WSOPC Las Vegas

Thursday, May. 1. 2008

Allen Cunningham Wins WSOPC Las Vegas

By Owen Laukkanen | WSOPC

On Thursday night in Las Vegas, Allen Cunningham added another chapter to his already-formidable poker resume, winning the World Series of Poker Circuit event at Caesars Palace for $499,162.

Cunningham defeated young pro Ben Fineman in a short but fierce heads-up battle that saw the Full Tilt Poker pro overcome a 3-1 chip deficit, capitalizing on some good cards and a momentary mental lapse by his opponent to reverse the disadvantage and clinch the victory.

The soft-spoken Las Vegas pro came into Thursday's final table sixth out of nine finalists in chips, with his $296,000 light-years behind chip leader Fineman's $828,000 and in the midst of a pack that included the likes of rising star Blair Hinkle ($382,000), fellow Full Tilter Doug Lee ($324,000), Ralph Perry ($319,000) and young phenom Justin Bonomo ($296,000).

Thumbs down!

Fineman came in with a 2-1 chip lead on runner-up Thomas Hover and quickly set about increasing his advantage. The winner of WSOPC Caesars Las Vegas Event 2 got rid of Doug Lee early, calling Lee's all-in with Q 9 to the Calgarian's A J. The board ran K J 9 9 T and Fineman made trips on the turn and a straight on the river to send Lee home in ninth place for $32,204.

Next to hit the cashier's booth was Ralph Perry, who called off the entirety of his stack with a pocket pair of jacks after ZeeJustin had raised and Cunningham moved all-in over the top. Bonomo got out of the way and Cunningham turned up queens, and an uneventful board later Perry was on his bike in eighth place with $48,306 to show for his time.

Perry: Winkle'd.

The questionable play continued with Thomas Hover's elimination. Hover, who'd just doubled up Blair Hinkle when Hinkle flopped a set with pocket fives to crack his pocket queens, moved all-in for $63,000 more than Kelly Samson's $50,000 opening raise and turned up the head-scratching Q 2 when Samson made the call with pocket sevens.

The board ran out T 8 2 8 7 and everyone in the room (including the tournament announcer) gave the decision to Hover and his heart flush before noticing Samson had rivered the full house. Yeah, it was a bit awkward. Anyway, Hover was eventually informed of his elimination and hit the road in sixth place, for which he collected $64,408.

H to the Izzo, O to the vizzer!

Blair "blur5f6" Hinkle, whose deep runs at the Los Angeles Poker Classic and Bay 101 Shooting Star events have all the fans looking at dude like he's Messiah, continued the trend of getting all-in bad when he shoved for a whopping $519,000 more than Ben Fineman's opening $60,000 raise in a battle of the blinds gone terribly wrong.

Fineman considered the massive overbet for a few minutes before making the call with A Q and finding himself in a dominating position against Hinkle's Q 9. The flop came T 8 6 and Hinkle picked up the diamond draw, and after the turn was the Q the boy seemingly had every out in the deck.

Except he didn't have the 8 and that's what the river was. Thus he was gone in fifth place, earning $80,510 and a little bit more street cred.

Blurred vision!

Justin Bonomo, still due for a major tournament win to pay testament to his immense supply of talent, played the final table rough and tumble, raising tons and putting his opponents to decisions on the regular.

The aggressive strategy would backfire for Zee, however, when he put Kelly Samson all-in for his tournament life and saw his rival snap-call with queens to his own pocket tens. After both players made two pair on the flop, Samson made a boat on the turn and quads on the river to take a $1.3 million pot from young Zee, who found himself crippled on the play.

Remember the name though.

A few hands later, Bonomo shipped it with K 3 and ran into Allen Cunningham's A Q. The board brought no help for either player and the young Californian was history. Bonomo busted in fifth place and earned $96,612 for his time, though the money is no doubt a bitter pill to swallow for the former online wonder who since his 21st birthday in late 2006 has been desperate to make a splash in the live poker arena.

Crowd favorite Motoyuki "Moto" Mabuchi, possessed of the kind of name to send tournament announcers into paroxysms of vaguely Japanese-sounding howling, was next to go. Mabuchi raised on the button with K 2 and called Ben Fineman's $130,000 addition from the big blind before calling all-in on a king-high flop, only to see his rival turn up K Q for the same top pair and a better kicker. Neither turn nor river could save Moto, who busted out in fourth place and earned $112,714 for his time.

Goodbyemoto!

Third place went to the abrasive poker presence known as Kelly Samson, who'd made no friends on Day 2 after berating Mabuchi for laying down pocket jacks on the final-table bubble in an effort to put his rival on donk tilt.

Samson's coup de grâce occurred after he and Fineman found themselves embroiled in a massive pot after Samson turned trip nines while Fineman used the same card to complete his heart-flush draw. The ex-Vancouverite shipped his last $1.1 million on fourth street and couldn't fill up on Fifth, winding up dunzo just shy of the heads-up theatrics with $128,816 to call his own.

You played fine, man.

That meant it was time for heads-up play, following a mercifully brief money presentation during which three adults dressed as Julius Caesar, Cleopatra and Russell Crowe gave their blessing to both contestants (it is as yet unknown who asked for the great ruler's input). As heads-up play began, Ben Fineman held $2.63 million to Cunningham's $710,000, but the five-time WSOP bracelet-winner quickly engineered the comeback.

Cunningham managed a double-up in a strange hand that saw Fineman raise on the button with pocket sevens. Mr. Melissa Hayden made the call with Q 9 and the flop came Q 5 3. Cunningham checked to Fineman, who overbet the pot with a $200,000 wager (he'd later say he intended to only bet $100,000). Cunningham moved all-in for $751,000 total and Fineman called, failing to hit either of the remaining sevens on the uptown streets and thus relinquishing the chip lead to his rival.

Right, there's the boy.

A few hands later, it was over. Fineman again raised from the button and Cunningham again smooth-called. The flop came scary, bringing the K, Q and Q into play. Both players checked and the turn was the T. Cunningham bet out $100,000 and Fineman raised to $400,000, only to see his opponent put him all-in for the last of his stack.

Holding A J for the broadway straight, a disgusted-looking Fineman made the crying call and saw Cunningham turn up 5 4 for the turned flush. The river was the 4 and Cunningham had clinched the title!

The nearly $500,000 that Cunningham earns for his victory propels him to over $10 million in career tournament earnings, and the superstar also earns a WSOPC ring, the $10,000 entry into the WSOP Main Event this July/November, and an exclusive PokerListings.com interview. Fineman takes home $257,637 for his time.

The WSOP Circuit reconvenes on May 19th in New Orleans for the final event of the season, and that's where you'll find the PokerListings squad next. In the meantime, check out the final results from this beast, peruse the live tournaments section, or hey, find yourself a new poker site for spring time. We'll see you in the Big Easy.