Mike Eise wins 2009 WSOP Event 28

2009 WSOP Event 28 – $1,500 NLHE is now in the books. Standing on top with his first career WSOP bracelet is Mike Eise, a 30-year-old pipefitter from Missouri. This was Eise first trip to Las Vegas, he and four others came to play this event. What’s impressive and admirable is there will be no second 2009 WSOP bracelet for Eise as he plans on investing much of his $639,331 prize money and while the rest of the series is going on he’ll be vacationing with his family in Disneyland.

Here’s how day three of Event #28 played out:

Event #28, $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em originally had 2,638 entrants. When day three started there were just 27 returning players each with their eyes set on the $639,331 in first-place prize money and a WSOP bracelet. At the summit was Joe Simmons who began the day as the chip leader with 1.1 million and Jason Potter was right behind him with 929,000.

To get down to the final table bubble we saw the following players get eliminated:

11. Mark Silvanovich – $54,481
12.Mikkel Madsen – $54,481
13.Jake Solis – $38,133
14.Joe Simmons – $38,133
15. Mickey Neuberger – $38,133
16. Tilman Kieschke – $26,682
17. Andrew Daniels – $26,682
18. Fred Louie – $26,682
19. Marco Johnson – $18,688
20. Arthur Evans – $18,688
21. James Coyle – $18,688
22. Mohammed Alaei – $18,688
23. Shoaib Makani – $18,688
24. Josef Samanek – $18,688
25. Gary Wright – $18,688
26. Fouad Eladi – $18,688
27. Adam Lippert – $18,688

It was Joey Brattole who needed to settle for the undesirable position as final table bubble boy. On his final hand he was short stacked, and when Mike Eise moved in with KhQh from the small blind he made the call from the big blind with 7h3d. The board failed to bring any help and Brattole was out in tenth receiving $54,481.

Final table play began with Mike Eise as the massive chip leader with over 2.5 million in chips. The seat assignments were:

Seat 1: Zack Fritz
Seat 2: Avi Braz
Seat 3: Rico Ramirez
Seat 4: Jason Potter
Seat 5: Jose Luis Franco
Seat 6: Mike Zulker
Seat 7: Mike Eise
Seat 8: Jeff Chang
Seat 9: Barry Berger

The first big pot of the final table saw Mike Eise bet $500K on the river with a board that read 10h 6h Ac 3d 9d, after tanking for a while his opponent Mike Zulker made the call, Eise tabled As 5h and Zulker mucked. When this hand was complete Mike Eise had over 4 million chips while Mike Zulker was down to just 460K. Shortly later Zulker pushed in with Kh Qh and looked to be in great shape when Jason Potter called with Kd Jd. Unfortunately for Zulker the river was the Jc and he was sent to the rail to collect $77,778 for his ninth place finish.

Mike Eise took a huge blow that left him with just 1.65 million chips as his Ad Ks failed to outrace Rico Ramirez pocket queens. When this hand was complete Ramirez was the new chip leader with over 4.6 million in chips.

Ramirez further built his chip lead on a hand where he called Jose Luis Fanco’s 600,000 all-in reraraise. Ramirez had AhJc and Fanco Ac 3c. A flop of 9h Kc 10c gave Franco some hope but the turn and river ran Jh 7h and Franco was out in eighth collecting $83,180. Following him to the rail was Avi Braz who was in a three way pot with a flop of Ac 2h 10h. Braz bet 175,000, Ramirez got out of the way, Eise raised to 675,000. Braz moved in and Eise called. Braz held Ad Jh but found himself outkicked when Eise flipped over AhKs. The turn and river changed nothing and Braz headed out in seventh place to collect $93,622.

After the dinner break Jeff Chang moved in preflop, Zack Fritz reraised all in and Mike Eise called with a chance to eliminate them both. When the hands were turned up Fritz showed AcKs, Eise AdQh and Chang pocket kings. The board came out ten high which tripled Chang up and sent Zack Fritz out in sixth worth $111,266. He was followed to the rail by Barry Berger who pushed all in with a pair of jacks on a flop of 8s Qs 6d and was called by Rico Ramirez who held 10s 9s for both a gutshot straight draw and a flush draw. The turn Jd completed Ramirez’s straight and gave Berger outs to a full house. The river fell a harmless 4h and Barry Berger left to collect $139,353.

Much to the disappointment of the crowd Jason Potter’s tournament was over in fourth place, after he moved in from the button with Qs Ts and was called by Chang who had pocket tens. The flop came Qc 4s 10h to give Chang a set and Potter two pair. Potter picked up a flush draw on the turn with the As, but the river fell the 7c and Potter exited in fourth place, good for $185,444.

When three handed play began Rico Ramirez had a massive chip lead with over 7 million chips. However, he managed to lose all these chips and finish in 3rd after dancing twice with Mike Eise. The first dance saw Mike Eise move all in preflop against Ramirez for around 2.25 million. Ramirez tanked for a while and then called with Ad 8d only to find himself dominated by Mike Eise’s bigger ace. A couple of hands later Ramirez bet 725,000 on the board of KcJhJc9d, Mike Eise pushed all in and Ramirez called. Ramirez tabled Jd 4d for trip jacks and Eise tabled pocket nines for nines full. The river 10h sealed Ramirez’s fate as he headed out to collect $261,963 third place prize money.

When heads up play began Mike Eise held a 4.5-to-1 chip lead over Jeff Chang and their battle lasted only a few hands. The final hand saw Eise move in on the flop of 3c6d3s and Chang immediately called with Ah Jd. Eise held 8h7d and Chang seemed destined to double up but the turn was a 7h and the river brought no resuck out sending Chan to the rail as the runner-up worth $392,494. Mike Eise was victorious capturing $639,331 prize money and his first WSOP bracelet.