.

Pratter bet out, Richmond raised, Pratter re-raised, and Richmond pushed all-in. Pratter considered the move for a little more than a minute and finally called. As both players held a club, running clubs was not going to help Pratter. Neither did the turn or river, as the deck mercilessly held on to the two remaining queens in the deck.

After just five hands, Richmond stood up and claimed third place for Team Scotland.

Last night, Richmond told me that Scotland had come into this contest with no intention other than to win the championship. When that no longer became a possibility, Richmond said the burden lifted and he could relax. I suspect that pocket aces on his fifth hand helped him relax a bit more.

Congratulations to Team Scotland for its third place finish and to Team Austria for making it all the way to London and taking fourth place in the World Cup of Poker.

Final standings for third place playoff:
Team Scotland: 3, Team Austria: 2

PokerStars.com

Watch APPT coverage and video blogs from Auckland

APPT

EPT

WCOOP

LAPT

Sunday Tournaments

World Series of Poker

PCA

BLOGGER CHAMPIONSHIP

WORLD CUP OF POKER

POKERSTARS BLOGS

MORE POKER SITES

MORE POKER PAGES

Recent Posts

Archives

About this Entry

This page contains a single entry by Brad "Otis" Willis published on May 19, 2005 8:05 PM.

WCP Day 3 Wrap was the previous entry in this blog.

WCP Heat #3--Championship final is the next entry in this blog.

Find recent content on the main index or look in the archives to find all content.

Subscribe to this blog's feed