Joe Laughing All The Way To The Ebanks

World Series of Poker / Matthew Pitt / 01 July 2011 / Leave a Comment

Joe Ebanks (Photo credit: WSOP.com/PokerNews)

Joe Ebanks was already one of online poker's millionaires, having won more than $3,000,000 from online tournaments and now he can say he is a live poker millionaire after he won the largest prize of the 2011 World Series of Poker so far, a cool $1,158,481 for taking down Event #46, the $10,000 No Limit Hold'em Six-handed Championship.

The high buy-in and short-handed format was suited to the so-called internet generation of poker player so it was no surprise the online young guns made up a significant percentage of the 474 entrants and that all six members of the final table were all instantly recognisable faces.

Final table seat draw and chip counts

Seat 1: Mike "sowerss" Sowers: 1,445,000
Seat 2: Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier: 2,435,000
Seat 3: Joe "ender555" Ebanks: 3,100,000
Seat 4: Tristan "Cre8ive" Wade: 2,435,000
Seat 5: Chris "Moorman1" Moorman: 3,955,000
Seat 6: Taylor "taypaur" Paur: 830,000

It took four hours of play for the 22 players to be whittled down to the final table of six and a further 70 minutes for the table to lose its first player. The history books will show that Mike Sowers finished in sixth place and that he picked up $138,801 for his efforts over the three days of play. He finally came unstuck when he raised to 105,000 on the button (blinds 25,000/50,000/5,000a) and then called when Ebanks made it 275,000 to play from the big blind. The flop came down 5d-6d-9c, Ebanks lead out with a 275,000 bet and Sowers made the call. The turn saw the dealer put out the 3d and Ebanks elected to move all in for a huge overbet, a bet that covered Sowers' stack. After going into the tank, Sowers finally made the call and his As9h had the better of Ebanks' Kd7h, but only until the 9d landed on the river to complete Ebank's flush and send Sowers to the rail.

During the next hour of play two players lost all of their chips and with them the chance of their first WSOP bracelet. The first of the two was Taylor Paur who lost a vital coinflip with Ebanks. With blinds now 30,000/60,000/10,000 Paur open-raised from the button to 130,000 and when Ebanks re-raised to 290,000 in the big blind Paur decided the best course of action for his pocket fives was to move all in for a total of 1,700,000 chips. Ebanks made the call with AdQh and was instantly rewarded as the door card was the Qs, followed by 4d-4s. The 6h on the turn was just another nail in Paur's coffin and he was finally buried as the 8s fell on the river. Paur picked up $198,140 for his part in this superb event.

He was followed to the sidelines around 45 minutes later by Tristan Wade who was on the wrong side of a dominating ace when he entered a raising war with British pro and all round online poker legend, Chris Moorman. Wade opened to 155,000 from the small blind, which prompted Moorman to ask how many chips he had left behind. When he was informed that Wade had around 1,300,000 he quickly raised to 335,000 and then snap-called when Wade moved all in. Wade's As9h was in bad shape against the AdJc of Moorman and it became even worse as the dealer fanned out the Ac-7h-Qs flop, and when the turn and river were the 8s and Qc, Moorman's jack kicker came into play and it was enough to send Wade to the cashier's cage to pick up his $292,866 winnings.

Play remained three-handed for close to 90 minutes before Bertrand "ElKY" Grospellier's hopes of winning his second bracelet, and becoming the first person in poker history to win two $10,000 Championship events in the same year, were shattered by Ebanks. ElkY had started to open-shove since he dropped to 20 big blinds and a couple of people commented in the chatbox of the live stream that it was only a matter of time before the Frenchman ran into a big hand and whilst pocket eights are not a huge hand, they were certainly enough for Ebanks to call with when ElkY moved all in yet again, this time for 1,700,000 whilst holding KsTc. The 5s-9d-9s-3c-Qh board was safe for Ebanks and he sent a disappointed ElkY home in third place, worth $447,074.

ElkY's demise left it to Moorman and Ebanks to fight it out for the title, the coveted WSOP bracelet and the gargantuan first place prize money. The pair were quite evenly matched in terms of chips, Moorman holding a narrow 7,400,000 to 6,800,000 but Ebanks won a substantial pot early on in the one-on-one battle to take the lead. In the hand Ebanks limped and Moorman checked his option. The Kh-Qh-Jd flop was met with a 125,000 bet from Moorman, a 400,000 raise from Ebanks and a call from Moorman. The 6h on the turn slowed Moorman down as he check-called a 750,000 bet from his opponent, an action he mirrored after the arrival of the 4d on the river, though this time he called a massive 1,500,000 bet and quickly mucked as Ebanks showed Th9c for a flopped straight. This saw Ebanks jump to 9,800,000 and by the time the tournament was brought to an end after ten levels of play, he had extended this lead to 11,015,000 against Moorman's 3,215,000.

The players returned to the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino at 1430 Las Vegas time in order to bring the tournament to a conclusion but anyone expecting to see an epic comeback were bitterly disappointed as everything was done and dusted within just 15 minutes of the restart. Moorman got the action started with a min-raise to 240,000 , a bet that Ebanks called. The dealer put out the 3d-Qs-Td and both players checked. The Kh on the turn saw Ebanks lead for 250,000 and Moorman move all in for what turned out to be 2,060,000. Ebanks rocked back in his chair and waited a few moments before calling and turning over Kd4d, ahead of the Jc7d of Moorman. The turn had to be a nine otherwise Moorman would be eliminated and it was a nine but the celebrations were cut short as it was the 9d, which also improved Ebanks to a diamond flush, more than enough to bust Moorman in second place.

This runner-up finish was Moorman's fifth cash and second final table of the current series, taking his winnings to $1,051,556 and gives him a realistic chance of winning the Player of the Year award. It surely cannot be long before Moorman, who has been badly effected by the recent Full Tilt Poker saga, wins his first WSOP bracelet.

Twenty-six year old Ebanks revealed that this win had seem him accomplish one of his goals and saw him realise a dream. "This is what it's all about. When I first started playing poker seriously seven years ao, my goal was to get to this stage, and now I've achieved it." Congratulations Joe Ebanks, enjoy the money and the glory!

Final table payouts

1st: Joe Ebanks: $1,158,481
2nd: Chris Moorman: $716,282
3rd: Bertand Grospellier: $447,074
4th: Tristan Wade: $292,866
5th: Taylor Paur: $198,400
6th: Mike Sowers: $138,801

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