2007 WSOP Event #28 – Shankar Pillai Wins $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em

All eyes were on the final table of the $3,000 no-limit hold’em event at the WSOP for one reason.  Phil Hellmuth was there.  Hellmuth, who had already broken his three way tie with Johnny Chan and Doyle Brunson by winning his eleventh WSOP bracelet, was now aiming to distance himself from his rivals and win number twelve.  The “unofficial” final table actually began with ten players instead of nine because Hellmuth was the second shortest stack of the final ten and WSOP wanted him to be featured on stage.  When Luke Vrable was eliminated in 10^th place, Hellmuth officially made the final table, tying T.J. Cloutier for the most all time with thirty-nine. 

Hellmuth’s quest for the bracelet ended when he was eliminated in 6^th place by Beth Shak, wife of Dan Shak, who fans may have seen on High Stakes Poker.  Hellmuth raised pre-flop and was called by Shak.  Shak moved all-in (she was one of the bigger stacks at the table) on a Q-10-6 flop with K-Q for top pair, and Hellmuth called, putting himself all-in, with A-10 for middle pair.  Hellmuth did not improve and was knocked out, of course, complaining about Shak’s play.  While he won over $76,000, he ended up losing money overall, as every time he was all-in and ahead in the hand, he booked an insurance bet with Phil Ivey.  He won the previous all-ins and thus ended up owing Ivey more money than he actually won. 

Shak was the other big story (and we haven’t gotten to the winner yet) of the table.  She played very aggressive poker the whole night, not afraid to put all of her chips in the middle when she thought she had the advantage.  A great example was the hand in which she knocked out Hellmuth.  Some felt her all-in was ill advised, as it was an enormous overbet with only top pair.  The thing was, Hellmuth didn’t think someone would make that move with such a vulnerable hand, so he thought his middle pair was good.  Shak’s push almost served as bluff, but with the best hand. 

As Shak played her way down to the final two, Katja Thater was in the process of winning the razz event at the same time.  The Amazon Room was buzzing with the possibility of two women winning mixed events on the same day.  She was right there going into heads-up, almost tied with Shankar Pillai, but she finally got nailed on one of all-ins. 

After she re-raised Pillai pre-flop, the two saw a flop of 10-8-3.  Shak moved all-in for over $1.5 million with just middle pair (K-8).  Pillai went into the tank for what seemed like an eternity before making one heck of a call with A-8.  Shak needed a King to pull it out, but she didn’t get it and Pillai took the bracelet home. 

Amazingly, this was the 23-year-old Shankar Pillai’s first WSOP event ever.  So, it looks like there’s nowhere to go but down from here, unless he can win the Main Event. 

Final Table Standings 

1. Shankar Pillai -- $527,829
2. Beth Shak -- $328,683
3. Jason Song -- $212,274
4. Dustin Holmes -- $141,516
5. Benjamin Fineman -- $100,431
6. Phil Hellmuth Jr. -- $76,464
7. Perry Friedman -- $57,063
8. Brett Richey -- $42,227
9. Daniel Corbin -- $30,814