Faustman Wrestles Competition at World Poker Open
The World Poker Open Main Event, the highlight of the World Poker Tour's weeks-long festival of poker at the Gold Strike Casino in Robinsonville, MS, was one star-studded event. The final table alone featured two former WPT champs, Kassem “Freddy” Deeb (UltimateBet Aruba Poker Classic – 2005) and Hoyt Corkins (World Poker Finals – 2003). Deeb, who was also victorious at the 2007 WSOP $50,000 HORSE tournament, walked into the final table with a slight chip lead.
Also sitting at the final table was 2005 CardPlayer Player of the Year Men “The Master” Nguyen, a truly fearsome character who is definitely no stranger to WPT final tables or tournament success. One, of course, couldn't count out John Spadavecchia. Spadavecchia, a Floridian, has a World Series of Poker Circuit championship (Cesar's Palace – 2006) and lifetime tournament earnings in excess of $2.4 million.
Cash game specialist, Gabe Costner, a former financial adviser and Brett Faustman, a former collegiate wrestler, rounded out the tough final table. Both men had more than 1.1 million chips – and lots of wiggle room – going into the action.
The first player out was Spaddavecchia. Beginning the day as the short stack, the talented pokerati, who won his first and only WSOP bracelet in Deuce to Seven lowball back in 1991, lasted five hands before succumbing to the soft-spoken yet aggressive Alabama Cowboy himself, Hoyt Corkins. Spadavecchia earned $96,477 for his sixth place finish.
Freddy Deeb and The Master got into a few verbal sparring matches. This culminated in a fantastic showdown on hand #16. The Master went all in with his pocket ladies and took a massive chunk of the former mechanical engineering student's chips. Deeb then doubled up through Gabriel “Gabe” Costner. Costner, who hails from Albertville, was eliminated by his fellow Alabaman Corkens. This was Corkins' second KO of the match.
Corkins was in good shape at this point, having overtaken the chip lead. During the next few hours, each of the four remaining players would take their turn at the top. Unfortunately, Deeb took some critical hits from Nguyen. This made the Lebanese-born pro ripe for the picking. On his final hand, the 28 year old insurance salesman from Michigan, Faustman swooped in with big slick in the hole. Deeb's 8,7 of diamonds couldn't defeat the higher cards of his opponent on a board of 6h,6s,4d,6c,9c. The colorfully-attired Full Tilt sponsored-pro hit the rails in fourth place, taking down more than $165,000 for his efforts.
The three remaining players traded blinds. Nguyen found time to throw back a few beers as well. With their stacks nearly identical, Corkins and Nguyen tussled. Nguyen put it all in with a K,10 and Corkins flipped up his pocket hooks. The board brought Nguyen no love – he narrowly missed a straight. This left Corkins alone with Faustmann, a guy who once held a job as a poker dealer.
Faustman had a slight advantage as heads-up play began with 2,715,000 to Corkins' 2,470,000. For more than forty hands, the two would swap chips back and forth with no major confrontation taking place. Most of the draws seemed to fall Faustman's way. At one point, he took a more than two to one lead against the Alabaman.
On the final hand, Corkins limped in on the button with 80k. Faustman raised to 250k. Corkins thought for a bit and called with his pocket ducks. The flop came down 9h,9s,3c. Faustman bet 280k. Corkins went all-in. Faustman stood up and quietly agreed to call. Corkins saw that he was up against it when the youngster flipped over his pocket queens. The turn and the river didn't produce one of the two deuces Corkins would need to win, and Faustman, who was not the odds-on favorite going into this difficult final table, won the title, a seat to the WPT Championship at the Bellagio in April and nearly $900,000.
Here are the final results:
1) Brett Faustman - $892,413 2) Hoyt Corkins - $458,267 3) Men Nguyen - $241,193 4) Freddy Deeb - $168,835 5) Gabe Costner - $123,008 6) John Spadavecchia - $96,477