In the semifinials, the action was kicked up a notch. Now armed with $200,000 bankrolls, each player bought in for $20,000 on four tables of $100/$200 no-limit hold'em. Blinds would double on the 3,000-hand mark and double again should they last longer than 5,000 hands. And as you'll see, there have been quite a lot of instances after we thought that would just happen.
HOURS 1-2 (Hands 1-496)
Well-aware how long the quarterfinal heats ran, Haxton and Sulsky briefly considered an alternate approach to deciding today's match before settling in for the long grind.
Ike Haxton: this could be fun, i'm excitedSauce123: im half excited and half preparing myself to play 15 hoursIke Haxton: yeah that tooSauce123: i say we just decide the match on whoever drinks more cups of coffeeSauce123: save ourselves some troubleIke Haxton: may well be quite a contestIke Haxton: i believe i used to be around 12 vs kanuSauce123: im at 1.5, but i dont consider myself awake yet
Within the primary hundred hands, Haxton jumped out to a $65,000 lead, but Sulsky halted his surge by winning a 200 BB flip, his A♥K♦ flopping an ace against Haxton's 8♦8♠. By Hand 360, Sulsky had erased the distance entirely. He won two more all-ins, his T♣T♦ creating a straight against Haxton's unimproved A♣K♥ in addition to this $40,000 hand where Sulsky made a hero call with third pair after Haxton three-bet the flop and shoved the turn:
Sulsky continued steaming ahead and because the 500-hand mark approached he held a four buy-in lead.
50 hands: Haxton +$31,844100 hands: Haxton +$64,474300 hands: Haxton +$28,911360 hands: Sulsky +$2,841403 hands: Sulsky +$42,673470 hands: Sulsky +$92,621496 hands: Sulsky +$80,115
HOURS 3-4 (Hands 497-981)
Sulsky was on fire on the top of the third hour, growing his result in $102,500. Off his rhythm, Haxton gave the impression to be picking all of the wrong spots to bluff, like this spot where Sulsky caught him with two pair:
Thankfully for Haxton, his funk didn't last long. Momentum shifted toward Haxton following this $59,000 pot where Sulsky hit top pair at the flop but Haxton caught running kings to double up:
Haxton continued running well and the remainder of the distance melted away by the top of the fourth hour. He doubled one stack when Q♦Q♠ held against 5♦5♥, saw jacks win a $40k pot against A♣2♣, and collected queens again, this time against Sulsky's J♦J♣. Within the space of 356 hands, Haxton won $105,000 and moved back into the black.
524 hands: Sulsky +$72,835625 hands: Sulsky +$102,515650 hands: Sulsky +$63,115683 hands: Sulsky +$40,368737 hands: Sulsky +$58,448848 hands: Sulsky +$51,074925 hands: Haxton +$7,508972 hands: Sulsky +$8,750981 hands: Haxton +$2,542
HOURS 5-6 (Hands 982-1,502)
Sulsky temporarily regained control, leading off the hour by claiming a $49,000 pot. On a 8♠4♥3♠ flop, Sulskly check-raised Haxton's $660 bet to $2,600, then led out for $6,000 when the T♦ came at the turn. Haxton looked him up they usually saw the K♥ hit the river. Sulsky bet $15,400 and Haxton called, Sulskly turning over K♠4♠ for a rivered two pair and the win.
Sulsky increased his result in $40,000, however the reset button was pushed again when Sulsky bluffed all-in on a A♠Q♥5♦2♥2♣ board holding 3♥7♥. Haxton called with A♥6♠ and raked in $64,752. Sulsky's lead was all the way down to $8,000, and Haxton result in on another aggressive tear, winning greater than $76,000 within the next 122 hands. On this pot, Haxton got uber-lucky, catching running cards to make a whole house against Sulsky's flopped flush:
1,022 hands: Sulsky +$20,1061,114 hands: Sulsky +$40,6821,117 hands: Sulsky +$8,1061,165 hands: Haxton +$4,4781,237 hands: Haxton +$37,9101,267 hands: Haxton +$63,3941,287 hands: Haxton +$81,1381,405 hands: Haxton +$77,7761,502 hands: Haxton +$61,336
HOURS 7-8 (Hands 1,503-2,069)
Sauce123: i believe im just getting warmed upSauce123: only 16 more hours to go
Haxton built his result in over $108,000 and nearly had Sulsky all the way down to three tables before he was capable of stop the bleeding. Sauce got his mojo back on a cooler of a hand, his nut flush edging out Haxton's second-nut flush for a $40,000 pot:
Sulsky worked his long ago or even took a $12,000 lead before getting his Table 3 stack in preflop with A♠K♥ against Haxton's 8♠8♣. Although Sulsky flopped a king, Haxton hit a collection at the turn and raked within the $42,800 pot. But despite another sudden turnaround, both players remained good-natured (and well-caffeinated).
Sauce123: what's your coffee count ?Sauce123: im on 4.5Ike Haxton: 3 and dealing on a cup of teaIke Haxton: like a *****Sauce123: shocking to listen to such langauge from a team proIke Haxton: :X
Haxton ended the eighth hour with a one-two punch. After creating a nine-high straight, Haxton extracted value at the turn and river to take down a $39,900 pot, however the best was yet to return. Just as those chips flew into his stack, this $88,000 monster unfolded, Sulsky making an ill-timed river bluff into Haxton's flopped two pair:
1,536 hands: Haxton +$108,9081,653 hands: Haxton +$93,1771,673 hands: Haxton +$108,1251,700 hands: Haxton +$84,2211,750 hands: Haxton +$23,2091,852 hands: Haxton +$75,2261,905 hands: Haxton +$38,8261,942 hands: Haxton +$9,0621,994 hands: Sulsky +$12,0182,050 hands: Haxton +$26,0622,069 hands: Haxton +$88,394
HOURS 9-10 (Hands 2,070-2,586)
Haxton hit a couple of bumps within the road, but largely maintained his lead over the following two hours. Sulsky made up some ground when his K♦K♣ held up against Haxton's 9♣9♥ in a $65,000 pot, but Ike finished hour ten on a high note, catching Sulsky's river bluff with second pair:
2,121 hands: Haxton +$80,8942,158 hands: Haxton +$86,8262,203 hands: Haxton +$60,8322,304 hands: Haxton +$33,2822,376 hands: Haxton +$57,5022,402 hands: Haxton +$29,1022,450 hands: Haxton +$54,5072,500 hands: Haxton +$29,8982,550 hands: Haxton +$62,9582,586 hands: Haxton +$98,082
HOURS 11-12 (Hands 2,587-3,064)
Haxton took a $100k lead into the eleventh hour of play, but once again, the five buy-in mark proved to be a hump neither player could recover from. In a three-bet pot, Haxton barreled the flop, turn, and river on a A♣T♣3♥9♦6♠ board and Sulsky called him down with K♠T♦. Second pair was good against Haxton's Q♠J♦ and Sulsky picked up the $47,800 pot.
That hand induce a winning streak for Sulsky and for the fourth time on this match, Haxton saw a six-figure advantage evaporate as Sulsky not just dug himself out of the hole, but ground out a $42,000 lead with 2,950 hands completed.
The blinds doubled to $200/$400 on the 3,000th hand, inspiring a reinvogorated Sulsky to make a music change.
Sauce123: i feel i want a brand new music choiceSauce123: im gonna go along with ACDCSauce123: it's about that point of the eveningIke Haxton: that's a fair choiceIke Haxton: i'm on pharoah monch on the momentSauce123: not bad
Moments after moving over to the $200/$400 tables, Sulsky was at the highway to hell, his pocket sixes turning a collection only to have Haxton river a better set with pocket tens. Haxton snagged the $80k pot. A minute later they were all-in again, Haxton's queens and jacks casting off Sulsky's jacks and nines:
In under 100 hands, Haxton had managed a $90,000 turnaround, ending the twelfth hour of play up $42,741.
2,592 hands: Haxton +$100,7822,628 hands: Haxton +$106,3822,634 hands: Haxton +$80,6662,728 hands: Haxton +$55,2722,786 hands: Haxton +$3,4672,813 hands: Sulsky +$5,5772,851 hands: Sulsky +$30,6873,033 hands: Haxton +$54,6403,064 hands: Haxton +$42,741
HOURS 13-14 (Hands 3,065-3,468)
The lead changed another five times over the following two hours. Sulsky raked in $103,000 in under 140 hands, a fair chunk of it coming when he flopped the nut flush and Haxton caught a running two pair in an $80,000 pot. However, Haxton got all of it back just as quickly when both players flopped top pair and got all of it in at the river, Haxton's K♦Q♥ outkicking Sulsky's Q♦J♦.
Haxton chipped as much as a $73k lead before the pendulum swung the opposite way, and greater than 3,300 hands after this match begun, our competitors were essentially tied. That's when Sulsky caught a rush, winning three all-ins in a row to guide by $107,673. Haxton regained slightly ground when his pocket kings flopped a suite against A♦T♠, but Sulsky was in a position to hold off a rapid advance, ending Hour 14 up $73,000.
3,092 hands: Haxton +$5,9973,145 hands: Sulsky +$26,7103,200 hands: Sulsky +$61,2043,245 hands: Haxton +$50,3813,315 hands: Haxton +$73,1913,324 hands: Haxton +$34,3843,333 hands: Sulsky +$11,5603,356 hands: Haxton +$8893,368 hands: Sulsky+$39,2253,378 hands: Sulsky +$103,7693,468 hands: Sulsky +$72,874
HOURS 15-16 (Hands 3,469-3,731):
Sulsky stayed at the attack and passed the $100k mark when his J♦J♠ flopped a suite and rivered a ship just as Haxton turned a Broadway straight. He landed another haymaker lower than ten minutes later, when both he and Haxton flopped a couple of aces, Sulsky's A♦J♣ winning the kicker battle against A♣5♦. Rocked on his heels and left with only $60,000 in chips, Haxton asked Sulsky if he could split his stack in half and play two tables, even if he did not have enough left to shop for in for 100 BB at every one. With permission granted from the PokerStars Overlords, Haxton bought in for $29,000 on Tables 1 and a couple of.
For probably the most part, Sulsky kept Haxton at the ropes, waiting patiently for the suitable moment to complete him off. But Ike still had a little bit run-good left in him and cut Sulsky's result in $109,000 when he flopped fives full and Sulsky hit trips.
3,505 hands: Sulsky +$71,5333,524 hands: Sulsky +$102,8773,541 hands: Sulsky +$147,8773,548 hands: Sulsky +$145,9333,555 hands: Sulsky +$142,1333,601 hands: Sulsky +$149,0963,631 hands: Sulsky +$127,4963,667 hands: Sulsky +$145,1533,731 hands: Sulsky +$109,630
HOURS 17-19 (Hands 3,732-4,207)
Although Haxton gave him just a little a scare across the 4,000-hand mark, from there on out it was all Sauce. Sulsky kept Haxton confined to at least one or two tables, but seemingly each time Ike dipped below $30,000, he found how to squirm out of pots alive.
It seemed there has been no lead to sight, especially after Haxton flopped a suite of jacks and turned jacks full against Sulsky's two pair, picking up a $68,000 pot. Sulsky's lead was back in five-figure territory and all it might take were another couple of all-ins to place Haxton on top again.
Sulsky dealt another blow to Haxton, calling his ace-high river bluff to win a $90k pot. Moments later, Sulsky check-raised all-in at the turn, the board reading A♥J♦3♠8♦. Haxton called with 9♦T♦ for an open-ended straight flush draw. Sulsky showed J♥8♥ for 2 pair and faded the river to depart Haxton on his last $18,000.
Almost 19 hours after cards went within the air, Sulsky finally closed out the match. And with these two, it was naturally a cooler, Sulsky flopping a jack-high straight while Haxton made two pair:
3,754 hands: Sulsky +$106,2503,817 hands: Sulsky +$137,3043,985 hands: Sulsky +$60,8423,966 hands: Sulsky +$78,9004,002 hands: Sulsky +$142,1404,114 hands: Sulsky +$136,0514,118 hands: Sulsky +$95,9954,146 hands: Sulsky +$91,4914,182 hands: Sulsky +$182,6994,207 hands: Sulsky +$200,000
Kudos to Ben "Sauce123" Sulsky on earning his spot within the All-Star Showdown final. On Sunday he'll play the winner of tomorrow's today's semifinal match between Phil Galfond and Dan Cates, which kicks off about five hours from now, at 1pm ET. Sulsky could also be officially within the money, guaranteed no less than $250,000 for his performance. Still at stake are the title, bragging rights, and the $550,000 first-place prize. You should definitely check back with the PokerStars Blog for the entire details from that semifinal. But for now, together with Ike and Ben, we're greater than able to hit the hay.
Kristin Bihr is a contract contributor to the PokerStars Blog.
Read More... [Source: PokerStarsBlog.com :: All Star Showdown]
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