Ivey Won't Best Last Year's 12th-Place Finish

Chad Holloway

Level 18 : 5,000/10,000, 1,000 ante

Last year Phil Ivey finished 12th in this very event and then went on to win the $250,000 Challenge later that night. Unfortunately for him (and plenty of poker fans), Ivey won't be bettering that result here in 2013.

His demise came when he opened for 20,000 from the cutoff and then called a three-bet to 56,000 from James Obst in the big blind. The latter led out for 60,000 on the flop, and Ivey quietly announced that he was all in for roughly 330,000. Neither Obst nor the spectators heard the declaration, and the two players sat motionless for the better part of two minutes before the dealer informed Obst that action was on him. The Australian, who was clearly surprised, made a quick call.

Ivey:
Obst:

Ivey had flopped an open-ended straight draw to go with his overpair, but Obst, who killed two of his outs, had him pipped with a bigger overpair. The turn was of no help to Ivey, and neither was the river. Ivey was eliminated from the tournament in 30th place while Obst chipped up to 1 million.