The Montana pro had worn down to 9k in chips at the end of day one. In almost the biggest blunder of his life Keiley gave thought to flying home without coming back to the tournament. Keiley caught fire on day two and went from the shortest stack in the No Limit Texas Hold’em tournament to the big stack at the final table. The ups and downs of tournament poker literally mean anything can happen and does happen.
All that was forgotten when he shoved all in pre-flop, one last time, trying to take another round of blinds and antes with King Five. Timing is everything in life and more so in a poker game. Fred Berger woke up to Ace Jack and looked up the the Montana poker pro. The King Five steal felt like a hand in a cookie jar for Keiley but that changed as quickly as the flop hit. Keiley basically had six outs not counting flushes and straights. A player will often times visualize the miracle card he needs to fall in these situations and you have to wonder if a five flashed through Keiley’s mind. It certainly for a brief moment resonated there in a spark of gleeful gratitude when that flop fell, but the moment was fleeting.
Now the cards were flashing through Berger’s mind a man who needs no Texas Holdem poker tipsnor reminders that anything is possible. Surely, he imagined an Ace to bail him out of the hand and to prevent that bad beat. Sure enough the ace arrived and whatever glee Keiley enjoyed evaporated. Now it was Berger riding the rush. Bothheld their breath as the river was dealt. One of five cards could once again turn the hand back upside down. Kings and fives were prayed for by Keiley and Berger merely wished for anything but and it was Berger thanking his lucky stars when the river was meaningless. Keiley dejection is missing on the river was lessened by a reported official payout of a little over 75k. Knowing the way deals work it was probably more rather than less than what was reported. .
Mike Beasley knows a thing or two about being titillated. After all he owns a gentleman’s club in Hollywood, FL, and is a part time poker professional. Which means he’s seen it all and hes seen it all. This year has been especially jubilant for Beasley though. In th NAPT, his take for placing second to Vanessa Selbst was worthover 500k. Coming second in New Orleans was worth about 400k less (without knowing the terms of the deal the three players agreed to). Though dispirited with his second consecutive second Beasley knew heads up was going to be a struggle. Early in the morning when the final hand was dealt Berger had him by about 5 to 1.
Again, Berger woke up to a biggish ace in the face of a shove. And again, it was king high that he was up against. Keiley made his move with King Five and Beasley did so with King Seven. Berger’s Ace 10 look almost as good as Ace Jack beforehand and he called. Berger’s hand improved with a 10 on the flop but Beasely still had his kings as outs on the turn and river but they didn’t come, just as they didn’t come for Keiley.
When Berger finished the tournament he did so with little emotion. Perhaps, he learned that watching Chris Ferguson, the player he bested in heads-up action when he won his bracelet in 2002. That tournament was a Pot-Limit Hold’em championship, this time Berger mastered No Limit Hold’em in his hometown, the birthplace and early epicenter of poker. Berger’s reported earnings of just under 200k, though with the chop it was probably a little less, bring his lifetime winnings to just under one million dollars.