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Thomas Wahlroos wanted to make the final table of the World Poker Tour’s Season Five World Championship badly. Handsome, young, a celebrity in his native Finland, Wahlroos had yet to score a major final table on this side of the ocean.
Thomas finished third in the WPT’s Grand Prix de Paris in 2006, but that hardly sated his hunger. A man who once skydived twenty-five times in one day, the constant search for adrenal fulfillment seems to be what drives him. For him, the ultimate rush would have been a Championship victory. Unfortunately, he’ll have to try again to reach those heights at his next event.
Wahlroos had T4,350,000, good for four in chips, when the final hand of the fifth day arrived. It started with professional Mike Wattel raising the T80,000/T160,000 blinds to T420,000. Chip leader Paul Lee called on the cutoff and the rest of the table folded to Wahlroos in the big blind. Playing on the opposition’s desire to reach the final table Promised Land, he moved all-in with As-10s.
Wattel folded before Lee made the call with Ad-Qs. Some spectators felt the call was a questionable one, but he’d made the right play when hindsight was applied. When the flop came Jh-8s-2s, Thomas was allowed hope for the victory; it wouldn’t come, with the turn and river coming 2d and 5d respectively.
Lee enters the final table with more chips –T11,800,000—than any two other players combined. He’s followed by 2001 World Champion Carlos Mortensen, billionaire hobbyist Guy Laliberte, professional Kirk Morrison, Wattel and Californian Tim Phan. It’s a strong final table, and every player on it is a story. One of them becomes history tomorrow.
Gary Wise
gary@wisehandpoker.com
