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Burt Boutin is a weird guy. “He’s the oldest looking thirty-nine year old in the world, for one thing” one media member told me as we watched him work his way through the final table of Event 7 - $5,000 pot-limit Omaha with rebuys. That’s hardly what sets him apart.
Boutin is a maniac at the table. He yells, he jumps, he screams. While pondering a decision, he’s known to grab a stack of twenty chips and slam it into the felt repeatedly. Words don’t do the act justice, because you’ve never seen behavior quite like it. Whatever it is he’s doing though, it apparently works.
Boutin has long been a successful cash game player, and he won his first World Series of Poker bracelet in 2001, that time in pot-limit hold’em. He had a second place finish at the WPT’s 2006 Mandalay Bay Poker Championship to go with many WSOP final tables. This was the one, however, where he truly isolated himself as one of the best poker players in the world.
The event started with just 145 entries. When that whittled its way down to the nine-player final table, a strong field was left standing. John Juanda and Humberto Brenes were both knocked out of final table action early, and Minh Ly went out in fifth. Third place went to Dave “Devilfish” Ulliott, the same devilfish Boutin beat for his bracelet six years earlier, leaving Burt with a 3-2 chip disadvantage against hot up-and-comer Erik Cajelais.
Boutin doubled up on the first hand of heads-up play. Both players limped on the preflop before the flop came Ah-8s-2s. With T160 in the pot, Boutin bet T125. Cajelais raised to T500K, and when Burt raised it another T1,000,000,Erik elected to move all-in. Boutin called and revealed As-Ks-Qh-6c for top pair and a nut flush draw. Cajelais had 8h-8d-5h-5d, for a flopped set.
The turn was 3s, giving Burt the flush and the lead. Cajelais needed to pair the board to avoid losing the T4,900,000 pot, but Qc dodged the bullet. Cajelais was down to T760,000, and four hands later, that was gone too.
Winning the first bracelet is a remarkable feat, but anyone can do it on the right day. Winning number two shows a player has attained a level of play that’s consistently excellent. Boutin proved his play was up to the task with his victory over a poker-packed table. He may be a little different, but he’s one hell of a poker player.
Gary Wise
gary@wisehandpoker.com
