The Cincinnati Kid Shows Up the Pros

Many part-time poker players believe they are good enough to take the leap and go pro. Some realize it is just a pipe dream, some don’t realize their kidding themselves, and some just need some sort of validation that they can run with the best the game has to offer.

If Cincinnati grinder Mike Scarborough is looking for validation that he could go pro if he wanted to, try this on for size: He just beat Erik Seidel heads-up for a WPT title. Even Seidel had to admit that Scarborough was a top notch player, telling Scarborough he was surprised he still had a day job considering the high quality poker he played over the course of the Hollywood Poker Open Main Event.

At a final table stacked with pros, it was Scarborough running the show, dismantling both Seidel and the start of day chip leader, William Reynolds, during a lengthy bout of three-handed play. While Reynolds and Seidel may have had experience on his side, it was Scarborough who ended on top with his first WPT title and the legitimacy that comes with winning a major poker event.

The final table jumped to a fast start with the early eliminations of Ali Eslami and ClubWPT.com qualifier Andy Whetstone in the first seven hands. Eslami fell victim to a cooler, running trip sevens into William Reynolds’ full house, while the online qualifiers Cinderella story ended when he tried to make a move with his short stack and a pair of threes on a [KdQh9c]. Scarborough called him with [AsQs] and ousted the qualifier.

Only a couple of orbit’s later, Foxwoods final tablist Tom Marchese was on the rail as well. It was none other than Marchese’s best friend, Reynolds, who did the honors of busting him out in a dramatic hand that saw all the money go in preflop with Marchese holding [AsKh] to Reynolds’ [10d10h]. The [AcJc10s] flop gave Reynolds a set of tens, but Marchese took the advantage in the hand by making a straight with the [Qh] on the turn. The [Qs] on the river gave Reynolds a boat though and, after just 28 hands of play, the field was down to three.

The speedy start was no indicator of how the rest of the final table would go though. Over 140 hands passed without an elimination as the final three battled back and forth in pot after pot. One of the decisive pots of three-handed play came when Scarborough doubled thru the big chip leader, Reynolds. Scarborough rivered a flush on an [AdJs5dKs3d] board and moved all-in. After more than five minutes in the tank, Reynolds called and immediately mucked as soon as Scarborough revealed his [Qd9d].

From there, Scarborough continued to chip up, winning a big pot off of Seidel and pulling away from his opponent’s in the chip counts. While the two seasoned vets struggled to hold on to his chips, Scarborough picked up pot after pot and, every time hands got to showdown, he seemed to have the goods.

Scarborough’s big stack only grew bigger when he eliminated Reynolds in third place. Getting short on chips, Reynolds moved in over the top of Scarborough’s opening raise with [Ad10d] and Scarborough called him with [AcJh]. Reynolds had a bit of a sweat, as he picked up a flush draw, but he bricked the river and Scarborough was left facing the legendary Erik Seidel heads-up.

Seidel had experience on his side, but Scarborough had chips on his. With a nearly 4-1 chip advantage to start heads-up play, the momentum was all Scarborough’s. The heads-up battle was relatively brief, lasting just twelve hands. Seidel’s stack was dwindling and he moved in over the top of Scarborough’s opening raise. Scarborough called with [Jh10h], which was behind but live against Seidel’s [Ad9d]. The [10c9s7h] flop paired up both players, but the [8s] on the turn gave Scarborough a straight and had Seidel drawing dead to a chop. The river [10d] couldn’t save Seidel and Scarborough scored the pot, the match, and the WPT title.

Scarborough also did a little good with his winnings, donating $2,500 to the ALS Foundation for a Cure. The Hollywood Casino even agreed to match that number, which means the organization will be getting a $5,000 check in the very near future.

Here are the results from the Hollywood Poker Open final table:

1st: Mike Scarborough – $273,664
2nd: Erik Seidel – $155,103
3rd: William Reynolds – $110,788
4th: Tom Marchese – $77,551
5th: Andy Whetstone – $62,041
6th: Ali Eslami – $50,962