Well it was a long, grueling day of poker and we expected nothing less when we started out today with 25 of the finest pot-limit Omaha players in the world, as they came together to battle it out for the coveted gold.
They fell away fast in the early stages, but once the final table was set, it was a tough battle that took enormous amounts of concentration, focus, and stamina.
By 4:30am the two most aggressive players remained, but in the end, only one could be crowned champion. A spirited heads-up battle started dead even, saw Graham crippled and then recover through a series of double-ups to get himself back into the contest and ultimately in front when the cards finally fell his way.
Well done to Vitaly Lunkin on yet another impressive WSOP performance and congratulations to Matt Graham our $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Champion!
On a limped flop of , Graham check-raised pot against Lunkin's 120,000 bet, making it 480,000 more. Lunkin made the call and there was 1.2 million in the pot.
The turn was the and Graham led out for 1.1 million. Lunkin moved all in and Graham called.
Graham:
Lunkin:
Lunkin had a gutshot and a flush draw against Graham's set of tens, which were in the lead. The river was the and after a quick countdown it was confirmed that Lunkin had fewer chips and was out in second place.
Lunkin quietly went over and shook Graham's hand with a smile, graceful in defeat.
Lunkin raises to 300,000 and Graham pots it. Lunkin sets him in and Graham calls.
Lunkin shows and Graham has .
"This was the hand we were waiting for," shouts one of Matt's friends, "wait until Vitaly has aces and trap him!"
The flop comes giving Lunkin top two and Graham top pair and a full wrap. The turn is the and Graham now has the straight. The river is the and Graham doubles up to about 4.5 million once more...retaking the chip lead.
Vitaly Lunkin raises to 300,000 and Graham repots it and Lunkin moves all in. Graham calls and it's the classic A-K vs. queens race, erm...sort of.
Graham:
Lunkin:
The flop is an absolute action killer: . Lunkin flops the nuts with the nut-flush draw, and Graham needs runner-runner. The turn is the giving him a shot but the river is the and Lunkin has 8.25 million and Graham has just 600,000.
Oops. Before I thought it was the waiter who had thrown a bag of beef jerky into Scott Seiver's eye. It wasn't, it was actually one of the players at the final table.