Day Six: Wednesday, March 24 2005
After five days of intense, nail-biting poker action, it was down to this one night: six players going head-to-head for the PartyPoker Million IV jackpot of $1,500,000. Of the 735 players who started the tournament, only one would walk away the winner of the richest limit hold'em event.
"It's crunch time on the ship tonight," Mike Sexton said. "Tensions are running high as the six finalists each vie to become one of two millionaires."
Play kicked off at the final table at 8:00pm with blinds of $20,000/$30,000. Limits started at $30,000/$60,000. By 9:00pm, after six hands, these were the chip counts:
Adam Csallany: $330,000
Mathew Cherachal: $1,440,000
David Minto: $2,330,000
Paul Darden: $1,100,000
Richard Kain: $1,170,000
Michael Gracz: $860,000
By 9:50pm, Michael "The Kid" Gracz has soared into first place and is up to over $2.5 million. Richard Kain, who had been the chip leader coming into day four's play and came into the final table in second place, is busted out in the 54th hand of the night when Michael's 7-7 beat his A-Q.
Chip count:
Adam Csallany: $1,700,000
Mathew Cherachal: $1,060,000
David Minto: $1,600,000
Paul Darden: $500,000
Michael Gracz: $2,500,000
By 10:30pm, Paul Darden has been knocked out. He had gone all in, showed 7-7 but his set was beaten by chip leader Michael.
Chip count:
Adam Csallany: $2,000,000
Mathew Cherachal: $750,000
David Minto: $1,600,000
Michael Gracz: $3,000,000
With only four players remaining, the limits increase to $100,000-$200,000 and the blinds are now $50,000-$100,000.
By 11:35pm, after a series of million-dollar hands, Adam Csallany goes out in fourth place with $500,000. Adam had quite a run but his aggressive play was capped when he was check raised out of some big hands in late action. We are now down to three players.
Chip count:
David Minto: $1,700,000
Mathew Cherachal: $1,500,000
Michael Gracz: $4,300,000
Just before midnight, Mathew Cherachal bowed out in third place, taking home a tidy $700,000. Mathew, a regular player at PartyPoker.com, won his seat at the final table for just $32. However, he'd been on short stack and had been getting bullied left and right by chip leader Michael Gracz's aggressive pre-flop raises. Mathew finally got a hand and was all in pre-flop with A-Q. Michael called with his 9-8. The flop came K-5-5, which kept Mathew in the lead. The turn came 4 and the river was a boon for Gracz, the 9. The winning pair of 9s locked up at least $1 million for Gracz. He was now in commanding chip position with $5.6 million going heads up against David Minto.
Chip count:
David Minto: $1,750,000 approx.
Michael Gracz: $5,600,000 approx.
Going into the final heads up action David and Michael reveal their screen names:
Michael – NC
KidDavid – Mad Dog X2
Just before 1:00am, Michael raises preflop and David re-raises. There's now $960,000 in the pot preflop. Flop is A-Q-J rainbow. Both players bet $160,000. Turn is 4d. David bets $320,000. River is Ad. David bets and Michael re-raises David all in for his remaining $640,000. David doubles up with the diamond flush.
On a J-8-6 flop David bets and Michael raises. Turn is 2d. Michael checks. David bets $320,000. Michael re-raises to $640,000. David calls. River is the Kh. Michael bets $320,000 and David calls. Michael has flopped two pair with his J-8 and takes down a huge pot.
David now has $1,750,000 and Michael has about $6.5 million.
Heading into the final stretch, Michael and David are $1.2 million into the pot preflop. The flop comes 10-8-5. David bets and Michael calls. Turn is 7 and both players bet the minimum. The river is the 8. David bets and is called. His A-7 is outkicked by Michael's A-9. This leaves David with only $40,000 so it's showdown poker for the last hand of the PartyPoker.com Million IV as David cannot cover the blinds.
Michael turns over J-2 suited and David has 10-5. The flop is J-J-5. Michael has flopped a set of Js, and this holds up to earn him $1.5 million dollars and the PartyPoker.com Million IV championship title.
We caught up with David after the final round. "I'm married with three kids," he said, "and one of them is the same age as Michael! Winning $1 million probably won't change our lives, although it'll double out net worth! We'll probably save some and give some away."
In between celebrations, we asked Michael what he thought of the whole event. "I've had a lot of fun on the PPM4," he said. "It's one of the best tournaments on the WPT, although I swear everyone on the WPT is an alcoholic!" When asked by Linda Johnson for tips and advice, he replied: "Get lucky!"
