Poker Dome latest

The competition is hotting up in the MANSION Poker Dome as six players battled it out with a $50,000 first prize and the fifth of six seats at the final table, where the winner will walk away a millionaire.

Each player at this table had already won their own six-handed heat, pocketing $25,000 in the process.

John Ritchie, a taxi driver hailing from Dundee, Scotland brought his two young daughters, aged 12 and 13 across the pond to enjoy Las Vegas with him. Unfortunately, Ritchie’s time under the Poker Dome’s bright lights would be severely limited, as he had some tough luck on the very first hand.

Facing an opening raise from Connecticut doctor Toly Braylovsky and a re-raise from British pro Rob Sherwood, Ritchie pushed all in with his Q-Q only to run into Sherwood’s K-K. The flop brought him no help, and he exited in sixth place, dismayed at his luck but excited to spend the next few days exploring the city with his kids.

Traveling the farthest to play was aspiring filmmaker Dale Rodda, who stepped off his flight from Melbourne less than 24 hours before the match. It was the second trip to Vegas in as many months for the young Australian, who has only played poker for about a year.

Rodda found himself a short-stacked early on after tangling in two hands with Toly Braylovsky, so looking for a hand he could push with and found it in the K-J. Rodda pushed all-in only to run right into Keith Hubbard’s Aces. There was no miracle on the flop for Rodda and he exited in 5th place.

Down to four-handed play, South Carolina’s Kristian Gilleland took the opportunity to turn up his aggression. Raising with marginal hands and often betting the flop with nothing at all, Gilleland soon wrested the chip lead away from Sherwood for the first time all match.

Unfortunately, this aspiring screenwriter wouldn’t be long for the table. Blinds were up to 3,000-6,000 and with the action folded to the small blind, Sherwood limped in with the Ah-Jh. Gilleland checked his big blind with the J-4. The flop came down the J-2-9 rainbow, and Sherwood led out for 8,000. Gilleland quickly raised to 24,000 and Sherwood moved all-in. The turn and the river were no help to Gilleland, who left in 4th place. In his exit interview, hostess Leeann Tweeden clued him in to his mistake where he mucked the straight.

“Oh that’s beautiful, absolutely beautiful… I’m a national embarrassment!” he quipped to the audience.

With three players remaining, Sherwood took a commanding chip lead while a card dead. Braylovsky was looking for a good spot to push in. He found it when Sherwood limped on the button with the Kh-7s and Hubbard moved all-in from the small blind with the Ks-Jh, having Braylovsky covered. Braylovsky called with the As-Qd and Sherwood quickly folded. Though the 8d-6h-3d flop looked promising for the doctor, Hubbard caught the Kd on the turn to take the lead in the hand, though an ace or a diamond would give the pot to Braylovsky. It wasn’t to be, though and the 6s on the river sent Braylovsky home in 3rd place.

Hubbard and Sherwood played tentatviely in the heads-up at first, feeling each other out and not getting too aggressive. At this point, the blinds were high, at 8,000-16,000 and even a single mistake could send one of these men to the rail.

Hubbard executed a brilliant trap when he limped in with the Ad-Jc and Sherwood pushed in with the Ah-6c. Hubbard called instantly, however a dangerous flop fell, the 7h-4c-5s, giving Sherwood an open-ended straight draw. Hubbard’s face fell ten stories when the 6h showed up on the turn, giving the lead to Sherwood, but the 3s on the river made a straight on the board, to chop the pot.

Sherwood had built up a 2-1 chip advantage when the two men limped into another pot, Hubbard with the Qs-3c, Sherwood with the 8h-9d. The flop was the 7c-7s-6h, giving Sherwood an open-ended straight draw. Hubbard checked, Sherwood bet 40,000 into the 32,000 pot and Hubbard surprisingly moved all-in.

Sherwood used up almost his entire time bank before calling. Though Hubbard had nothing more than queen high, he still had about a 50/50 shot to win the pot. The 2c on the turn made Hubbard a favorite going into the river, but the 5s fell, filling Sherwood’s straight and sealing his victory.

28-year old Rob Sherwood hails from Manchester, England and has been playing poker for four years, two of them as a pro. After being “sacked” from his job, he set off on an around-the-world trip, where he learned Texas hold’em from an American he met while traveling in Thailand. Now $50,000 richer, Sherwood’s next trip to Las Vegas could yield this intelligent young pro the million-dollar prize when he joins the Poker Dome Challenge’s final table on 18 March.

Qualification for all Season One seats has now ended, but MANSION is currently running a great player-value promotion online with their $100K A Day Tournament Series at 20:00GMT with huge overlays.