Brock ‘t soprano’ Parker tops Negreanu to win WSOP bracelet

2009 WSOP Event 14 commenced last night with an epic heads up battle made for the ages. This event pitted online poker sensation Brock Parker against fan favorite Daniel Negreanu. In the end it was the internet pro on top, denying Negreanu his fifth WSOP bracelet while picking up his first and the $223,697 first place prize money which he can throw on his massive pile of career winnings.

Brock Parker’s legal first name is John, but he goes by Brock. He might better known by his handles ‘t soprano’ at PokerStars where he has $1.5 million in cashes, or ‘Maria Nuccia’ where he’s won $325K at Ultimate Bet. He’s also the player behind the ‘bobcards2’ account at Full Tilt where he’s won $280K.

While Parker is primarily an internet player he does have quite the live tournament resume with 27 cashes dating back to 2001 when he was just 21-years-old. Fourteen of his twenty-seven cashes came at WSOP events while the remaining thirteen came at other major tournaments such as WPT events. His total career live poker winnings are now just a few dollars short of $700K.

This bracelet puts Brock in the exclusive club of WSOP bracelet winners, which his close friends Eric Froehlich and Alex Borteh are already a member of.

Here’s how the action unfolded in Event 14 which was a $2500 buy-in NLHE 6 Max WSOP event.

2009 WSOP Event 14 Day 3 Coverage:

The field of 367 entrants had been narrowed to just eleven survivors who returned to the Rio today to battle it out for a WSOP bracelet. The first of these eleven to fall was Jimmy Tran after he got most of his chips in against former WSOP bracelet winner Barry Shulman. On a flop of 9h 6h 4c Tran bet and Shulman called. Tran bet his final chips on a 3h turn and Shulman again called again. Tran was ahead with Ah Jd for the nut flush draw and an ace, while Shulman tabled Kd Qs. A bad river (Kc) fell for Tran and he was out in 11th place worth $12,197.

Next to go was Robert Como who received $16,814 for his tenth place finish after Daniel Negreanu flopped top pair with A-9 to send Como to the rail. Nikolay Losev finished 9th for the same $16,814 when his pocket kings were cracked by Kyle Ray’s As 7h. The sickest part for Como is the Ace did not come to the river, however Ray did have a flush draw on the turn as the board ran 10d 9s 2s 3s Ad.

As if the hand that eliminated Como was not sick enough, in a pot that was four bet three ways preflop Shawn Buchanan flopped a set of kings on a flop of Ah Kc 8c and after a series of raises got his money all in only to find his opponent Brock Parker held pocket Aces for a higher set. In a Sick, Sick, Sick way to go out, Shawn Buchanan was the official final table bubble boy and collected $23,179 for his seventh place finish.

Here were the chip counts and seat assignments at the start of final table play:

Seat 1: Barry Shulman — 385,000
Seat 2: Daniel Negreanu — 786,000
Seat 3: Kevin Hong — 89,000
Seat 4: Tommi Horkko — 460,000
Seat 5: Brock Parker — 606,000
Seat 6: Kyle Ray — 429,000

The short stack Kevin Hong would not go down without a fight, doubling up several times to stay alive and eventually picked up enough chips to knock Kyle Ray out in 6th place. On this hand all the chips went in preflop with Ray holding Th 9h and Hong showed a dominating Kd 8d. The flop gave Ray hope as he picked up a lot more outs as the board read Js 8h 2d, but with a 4h on the turn and a 5s on the river, Ray’s run was done as he collected $31,966 for his sixth place finish.

Next to go was Barry Shulman who got his final chips in before a flop of Js 2s 2d against Daniel Negreanu and Tommi Horkko. On the flop Horkko bet out and Negreanu folded as Shulman tabled Qc 10c and Horkko pocket fours. The turn and river came 7c Ac to send Shulman home in fifth place worth $43,201.

Next to go was Kevin Hong who despite being massively short stacked at the final table battle long enough to near double the payout he would have received had he been eliminated in sixth. On this hand Daniel Negreanu, Kevin Hong and Brock Parker all put in four bets preflop. Hong fired first on a flop of 9h 5d 2h flop, and Parker and Negreanu both called again to see the Jh hit the turn. Hong bet out once again, Parker raised, Negreanu got out of the way, and Hong called all in with Kc Qh, looking for an inside straight draw. Parker showed 5h 5c for middle set, and the case five hit the river to give him quads. Hong picked up $60,885 for fourth place.

Tommi Horkko after he three-bet Daniel Negreanu preflop with Ac 8c and Negreanu called. The flop came down Ad 10h 4d, Negreanu checked, Horkko led out again and Negreanu called. When the turn came Ts this time Negreanu led, Horkko raised, Negreanu re-raised, and Horkko four-bet for the rest of his stack. Negreanu called with Kh 10c for trips, and when the river brought the Jh, Horkko exited in third place ($89,660).

Negreanu had the chip lead when heads-up play started, but Brock Parker caught fire, winning pot after pot as Negreanu began expressing signs of frustration. Finally, with few chips left, Negreanu called a raise from Parker to see a flop of Ah 10s 6d. Negreanu checked, then check-raised when Parker bet out. Parker three-bet, Negreanu raised once more, and Parker called. Negreanu bet all in when the 4s hit the turn, and Parker called with Ad Js. Parker was well ahead of Negreanu’s Kh 10d, and when the river came down the 8s, Parker was victorious and Daniel Negreanu would pick up $138,280 for his runner-up finish while needing to wait for another day to win his fifth career WSOP bracelet.