Congratulations to Kevin Calezno, Winner of the WSOP-C Caesars Palace Main Event ($197,451)!
Kevin Calenzo knows the pain of coming up just short. Last season, Calenzo finished second in the WSOP Circuit Main Event at the Horseshoe Southern Indiana, earning just over $60,000 for his efforts. Calenzo came to Caesars Palace with the intention of getting that monkey off of his back and after three long days of poker, Calenzo has done just that, taking home $197,451, the WSOP Circuit goldring and a seat into the season-ending WSOP Circuit National Championship.
When we started today’s play, we had 15 players left and Calenzo was sitting in 10th place. Within two hours of play, we had reached our "unofficial" final table. Amongst the causalities who didn’t make the final table was Rellie Sigua, who was eliminated when his flopped trip threes lost to the runner-runner flush of Jeff Madsen. Joining Sigua on the rail short of the final table was Nicholas Wilbur, who entered the day as the chip leader, but ultimately finished in 11th.
And what a final table it was. The table included three WSOP gold bracelet winners — Dutch Boyd, Jeff Madsen and Sean Getzwiller — and Calenzo, who has over $400,000 in tournament winnings.
The first casualty of the final table was Brandon Riha. He was crippled when he ran his jacks into Getzwiller’s queens and he was eliminated shortly after when his queen-nine couldn't catch up against the aces of Bill Creigo.
Action played nine handed for nearly three hours before the tournament lost another player. That player was James Mordue. He got all his money in preflop with 
, but was crushed by the 
of Jeff Fielder. The flop provided plenty of action, coming 
, but Mordue couldn’t connect on any of his draws, with the 
falling on the turn and the 
on the river.
Madsen wasn’t able to get much going at the final table, either, and he was the player eliminated in eighth place. His 
ran into the 
of Ian Mack, the board ran out king high and Madsen was sent to the rail.
Joe Kuether entered the day second in chips and was looking good at the final table until he ran his kings into the aces of Getzwiller. That knocked Kuether down to just three big blinds, yet he was able to hold on for over an hour before he finally succumbed. Ironically, it was Getzwiller holding aces that did him in, as they easily beat his ace-queen in an all-in preflop confrontation.
Getzwiller claimed another bounty shortly after and this one was Boyd. The two players got the money in preflop in a classic coinflip, with Getzwiller holding the 
and Boyd holding the . Getzwiller flopped a set and Boyd wasn’t able to catch up.
Fielder was the next to hit the rail in a huge hand that propelled Calenzo to his heads-up battle. Criego raised to 200,000 and Calenzo moved all in for 1.2 million. Fielder was next to act and moved all in for 1.5 million. Criego made the call to put them both at risk and was in great shape with the 
against the 
of Calenzo and the 
of Fielder. The flop was safe for Criego, coming 
, but the spiked on the turn to give Calenzo the lead. The 
on the river sealed the hand and Calenzo earned the triple up, while Fielder was ousted.
Just over 10 minutes after that hand, Criego got the rest of his chips in preflop against Calenzo. Criego held the 
, but was far behind the 
of Calenzo. The board ran out 
and Criego headed to the rail.
Mack, Getzwiller and Calenzo were all very even as three-handed play started, with each holding around 4.3 million. Someone had to go down in third place, though, and that player was Getzwiller. After being knocked down to 1.4 million, he got the rest of it in preflop with ace-king against the ace-eight of Mack. The flop was brutal for Getzwiller, coming 
. Getzwiller couldn’t catch the miracle from there, busting in third place.
Calenzo began heads-up play with a 60-40 lead over Mack, but that changed quickly on the second hand of heads-up play. Calenzo flopped bottom two pair, while Mack flopped top two pair. Amazingly, all of the money didn’t get into the middle, but Calenzo did get knocked down to a 3-to-1 chip defecit.
Calenzo crawled back, though. He doubled up once with ace-nine against Mack’s ace-eight, before the most pivotal hand of the tournament. Calenzo got all of his money in on a flop of 
with 
, but was in a world of hurt, as Mack held . The turn gave Calenzo extra outs, coming the 
and the river brought the , giving Calenzo an improbable runner-runner straight, snatching victory from Mack.
Calenzo then finished the deal when he got it all in with the 
against the 
of Mack. The flop came , giving Calenzo top pair, but also giving Mack a flush draw. The hit the turn and Calenzo needed to dodge an ace or a heart to win. He did just that, as the river brought the 
, and it was all over. For his second-place finish, Mack earned some very nice pocket change in the form of $122,183. The title, the gold ring and the lion's share of the cash went to Calenzo, though, as he emerged victorious.
Final Table Payouts
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kevin Calenzo | $197,451 |
| 2 | Ian Mack | $122,183 |
| 3 | Sean Getzwiller | $89,617 |
| 4 | Bill Criego | $66,644 |
| 5 | Jeff Fielder | $50,321 |
| 6 | Dutch Boyd | $38,365 |
| 7 | Joe Kuether | $29,686 |
| 8 | Jeff Madsen | $23,271 |
| 9 | James Mordue | $18,474 |
Well, that’s it for us here at Caesars Palace Las Vegas. Thanks as always for staying tuned to PokerNews all tournament long and be sure to come back for when the WSOP Circuit makes its next stop in Tunica. Congratulations to all the winners and especially Calenzo. From all of us here at PokerNews good night from Las Vegas!
Photo courtesy of the WSOP.