Las Vegas Mixed-game Master John Hennigan Wins Poker Players Championship

The prestigious $25,000 Poker Players Championship––hell to cover, due to the various games played, from 2-7 triple draw to razz––has been won by none other than Las Vegas grinder John Hennigan. He beat out a field of 102 of poker’s greatest minds, ultimately prevailing against Brandon Shack-Harris heads up. I last covered Hennigan a couple weeks ago in the $1,500 WSOP Event #19 NLHE tournament, when he was vanquished heads up by retired marine sergeant Ted Gillis. 

Ultimate glory on the line––Hennigan against Shack-Harris and Jesse Martin

Nicknamed "Johnny World," the former billiards professional now has three WSOP bracelets to his credit, as well as a third place finish in last year’s Poker Players Championship. With this convincing win in the most demanding of WSOP small field events, Hennigan has vaulted into status as one of the game’s true elite. He commented to Poker News after earning his bracelet that it was “very fulfilling to win the event,” as he had been playing mixed games for many years. He noted that this game was played by many top-tier professionals, from Phil Ivey to Doyle Brunson, for the honor of winning more than high ROI expectations. Unlike in cash games, players were “emotionally involved” and every pot hotly contested down the stretch.

 Hennigan taking on Gillis heads up two weeks earlier

Wearing a t-shirt fittingly emblazoned with the Superman symbol on it, Hennigan found himself in a downward spiral late in Day Three, but pulled out a win when the game shifted to PLO and he “bet it all on one hand.” After that critical double up, things turned around and Hennigan seemed to win every hand, “that’s kind of how poker goes sometimes.” I expect to see more from Hennigan in the days to come––hopefully he will decide to put some of his hard-earned money to work in the $25,000 One Drop satellite that is taking place Saturday night, giving himself a shot at the biggest money. 

I want to apologize to loyal blog readers for going AWOL the past couple days. I entered the $1,500 Monster Stack yesterday, which exceeded all expectations by attracting nearly 8,000 runners. As mentioned earlier, I am of the opinion that the Monster Stack will quickly gain the reputation as the “everyman’s Main Event,” as it offers deep stack play at an eminently affordable price. Both me and On Tilt Radio colleague Nathan Dowland decided to temporarily forego our media duties and register, pursuing ultimate  bragging rights and a $10.6 million prize pool that includes a $1.37 million first prize. 

On Tilt Radio colleague Nathan Dowland––Monster starting stack and Blue Shark Optics cap

I am doing pretty good about five hours into the tournament, up to about 20,000 chips through careful, steady play that has included slow playing aces from the small blind and extracting maximum value. Unfortunately, I run into a cooler that I probably could have gotten away from (just) pre-flop. Under the gun with A-Q, I put in a small raise of 500 and get min reraised to 1,000 by a player in middle position. She has been playing snug so I call reluctantly, feeling priced in––I am ready to muck my hand if anything less than the perfect flop peels out. Lo and behold, an A-Q-4 board comes and I have two pair. Call it sixth sense, I check the flop and my opponent checks behind. The turn is inconsequential and we also check this. When a seemingly harmless river card comes out that does not complete any draws, I fire 3,000, hoping to extract a little value. Instead of calling or folding as expected, my opponent raises it up to 6,000.  As suspicious as this min-raise is, I am priced in with my top two pair and call. Naturally, she turns over pocket aces, not the A-K or A-J I was hoping to see. 

No media pass––only allowed to take pics of myself grinding it out

A player at the table who considers himself a bit of an expert (read: know-it-all) tells me I should have mucked preflop when my opponent raised even a little, considering how snug she had been playing. I shrug––I did after all lose the minimum, all things considered. If I had played it any other way (or if she had shoved on me, like most players would) I would likely have lost my entire stack. Instead I have a respectable 10,000 stack that represents about 50 big blinds. Moving to another table I get whittled down to 7,000 before starting to make some reads and moves, and chipping back to 15,000. Unfortunately, the blinds are increasing and I ultimately have to make my stand with 8,000 behind and a pocket pair. I lose the coin flip against my new least favorite hand A-Q and nine hours of hard work goes down the drain. Ah, the joys of poker. Meanwhile, Nathan has been battling a dearth of quality cards but still has 7,000 chips going into Day Two––the perfect stack for doubling up or going home.

Turnout larger than anticipated (photo Nathan Dowland)

Now, it’s time to head to the Rio and watch the action in the $1,5000 Eight Game Mix, which features Stephen Chidwick and Phil Ivey as chip leaders among a final 13 that also includes Daniel Negreanu. Needless to say, if either Ivey or Negreanu achieves the bracelet, they will win a prop bet that reportedly well exceeds $1 million. This is definitely a “last hurrah” chance for the tournament veterans, as we move into the final leg of the WSOP. Also starting today is the anticipated Ladies NLHE Championship, which features the likes of Kathy Liebert, Jackie Glazier, and PokerNews host Kristy Arnett. 

Retired Marine Sergeant Ted Gillis “Makes WSOP History” and Pockets Half a Million

The end to the $1,500 WSOP Event #19: No-Limit Hold'em was surprisingly quick. Seasoned pro John Hennigan entered heads up with 3.8 million to Texas bar league amateur and retired marine sergeant Ted Gillis’ 5.6 million. Despite a healthy stack relative to the 60,000 blinds, Hennigan could not avoid Gillis’ full-throttle aggression. He was forced to muck on a board in which Gillis tabled a flopped trip fours, losing 2.3 million. On the final hand Hennigan pushed his last 1.3 million chips in with Q-9 and was dominated by Gillis’ A-6 on a 10-10-A board. As reported on ESPN, the victory meant a great deal to Ted Gillis, who “made his mark on history.”

A perfect flop for Gillis.

Gillis "makes his mark on history."

Today, WSOP railbirds have an action-packed $10,000 Event #22: H.O.R.S.E. to look forward to. Considered one of the most prestigious bracelets, our final 21 out of 200 includes Daniel Negreanu, Elky, Justin Bonomo, and David Benyamine still in the hunt. A couple pictures from yesterday’s action:

             
                                      Negreanu and Elky share a table playing Omaha 8

                                              Doyle Brunson among those knocked out.

WSOP Event #19 –– The Fall of Divkovic After Dinner Break

After the dinner break, WSOP Event #19: No-Limit Hold'em tournament players seemed to be feeling the cumulative effect of getting through a field of 2,000 and were anxious to bring the action to a close. Divkovic raised to 125,000 with pocket sevens from the button and Ted Gillis reraised to 500,000. Arguably, given Gillis’ sustained aggression over the past couple hours, Divkovic had no choice but to shove all-in over the top. Gillis insta-called with AJ and the flop came an ace and three diamonds, placing him ahead but giving Divkovic a chance at trips or a flush. Unfortunately, nothing hit and once the dust had cleared, Divkovic had only 500,000 chips left, while Ted Gillis had jumped to a commanding lead of more than 2 million. 

Divkovic did claw back J-J all in vs. Hennigan’s Q-3, and had a surprise reprieve from the chopping block when Fernandez lost a classic all-in race against Divkovic, 10-10 vs. A-K. He was out in fourth, with a payday of $166,000.

Divkovic (far right) clearly elated to see Hennigan hit his A en route to felting Fernandez.

Despite his smallish stack, Divkovic made what I consider a tactical mistake when he pushed all in with A-6 versus Gillis’ A-Q. With a Q peeling off on the flop, his fate as third place finisher was sealed. He did have the consolation of a $222,429 prize, his largest live take  ever.

An up-and-comer with a lot of potential––Divkovic in happier times jawing with a bemused Hennigan.

Now comes the break before the storm, with Ted Gillis holding about 6 million chips and about to face off against former WSOP bracelet winner John Hennigan and his stack of 3 million. With big blinds only at 60,000, there is still plenty more poker to play. 

Moving Toward a Divkovic and Hennigan Final Table WSOP Confrontation in $515,000 First Prize NLHE Event #19

We are down to the final table of WSOP Event #19: No-Limit Hold'em, a $1,500 buy-in tournament that started on Saturday and attracted more than 2,000 runners. The first prize of $515,000 is double the purse for the featured Survivor event, which is running simultaneously on the ESPN stage. With Phil Galfond the “name” player remaining in that tournament, this tourney seems to feature more active, in your face poker––thanks in no part to  the aggressive John Gillis. Entering the final table, Mustapha Kanit has a commanding chip lead of 2.5 million, nearly a million more than his nearest competitor John Hennigan, who sits on 1.6 million. 

All this is about to change, as Dylan Thomassie, the lowest stack, shoves his last 300,000 with 10 9 hearts. Edison Shields, sitting on 765,000, raises all in with pocket aces. Dejan Divkovic, with just under a million chips, finds an easy call with pocket kings. Bucking the odds, Divkovic spikes trips with his kings and Thomassie hits a flush draw on a K-6-Q flop––giving Shields a “worst possible” situation for his aces. The turn brings a king, giving Divkovic quads, with Thomassie still alive with a jack of hearts draw for the straight flush. Instead, the river brings a two of hearts, which completes Thomassie’s flush but still sends him and Shield heading for the door with $37,834 and $49,267 respectively. 

Thomassie & Shield shake hands In the agony of defeat, while Divkovic (in hoodie) focuses on next hand. Las Vegas player Jaime Kaplan (glasses) is the next small stack on the chopping block.

Divkovic is now back in the chip lead, setting up a potentially very interesting confrontation between him and John Hennigan. A Philadelphia native, Hennigan has been singled out by no less than Daniel Negreanu as the best he has ever faced. He achieved 19th in the 1999 WSOP main event and earned bracelets in the 2002 $2,000 H.O.R.S.E. and the 2004 $5,000 Limit Hold'em event. Hennigan’s biggest cash was for $1.6 million in the 2007 $10,000 WPT Borgata Championship Event and in 2013 he returned to WSOP prominence by placing third in the $50,000 Poker Players Championship––for a second-best cash of nearly $700,000. He was also a complete asshole  (belying his true nature as a gentle giant) in the 2007 poker movie Lucky You, starring Eric Bana and Drew Barrymore. 

Divkovic, on the other hand, is a live tournament upstart who has rocketed to first place among Bosnia & Herzegovina players in the past two years. He achieved first in the 2013 ANZPT A$ 2,200 NLH Main Event for nearly A$118,000  and second in the 2013 ANZPT Sydney NHL Main Event for nearly A$148,000. Interviewed after besting a field of 204 following his Perth victory, looking improbably young and speaking in broken English , Divkovic credited his heads up online experience with helping him overcome the final hurdle and take home a convincing victory. 

On the hand prior to break, Mustapha Kanit and Ted Gillis get into a leveling war, with Kanit raise countered by a reraise, three bet, and finally an all in by Gillis––folded by Kanit after a three minute tank. Gillis chipped up significantly through this well-timed preflop aggression. He is becoming a feared presence on the table by showing that he is not afraid to go all-in with a flip, despite the significant ladder between places.

                                                                    Kanit-Gillis Leveling War 

Coming back from break, Sonny Patel was the next to go when his pocket sixes were called by Divkovic’s A-Q suited hearts. The chip leader picked up a flush draw on the flop and hit his J of hearts on the river, sending Patel home with a very respectable $64,911. Now ICM considerations came to the forefront, with mid-stacked players waiting for Jaime Kaplan, sitting tight on 300,000, to bust. This happened surprisingly quickly, with Kaplan shoving pocket threes and getting called by Bronx-native Jacobo Fernandez in the big blind with A-J. The board ran out with a runner runner straight for Fernandez, sending Kaplan to the rail in 6th with $86,000. Having quickly weeded through the shorter stacks, the hoped for confrontation between Divkovic and Hennigan takes form, with dark horse Ted Gillis on the horizon. A retired marine sergeant, Gillis is an avid Texas player who primarily plays in bar leagues and has never broke through in the big leagues before tonight.

Another flop all-in confrontation ended in a much needed double up for Jacobo Fernandez against Ted Gillis. Needing to hit his flush draw to stay alive against Fernandez’ aces, his QK of hearts connected with a seven of he arts on the river. Five minutes later, Kanit pushed all in in the big blind over Divkovic’s raise with A-10 and turned over A-3. His hand, dominated, failed to improve and he was sent packing in 5th for a six figure score of $117,000.

      The elation of near certain victory. Divkovic hopes his A-10 holds up while Kanit prays for a 3.

                                                                             Sorry, bra.