Filippi Takes Bellagio Challenge Cup

They really could have stayed an extra thirty minutes Wednesday night.

That was how long the heads-up portion of the Bellagio Challenge Cup lasted on Thursday afternoon, as Amnon Filippi bested Quinn Do to take home $364,200. The third place finisher was eliminated around midnight Wednesday, at which point the tournament was paused, to be resumed Thursday.

Filippi began the final table in third place and held fairly steady for the first five hours. But then, within a half an hour, he increased his stack by about one million chips, first by crippling Scotty Nguyen, then by taking a $415,000 pot from Fuat Can, and finally by eliminating Sam Grizzle.

Can and Filippi had three other major confrontations. Once Filippi had the chip lead, he doubled-up Can. Then the tables were reversed again, as Can doubled-up Filippi. Finally, after Can was crippled by Do, Filippi eliminated him.

Filippi put the icing on the cake less than half an hour into heads-up play. After calling a pre-flop raise by Do, the flop came 8h-3h-3d. Do bet $100,000 and Filippi called. Once the turn produced the Js, Do led out with a $200,000 bet, only to see Filippi push all-in. After some thought, Do called, flipping over Ah-Kh, giving him two over cards and a flush draw. Filippi was leading, however, as he had 5c-3c, for three-of-a-kind. The river was no help to Do and Filippi emerged victorious.

Originally published July 22, 2005