Michael Chan Wins Run It Up Reno $125 8-Game Stud Club Championship ($2,810)
Michael Chan came out on top after a long heads-up battle with PokerNews contributor Brent Harrington in the $125 8-Game Stud Club Championship at Run It Up Reno. An emotional Chan took down $2,810 after his victory over a field of 87, which came after both players were nearly felted at various points in the heads-up match.
Tournament host Jason Somerville made a deep run, but he busted out just shy of the money, and after the bubble burst, World Series of Poker bracelet winner Leo Wolpert was the ninth-place finisher and the first to be paid.
Chan held the lead as the final table began, but it was anyone's game since nobody even had 10 big bets for the limit games, with Chan having about eight. Chan solidified his position with a double knockout in no-limit hold'em. He called the shove of a short-stacked Andrew Phares, only to see Andy Camou shove behind for just a bit more. Chan didn't like it, but put both at risk.
Chan had the 
, Phares had the 
, and Camou the 
.
The board ran out 
and Chan took it with eights.
Harrington won a huge pot in pot-limit Omaha to knock Dan Hernandez out and double through Greg Bitterly, and that gave him half of the chips in play. Bitterly busted in short order, and Harrington and Chan headed to heads-up play with nearly even stacks.
In what would be a theme throughout, Chan grabbed the lead early in 2-7 triple draw, but Harrington battled back in some of the stud rounds despite being down to just a few bets. He retook command in a monster no-limit hold'em pot when Chan opened for 100,000 at 10,000/20,000/5,000 and called a shove of 355,000 with the 
. Harrington had the 
and doubled through when neither player improved.
Chan was left with just 120,000, but came roaring back with aggressive play, particularly in the pot-limit Omaha round.
Then, Harrington made a crucial error in triple draw, likely attributable to the fact that the players were battling at nearly 5 a.m. by this time and had been up since before noon if they started in the $535 Main Event on time. Harrington mistakenly thought draws were over when he tried patting a hand he later said was two pair while Chan had drawn one. Harrington then tossed away two on the final draw, while Chan drew once more and raised when Harrington came out betting.
Harrington was unable to reverse the damage this time, and Chan took the tournament in short order.