Bill Edler has always been one of the solid citizens of the tournament circuit. Likable and skilled, he’s always had the respect of fellow players like good friends Gavin Smith, Chris Bell and Erick Lindgren.
Edler finally had his big breakthrough tournament this month, when he won the Heads-Up Challenge being held at Crystal Park Casino in Los Angeles. Sixty-four heavy hitters gathered, putting up $10,000 a piece with the winner taking all. Edler defeated Barry Greenstein in the final, buoying his confidence coming into the LA Poker Classic at Commerce Casino.
His run didn’t end quickly once here. Edler showed a steady hand in building his stack over the days, even taking the chip lead briefly. He headed into the fifth day of play as one of the leaders, albeit far behind JC Tran, but as the blinds mounted, his time started to run out. He finally made a stand against Paul Wasicka, another former chip leader who finished second at this year’s WSOP.
When the table folded to Wasicka on the button, Paul raised to T160,000. Edler, sitting on the small blind, re-raised all-in, putting Paul to a big decision for his remaining T760,000. Finally, Wasicka decided the range of hands Edler could hold was to broad to fold to and made the call with As-10c. It was a good read, as Edler had just Qd-Js.
The flop came Ks-8s-5h, maintaining Wasicka’s lead. 7d on the turn left Edler needing a queen or a jack to avoid being crippled. Unfortunately for Edler, the river was no help; 8h sealed the deal and Wasicka had doubled up. Edler would be eliminated a few hands later in seventh place at the hands of David Bach.
Gary Wise
gary@wisehandpoker.com
