Marc Naalden Wins PNC Alpine Main Event

Marc Naalden Wins PNC Alpine Main Event 0001

After three days of poker and a grueling three-hour, heads-up match, Marc Naalden finally put away his last opponent to take down the Main Event of the PokerNews Cup Alpine at the Alpine Palace Hotel and Card Casino in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria. Naalden defeated Runnar Lindepuu heads-up for the trophy and the €46,474 top prize. While it was Naalden triumphant at the end of the day, it was Australian pro Mark Vos who went into the final table with the chip lead, as the seating assignments and chip stacks looked like this:

Seat 1: Marc Naalden (Belgium) — 251,200

Seat 2: Fedor Los (Netherlands) — 286,700

Seat 3: Simon Borg (Denmark) — 75,800

Seat 4: Salvatore Cundari (Italy) — 116,800

Seat 5: Mark Vos (Australia) — 548,800

Seat 6: Runnar Lindepuu (Estonia) — 391,300

Seat 7: Joseph Buhmann (USA) — 126,300

Seat 8: Jan Hlobil (Netherlands) — 84,400

Seat 9: Farhad Kia (UK) — 74,100

Farhad Kia started the final table as the shortest stack, and never got anything going as he busted in ninth place (€4,820) to Joseph Buhmann. Kia moved all in from early position with 109, and Buhmann was his lone caller from the big blind with 87. The flop was exciting for both players, as it came down 8K10 to give Kia the bigger pair. The Q on the turn was no help to either player, but the 8 on the river made trips for Buhmann as Kia headed to the rail on a tough beat.

Jan Hlobil moved all in from under the gun with AJ, and found himself in a race with Runnar Lindepuu in the small blind, who called with 88. Once again it was an exciting flop (86A), this time making a set in the window Lindepuu to Hlobil's top pair. The complete board ran out 86A55 as Hlobil picked up €6,360 for his eighth-place finish.

Joseph Buhmann bought himself a little time with the elimination of Farhad Kia, but the last of his chips went into the middle before too long. Salvatore Cundari raised from early position, and Buhmann moved all in over the top. Cundari snap-called with pocket aces, and Buhmann was in deep trouble with AK. The board ran out 8Q46J, and Buhmann was done in seventh place (€8,080).

Mark Vos' dominance during the first two days ended on Day 3. On this day, he got it all in with Runnar Lindepuu after Lindepuu three-bet Vos preflop with AJ. Vos moved all in over the top with 88, and Lindepuu called. Unlike the last pocket eights vs. A-J confrontation, this time the overcards took the pot. The board ran out 7K6Q10 to give Lindepuu the runner-runner Broadway straight and send Vos home in sixth place (€10,320). Vos had a successful series by any measure, winning Event #2 and cashing in Event #3 on his way to another final table in the Main Event.

Salvatore Cundari was the fifth-place finisher, busting at the hands of Marc Naalden when he moved all in over the top of Naalden's raise with K6. Naalden called with A6, and when the board ran out queen-high with only one spade, Cundari was done. He picked up €12,900 for his three days' work. After a key double-up, Simon Borg got all his chips in the middle again with A10 on a flop of K8Q. Marc Naalden gave him action with KQ, and proceeded to fill up on the Q turn. The 5 on the river was irrelevant, and Borg exited the event in fourth (€16,340).

It took only moments after Borg headed to the rail for Fedor Los to follow in third place (€19,780). Los moved all in from the button with K7, and Marc Naalden called from the big blind with pocket eights. The flop of 24A was no help to either player, as Naalden's eights held their lead. The 3 on the turn gave Los outs to a chop, but the 6 on the river sealed his fate and he was busted. Naalden took a huge chip lead into heads-up play, as the final two chip stacks looked like this:

Seat 1: Marc Naalden — 1,635,000

Seat 6: Runnar Lindepuu — 300,000

In what started off looking like an open-and-shut affair, Runnar Lindepuu pushed his short stack into the middle on almost every hand. Finally he got action from Naalden, and he found an early double-up to get himself back into the game. From there it was a see-saw battle that lasted nearly three hours before all the chips went into the middle for the last time. Naalden made a standard preflop raise, and Lindepuu moved all in over the top with 98. Naalden quickly called with the hand of the day – pocket eights. The eights held up as the board ran out 4K532, and Lindepuu was done in second place (€29,940). After a tough final table and a ceaseless heads-up match, Marc Naalden finally vanquished Runnar Lindepuu to claim the trophy and the €46,474 top prize at the 2009 PNC Alpine Main Event.

More Stories

Other Stories