WSOP Event #34 - $3,000 Limit Holdem
Sunday, June 24, 2007 | Adrian Milewski
A relatively small field compared to others in this years WSOP took part in this event with just 296 entrants. This is yet another indication of the decline in the popularity of limit Holdem in the poker world.
The final table lined up as follows:
- Seat 1: Vivek Rajkumar 170,000
- Seat 2: Petri Pollanen 94,000
- Seat 3: David Pham 254,000
- Seat 4: Marco Johnson 66,000
- Seat 5: Matthew Kelly 97,000
- Seat 6: Shawn Keller 260,000
- Seat 7: Brandon Wong 216,000
- Seat 8: Alex Borteh 389,000
- Seat 9: Michael Byrne 231,000
The players wasted no time in getting down to business with the first two eliminations taking place in the first two hands.
First out was Petri Pollanen when his A-Q was beaten by the A-5 of Vivek Rajkumar when he paired his 5 on the flop. Pollanen left in 9th place collecting $14,705.
Then in the second hand of the final table it was Marco Johnson who left when Michael Byrne made a flush on the turn to eliminate Johnson in 8th place for $20,424.
Byrne’s luck changed and he was the next person to be eliminated when his pocket 7’s were beaten by the A-K of Shawn Keller when he hit a king on the flop. Byrne left in 7th place good for $27,777.
Vivek Rajkumar, who had been very active at this final table was the next to leave when Brandon Wong flopped a pair of eights and then went on to make trips on the river eliminating Rajkumar in 6th place for $36,763.
Matthew Kelly was eliminated in 5th place when his pocket 7’s were no match for the two pair of Alex Borteh and Kelly left earning $46,567 for his performance.
The most experienced player at the final table was player of the year chaser David Pham but his day was the next to end when his K-Q didn’t connect with the board and Shawn Keller’s pair of nines sent him home in 4th place earning $62,906.
Keller’s luck changed when he was next to go, after Alexander Borteh caught runner runner kings on the turn and river to hit trip kings and eliminate Keller in 3rd place and send him home with $92,316.
Down to heads up play and Borteh had a significant chip lead over Wong with the chip counts as follows:
- Alex Borteh 1,200,000
- Brandon Wong 570,000
The blinds were already high at 15k / 30k there wasn’t much time for Wong to play with and the decisive hand came when his 
came up against 
with a flop of 
and the turn of 
leaving Wong drawing dead and awarding the bracelet and 1st place prize of $225,483 to Alexander Borteh.
The final standings for Event #34 of WSOP 2007 were:
- Alexander Borteh $225,483
- Brandon Wong $135,615
- Shawn Keller $92,316
- David Pham $62,906
- Matthew Kelly $46,567
- Vivek Rajkumar $36,763
- Michael Byrne $27,777
- Marco Johnson $20,424
- Petri Pollanen $14,705
There’s still time to qualify for the WSOP main event by winning one of the many satellites taking place on Pokerstars.
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- WSOP Event #40 - $1,500 Mixed Limit Holdem
- WSOP Event #18 - $5,000 Limit Holdem Championship
- World Series of Poker 2006 Commences
- WSOP Events #49 to #54 - Final Events summary
