Blair Rodman outlasted a field of 2,038 players to his win his first World Series of Poker gold bracelet in an event he almost didn't enter, the $2,000 buy-in no-limit hold'em. A Las Vegas native, Rodman is a professional gambler who has been playing at the WSOP since 1982. Rodman had made eight previous WSOP final tables; his best finish was fourth in the Omaha limit tournament in 1993. Rodman's best year at the WSOP was undoubtedly 2004 when he cashed six times and made three final tables. So it's no surprise Rodman has played as many events as he could this year. If he hadn't busted out of event No. 44 in 24th place the previous night, he would not have entered this tournament.
The total prize pool for this event was $3,709,160, with 198 of the entrants finishing in the money. Rodman had to outlast a star-studded final table, including 2006 World Poker Tour Legends of Poker champ Joe Pelton, 2005 WPT Grand Prix de Paris champ Roland de Wolfe, and 21-year-old sensation Anna Wroblewski.
Rodman began the final table sixth in chips; less than half those of the chip leader Steven Crawford. On the third hand of play, Mark McKibben was eliminated in ninth place, earning $42,655 when he pushed all in with pocket nines. He unfortunately ran into Crawford's pocket kings. Rodman pushed all in with A
2
, and was called by Wroblewski with pocket twos. Rodman found an ace on the flop to double up. Rodman then eliminated David Schnettlner in eighth place ($55,637), and Pelton in seventh place ($74,183) to catapult himself to second in chips.
De Wolfe was the next to fall after Amato Galasso hit running clubs to make a flush. De Wolfe earned $98,293. Crawford busted in fifth ($135,384), and Wroblewski in fourth ($192,876) on successive hands. Wroblewski is the sixth woman this year to make a final table in an open event.
Rodman eliminates Klein Kim Bach in third place a few hands later with nines full of twos. Bach earned $289,314. Rodman began the heads-up battle with a 2-to-1 chip advantage over Galasso; however it turned out to be a real battle. They played for more than three hours, with Galasso slowly working his way to a large advantage. Rodman then reclaimed the lead by doubling through twice in a span of four hands. After more than 100 hands of heads-up play, Galasso moved all in with A
K. Rodman called with A J. The board was dealt J
5 4 3 Q, and Rodman was victorious. Galasso earned $448,808 in his first live tournament cash. Rodman earned $707, 898, and a bracelet that was a long time coming. Rodman has now won a total of $1,015,306 at the WSOP.
