You Need UB to Spell ARUBA

Hellmuth, Duke, and the gang invade the island for the sixth annual Aruba Poker Classic
BY KATIE LINDSAY

THERE WAS NO CHRIS MONEYMAKER, no hole-card cams, no poker boom, when the Aruba Poker Classic got its start. The year was 2002, and more than a hundred players scheduled a “working” vacation to play poker against an Aruban backdrop before poker had become what it is now. Five years later, as you might expect, the tournament is quite a bit bigger. More than a thousand people showed up this year to participate, watch, or write about a week of fun, sun, and, of course, poker.
September 29 marked the first day of festivities for the 2007 Ultimate Bet Aruba Poker Classic, and the Radisson Hotel and Casino’s pool was the setting for the opening party. Most of those participating in the tournament were in attendance, including UB representative Phil Hellmuth, who felt it was his duty to man the mic for the night. Hellmuth couldn’t help but let the prop bets roll and offered everything from $500 to $2,000 for people to jump into the adjacent swimming pool. Those who took him up on his offer included topless women, a fully clothed Kristy Gazes, and ALL IN Blackjack’s own “Hollywood” Dave Stann.
After a wild night, a weary but eager group of poker players dragged themselves out of bed for the World Series of Poker Academy being held the next morning. Annie Duke, James “KrazyKanuck” Worth, Mark Seif, and a late-as-usual Phil Hellmuth held a clinic in which they taught the basics of live tournament strategy and then finished it off with a Q&A.

Duke was particularly impressed by the turnout for the morning lesson. “It was great that we had a party last night and over a hundred people still showed up early in the morning to learn poker,” she remarked.
Bringing more well-deserved attention to the world of poker during the Classic was The Travel Channel. The cable network is no longer in the poker business on a weekly basis, but they still found an excuse to come to Aruba, filming an hour-long special called Your Travel Guide: Aruba Poker Adventure. The host of the show, Shane Reynolds, was lucky enough to receive a lesson from none other than Ms. Duke and get some tips on pre-flop strategy to aid him in the $5,000 buy-in tournament.

Not to be outdone, Phil Hellmuth was getting some camera time of his own up in his penthouse suite. After winning his seat in the VH1 Rock ’n Roll Celebrity Poker Tournament, Scott Ian from the band Anthrax received lessons from the one and only “Poker Brat,” and The Travel Channel got it on film.

Prior to the lesson, Ian mentioned he had a hard time dealing with the bad beats poker can sometimes give, and Hellmuth was quick to jump in with a response. “I’m the best player in the world and I always have the best hand when I get it in,” he modestly mentioned. Then, thankfully, he followed up with some actual advice, telling Ian that you just have to move on and not let it get to you.

A couple of hours after their respective lessons, both Ian and Reynolds were quickly put to the test when they decided to join a private poker party thrown by Hellmuth. The buy-in was $200, and it quickly became pricier after the single-table tournament was deemed a re-buy event. Annie Duke, Joe Reitman, and Annette Obrestad all found themselves yelling out “Re-buy!” to Matt Savage, who acted as tournament director. In the end, Hellmuth picked up another reason to brag with his $5,900 first-place cash.

After a few days of fun, it was time for the players to settle down and focus on the major tournament about to take place. The event was broken into two Day Ones, 1A and 1B, to accommodate the 548 registered players.

On Day 1A World Series of Poker Europe champion Obrestad continued to prove what a force she is, playing her aggressive game well and managing to get a hold of a mountain of chips early. Things didn’t go quite as well for some other notable players. Those sent to the beach early included Hellmuth (who actually was always in with the best hand), Duke, who said she “never had a hand all day,” and Joe Sebok.

The players that busted didn’t seem to mind too much; Hellmuth played cash games, Duke went to the spa, and Sebok hung out at the pool.

Ultimate Bet went all out for their players and those attending the Aruba Classic this year. Every day, they trotted out a new surprise by the poker room. On Day 1A, it was an open Grey Goose Martini Bar. Spotted enjoying some spirits were Seif and online standout Mark “Poker H0” Kroon. Other events for the week included a sushi-and-champagne-tasting day and a wine-tasting session.

As for those playing poker, Obrestad ended the day in 22nd place with more than $30,000 in chips, while Mike Matusow was nipping at her heels and finished with $28,000.

Day 1B featured a whole new flock of faces including martini pals Kroon and Seif. David Williams and Evelyn Ng also played Day 1B and had an interesting story to tell from the previous week in Turks and Caicos. It seems online and live player Matt Gianetti took a $15,000 prop bet agreeing to swim in the Club Med hotel pool for 12 straight hours. From midnight till noon, Gianetti treaded water with several onlookers and friends providing support. He made it through the night, and Ng said she was there with him when he finished and collected on his bet.

When the cards got in the air on Day 1B in Aruba, Williams was left wishing he could tread water half as well as Gianetti did. Williams’ Aruba trip was a short one, as he made an early exit and headed right back to the States. Other early bustouts included Seif, top-ranked online player Jon “PearlJammer” Turner, and Gary “Debo34” Debonardi.

Robert Williamson III showed up late to the tournament after staying up until the wee hours of the morning playing in the casino. It served him well, though, because he finished the day with $31,900 in chips.
The fields from the two separate Day Ones were combined for Day Two on October 4, with 246 hopefuls still alive. Williamson showed up on time for Day Two, and it was a good thing he did. In one of the first few hands, he won a $20,000 pot holding As-Qs on a 8-Q-Q-5-5 board.

Play moved quickly on Day Two, with three tables being broken within the first hour. UB’s own online pro Kroon was one of those early casualties after getting his 9-9 all in pre-flop and finding he was dominated by an opponent’s K-K. Meanwhile, Obrestad survived the early elimination spree, but the 19-year-old phenom was knocked out right before the dinner break.

The day finished at 1 a.m. with 54 players returning for Day Three, all of them taking home a paycheck. Going into Day Three, online pro Jonathan “FireyJustice” Little (who’s also had a great year in live tournaments) led the pack with $300,000 in chips.

Michael Gracz was also among the chip leaders, but that changed when he took a bad beat early in the day. He got all in on a K-Q-9 flop holding K-J to his opponent’s K-10. The turn was a jack, which gave Gracz two pair, but it gave his opponent a straight, and the meaningless eight on the river crippled the former WPT and WSOP titlist down to $6,300 in chips. Gracz ended up busting a few hands later in 45th place. Williamson and Matusow joined him on the rail shortly after, less than two hours into play for the day.

Once it got town to 35 players in the mid-afternoon, they redrew seats and started playing six-handed down to the final table. J.J. Liu was the last big name pro to bust, departing after her A-J got in dominated by A-K. One player who outlasted Liu was Club Med pool boy Matt Gianetti, who eventually busted in 12th place and pocketed more than $26,000.

The final two tables kept battling until shortly before midnight, but with considerably more eliminated players than in-contention players left on the premises, Phil Hellmuth decided to throw a lavish private party in his penthouse suite while the poker action was still going on. He hired a two-man Caribbean band as well as a deejay, kept the hot tub at a constant 104 degrees, and, of course, had plenty of bottles of Dom Perignon and Grey Goose handy. Among the attendees were UB spokesmodel Serinda Swan, Duke, Williamson, Ian, and the Anthrax rocker’s fiancée Pearl (who is the daughter of musician Meatloaf). Pearl and Ian surprised the crowd with an impromptu performance of songs off her upcoming album—her singing, him playing guitar.

A storm hit the island that night and delayed Saturday’s final table. It finally kicked off a little after 2 p.m. on October 6, about two hours after it was originally scheduled to, with a table full of talented but relatively unknown players taking their seats.

Travis “TravestyFund” Rice arrived as the chip leader with $1.5-million in chips, with Brad Smithson right behind him with $1.4-million. Next was Jim Mordue with $997,000, then Nick Blackburn with $949,000 and Jordan Rich with $700,000, and on the short stack was Jason Gray with $247,000. Rich was the first player eliminated, and he took home $77,075 for his efforts, and Gray went out in fifth place, earning $106,310.
In one of the biggest hands of the night, Smithson, the chip leader at that moment, got all in on the river holding As-Ac vs. Rice’s Jc-8s on a 8-J-8-2-7 board. Smithson may have nightmares about aces after this, especially because this was the third time in this tournament his were cracked. He leapt from the table when he saw the full house, visibly upset, and he was suddenly crippled.

Nearby commentators “Poker H0” Kroon and Duke both didn’t like how slow he played the aces. “With hands like aces and kings, it’s just more profitable with them in the long run to raise,” Annie said.
Rice continued steamrolling the table and took out his next victim, Blackburn, with 4-4 against Blackburn’s K-Q. Blackburn took home $146,180 for his fourth-place finish, not a bad profit from his original $120 online investment.

With three players left, Rice was in command with approximately $4-million in chips, followed by Mordue with about $1-million and Smithson with $400,000. Rice used his chip stack to his advantage, making hyper-aggressive moves and raising every other hand.

“Travis is playing this excellent,” Duke commented. “This is a clinic in what to do with people that don’t want to take control of the tournament themselves. No one is putting Travis to decisions; Travis is the one putting the decisions to everyone else. The one putting people to decisions wins.”

After Mordue busted Smithson in third place with A-K vs. Smithson’s A-J, heads-up play didn’t last long at all. Mordue raised pre-flop with A-K, Rice re-raised with K-10, and Mordue pushed all in. Rice thought for a while, the crowd inched closer, and then finally Rice called and found himself dominated.

The flop blanked out for Rice, coming out Q-8-4, and it looked like Mordue was going to double up and make it a serious fight. The turn, however, dashed Mordue’s hopes, as Rice hit his three-outer when a ten fell. The meaningless king on the river ended it and Travis Rice was the 2007 Aruba Poker Classic champion.
Mordue got in with the best, but as everyone knows in poker, that can only get you so far. Mordue’s second-place finish earned him $478,405.

And Rice’s first-place finish earned him $800,000 and a well-deserved dive in the pool. The 25-year-old from Houston got everything he could possibly have wanted out of the day—except maybe for the bonus of a few bills from Phil Hellmuth for jumping into the water.

Six-Pack In The Sun: Aruba Final Table Payouts
1. Travis Rice $800,000
2. Jim Mordue $478,405
3. Brad Smithson $252,490
4. Nick Blackburn $146,180
5. Jason Gray $106,310
6. Jordan Rich $77,075