[user24788]
Gary Benson - Australian Bad Boys of Poker Champion
Gary Benson collected $50,000 for winning the first ever PokerNews Australian Bad Boys of Poker Invitational. He outlasted a difficult table featuring some of the best players in Australia.
Benson was the first Australian player to win a World Series of Poker bracelet, when he took first place in $1,500 Seven-Card Stud during the 1996 WSOP. He had a tough final table that year which featured Andy Bloch and Humberto Brenes.
Benson's victory tonight was not an easy task. He had to outlast a mixture of some of the best veteran players such as Billy the Croc, Tony G, Jeff Lisandro, Sam Khouiss, Lee Nelson and a handful of young guns like David Saab, Arul Thillai, Mark Vos, and Emad Tahtouh. He held them all off en route to his victory.
"I got lucky with the A-10," Benson said about the final hand. "Emad played fantastic poker. If a 5 falls on the turn, he probably wins it. But an Ace fell and I won."
Their heads up match lasted thirty minutes before Benson finally finished off Tahtouh.
Congrats to Gary Benson for winning the PokerNews Australian Bad Boys of Poker Invitational.
[user24788]
Emad Tahtouh - 2nd Place
Gary Benson and Emad Tahtouh got into a raising war on a flop of . Benson bet out. Tahtouh raised. Benson re-raised. Tahtouh shoved all in and Benson called.
Benson:
Tahtouh:
Benson had Tahtouh dominated. The turn was the and the river was the . Benson won the pot and busted Tahtouh in second place. Tahtouh won $30,000.
"Second place again. Until I die," said a dejected Tahtouh as he walked away from the table.
Benson finished in first place and collected $50,000 for his victory in the PokerNews Australian Bad Boys of Poker Invitational .
[user24788]
Gary Benson appeared to be cruising to a victory. He was slowly chipping away at Emad Tahtoouh's stack. Then the two got it all in pre-flop.
Tahtouh raised to 5,000 from the small blind. Benson re-raised all in and Tahtouh quickly called for his last 37,600.
Tahtouh:
Benson:
"You had to have A-10, huh?" grumbled Benson who was not happy to have a dominated hand.
The flop was . The turn was the and the river was the . Tahtouh doubled up to almost 79,000. Benson slipped to 121,000.
[user24788]
Arul Thillai - 3rd Place
Gary Benson raised from the button. Arul Thillai shoved all in from the small blind for 26,000. Benson quickly called.
Benson:
Thillai:
Benson had Thillai dominated. The flop was . The turn was the and Thillai was drawing dead. The river was a meaningless . Arul Thillai finished in third place and won $20,000.
Down to two players. Gary Benson has a healthy 3 to 1 chiplead over Emad Tahtouh. There will be a short break. Action will resume in a couple of minutes.
[user24788]
In the first few hands of three-way action, Gary Benson has been pushing Emad Tahtouh and Arul Thillai around with his big stack. He has increased his lead.