WSOP Event #43: Michael Davis Wins The Seniors Tournament

With 28 players returning for the final play day of the $1,000 No Limit
Hold'em Seniors Event, everything was set for the champion to be
declared. A total of 2,707 seniors signed up for this event and despite
choosing small ball poker over crazy aggressive poker, the majority of
the field was lost on Day 1 and it continued to whittle down in a
steady pace on Day 2.

Day 3 had a somewhat different opening - did you say seniors lost the
fire in their minds to do stunts like moving all-in pre-flop? Chuck
McCormick made things straight right away, as the play had just began
and he was already all-in against both Mitch Garshofsky and Charles
Simon.

The flop came and both Garshofsky and Simon checked. The turn brought and they checked again. The river came , Garshofsky bet 100,000 and Simon folded. Garshofsky showed and McCormick tabled which wasn't good enough to keep him in the tournament, as he had to make his way out in 28th place.

Players
continued to fall down in a rapid pace, including the chip leader from
Day 2, Tom Thomas. He was busted just short of the final table, after
he pushed all-in with on a flop of . Charles Simon called and revealed . The turn brought and with the on the river, Simon made a straight just to confirm that Thomas was out in 12th place.

Scott Buller turned to his buddies on the rail and commented, "Remember what I told you yesterday. He wouldn't make the final table." Buller then continued his little chat with the tournament director, "I told you he wouldn't make it. He kept calling with king eight and king seven, you can't win like that." The tournament director replied, "Maybe the money doesn't mean anything to him." Buller finished the talk by saying, "To some people it doesn't, but you should still want to play it out for the game if you love the game."

With Ted Garner and Mitch Garshofsky being busted next, the final table
was set. The remaining nine players would soon become the remaining
eight players, as Robert Beck was busted early on. Michael Morusty bet
out 90,000 on a flop of , Robert Beck moved all-in and Morusty snap-called, turning over . Beck showed which didn't improve, as the turn came and the river came . Beck earned $53,208 for finishing in 9th place.

Richard McCall was busted in 8th place after he moved all-ih with on a flop of . Not the best time to make such a move, as Dan Delatorre held a flush with . No help came from the board, as and to eliminate McCall. Art Duncan was the next player to hit the rail, after his lost against Charles Simon's .
The board came to bust Duncan in 7th place.

Dan Delatorre followed shortly after, as his ran into Michael Morusty's . Not the kind of situation he wanted to find himself in, nevertheless, not everything was lost - at least until the board came and sealed the deal. Morusty was down to just 1,000 in chips at one point on Day 2 and now he was up to 1,725,000. Meanwhile, Delatorre had to walk away with $76,118 in prize money he earned for finishing in 6th place.

Charles Simon was the chip leader after Day 1, close behind the chip leader
on Day 2 and on the final play day...his great run in this tournament
ended with him packing his bags in 5th place. Scott Buller opened for 200,000 from under the gun, Simon pushed all-in from the small blind and Buller called. Simon showed and Buller revealed . The board came and Simon was busted, earning $95,332 for his efforts.

Source: IMPDI for 2009 WSOP

Even though Michael Morusty was doing quite well, he met his end after
a hand against Buller. The action began with a 150,000 raise from
Buller's corner, Morusty raised, Buller moved all-in and Morusty
insta-called. Buller tabled and Morusty was looking good with . However, the board came and Morusty had to leave the table in 4th place. This pot gave Buller a commanding chip lead of 5.8 million.

Michael Davis cut the final table down to just two players after he eliminated Barry Bounds. Davis raised to 360,000, Bounds moved all-in and Davis called with . Bounds showed and didn't get enough help from the board as it ran . Even though Bounds' caught straight on the river, Davis made the nut flush which marked the end of Bounds' final table appearance.

The race for the title was down to a heads-up match between Scott Buller and Michael Davis (pictured right). It was a quick battle between the two, as their final hand featured Buller raising for 175,000, Davis made it 600,000 more to go, Buller announced he was all-in and Davis called. Buller revealed and Davis turned over . The board came and it was all over. Davis was in bad shape pre-flop, but that nine on the turn changed everything. This victory earned Davis the Seniors Championship title and WSOP bracelet.

Here are the final table results:

World Series Of Poker Event #43 Results
Place	Name	Prize
1st	Michael Davis	$437,358
2nd	Scott Buller	$268,507
3rd	Barry Bounds	$179,210
4th	Michael Morusty	$126,863
5th	Charles Simon	$95,332
6th	Dan Delatorre	$76,118
7th	Art Duncan	$64,047
8th	Richard McCall	$56,903
9th	Robert Beck	$53,208