Reese Wins H.O.R.S.E. Championship at the 2006 WSOP

Chip Reese came through four all-in bets in heads up play vs. Andy Bloch, even the one where he was almost usurped, and two other plays where he was virtually a terminal case, to surprisingly come up from behind in an underdog scenario to claim the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E.championship at the 2006 World Series of Poker Saturday morning.

"He had me beat four or five times," the three time WSOP bracelet winner Reese said. "I just kept coming back. I'm very happy to win, but I feel bad for (Bloch), because he played well enough to win today."

The match lasted just over seven hours and is the longest heads-up on record at the WSOP.

Bloch began with a slight chip lead against Reese in heads-up play, but slowly built it up to a significant amount. That moment, it seemed as though he might be the victor of the tournament when he flopped top pair and called Reese's all-in bet. However, that was only to see Reese hit an inside straight draw, a move that prolonged the match.

Despite the double-up, Bloch still had in possession a $1.4 million chip lead, and he recovered quickly. He built a 5-1 chip lead before Reese came through another all-in, having a four-flush with A-10 vs. Bloch's K-J with a board of K-J-9-A-A.

Reese and Bloch competed for hours with Reese finally moving all in with a flush draw. Bloch paused for a few minutes to contaemplate, and, making up his mind, called with top pair only to see Reese catch the flush on the turn. This gave Reese more than a 10-1 chip lead.

Bloch was finally backed into a corner and was forced to call all in with 8-9 and wasn't good enough to compete against Reese's A-Q, signaling the end of the match just before 9:30 a.m.

"This tournament was really important to me and all my friends," Reese said. "We all talked about what a great test of poker skill it would be, and it's an honor to come out on top."

Wednesday, 16. 2006
Todd Sanders

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