2009 Aruba Poker Classic

Goodbye, Aruba!

Last night, Brandon Hall made the argument that he didn't want to stop play at seven players and continue the next day because he had a flight to catch today. Robert Mizrachi and Tournament Director Matt Savage persuaded Hall to come back the next day. Hall was worried that coming back today on a short stack would be a waste of time if he were to go out in seventh and miss his flight. As fate would have it, Hall made the right decision.

Robert Mizrachi was the chip leader heading into the final table. Matt Ross was the first to go after Jose Roberto Santos sent him home after winning a flip. Next in line was Brock Parker, who lost a coinflip of his own to Eric 'basebaldy' Baldwin. Parker's suited ace-king was unable to best Baldwin's queens, and was sent packing. Santos would be the next to go in fifth.

When four-handed play began, Chase Steely initiated a possible deal discussion. After over 40 minutes of getting nowhere, Baldwin told the table that he just wanted to play it out. As it turned out, he would've been a couple hundred thousand dollars richer had he accepted the proposed deal. After making a big call against Hall that pitted his ace-ten against Hall's pocket jacks, Baldwin was left crippled and busted shortly after.

Steely found himself the shortest stack with three players left and was eventually ousted by Mizrachi in dramatic fashion after Mizrachi spiked a straight on the river having only a few outs.

Mizrachi and Hall then agreed to a chop where each player locked up second-place money for $414,680. After that, Mizrachi took his chip percentage of the remaining prizepool and Hall took his. Each player then put up $30,000 for the winner to take home. 15 minutes later, Brandon hall was declared the winner.

Hall eliminated both the 2008 winner Matt Brady and 2007 winner Travis Rice on his way to victory. This was Hall's first live final table.

Congratulations to Brandon hall, your 2009 Aruba Poker Classic champion!

Tags: Brandon Hall, Robert Mizrachi.

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