Travis Rice Wins Ultimate Bet Aruba Poker Classic
Travis Rice (Credit: Ultimate Bet)
548 folks played in the 2007 Ultimate Bet Aruba Poker Classic including pros such as Joanne “JJ” Liu, Mike “The Mouth” Matusow and UB.com's own Annie Duke and Phil “Eleven WSOP Bracelets” Hellmuth. The $5,500 buy-in tournament had a total prize pool of $2.7 million and took place at the Aruba Radisson Resort.
The final table was held outside, as in previous Aruba Poker Classics. Unfortunately for the final table mates, it was a hot and windy day. Despite the less than stellar conditions, the remaining six were in good spirits as the action got underway. Sitting at the top of the heap was a well-known internet player by the name of Travis “TravestyFund” Rice.
Jordan Rich and Jason Gray shared a room while in Aruba . The two mates from Portland , OR , were also KO'd in quick succession from the final table. Rich's pocket sevens proved no good against Brad Smithson's A,K after the latter flopped a full house. Gray was also dispatched by Smithson, who held pocket sevens this time. Gray's pocket rockets got cracked on the river when his opponent made an unlikely set. The duo took almost $200,000 back to the States between 'em, which is not bad at all.
At this point, Rice made some great moves. He took a big pot off Smithson, cracking his pocket aces. Then, he eliminated Nick Blackburn in fourth position. Blackburn pushed all-in for 320k with his K,Q in the hole. Rice called from the small blind with pocket fours. The flop was 9,6,4, giving Rice the clear advantage with trips. At this point, Jim Mordue stood up and announced that he folded a pair of sixes. Ouch!
Blackburn didn't catch the cards he needed to survive and received $146,180 for his efforts.
Smithson then doubled up with K,9 against Mordue's pocket sevens. He almost broke the million mark in chips at one point. Unfortunately, his A,J proved to be no match for Mordue's A,K and left the competition in third place.
About eight hours into the final table play, Mordue and Rice began their heads-up match-up. Rice had the advantage with 3.5 million chips to Mordue's 1.9 million. The duo didn't battle for very long. In fact, the match was over in a few short hands. Perhaps they were trying to avoid the bugs that began circulating once night fell.
On the last hand, Mordue had Rice dominated with an A,K vs. TravestyFund's K,10. However, the turn was a ten, which sealed Mordue's fate and crowned Rice the king of the “ Caribbean ” – for now.
Here are the final results:
1) Travis Rice - $797,355
2) Jim Mordue - $478,405
3) Brad Smithson - $252,490
4) Nick Blackburn - $146,180
5) Jason Gray - $106,310
6) Jordan Rich - $77,075