Moorman Misses Out On WSOP Glory

World Series of Poker / Matthew Pitt / 20 June 2011 / Leave a Comment

Eventual winner Oleksii Kovalchuk (Photo credit: PokerNews / WSOP.com)

Chris Moorman is going to have to wait a little longer to get his hands on a coveted World Series of Poker bracelet after he crashed out of Event #26 in third place, narrowly missing out on the glory that he will inevitably one day revel in.

A total of 1,378 players exchanged $2,500 for 7,500 chips in the Six Handed No Limit Hold'em tournament and these were whittled down to just 22 over two days. These 22 players took their seats in The Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino over the weekend to play out for the title of WSOP Champion. Many saw this as Moorman's tournament to lose as the short-handed format is perfect for his relentless aggression.

This trademark aggression was on show throughout the day and especially in a hand that took place just as the final two tables had been reached. On a flop reading Qs-4s-5c Moorman lead out with a bet of 125,000 only to see Anthony Ruberto quickly make it 315,000 to play. Moorman checked his cards, paused for a moment before announcing he was all in for around an extra 360,000 chips. Ruberto rocked back on his chair, clearly anguished about his situation and after a minute of so he relinquished his hand. As he did Moorman turned over As8d for just ace-high, nice hand sir.

Moorman was in his element and looked on course to become the fourth British bracelet winner of the current WSOP but just after Eric Hettinga's elimination in eighth place happened, disaster struck for the online poker legend. Moorman made it 45,000 to play from under the gun and the action folded to Ruberto in the small blind and he made the call. Next to act was the Ukranian Oleksii Kovalchuk in the big blind and he squeezed to 125,000. With the action back on Moorman he wasted no time in raising to 250,000, which was enough to fold out Ruberto but Kovalchuk moved all in. Moorman made the call and turned over AhQc, which caused Kovalchuk to wince as he discovered his Ac2d was in really bad shape. However, poker is a funny old game and Kovalchuk went from zero to hero as the flop came down 5h-4h-3d giving him a straight! The 6c on the turn meant any deuce or seven would split the pot but alas it was the Jc and with that Moorman plummeted to 380,000 whilst his Ukranian opponent soared to 2,140,000.

Not long afterwards Kovalchuk was at it again, this time getting his money in with 4s4d against the JsJc of Ruberto on a board reading 4c-Jd-Ac-Ts only to spike a one outer on the river to increase his stack to a massive 4,200,000, some of which he donated back to Moorman as the Brit doubled up with AdKd versus AhQh, though the Ukranian would go on to have the last laugh.

After the eliminations of Will "The Thrill" Failla, Ruberto, Mazin Khoury and Dan O'Brien play was three-handed and although Moorman was the shortest stack of the three he was also the best player of the trio and the most experienced in these short-handed situations. All that skill and experience is completely useless against an opponent who is running hotter than the sun, as Moorman knows all too well as he exited to yet another piece of good fortune for Kovalchuk. The man with more than $7,000,000 in online winnings got his last 1,100,000 into the middle of the felt with KcJs and found himself in a prime position to double through Kovalchuk who held a dominated Kh9s. But by the river the board read Td-5c-Qh-7d-Jh to give Kovalchuk a winning straight destroy Moorman's dreams of winning a WSOP bracelet.

Kovalchuk held a large 8,000,000 to 2,300,000 chip lead over Ionel Anton but the Romanian, who came third in the PCA Main Event earlier this year for $1,300,000, managed to level things up and even take the lead at one point but the run-good of Kovalchuk was too much for him to overcome. In the final hand of the tournament, with blinds of 25,000/50,000/5,000a, Kovalchuk made it 150,000 to play and then snap-called when Anton raised all in for around 1,500,000. The Ukrainian held 7c7h and was up against the Ac6s of the Romanian and when the flop came down 9s-5h-7d, giving Kovalchuk a set of sevens, Anton was drawing very thinly. The Th on the turn kept things as they were but the Td on the river fill up Kovalchuk to an unnecessary full house, winning him his first and the Ukraine's second-ever bracelet.

Final table results

1st: Oleksii Kovalchuk: $689,739
2nd: Ionel Anton: $428,140
3rd: Chris Moorman: $271,800
4th: Dan O'Brien: $179,162
5th: Mazin Khoury: $121,416
6th: Anthony Ruberto: $84,549

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