WSOP Event #9: Jeff Cabanillas Master of Three Ring Circus

They were a portrait of poker opposites. One was a twenty-two year old playing in his first live tournament. The other was one of the most feared players of all time, owner of nine World Series of Poker gold bracelets. But while Jeff Cabanillas may have been inexperienced, he handled himself like a seasoned veteran, and scored one of the unlikeliest of upsets, defeating Phil Hellmuth to win the $5,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em event and a tremendous $818,546.

The fact that ESPN’s camera crews were on vacation and thus did not tape this final table will surely turn out to be a disappointment. From the very start, it promised to be a good one. Four very well-know poker pros were amongst the competitors: Hellmuth, Marcel Luske, Isabelle Mercier, and Vinny Vinh. Even lesser known players like Eugene Todd and Douglas Carli have made final tables at WPT and WSOP events.

The beginning of play was a bit strange. It seemed that every hand took several minutes to play out, with players thinking and thinking and thinking about every single move. So few hands were played by the time the next blind level started that neither Luske nor Mercier played a hand until after the first break. When they did, it was against each other with Mercier pushing all-in over the top of Luske’s raise, but the all-in wasn’t called, so that was that.

As if foreshadowing the final two, the stars of the table most of the day were Hellmuth and Cabanillas. Cabanillas was extraordinarily aggressive, not afraid to push around his chips. He frequently moved people off pots, and even after doubling up Eugene Todd at one point, he did not stop firing.

And then you had the “Poker Brat” himself, Phil Hellmuth. He was not shy in the slightest, at one point criticizing the play of Todd. Pre-flop, Hellmuth raised to $75,000 and Todd re-raised for about half of his remaining stack (Hellmuth was the big stack). After Hellmuth scolded Todd for playing his Ace-Jack too strongly while folding his own Ace-Queen face-up, Todd happily showed everybody his Ace-Jack, a move that obviously ticked off the nine-time bracelet winner.

Hellmuth even got into it with a dealer. After making an almost crazy call of an aggressive Mercier, Hellmuth showed King high and Mercier mucked in disgust. Then, because he thought he heard the tournament director instruct him to do so, the dealer began to flip over Mercier’s cards. Hellmuth stopped him, and, as he’s apt to do to other players, proceeded to berate the dealer. Fun times.

In the end, nobody could stand up to Hellmuth or Cabanillas and the two went into heads-up play close to even, with Cabanillas a little bit ahead. This is where things got interesting.

Because it was Hellmuth on the verge of his record-tying tenth bracelet, a massive crowd gathered. The bleachers were completely full. The area around and behind the bleachers was full. The unused tables next to the final table were jam packed. Spectators were lined up about eight rows deep – some couldn’t even see. Most of the fans were cheering for Hellmuth, but Cabanillas had a large group of friends and family, including his parents, in the bleachers. And they were very, very vocal. At one point, near the end of the match, after Cabanillas took a big pot, they began chanting, “Phil’s on tilt! Phil’s on tilt!” This prompted Hellmuth to go over and let them know how unsportsmanlike that was.

Even celebrities couldn’t stay away. John Bonetti sat table-side for most of the heads-up contest, cheering on his friend, Hellmuth. Mike Matusow stopped by for support, as well, even taking the announcer’s microphone on two occasions. Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan, and actress Shannon Elizabeth all were given seats next to Bonetti. Minh Ly and Joe Hachem found their way into the teeming crowd. And on one slightly controversial occasion, former main event winner, Russ Hamilton, came by, and Hellmuth left the table to go into the media section and greet him. In the meantime, play was paused. Many spectators felt that play should have continued with Hellmuth’s hands being declared dead while he was away. The feeling was that he was getting special treatment because of who he was.

Heck, Hellmuth even took the microphone at the beginning of heads-up, saying to the crowd, “Hey, this kid’s [Cabanillas] playing some good poker here. How about a round of applause for him?” Nice gesture, but of course, many saw it as just one more way for Hellmuth to get attention. Either way, it was a sporting way to start the one-on-one.

The massive crowd, perhaps bigger than the one at the main event final table last year, really created a circus atmosphere. You had the big name pro players making grand entrances as simple spectators, you had tons of people cheering for and against Hellmuth, as well as a raucous support section for Cabanillas. You had multiple announcers hovering around the table, along with WSOP photographers and a couple media members. There was even a drunk fan wandering onto the stage at times, once even giving Hellmuth a bear hug during a break. That contact was the last of him, though, as he rushed out, finally realizing that Hellmuth had summoned security. The place was absolutely abuzz with excitement.

Strangely, though, the actual poker was not nearly as exciting as one would’ve anticipated. Both players seemed to play very tentatively, as if scared to be the first to make a wrong move. This appeared especially strange coming from Cabanillas, since he was the most aggressive throughout the final table.

Phil was able to gradually take the lead by winning a few big pots, to the point where he was at about a 2-1 advantage. But then came the turning point. On a K-J-6-4 board, Hellmuth bet $150,000 into a $200,000 pot. Cabanillas called and after the 5 fell on the river, both players checked (checking the river was a boring pattern for the night). Cabanillas won the pot with A-5, giving him a pair of fives, while Hellmuth had A-4, for a pair of fours. Hellmuth was livid that Cabanillas could call that large bet on the turn with Ace high. He made his feelings known, but Cabanillas, not one to be intimidated, turned to the crowd and yelled, “Because he had such a great hand with a pair of fours!”

Luck found its way to Cabanillas a few more times, always seeming to come on big pots. Hellmuth would flop two pair, but Cabanillas would river a better two pair. Both might have nothing, but Cabanillas would find a little something on the river to win. Some might say Cabanillas was a luckbox, but he took what Hellmuth gave him. Hellmuth did not play nearly aggressive enough, allowing Cabanillas to stay in hands and hit cards. Both Mike Matusow and John Bonetti could be overheard in the audience saying that Hellmuth needed to be more aggressive.

Hellmuth wasn’t without luck, either. Late in the game, he was all-in with bottom pair and a flush draw, while Cabanillas had top pair. Cabanillas hit two pair on the turn, but Hellmuth rivered the flush to double-up and stay alive.

It wasn’t long, however, before it ended. The flop showed 6-4-3, with the 6 and 4 of diamonds, and Hellmuth moved all-in after his opponent bet. Cabanillas instantly called, showing 3-5 of diamonds, for bottom pair, a straight draw, and an open-ended straight flush draw. Hellmuth had 5-4 off-suit for middle pair and a straight draw. He hit trip fours on the turn, but the river Jack completed the flush for Cabanillas and David had officially killed Goliath.

Originally published July 7, 2006