Pot Limit Omaha is a game of action and a short-handed format just adds fuel to the fire. MicroMillions Event #37 gave players all the action they could get plus two rebuys and an add-on should they find themselves having stack problems.
More than 3,500 players signed up for the tournament and hit the rebuy button 4,459 times. The field only had 1,427 players around for the bonus add-on after the close of registration to create a $28,197 prizepool, nearly 3-times the $10,000 guarantee. The players put enough chips in play that it took seven hours before the end was in sight.
They may like the action, but they were also given a great structure and the average stack stayed deep throughout and an extended final table bubble. While other players were getting their chips in and doubling to stay alive, it was Belgian Maddikt1970 who took a bad beat to burst the bubble.
Final Table chip counts:
Seat 1: MAKAR-kaZan (4,159,202 in chips)
Seat 2: RobberMike66 (5,301,674 in chips)
Seat 3: zhangxin1 (3,370,728 in chips)
Seat 4: MuJlJlu0HeP (5,254,209 in chips)
Seat 5: m_mikhalev (18,089,550 in chips)
Seat 6: macload88 (10,819,637 in chips)
Blinds: 150k/300k
MAKAR-kaZan misses draw, eliminated in 6th
The extended time needed to play down to the final table meant several players were sporting stacks vulnerable to the advancing blinds. One of those players found a big draw on the first hand of the final table and took it the mat.
macload88 opened with a bet from the small blind and MAKAR-kaZan came along from the big blind to the [Jc][7c][2h] flop. macload88 bet out for 600,000 to get a call from MAKAR-kaZan once again. The [6h] turn prompted macload88 to bet 3,000,000 which was more than enough to cover MAKAR-kaZan.
MAKAR-kaZan called the bet and showed [Qh][Th][6c][5c] which provided 23 big outs after macload88 tabled [Kc][Ks][6s][4s]. More than half the deck was in favor of MAKAR-kaZan but missed every single one of them when the [Jd] came on the turn to send the Russian out of the tournament in 6th place for $493.
RobberMike66 gets rocked, eliminated in 5th
It's never fun to get Aces cracked but feels a little worse at a five-handed final table with a chance at a big title. Omaha provides even more chances for it to happen. RobberMike66 found this out the hard way after putting out a pot-sized bet and chipleader m_mikhalev tagged along from the big blind.
The flop came [Ks][8c][2s] and m_mikhalev check-raised RobberMike66 all-in. It was a quick call with [Ad][As][Kh][7h] before seeing m_mikhalev flopped middle set with [Th][8d][8s][6c]. RobberMike66 was drawing very thin and the [Jd] turn left him looking for just one of the two remaining Aces. Neither of them appeared on the [4s] river and RobberMike66 was eliminated in 5th place for $916.
zhangxin1 aced, eliminated in 4th
zhangxin1 began the final table with the shortest stack, holding just over 10 big blinds and did nothing to improve besides standing still while others were eliminated. The Chinese grinder waited long enough and took a stand when the rest of the players were much better situated.
zhangxin1 opened for a pot-sized bet and macload88 came over the top from the big blind to complete the all-in. zhangxin1 called and they were both nearly even money to win the hand.
zhangxin1: [Kd][Js][9c][8c]
macload88: [Ah][6h][5c][3s]
They each hit the [Ac][Kh][4h] flop but macload88 stormed ahead with top pair and nut flush draw. Things became even more desperate for zhangxin1 after the [5s] gave macload88 Aces up and was left looking for a black King on the river. zhangxin1 found a blank river [3d] to lose the hand and exit the tournament in 4th place for $1,508.
MuJlJlu0HeP tries to deal, eliminated in 3rd
MuJlJlu0HeP was the shortest of the three remaining players and was trying to get the others to make a deal. The others weren't buying it.
MuJlJlu0HeP: "i can agree with 3k only at this step
It didn't seem to be a generous offer for a player with a substantial chip deficit and MuJlJlu0HeP immediately put out a pot-sized bet from the small blind. Chipleader m_mikhalev took the initiative and the pot-sized three-bet which was just short of putting MuJlJlu0HeP all-in.
m_mikhalev was ahead with [As][Qs][7d][5s] against [Ad][Th][7c][2c] and the [Kh][Kc][4d] flop made no difference. The [Jd] turn and [3s] river meant neither player connected on the board leaving m_mikhalev to win the hand playing the [As][Qs] kickers. MuJlJlu0HeP missed out on a deal and was eliminated in 3rd place for $2,354. Just a little shy of the requested $3k.
m_mikhalev runs over the final table to win Event #37
Seat 5: m_mikhalev (34,845,433 in chips)
Seat 6: macload88 (12,149,567 in chips)
m_mikhalev was holding a nice lead as the tournament went into heads-up mode and it lasted just four hands. But those four hands weren't without some drama. macload88 pulled the first two pots worth 12,000,000 to erase the gap and take the lead.
The two players paused the clock long enough to chop up the remaining prizepool leaving $200 behind for the winner. m_mikhalev won the third heads-up hand to swap the advantage before the tournament came to a quick conclusion.
macload88 opened from the button and m_mikhalev three-bet to 3,600,000. macload88 called to see the [Jc][Td][7s] flop before check-raising all-in. m_mikhalev called and turned out to have the best hand [Kh][Kd][Qd][8h] against [Qh][Qs][9s][2d]. macload88 had outs but m_mikhalev was holding three of them for the straight or set.
The [4h] turn left macload88 drawing thin and [Tc] did nothing but pair the board for both players. macload88 began the final table with 2nd place chips and finished that way it the end for $3,575 while m_mikhalev carried his chiplead through most of the final table to win it all for $3,997.
MicroMillions-37: $3.30 PL Omaha 6-Max, 2R1A
Entrants: 3,513 (4,459 re-buys, 1,427 add-ons)
Prize pool: $28,197
Places paid: 450
1. m_mikhalev (Russia) $3,997.13*
2. macload88 (Hungary) $3,575.85*
3. MuJlJlu0HeP (Russia) $2,354.44
4. zhangxin1 (China) $1,508.53
5. RobberMike66 (Sweden) $916.40
6. MAKAR-kaZan (Russia) $493.44
* - denotes heads-up deal