Neil Channing Once Again The WSOP Bridesmaid
Day 3 started with 20 players left, each of them hopeful of a final table appearance and from there they would each have had a realistic chance of winning a bracelet.
Back in 2008, the same year that he won the Irish Open Main Event, Neil Channing had to endure the disappointment of navigating through a 419 strong crowd in the £1,500 No Limit Hold'em event at the World Series of Poker Europe only to finish fourth.
Then two years later he finished second from 358 runners in a $5,000 Shootout in Las Vegas. He must be wondering if he will ever win a bracelet because just hours ago he finished second again, this time in Event #43 the $1,500 No Limit Hold'em event, this despite holding 75% of the chips in play when three handed! Ouch.
Day 3 started with 20 players left, each of them hopeful of a final table appearance and from there they would each have had a realistic chance of winning a bracelet. For 11 of them the dream ended within the first four hours but for the nine who made it to the "Mother Ship" final table stage the dream was well and truly alive. Each of them were just eight eliminations away from a massive $654,3880 payout and of course, the highly sought-after bracelet.
As popular British pro "Lil" Dave Nicholson often says, morale was high in the Channing camp, not only in himself but in his legions of fans who had gathered on the rail. Those railbirds must have thought their hero was going to go all the way in the tournament because within the first 20-minutes he had sent Jared Rosenbaum and Francois Dur to the sidelines and after John Nelson had done the same to Balazs Botond, Channing returned to his role of executioner; a role he seemed to not only enjoy but be frighteningly good at.
Hovan Nguyen, Nelson, Tom Alner and James Mackey all tangled with Channing and came away from the battle with no chips, which left Channing holding a massive 10,200,000 to 2,250,000 chip advantage over Henry Lu. Surely he could not lose the match from such a dominating position? Well unfortunately he could.
Almost immediately after the heads-up battle commenced Lu managed to close the substantial gap between him and Channing. Lu's As-Qs staying in front of Ac-Jc to cut Channing's lead dramatically, though Lu still trailed 7,530,000 to 2,250,000 chips. This gap was re-opened to pre-match levels thanks to Channing's relentless aggression but all the skill in the world cannot compensate for the times the cards just are not falling your way.
First Lu doubled with Ac-Kd against Channing's inferior Ah-10d and then he won a series of pots to first claw himself back into contention and then do the unthinkable and claim the chip lead for himself. Then with the one-on-one encounter rapidly approaching the three-hour mark the final hand, a killer blow for Channing, happened.
Channing looked down at Ad-Jd and rightly opened the pot with a raise to 250,000. Lu checked his holecards and decided that the best way to play 4c-4h would be to move all-in with them. Channing was prepared to pay this price and he made the call. The 2h-3s-Qs flop was almost as safe as it gets for pocket fours in this situation but the Kd on the turn gave some more outs to Channing. The dealer burned a card and put out the 3c on the river, sealing Channing's fate and gifting Lu the win.
Event #43 Final Table Results
1st: Henry Lu - $654,380
2nd: Neil Channing - $406,409
3rd: James Mackey - $286,000
4th: Tom Alner - $207,019
5th: John Nelson - $151,338
6th: Hovan Nguyen - $111,961
7th: Balazs Botond - $83,802
8th: Francois Dur - $63,459
9th: Jared Rosenbaum - $48,614
Prices quoted in copy are correct at time of publication but liable to change.
