The PartyPoker Premier League Group A has reached its conclusion, and as is expected in the final heats of these things it contained everything but the kitchen sink.
The final heat resembled a bomb site, but once the smoke had cleared, three people stood tall and proud: Jonathan Duhamel, Daniel Cates and Sam Trickett march on to the final, with Antonio Esfandiari playing Scott Seiver in a best-of-three heads-up match for the final berth.
One man missing from that list is the most powerful player in poker: Daniel Negreanu. The highest ranked player in the BLUFF Power 20 List was the player left holding the bagel, in a hand against Jonathan Duhamel that saw the usually chirpy and gracious Negreanu throw his chips across the table, not once but twice, to bring the entire proceedings to a halt so the mess could be sorted out.
Cates opened the action to 12,000 holding [Kd] [Jd], Negreanu called with [As] [Qd] as did Esfandiari [9s] [9c], Trickett [5d] [4d], and Seiver with [Kc] [8c] before Duhamel moved all-in holding [7c] [4c] for 250,000. Only Negreanu made the call and after the board ran out [Ah] [6h] [4s] [Kd] [4h] the frustrated Negreanu boiled over.
Duhamel maintained his momentum to reach the heads up against Cates, but it was The Jungleman who took the final heat and maximum points.
Group Heat #4 Final Standings
- Daniel Cates – 16pts – $32,000
- Jonathan Duhamel – 11pts – $22,000
- Sam Trickett – 8pts – $16,000
- Scott Seiver – 6pts – $12,000
- Antonio Esfandiari – 4pts – $8,000
- Phil Hellmuth – 3pts – $6,000
- Marvin Rettenmaier – 2pts – $4,000
- Daniel Negreanu – 0pts – $0
And that means the final Group A standings look like this:
Group A Final Standings
- Jonathan Duhamel – 42pts – $84,000 (takes 420,000 chips into the final)
- Daniel Cates – 34pts – $68,000 (takes 340,000 chips into the final)
- Sam Trickett – 27pts – $52,000 (takes 270,000 chips into the final)
- Antonio Esfandiari – 23pts – $46,000 (plays Scott Seiver HU for a seat)
- Scott Seiver – 21pts – $42,000 (plays Antonio Esfandiari HU for a seat)
- Phil Hellmuth* – 21pts – $42,000
- Marvin Rettenmaier- 16pts – $32,000
- Daniel Negreanu – 16pts – $32,000
* Despite drawing with Seiver, Hellmuth loses out because his highest finish across the heats (3rd) was not as good as Seivers (2nd).
Group B Heat 3
When Talal Shakerchi plays live tournament poker his game selection theory is quite simple. Give me the most expensive buy-in around and I’m in. For Shakerchi, it’s not about the money. After all, the hedge fund manager has so much stuffed in his mattress his nose touches the ceiling. For Shakerchi it’s all about testing yourself against the greatest players in the world, and the name of Tobias Reinkemeier is one that Shakerchi puts into that elite bracket.
Shakerchi, who is coming off the back of a EPT London High Roller win, has just faced his familiar German nemesis in the heads up of Group B Heat #3, and taken maximum points to leave him standing third place in the group proper. Reinkeimer is still the group leader overall, and if you are going to put your money on anyone then he is a very good bet indeed.
Group B Heat #3 Final Standings
- Talal Shakerchi – 16pts – $32,000
- Tobias Reinkemeier – 11pts – $22,000
- Dan Shak – 8pts – $16,000
- Tony G – 6pts – $12,000
- Jason Mercier – 4pts – $8,000
- Igor Kurganov – 3pts – $6,000
- Jennifer Tilly – 2pts – $4,000
- Phil Laak – 0pts – $0
And that means the Group B overall standings look like this:
Group B Overall Standings
- Tobias Reinkemeier – 38pts – $76,000
- Dan Shak – 35pts – $70,000
- Talal Shakerchi – 26pts – $52,000
- Jennifer Tilly – 16pts – $32,000
- Jason Mercier – 10pts – $20,000
- Tony G – 10pts – $20,000
- Igor Kurganov – 8pts – $16,000
- Phil Laak – 16pts – $32,000
