Dan Lacourse Wins Seniors Championship
Published on 26 Jun 08 11:05 by tiva
Dan Lacourse won the $1,000 Seniors No-Limit Hold'em World Championship (Event 42). In the heads-up the retired policeman outplayed Dale Eberle - a retired fireman. Lacourse received his first bracelet and cashed $368,759.
Participants Between 50 and 91 Years of Age
According to the rules, the players of the event had to be at least 50 years of age. 2,218 participants fitting the the description followed the call and set a new record for that event. The oldest player of this year was 91-year-old Harold White.
Where Was Brunson Hiding?
The tournament lasted three days and was dominated by amateurs. Fred Berger was the only final table player to own a bracelet. In 2000 Berger succeeded in the $3,000 Pot-Limit Hold'em Event. During the WSOPs of the past years he was able to cash a total of seven times. During this year's Event 42, Lacourse sent Berger to the rails (rank 5).
Some legends also participated, among them were Amarillo Slim, Humberto Brenes, Billy Baxter, Johnny Chan, Tony Ma, Tom McEvoy and Men Nguyen. None of them made it to the final table. Icon Doyle Brunson did not attend the tournament.
Heads-Up of Pensioners: Ex Policeman vs Ex Fireman
Both Lacourse and Eberle have worked for the emergency services of Ohio. Now they encountered each other in Las Vegas, battling for a WSOP-bracelet. It was a short combat though - after some 10 minutes the retired police man had eliminated his opponent.
The Last Hand
Commencing heads-up play, Lacourse already held the chiplead of 4.1M to 2.5M. Playing the crucial hand Eberle raised preflop to 180,000. Lacourse called. The flop came 
. Lacourse checked, Eberle bet 200,000, Lacourse called. On a turn of 
Lacourse checked, Eberle bet 0.5M and Lacourse check-raised all in. Eberle called and Lacourse had Eberle covered. Lacourse held 
, Eberle had 
. Eberle needed a king to be able to compete with Lacourse's set of nines. The river showed 
and Lacourse went home with his first WSOP Bracelet.
