Poker: Binger Leaves Vegas for the Bucks
Written by playerpress.com, Wednesday November 26 2008
While most of the fans spent the middle of November concentrating on Las Vegas and the WSOP main event, Michael Binger, a Vegas resident, took his skills on the road. He took his knowledge of the cards and set up shop in Harvey's Lake Tahoe for a Circuit event that made Binger $181, 379 richer for his travels.
The event Binger entered was a three day affair that started with 125 players. By the end of day one only 55 remained seated and eligible for prize money. Included among the survivors was Chris Ferguson. He won the event in ’07 and was the 2000 World Poker Champion. A repeat would have been historical since no buy in tournament has had a repeat winner since 1989. Despite the pretournament hype, Ferguson fell short and settled for 11th overall.
Day three saw the field narrowed to nine players. Included was two time WSOP Champ Scott Clements. Although Clements has earned over $3million in tournament earnings since entering competition he could do no better than 9th and exited with $13,444.
There were still many familiar faces left in the dwindling field. Among them was Bill Bostick who was in his second Harvey’s Lake Tahoe event this year. Bostick was quick behind Clements and returned to his auto business with $18,566.While not a bad payday for a weekend of work, it won’t bail out the industry he represents.
Travis Erdman, a financial investor, made a brief run to what looked like a first place finish before falling back to earth in just a few short hands. Erdman had pocket kings with a spade when he made his move for victory. Ty Stewart countered with two spades that were good for a flush. The flush washed out Erdman and left him aware of the folly of risky investment.
Later, Stewart went on to eliminate Mike McClain. McClain is the guy whose defeated visage has been used countless times since recorded during his 2003 WSOP loss to Chris Moneymaker. McClain got to practice his agony of defeat face again when Stewart sent him packing in the fourth place position.
With three players left at the table, Stewart appeared to hold the advantage. Binger had to vie with Jake Solis to stay afloat and at times was far behind in the chip count. Trailing by 8 to 1 in chips Binger displayed ice cold patience and slowly started to take control. He blew through a bluff by Stewart to swing the lead in his favor and never looked back.
It remained close, but Binger stayed on top and fed off of Stewart’s sudden desperation. To demonstrate how tight the game was Binger’s winning hand was a pair of 9’s. That topped Stewart’s pair of 8’s.
As the winner of the Harvey’s Lake Tahoe, Binger is automatically entered into the 2009 WSOP and even earns $1000.00 expense money for his trip. This tournament earned him a gold ring, but he is looking for the gold bracelet that is awarded the WSOP Champion. He’s got the guts to make that desire come true.
.
Tags:
Leave a comment
Not So Fast! To publish your comment, you have to login
Not Registered? Register now as it only take 20 seconds!
Click here to browse
0 comments