2009 Aruba Poker Classic

$5,500 Aruba Poker Classic Championship
Day: 5
Event Info

2009 Aruba Poker Classic

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
j10
Prize
$753,330
Event Info
Buy-in
$5,000
Prize Pool
$2,303,750
Entries
475
Level Info
Level
26
Blinds
40,000 / 80,000
Ante
10,000

Level: 25

Blinds: 20,000/40,000

Ante: 5,000

Baldwin Climbs Back Over 2 Million

Eric Baldwin
Eric Baldwin
Life's good when you limp from the small blind with {7-Clubs}{5-Hearts} and the flop comes {6-Spades}{8-Hearts}{4-Diamonds}, which is exactly what just happened to Eric 'basebaldy' Baldwin.

Baldwin checked his made straight over to Robert Mizrachi after the flop, and Mizrachi took the bait, firing a 40,000 bet. Baldwin flat called.

The {8-Clubs} fell on the turn and this time Baldwin opened with a bet of 105,000. Mizrachi made a quick call.

The {K-Diamonds} was the last card off the deck and Baldwin made it 235,000 to play. Mizrachi made the call and mucked immediately when Baldwin showed him the goods.

"Good ball, base!" shouted one of Baldwin's railbirds.

After the hand, Baldwin stacked up 2.13 million in chips while Mizrachi fell back down to 2.64 million.

Tags: Eric BaldwinRobert Mizrachi

Hall Works Some Chips From Mizrachi

Robert Mizrachi opened with a raise to 75,000, and Brandon Hall came along with him from the blinds. Heads up, the flop came {4-Clubs} {Q-Spades} {2-Hearts}, and Hall checked. Mizrachi quickly fired out a bet of 140,000, and Hall made the smooth call.

The turn brought the {J-Clubs}, and Mizrachi put another 250,000 chips into the pot. After some careful thought and a few sidelong glances, Hall again made the call.

The river was the {10-Diamonds}, and the action went check-check. "King-queen," said Mizrachi. Hall happily turned over his {A-Diamonds} {Q-Diamonds}, the kicker playing to earn him a nice pot.

Hall - 1,750,000
Mizrachi - 2,900,000

Tags: Brandon HallRobert Mizrachi

Sunset Coming

The longer play goes on, the lower the sun gets in the sky. The area in the restaurant where the final table is being held has grown pretty dim over the last half an hour or so. The tournament staff is trying to counter this by bringing in some extra lighting to aid with everything. It's helping, but not a whole lot.

Mizrachi Takes Command

Robert Mizrachi is now sitting on over 3.15 million in chips after a recent pot with Chase Steely.

Mizrachi opened the pot with a raise to 85,000 from the small blind and Steely made the call from the big. The flop came down {J-Hearts}{5-Clubs}{8-Hearts} and Mizrachi fired a continuation bet worth 140,000.

Steely then cut 320,000 worth of chips from his stack and pushed them into the middle.

"I'm all in," said Mizrachi a second later.

Steely folded just as fast, leaving himself right around 840,000 in chips. We counted Mizrachi at 3,170,000 following the hand.

Tags: Chase SteelyRobert Mizrachi

Baldwin and Hall Chop Up a Big Pot

No deal was made, but Baldwin did chop up this pot
No deal was made, but Baldwin did chop up this pot
Action folded the Brandon Hall in the small blind and he raised to 90,000. Eric "basebaldy" Baldwin reraised to 235,000 from the big blind. This marked the third time Baldwin has three-bet Hall since coming back from the deal talks. Hall made the call this time. The last two times, Hall let Baldwin take down the pot preflop.

The flop came {K-Hearts} {J-Diamonds} {9-Spades} and Hall checked. Baldwin opted to slow down and checked behind.

The turn was the {Q-Diamonds}. Hall fired 145,000. Baldwin made the call and the pot grew to over three-quarters of a million.

The river completed the board with the {5-Spades}. Hall fired 350,000. Baldwin took a breath and then announced a call. Hall tabled {K-Spades} {10-Hearts} for a straight. Baldwin tabled {10-Spades} {6-Spades} for the same straight and the two players chopped up the pot.

Tags: "basebaldy"Brandon HallEric Baldwin

Peace Talks Fall Through

Okay, here's the deal.

The four remaining players are playing for a prize pool worth $1,513,580, and they're still talking deal. The latest plan is similar to the original with a modified chip-chop.

As it stands right now, the players have tentatively agreed to pull $100,000 to create a side pool to play for. With that amount subtracted, each player would take their share of the chip equity as a payout. In addition, Baldwin asked for a bit of extra cash to sweeten the deal for him, and Steely offered to give up $11,000 with Mizrachi and Hall donating $5,500 apiece.

After another 5 or 10 minutes of debate, Baldwin called Matt Savage over and said, "Let's play."

"What's wrong? You don't like the deal?" asked Steely.

Baldwin's response was a simple one: "I've never made a deal in my life."

With nothing settled, the cards are finally in the air once again.

Level: 24

Blinds: 15,000/30,000

Ante: 5,000

Chop Talk

During the break, Chase Steely suggested the four players talk about a potential chop. Matt Savage and company spent about 15 minutes crunching the numbers and presented them to the players. A long discussion ensued in which each man kicked around their thoughts about the figures.

The initial plan was to do a chop strictly by chip equity with Robert Mizrachi earning the lion's share. Eric Baldwin eventually said, "I'm leaning towards not chopping right now," as he studied the proposed payouts. They tried to work out a side pot to play for, but Baldwin and Mizrachi couldn't come to an agreement for how much each player should contribute.

"I'm leaning towards not chopping," Baldwin repeated. "I'm going to want more than just the straight chip numbers if I chop." After another few minutes of back-and-forth banter, he flatly said, "Let's play."

Then suddenly, just when we thought the cards were about to return to the air, the chop talks gained a second wind and resumed once again. Things should be sorted out soon.