WSOP Event #20: John-Paul Kelly Wins The Bracelet

It was a final table that held promise when Erik Seidel sat down as third in chips - he would be a scary opponent with any amount of chips, and for most of the previous day, it looked like the chip leader might be the only nemesis to the bracelet winner. The final table indeed turned out to be filled with action, but Erik Seidel was far from being the only catalyst.Being the short stack, Ravi Raghavan took a conservative approach and remained rather silent, attempting to steal the blinds from time to time. He ended up being the first one to be eliminated, nonetheless, when he put in his last chips with on the flop. Although he had an open-ended straight draw, Marc Tschirch called with for the higher draw and the higher pair. The on turn and river didn't help Raghavan and he had to take an early leave.

Andrew Radel was more unlucky when he hit top pair with his on the flop. He bet out and called when John-Paul Kelly attempted a move by shoving with his , but even though the turn blanked with the , the on the river was one of Kelly's two outs and eliminated Radel on 8th place. Kelly now held an impressive lead with over one million in chips.

Jason Dewitt quickly ended the table's hopes for Erik Seidel (pictured left) to put up a fight against Kelly's rampage. He fired bullets on all three streets against Seidel when the board unfolded , confronting Seidel - who really appeared like he wanted to see a showdown - with a wall of aggression. After a long time of consideration, he decided to call his all-in on the river, but he had to muck to a full house when Dewitt revealed his .The button sealed Tony Steward's fate when he tried to steal the blinds with his . Marc Tschirch just called from the big blind and the flop came down with .

When Tschirch checked to Tony Steward, he naturally bet his middle pair, only to be check-raised to almost all-in; after some consideration, Steward decided that he couldn't get away now and moved all-in for just 8,000 more in chips. Tschirch made the call and flipped over for the better middle pair. The and on turn and river gave Tschirch a flush - which didn't change a thing for Steward who was sent to the rails.

Aaron Virchis was the next one to go when he raised it up with his from the small blind and chip leader John-Paul Kelly called. Virchis checked the flop to Kelly, who didn't hesitate to put Virchis all-in. With less than the pot in chips behind, Virchis decided to make the call; and while his outs were still alive against Kelly's , the and to come up weren't his lucky cards and he had to go out on 5th place.

Source: IMPDI for 2009 WSOP

John-Paul Kelly (pictured right) was also the main actor in the hand which eliminated Kyle Carlston. The latter raised after a limp and was immediately faced with a 3-bet from Kelly. He called his remaining chip for the all-in and was in bad shape with against Kelly's . The board didn't hit Carlston and he was out on 4th, with a consoling $54,711 in prize money.

Jason Dewitt seemed to be the one to put a stop to Kelly's run
when his rivered a straight flush against on the board. They got all-in on the turn, and as the miracle card hit the river, Dewitt had taken away the chip lead from Kelly for the first time.

Kelly's revenge was however swift when he crippled Dewitt on a board unfolding . Dewitt couldn't let go of his and lost the majority of his chips to Kelly's when the hit the river. Marc Tschirch was the one to finally put Dewitt out of his misery when the on the river was enough for his to beat Dewitt's .

The heads-up offered a lot of action both pre-flop and post-flop as both March Tschirch and John-Paul Kelly hardly left a pot uncontested. In the final hand, Kelly tried to take down the pot with a bet on the flop with his - only to see Tschirch put up a fight with .

As the hit the turn, Kelly kept the pressure up and Tschirch tried to counter by raising all-in. Of course, his attempt royally failed and Kelly instantly called. The Kelly fans in the audience were screaming out "deuce" loudly as the hit the river and crowned John-Paul Kelly - who had managed to carry the chip lead through almost the entire final table - the new champion.