WSOP Event #47: Bahador Ahmadi Wins The Title

The $2,500 Mixed Hold'em Event saw the remaining nine players taking
their seats at the final table on Day 3. Karlo Lopez started his day
with the largest stack at the table, but it wasn't going to be an easy
run even for him since likes of Ylon Schwartz and Barry Greenstein were
still in the race for the title.

With the first cards dealt, the action began and it didn't take long
for the table to lose its first player. Everyone folded to Zachary
Humphrey, who moved all-in for his last 10,000 and with Karlo Lopez
moving out of the way, Randy Haddox was the only person who decided to
make the call. Humphrey revealed and Haddox showed . The board came and with that ace on the river, Haddox made his Broadway to send Humphrey home in 9th place.

Even though Barry Greenstein (pictured left) began his day with a rather short stack, he
quickly worked his way up. Besides adding chips to his stack, he also
busted a player or two along the way. In one of such hands, Greenstein
raised to 50,000, Hasan Habib re-raised to 75,000 and Greenstein made
the call. The flop came , Greenstein bet and Habib made the call with his remaining chips. Greenstein showed and Habib held . The turn brought  and the river came , thus eliminating Habib in 8th place.

Greenstein continued his good run by winning a nice pot against Randy
Haddox thanks to pocket kings and then he busted the same player in one
of the following hands. Greenstein raised to 55,000, Haddox moved
all-in for 144,000 and Greenstein called. Haddox tabled and Greenstein showed . The flop came and Haddox was still in the lead, but the turn brought a jack and with the on the river, it was all over for Haddox who had to pack his bags in 7th place.

Greenstein was unstoppable, or so it seemed until he went up against
Ylon Schwartz. After a few duels between the two, Greenstein's last
hand of the tournament came into action. Schwartz raised to 80,000 and
Greenstein called, which left him with about 30,000 chips behind. The
flop came , Greenstein moved all-in with and Schwartz called with . The turn brought and the river came , thus sending Greenstein to the rail.

Source: IMPDI for 2009 WSOP

The former chip leader Karlo Lopez was the next to hit the rail.
Schwartz opened with a raise to 80,000, Lopez made it 120,000, John
McGuiness re-raised to 160,000 and both Schwartz and Lopez called. The
flop came , McGuiness bet 40,000, Schwartz called and Lopez called all-in for 19,000. The turn brought , McGuness bet 80,000, Schwartz folded and McGuiness tabled pocket sixes while Lopez showed K-9. The river came and Lopez was out in 4th place.

Ylon Schwartz was on his way to the heads-up play until his plans were
crumbled in a hand against Bahador Ahmadi. Action began with Ahmadi
making a raise to 105,000, Schwartz moved all-in for 495,000 and Ahmadi
made the call. Schwartz revealed and Ahmadi tabled . The board came and Schwartz was eliminated in 3rd place.

The heads-up play featured John McGuiness going up against Bahador
Ahmadi (pictured right) and quickly going down after a hand which saw a flop of . McGuiness put in his last 290,000 and Ahmadi made the call. McGuiness showed while Ahmadi held . The turn brought and sealed the deal, followed by a meaningless on the river.

Just one hand was dealt in the heads-up match and it was enough for Bahador Ahmadi to win the title. Ahmadi gained a huge chip lead during the Limit Hold'em session prior to the heads-up play, mostly by calling down the hyper-aggressive McGuiness. He played solid poker throughout the tournament, changing gears when needed and adapting to the table. Thanks to such a great performance, Ahmadi walked away with $278,104 and  the WSOP  bracelet.

Here are the final table results: