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When Eli Elezra bet thirteen top pros they wouldn’t win bracelets at the 2007 World Series of Poker, the biggest beneficiary may have been the institution itself. It was because of that bet that a number of old school pros turned out for smaller tournaments they might not have otherwise played. It was because of that bet that Phil Ivey was at the final table of event 11 - $5,000 seven-card stud.
Ivey had announced a month prior to WSOP that he’d only be playing the $50,000 HORSE and the world championship. Then, a few drinks in to a night early in the series, Phil was amongst those boasting they could win bracelets if they cared. Elezra called them on their boasts, giving anywhere from 7-2 to 5-1 odds. Ivey asked out of the bet a few days later, but Elezra wasn’t having it. So it was Ivey found himself at the final table of event 11.
In the end, it came down to a four-man fight between Ivey, cab driver-turned poker pro Chris Reslock, big game players David Oppenheim and Pat Pezzin, already scoring his third cash of the series. Oppenheim would be the one to take Pezzin’s chips, but he couldn’t take advantage of his stack. Ivey won four of the next five hands and all three players were very much alive.
Ivey kept pushing the action and eventually took over the chip lead. The moment he did, Reslock won five of six hands to take a commanding lead, mostly at Oppenheim’s expense. Finally, Reslock finished the job on Oppenheim.
Reslock knew Ivey from the old days in Atlantic City and wasn’t intimidated by the mystique. He held a massive chip lead heading into heads-up and split six hands with Ivey before finally taking the tournament. Reslock got Phil all-in on sixth street, Reslock holding (10c 10s) 4d 10d Kd 2s to Ivey’s (7c 7h) 8h Qd 8s 9s.
The last two cards were dealt and Reslock immediately showed Jh. Ivey needed an eight or a seven but got neither, tossing his card in the muck. Reslock was the champion and a quarter-million wealthier; Ivey fell short of his sixth bracelet and still had a bet to win.
Gary Wise
gary@wisehandpoker.com
