8It was not to be for the local online poker phenom Tyler Smith.  Smith’s recent run at the Biloxi casino’s poker tables includes making last year’s final table, coming in second in another big buy-in No Limit Texas Hold’em event (to Chad Brown) and this week coming into the final table with the second most chips.  He was playing on home court, playing relaxed and playing great.  Eighteen hands later he was out of the tournament.  Gone.  A red headed whisp of a memory and an empty seat the only demarcation he was even there.  He had the home fans in his corner but at least he did them one favor.  His outcome was decided early and for those not interested in Hoyt Corkins or the four Js that remained they could go home.

Watching live poker is a bit like watching traffic at an intersection.  Speed things up a bit and you’ll see near collisions and every once in a while awful crashes.  Big trucks ramming small cars and less commonly big smash-ups between two big vehicles.  The same is true of stack sizes.  There is a great bit of orderly progression on many hands.  Light turns green, a player raises and the other stacks wait outside the intersection.  But occasionally there is a call.

That’s the way it’s supposed to go.  For Tyler, his poker strategy was one of sitting in an expensive sportscar blowing through red-lights and he brought taunt drama to the first two revolutions of the table.  When he finally bowed out his stack had gone from Lamborghini to Chevette.  Smith’s went home with 80k+ but when first was paying just under 800k he had to think he some missed opportunities and had to regret not pumping the breaks a little more.

The Alabama Cowboy Hoyt Corkins came into the final table with the big stack.  As he watched Tyler bow out he bided his time.  He certainly had the shoving down pat and despite falling to third when it was three handed he weathered the storm and survived.  He played the role of cagey cowboy darting between gun-fights and bullets and staying alive as the blinds escalated and nerve less a choice and a more a need. 

The four Js that finished in between Corkins and Tyler:  Jonathan Kantor, Jerry van Strydonck, Jared Jafee, and James Reed, offered a challenge but Hoyt’s experience enabled him to sit back, pick his spots, and outlast them all.  James Reed entered the final table as one of the short stacks and as he watch Tyler Smith try to speed through the traffic lights  he had to be happy the first casualty wasn’t him.   He’d be the second roadkill on the day, but the poker maxim “Patience is money” is never more true to a guy biding his time and rising up the pay ladder. 

Reed made another 26k by outlasting Smith, and when you are the short stack at a poker table, that’s never a bad outcome.    It’s not fair to say he sat idly on his hands as Reed shoved over the top of several Smith raises en route to whittling down the local player’s advantage.  Reed’s demise came as he shoved with 75 o/s.  Jared Jaffee called with pocket eights and they held.

Jared Jaffee’s jubilation was short lived as the poker pro found him also headed to the rail of the tournament area a short while later.  It was fitting that the JJ of his opponent, Hoyt Corkins, was the hand that knocked out JJ.  Jaffee held KQ o/s and never made a pair but still won$135k.

Action after that ebbed and flowed with the chipstacks, each player taking the chip lead and being the short stacked.  The bulk of the final table hands were three handed.  Again, Hoyt Corkins, the cowboy in the dark hat was doing the eliminating.  Jerry Vanstrydonck went out in third when his 98 of diamonds couldn’t catch the KQ o/s of Corkins earning $196k.

Heads up play had some lead changes but after a limp by Kantor, a shove by Hoyt, and a quick call with K10 o/s Kantor finally ended the tournament.  Hoyt caught an Ace and it was all she wrote.  Kantor won $366k for second.