Caldwell is the fourth Canadian bracelet winner in 2011

If the final table of the most recent $1,500 No Limit Hold’em event had a theme, that theme would be “Oh, Canada.” With three Canadian players forcing most of the action at the table, it was a Northern affair that ended with a fourth 2011 bracelet win for Canada as Kirk Caldwell took down the title and $668,276.

Caldwell is the fourth Candian to pick up a bracelet winner and he said he did feel a sense of national pride being part of Canada’s big WSOP run this year.  More importantly, he was glad to beat the two French Canadians at the table.

“It felt even better to beat Quebec,” Caldwell said with a laugh.  ”Am I allowed to say that?”

Now that Caldwell has a bracelet and over half a million dollars to his name after defeating over 2,800 players, he can really say pretty much anything he wants.

When the final table began, Rodrigo Portaleoni was the short stack with just three big blinds to his name. Amazingly, Portaleoni snuck up the payouts not just one spot, but two, thanks to a huge three way all-in showdown to kick off final table action. Alan Stevens, WSOP-C ring winner Kyle Cartwright, and big stack Marc McLaughlin got it all-in preflop with Stevens holding TT to Cartwright’s JJ to McLaughlin’s AQ. The pot looked like it was headed Cartwright’s way, as the flop fell K53 and the turn brought the 4. The river paired up McLaughin with the Q and he took down the massive pot and claimed the chip lead.

Just a couple of minutes later, Portaleoni hit the rail when he moved in preflop with K[h], got calls from three other players, and Gabriel Morin flopped a set of sevens to send Portaleoni packing in seventh place. The rapid fire eliminations kept on coming when Morin knocked out Randy Haddox in sixth place. Haddox had the best of it, getting it in with KK to Morin’s QQ, but Morin flopped a queen and Haddox headed home.

The action just kept coming at a rapid fire rate when Kirk Caldwell and
Dror Michaelo tangled on an AK5 flop. After a more than pot-sized bet from Caldwell, Michaelo instantly moved all-in for his last 900,000 or so, and Caldwell quickly called with A5 for top and bottom pair. Michaelo tabld KJ for just middle pair. He need a lot of help, didn’t get there, and busted in fifth place. Meanwhile, Caldwell jumped up the chip counts to take the lead with just over 5 million chips.

Judging by the final table action, it was tough to believe that
McLaughlin and Morin weren’t just acquaintances, they were roommates. The two were unafraid to play against each other andduring four-handed play those too were clashing in pots together more often than not. McLaughlin ended up on the winning end of a lot of the pots, while Morin saw his stack continue to shrink.

Running low on chips, Morin shoved all-in from the button for his last 12 big blinds or so and McLaughlin called out of the big blind with KQ. Morin was in bad shape with Q9, failed to improve, and exited in fourth place, leaving two Canadians and American Ben White vying for the bracelet.

White was on the sort stack when three-handed play began, but he rallied to pull close to even over a long stretch without an elimination. It actually looked as though McLaughlin would be the third place finisher when he and Caldwell clashed in the biggest pot of the tournament, getting it all-in on a 932 board with Caldwell holding J9 for top pair and a heart draw to McLaughlin’s K5 for a bigger heart draw. McLaughlin bricked and was down to just four big blinds, while Caldwell amassed a massive stack.

McLaughlin wasn’t done yet though, doubling up three times in short succession to run his stack up over 2 million chips. McLaughlin wasn’t done yet though, doubling up three times in short succession to run his stack up over 2 million chips. The efforts ended up being all for naught though, as McLaughlin ended up finishing in third place when he flopped middle pair and a gutshot and got it in against Caldwell’s overcards and flush draw. Caldwell turned a better pair and McLaughlin headed for the door.

Caldwell began heads-up play with the chip advantage and never relinquished it.  White managed to stay alive, but failed to chip up, and ultimately had to settle for second place when his AQ couldn’t out-race Caldwell’s pocket eights.

It is an exciting win for Caldwell, who called the money “life-changing,” but it is also a great victory for his friends back in Orangevill, Ontario, Canada.  Caldwell won a $150 satellite in a home game with friends and the folks in the Orangeville Poker Tour (OPT) have something to cheer about, not to mention a percent of the winnings.

For a kid with the nickname Pudge who learned poker from his parents and by watching poker on TV, this is a dream come true.

“My first goal was making Day 2.  Once I made Day 2, it was trying to make the money.  Ever since then I tried to just make that extra money spot.  I didn’t even think about the [final table].  That stuff comes later.”

Here are the final table results from the $1,500 No Limit Hold’em Event:

1st: Kirk Caldwell – $668,276
2nd: Ben White – $414,918
3rd: Marc McLaughlin – $292,634
4th: Gabriel Morin – $211,353
5th: Dror Michaelo – $154,506
6th: Randy Haddox – $114,304
7th: Rodrigo Portaleoni – $85,556
8th: Kyle Cartwright – $64,788
9th: Alan Stevens – $49,631

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