Poker News / Matthew Pitt / 06 June 2010 / Leave a Comment

English poker pro James "Flushy" Dempsey capped a great week for the United Kingdom by winning his first World Series of Poker bracelet, and the UK's second of the 2010 WSOP.

Brighton resident Dempsey took down Event #9, the $1,500 Pot-limit Hold'em tournament which attracted a total of 650 entrants, creating a prize pool of $877,500 which was shared out between the top 63 finishers. He started the final table second in chips by just 5,000 chips but amazing turned up around 15 minutes late for the biggest final table of his life!

Chip counts at the start of the final table

Blinds - 6,000/12,000

1.) Armen Kara - 220,000
2.) Gregg Wilkerson - 230,000
3.) Mark Babekov - 246,000
4.) JJ Liu - 479,000
5.) Edward Brogdon - 89,000
6.) Scott Haraden - 224,000
7.) Steve Chanthabouasy - 533,000
8.) Joseph Williams - 385,000
9.) James Dempsey - 528,000

First to be eliminated was Gregg Wilkerson who was not only making his first WSOP final table appearance but also his first ever major tournament cash. In the hand Steve Chanthabouasy raised to 30,000 in middle position, Wilkerson called on the button and JJ Liu ,in the big blind, also called. The flop came down QsJs9h and Chanthabouasy made a 37,000 continuation bet only to see Wilkerson re-raise all-in for an additional 102,000. After Liu folded, Chanthabouasy called and revealed AsQh, which was going to need some help to beat the AcAh of Wilkerson. The turn was the 4s and the river was the Ks, giving Chanthabouasy a runner-runner flush and busting Wilkerson in ninth place, worth $14,715.

Next to head for the rail was Edward Brogdon with $19,120 in his pocket for three days' work. This was Brogdon's first WSOP final table appearance from eight cashes but the cards would not let him claim his first outright win. Chanthabouasy made it 50,000 to go from the small blind, prompting Brogdon to move all-in for 88,000. Regardless of his cards Chanthabouasy had to call, and call he did showing a pair of black kings, more than enough to crush the pocket nines of Brogdon. The board ran out AsJc3d2hJs and the final nine became seven.

Just ten minutes later Joseph Williams was the player heading for the cashier's cage after losing a coinflip against Chanthabouasy. After a raising war preflop, the cards were finally on their backs with Williams showing AdTh which needed to hit against his opponent's pocket sevens. A 6d3d2c flop changed nothing, and neither did the 8h turn. The river had to be an Ace or a ten but it was the 4s, and Chanthabouasy claimed his third scalp of the final table.

One of the downsides to a pot-limit format is a player cannot move all-in preflop unless they are extremely short-stacked. Armen Kara found this out to his peril when he raised preflop to 70,000 which left him just 80,000 more behind. Mark Babelov made the call and both players saw a Jc7d5h flop and it was obvious Kara's chips would finish up in the centre of the table. That they did when he moved all-in and received a call with Kara holding Tc5c for bottom pair, which surprisingly was enough to be in front of Babelov's Ks6c. The Js saw Kara stay in front but a cruel 6s on the river was enough to bust Kara, who had to make do with $33,573 and a story of being rivered for his efforts.

James Dempsey had been accumulating chips since he eventually took his seat at the final table but was yet to be responsible for busting a player out. All that changed when Scott Haraden raised to 50,000 UTG and then called when Dempsey raised to 130,000. Both players saw a QsJd5d flop which Haraden obviously liked as he moved the rest of his stack into the middle. Dempsey made the call and his KhJc were in front of the 7d6d of Haraden but he would have to fade a diamond on the turn and the river. The turn was the 5s which sent the 20 strong Dempsey supporters club into a mini frenzy, which escalated into rapturous celebrations as the 2h arrived on the river.

Having eliminated the first three players from the final table, Chanthabouasy must have felt left out when he was not involved in the next three. He got back into executioner mode when he found pocket kings again and managed to get Mark Babelov to commit all his stack preflop with Ac9c. A board reading Kc8h4s4dTd was more than enough to send Babelov to the rail to collect $62,232.

After responding to the chants of "JJ give us a wave" from the roudy British contingent on the rail, JJ Liu found herself joining them when she was eliminated in third place. The first female final tablist of the 2010 WSOP potted Dempsey's opening raise to 80,000 and then called when "Flushy" moved all-in. Liu's eights were slightly in front of the online specialists AsKs but they soon needed to hit one out when the flop came down KdQs4s as she did not hold the 8s. The Ac on the turn locked up the hand for Dempsey and Liu added another $86,512 to her already impressive $2,200,000 live tournament winnings.

Going into heads-up Dempsey found himself with a 2,115,000 to 820,000 chip advantage but it still took him two hours to clinch the victory and his first World Series of Poker bracelet. The final hand saw Steve Chanthabouasy raise to 150,000, Dempsey make it 450,000 to play and Chanthanbouasy four-bet all-in. Dempsey quickly called and was delighted to see his AdTs was dominating his opponent's As7c. A 6s5h4s gave Chanthanbouasy an open-ended straight draw and Dempsey's now very drunk supporters something to sweat over! A Qh on the turn alleviated these worries somewhat and when the 4d fell on the river there were scenes of pandemonium as Dempsey emerged victorious and was swamped by his army of fans.

Dempsey's victory is the second bracelet won by a British player inside a week after Praz Bansi won the $1,500 No-limit Hold'em event. In an interview after the tournament, Dempsey played down the importance of winning the bracelet, insisting he plays poker solely for the money. In a slightly bizarre twist he has also requested for Harrah's not to play the British National Anthem when he is officially presented with his bracelet today.

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