Well Done, Frankenberger

The pivotal hand of Day 4 play came when Kyle Wilson and Andy Frankenberger clashed in a massive pot in which Wilson turned the nut flush holding pocket aces and Frankenberger called his all-in with a baby flush of his own. From that point forward, the two were the big stacks to be reckoned with at the table. It was only fitting then to have the two going tete-a-tete for the Legends of Poker crown.

For Wilson, this was a second chance at Bicycle Casino success. Both he and Tom Lee final tabled this very event in past seasons of the WPT. Each hoped to improve over their 6th place showings, but Frankenberger and his chip lead stood in the way. Frankenberger’s monster stack would prove to be an insurmountable force for Wilson, as it was the untested amateur who prevailed over the seasoned pro in the end.

When the final table began, Frankenberger, Wilson, and Lee were closely grouped together at the top of the counts while Jared Jaffee, Tom Braband, and Franco Brunetti were sitting on the shorter stacks looking for a double up.

Braband was the first to get his double up when he moved all-in on a [7c6s3sTd] board holding just [Jc9h] for a gutshot. Brunetti called with [AhTh] and was looking at a near-double up of his own until the [8h] on the river made Braband’s straight and left Brunetti with just a handful of chips. Wilson finished Brunetti off a few hands later, eliminating the restaurant owner in 6th place.

Jaffee was the next to hit the rail when he ran jacks up into Wilson’s trip sevens to exit in 5th place. This was Jaffee’s second WPT appearance of 2010. He previously finished in 4th place at the Southern Poker Championship at the Beau Rivage earlier this year.

Braband was unwilling to leave the Legends final table without a fight, doubling up twice to stave off elimination. The third time would not be the charm for the online pro though. He got it all-in preflop in a coinflip, holding [KdJh] to Wilson’s pocket nines and the queen-high board meant a 4th place finish for the man known to his poker friends as TitanTom.

Braband’s elimination left the three big stacks to duke it out and the trio was at a stalemate for a number of hours. Frankenberger spent much of three-handed play as the short stack, but a momentous double up through Wilson and several other big pots saw him go from short stack to chip leader in a matter of minutes. Lee would rally to reclaim the chip lead, but a massive pot between the two would see all the chips and momentum swing in Frankenberger’s direction.

The two got in a raising war on a flop of [Qc7c5h] that resulted in the two getting it all-in with Frankenberger’s tournament life on the line. Frankenberger held [Jc5c] for a pair and a straight draw while Lee flopped two pair with his [Qs5d]. The [4c] on the turn made Frankenberger’s flush and when the river failed to pair, Lee as left with only a couple of big blinds to his name.

The very next hand Frankenberger made a flush to eliminate Lee and set up a heads-up battle in which Frankenberger held a more than 3-1 chip lead over Wilson. Heads-up play lasted only a matter of minutes before the two got it all-in with Frankenberger holding [Ac9c]to Wilson’s [Ad3d]. Wilson managed to flop a flush draw, but failed to hit that third diamond for a double up. Instead, Frankenberger claimed the pot and the title in only his second World Poker Tour event. While it may only be his second WPT tournament, Frankenberger has already assured Mike and Vince it won’t be his last and he will be a face we’ll be seeing a lot of over the course of Season IX.