Poker Million V - Final Table Report

The final table of Poker Million V proved to be an epic affair with rank outsider Rajesh Modha upstaging all before him to take the $1.2m first prize. The final was played out live on Sky Sports and the millions of viewers watching were treated to some classic poker and the inevitable drama that went with it. Beginning with a chip count of 212,000 Modha (foggy71) was merely a spectator as the opening skirmishes took place. The fierce Scandinavian battle raged straight from the off with Mats Jungsand and Claus Marcussen exchanging chips frequently. It was however, one of the more likeable players who fell at the first hurdle. Marty Smyth (Macedonia) who was short-stacked going into the final table looked down at his cards and found pocket Aces staring back at him. Andreas Høivold (_Theah_) had already raised in early position with pocket Jacks. A re-raise by Smyth was then greeted by the words "i put you all-in". Smyth called instantly and was unfortunate enough to run into trip Jacks on the flop. A desperate way to lose on such a big stage but the consoling cheque of $100,000 helped ease the pain.

By now, the chip stacks had evened themselves up. Mel Judah was no longer dominating proceedings and having things his own way. Some quite brilliant moves by Høivold ensured the Norwegian had wrestled the chip lead. Next to bow out was Mats Jungsand. The Swede had battled bravely from the early blows of the final table but had to be content with 5th place and $120,000. We were then treated to possibly the turning point and hand in the competition. Judah who had now been visibly rattled at losing some key pots and the chip lead - led the betting with AK. The raise was folded round to Modha in seat 1. With pocket Kings Modha re-raised only for Judah to announce "all-in". Following a pause of around 2 minutes Modha called. With no Ace on the flop, turn or river Judah the 6/4 favourite had crashed out in spectacular fashion. The scenes at the Marriott Hotel where the final was being screened live could not have been more contrasting. Tears of despair were running down the cheeks of Judah' s daughter and just across the table yells of joy could be heard coming from the Modha camp.

Down to three. Rajesh Modha had now assumed control of the table following his monster hand against Judah. Many still however, had their money on Høivold coming through and claiming the top prize. With previous live experience at the WSOP it was no surprise when the Norwegian came out firing. He wasn't to have it his own way though. Modha was inspired calling Høivold's King with a stronger kicker and holding on to claim an almost unassailable 3-1 chip lead. Høivold's despair at being knocked out was there for all to see. That left Marcussen a young professional from Denmark to try and wrestle the trophy from Modha's grasp. After some gentle heads up sparring the killer hand was upon us. The Laddies regular from Northampton was not to be denied and when Marcussen pushed his stack into the centre with A10 Modha called and had him strangled with AQ. Two queens on the flop sealed the deal and the trophy was heading up the M1. "I honestly cannot believe it - this is so special, i am in dreamland" crowed a stunned Modha. The likeable family man had bought his way into the competition for a mere $9. The tournament has to go down in Poker Million history as one of the best so far. The sheer drama of the outsiders Demergis and Modha running riot against the Group One names of Judah and Vaswani will long be remembered. Now when does qualification begin for Poker Million VI...?

Semi-Final 2 Report

The second semi final of Poker Million V turned out to be one of the most exciting segments of live televised poker there has ever been. Following what some may consider a pedestrian 1st semi final, the battle to join Claus Marcussen, Rajesh Modha and Andreas Høivold became a shoot out of epic proportions.

The semi final consisted of Mel Judah, Robert Glen, Mats Jungsand, Stefanos Demergis, Ambjorn Haga and Martin Smyth. When Jungsand opened up by calling Glen's re-raise with a 7-5 off suit, we knew we were in for a treat. Glen responded by folding AK and set the tone for some brilliant pieces of decision making from all of the players. The guaranteed prize of $100,000 appeared to be discarded as the action unfolded. The story of last night's table was the sensational attacking style of Greek qualifier Demergis. After slipping down to just 27,000 chips inside the first hour's play the student from Athens threw the game upside down by announcing a barrage of all-in moves.

In the space of approximately 15 hands the situation had changed so much that Glen, Jungsand and Haga were forced into changes in style simply to combat Demergis. Every time Jungsand attempted a raise the Greek called all-in. It was as if he knew no other words. The first player to perish was somewhat a surprise. Haga, a respected cash game player, got himself into a tangle with Northern Ireland's Marty Smith which he found impossible to escape. With A9 Haga thought he was in front against Smyth's pocket 5s. However, when a 5 came on the flop, Smyth milked Haga's chips slowly with some brilliant slow play antics. The Norwegian had eliminated himself from the tournament as soon as he pushed all his chips to the centre of the table. So there were 5.

The next to crash out of the tournament was the unfortunate Glen, who himself was playing well but was caught in an awkward position between Jungsand and Demergis in seat 5. When the chips went all-in with A 9, it was over for the man from Eastbourne. Against J 10 - The jack high flop ended his night's work.

Amazingly, Demergis was still causing chaos at the table and had clearly ruffled the feathers of the normally placid Judah. The Australian, known for his steady play and calculated decisions was beginning to become irritated with events as he slipped down chip pecking order. Demergis himself had risen to chip leader when he eventually met his demise. This was not before Smyth himself, flirted with real danger. Smyth caught a Jack on the river to make a straight and save himself from the bubble elimination before going on to announce All In with pocket 2s. Now the move could be considered by some to be sensible when down to 4 players, but the under the table cameras revealed Judah was lurking with a monster pair of pocket Jacks. Having escaped this, the man from Belfast steadied himself to progress.

In another piece of outstanding play the Greek amazingly laid down AJ suited against Judah's raise with AK. Surely the Greek would make the final at the expense of the ailing Jungsand. However, after making a record number of 9 all-in moves Demergis bowed out after making a mistake with 8 9. This cost him 100,000 chips. The decisive hand was A 5 suited, it didn’t hold up against Judah's A 10. The end of the road for the qualifier.

So the final chip counts from the second semi final were Mel Judah 391,000, Marty Smyth 113,000 and Mats Jungsan 96,000.

Semi-Final 1 Report

The first semi-final was being shown live on Sky Sports 2 and contained a mixture of players with diverse poker playing backgrounds. The professional's were represented in the form of tournament favourite Ram Vaswani, the Scandinavian presence was strong with Tomas Martinsson, Claus Marcussen and Andreas Høivold. The outsiders were Rajesh Modha and Michael Jackson.

With a guaranteed prize of $100,000 for making the last 3 at the table and subsequently the Poker Million V Final, there was an abundance of nerves and understandably some errors. Andreas Høivold (_Theah_) was out of the blocks first collecting a healthy chip lead in the opening exchanges. Ram looking very concentrated was by his standards playing tight and awaiting his opportunities. In a crucial hand, he flopped a pair of Aces against Modha (foggy71) who hit middle pair of 8s. After, checking the turn and river Vaswani was punished when 10 on the river gave Modha 2 pair. Vaswani added later that he played the hand as he wished, others may disagree.

Who was going to bow out first? Well, when Vaswani found KQ suited he pushed all in against a raise from Modha who already had his own KQ. The Hendon mobster didn't however, consider that Martinsson (Five_Aces) would find a monster AQ still in the pot. After a couple of minutes thought, the Swede announced call. Vaswani was dominated and faced the early exit. Modha folded and the flop, turn and river were no help to the Londoner. So we were down to five. The ante post favourite was out!

The quiet man from Denmark, Marcussen (Hitman_41) was then the short stack after conceding chips to all of his opponents in the early stages. With pocket 10s he pushed all-in. Høivold with a healthy chip lead had a decision to make with his KJ. The Norwegian called, only to miss both of his overcards. With the Dane now doubled up the pressure switched to Michael Jackson (rivvver). Jackson who has enjoyed recent success on the Laddies site had not won a pot for the first hour and a half. Eventually the man from Spennymoor broke his duck and got himself going to the delight of his army of supporters cheering in the Green Room.

A crucial hand where Jackson - dubbed "Action Jackson" by Mad Marty Wilson slow played 2 pairs. Modha sitting to his left took up the opportunity of chasing his diamond flush and when the Jack of diamonds came on the river, the damage was done. The likeable character from the North East had all but crashed out. It was not long before the inevitable had happened. Jackson was the next player to exit coming 5th. So we were left with 4 - one player too many! Martinsson who had started so brightly and confidently and made the call to knock out Ram suddenly went into his shell and was facing elimination. The blinds had risen to 7,000/15,000 and the Swede had little room to manoeuvre. After folding several hands the pin up boy of poker pushed all of his chips in with the 10, 7 suited. The decision was left to Modha. With K7 Modha then gave his customary hollywood effort before announcing call. With no luck on the turn or river, Five_Aces was out in 4th. The Swede who was one of the favourites to lift the title this year was understandably disappointed. So we now have half of the final. Andreas Høivold (220,000 chips), Rajesh Modha (212,000) and Claus Marcussen (168,000). The three remaining seats at the final table will be contested by Mel Judah, Stefanos Demergis, Robert Glen, Ambjorn Haga, Mats Jungsand and Martin Smyth, all of whom are competing in the second semi-final.