Chris Moneymaker, Orel Hershiser make final table

by Brad Willis and Change100

If three-bets were fleas, WCOOP Event #5's players would never stop itching.

The PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker has always been the richest event in online poker and one of the biggest tournament series live or online. Event #5, however, was a whole different beast. The $10,000 buy-in High-Roller No-Limit Hold'em event was the biggest buy-in WCOOP tournament ever and it brought out 321 of the best players in the game. Three-bets weren't something players saw every hour or so. Three-bets were the order of the day and could mean anything.

Event #5 was a poker clinic, a masterclass put on by the world's top players. Whether they were members of Team PokerStars Pro or other famous professionals, hardly a name at the table didn't carry with it a massive reputation. It was, in short, one of the coolest tournaments ever played online. To see all of our coverage, see the WCOOP Event #5 live blog.

With such a star-studded field, the final table was almost guaranteed to be interesting. No one, however, could've predicted just how interesting it would be.

Seat 1: Glen "Choron" Chorny (961204 in chips)
Seat 2: gbmantis (865936 in chips)
Seat 3: Orel Hershiser (686234 in chips)
Seat 4: #1PEN (799260 in chips)
Seat 5: Chris "Money800" Moneymaker (510878 in chips)
Seat 6: Jonathan "Jcardshark" Little (416281 in chips)
Seat 7: dorinvandy (2469033 in chips)
Seat 8: DuckU (657987 in chips)
Seat 9: purplEUROS (658187 in chips)

That's right. The final table featured 2003 World Series champion Chris Moneymaker, PCA final table player and WPT champion Jonathan "Jcardshark" Little, WCOOP Event #3 runner-up #1PEN, Season 4 EPT Grand Final champ Glen "Choron" Chorny, famous Major League Baseball pitcher Orel Hershiser, and well-known online pros gbmantis, dorinvandy, DuckU, and purplEUROS.

Simply put, no matter who busted, it was going to be a shame to watch them go. But go they must, one by one, to the rail. The only questions were who it would be, how it would happen, and how badly it would hurt. We learned quickly, it would be one of sports biggest stars and it would hurt pretty darned bad. The only question was how.

Too have battled through such a tough field, Orel Hershiser must have felt like he'd pitched eight innings of a no-hitter. And then the Bulldog looked down to pocket aces. He came in for a standard raise and got a flat call from Jon Little. You know what the crack of a homerun swing sounds like. It sounds a lot like aces getting cracked, as you'll see below.

Hershiser proved he is a competitor in more than just baseball and earned $54,570 for playing poker with the best in the world.

The big stack sitting in front of dorinvandy had been a force for hours. Once a flop hit, it was not uncommon to see dorinvandy's stack in the middle. So, when dorinvandy opened for 50,000, purplEUROS tried to take the all-in play away from him shoving for more than 514,000. His timing was off, because dorinvandy was ready to make the call with Ac-Ks to purplEUROS’ Ad-Qc. The board ran out jack high and purplEUROS was eliminated, collecting $75,435 for his run. dorinvandy’s stack topped 3 million after the hand.

For a closer look at what happened, click on the graphic below:

Most anybody watching the final table likely had a case of lockjaw from gritting their teeth in tension. The play had been insanely good and at times frighteningly so. Finally we found a hand that got rid of the lockjaw and left everybody's mouth hanging agape.

Holding more than 1.9 million chips at the start of the hand, Jonathan "Jcardshark" Little was hardly in danger. dorinvandy opened from UTG for 50,000 and Little called from the big blind. A 5c-4s-2c flop came down and Little led out for 72,000. dorinvandy put in a raise to 240,000 and Little called. The turn was the Qd and Little checked, opening the door for dorinvandy to put out a 420,000 bet. Little called. The river was the Ts and Little checked again. dorinvandy moved all-in, putting Little to a decision for his remaining 1.2 million. After his time bank ticked away for about a minute, Little made the call.

dorinvandy had flopped two pair with 4d-5d and the table exploded in disbelief when Little’s hand was revealed-- Ac-5h for third pair. Just like that, Little went from second in chips to hitting the rail and dorinvandy gained even more ammunition.

Watch the hand play out below.

Team PokerStars Pro Chris Moneymaker once again proved that his 2003 WSOP championship was no fluke and made it to the final table. It became obvious that he was beyond card dead. After doubling up once with JJ vs 66, Moneymaker couldn't get anything else going. After doubling up a short-stacked gbmantis in a button vs. big blind battle, Moneymaker put in the rest of his 300,000 chips with A-4. Clearly a play where he just hoped for the blinds, Moneymaker ran right into Glen Chorny's small blind KK. Moneymaker missed his ace and exited in sixth place for $139,635. See the hand play out in the re-player below.

Chris Moneymaker is the only member of Team PokerStars Pro who cashed in this event. Here's a look into the mind of Moneymaker.

While gbmantis had survived his battle with Moneymaker, he was finally crippled after open-shoving for 344,000 with Ad-Ks and getting a call from a similarly-stacked DuckU who turned up pocket eights. The snowmen held up, leaving gbmantis with only a bit more than 80,000 in chips. Though he managed to double back up with 7-7 vs. #1PEN’s 5-5, it was all over for him on the next hand. With the action folded to him in the small blind, gbmantis moved all in for 174,000 with Qc-2d but ran into #1PEN’s Ad-Qs. For his 5th place finish, gbmantis earned $179,760.

After most of a level where small pots were traded back and forth between the four remaining players, some action finally started brewing between #1PEN and Glen "Choron" Chorny. Chorny limped in from the small blind and #1Pen bumped it to 100,000. Choron came over the top for 250,000, prompting #1PEN to four-bet him all in for just short of a million in chips. Chorny made the call, revealing pocket queens and found himself in great shape against #1PEN’s Kc-8s. No king arrived for #1PEN and he found himself shortstacked. He managed a double-up on the next hand and stayed alive for a bit longer.

Glen "Choron" Chorny proved his poker chops a long time ago, most notably at the Season 4 EPT Grand Final where he won 2 million euros and the championship. Event #5 would not mark his return to first place, however. Chorny called dorinvandy’s button raise from the big blind and the two saw a flop of As-5c-3h. Chorny check-called 120,000 from dorinvandy. When the Qc fell on the turn Chorny checked again, and dorinvandy checked behind. The river came the 6d and Chorny checked a third time, prompting a 280,000 bet from dorinvandy. Chorny made the call, but saw the bad news when dorinvardy’s Ac-6c was revealed-- a rivered two pair. The million chip pot put dorinvandy up to 5.2 million while Chorny fell to 539,000. Only a few hands later, DuckU set Chorny all in when the action was folded to him in the small blind. Chorny called from the big blind, but found his Ac-7s dominated by DuckU’s As-Qs. To add insult to injury, DuckU flopped Broadway when it came down Kc-Jh-Th. Chorny couldn’t squeeze out a chop on the turn or river and he hit the rail in 4th place, collecting $256,800 for a spectacular run.

Still short-stacked at 302,000, #1PEN moved all in from the small blind with 4c-4h. Massively-stacked dorinvandy made the call from the big blind with Qd-7d. dorinvandy continued to catch lightning cards, the flop coming down 7-6-3. Though #1PEN had a glimmer of hope picking up an inside straight draw, he blanked out on the turn and river and bid the event a good night in 3rd place for a $337,050 payday.

Though tournament poker players are always gunning for first, and pretty much any other spot is a disappointment for most, you’ve got to hand it to #1PEN for making a tremendous run in the WCOOP these past two nights, now adding a 3rd place finish in Event #5 to his runner-up honors in Event #3 for a staggering weekend take of $391,170.

Going into heads-up play, the stacks looked like this:

dorinvandy - 5,521,457
DuckU - 2,503,543

The players sparred for a bit. In the end, a flop forced both players to get their money in.

In what would be the final hand of the night, dorinvandy made a standard raise from the button to 125,000 and DuckU called from the big blind. DuckU checked the Ts-8s-7d flop over to dorinvandy, who bet 140,000. DuckU came over the top for the rest of his chips, over 2 million in all, and dorinvandy quickly called, showing Td-Th for top set. DuckU was on straight and flush draws with Qs-9s and was looking for a jack or a spade that didn’t pair the board to double up and wrest control of the match from dorinvandy. However, the Kh fell on the turn and the Qh on the river, ending this deep-stacked heads-up match in swift fashion.

Congratulations to dorinvandy, who takes home $617,925 for topping this elite field. DuckU earned $459,030 for his runner-up finish.

You can see the last hand play out below.

2008 WCOOP Event #5 Final Table Results

1. dorinvandy (United States) $617,925.00
2. DuckU (United States) $459,030.00
3. #1PEN (United States) $337,050.00
4. Choron (Canada) $256,800.00
5. gbmantis (United States) $179,760.00
6. Chris "'Money800" Moneymaker (United States) $139,635.00
7. Jcardshark (United States) $107,535.00
8. purplEUROS (United States) $75,435.00
9. O. Hershiser (United States) $54,570.00