In this new series, “Hand History Time Capsule,” Card Player digs up memorable hands to help you relive, or perhaps discover for the first time, pivotal situations from some of poker’s most exciting moments.
There were 6,494 players who entered the $10,000 no-limit hold’em main event in 2009. The prize pool topped $61 million and the champion would walk away with $8,546,435. The November Nine that year gave the poker world quite the final table to look forward to that autumn.
Phil Ivey had made the final nine, as had Card Player COO Jeff Shulman, and London-based professional James Akenhead. The anticipation for the final table increased thanks to the WSOP Europe main event, which featured two November Nine finalists in Akenhead and Frenchman Antoine Saout. November Nine father and Card Player Publisher, Barry Shulman, won the WSOP Europe main event that October, which further increased the buzz surrounding his son. Few eyes were focused on Joe Cada, the youngest player at the table, who entered the final table in fifth chip-position with 13,215,000.
Cada Doubles up for his Tournament Life Four Times
Play was cautious after the long layoff and the first elimination took over four hours. Akenhead matched his finish at the WSOP Europe main event and busted in ninth place. Kevin Schaffel then saw his pocket aces busted by the pocket kings of Eric Buchman, who made quads and sent Schaffel home in eighth place. During the next two hours no one fell but Cada did see his stack fall to 2 million before the dinner break when Shulman doubled up through him with A-K dominating Cada’s A-J.
Cada started his comeback when Buchman moved all in from the small blind with 5
4 and Cada called with J 4
. The board came 9 6
4 10
7 and Cada doubled up to a still very short 4.8 million. The second double up came when Ivey raised to 1.25 million and Cada moved all in for 5.8 million. Ivey tanked for a bit before finally calling with A 8 and Cada showed pocket fours. The board came 10 4 2 9 7 and Cada doubled up to about 12.5 million. Ivey was left with 10 million.
Shortly after returning from dinner Ivey moved all in with A-K and Darvin Moon called him down with A-Q. Just like Chino Rheem did the year before him, Ivey busted in seventh place when his opponent came from behind and found a queen on the board to bust him. Moon also came from behind to eliminate Steven Begleiter in sixth place. Begleiter was all in with pocket queens preflop against the A-Q of his opponent, but Moon hit an ace on the river and the final table shrank to five.
Cada continued his comeback when his pocket threes made a set to defeat the pocket jacks of Shulman, who never recovered from the bad beat and fell in fifth place. In that hand Shulman raised to 1.75 million under the gun preflop and Cada reraised all in for 10.8 million total from the small blind. Shulman held J J and Cada would need help to survive with 3 3. The board came 8 4 3 7 Q. Cada doubled up on the hand to 22.575 million.
Cada had doubled up three times to help him survive through the very long stretch of play that took the final table down to the final four players. He then doubled up a fourth time against Moon to become a true contender for the world title with enough chips to his name to start making some real moves. The fourth faceoff saw Moon raise to 2 million preflop and Cada raise to 5.6 million from the big blind. Moon then reraised all in for 61.725 million and Cada made the all-in call for 22.275 million. Cada flipped over A A and Moon showed down K 9. The board ran out 9 6 3 4 4 and Cada doubled up to 45.225 million. Moon dropped to 39.45 million after the hand.
Buchman and Saout then tangled in a huge hand where the A-K of Saout held up against the A-Q of Buchman and determined that Buchman would fall in fourth place and Saout would survive longer to book a third-place finish.
Cada Takes out Saout in Third Place to Secure the Chip Lead
Now that Cada had a lot of chips to his name he was ready for the next major confrontation that came his way against Saout. Cada raised to 2.55 million from the small blind and Saout reraised to 7.3 million from the big blind. Cada reraised all in and Saout made the call, putting Cada’s tournament life at risk yet again. Cada held 2 2 and Saout revealed Q Q. The board rolled out 9 7 2 3 6. Cada doubled up on the hand and grew his stack to 78.6 million to become the new chip leader. Saout was knocked down to 41.425 million.
Cada now held the upper hand against Saout so their next confrontation brought an end to the Frenchman’s tournament. Cada opened the pot for 2.5 million and Saout reraised all in. Cada made the call and he flipped over A K. Saout showed down 8 8 and the board revealed 5 5 4 10 K. Cada hit a king on the river to keep his good run of cards going strong. Saout was eliminated in third place and Cada grew his stack to 136,925,000 for heads-up play against Moon, who held 58,850,000.
Cada Falls Early but then Stages another Comeback in the Heads-Up Final
Moon pulled close to even after winning the first big hand contested between the two during the final match and after a few more pots went his way, Moon held the upper hand with 122 million. He had increased his chip advantage to three times that of his opponent before Cada started another comeback. Cada took back the lead when his J-9 won a nice pot on a 10-9-5-10-3 board after Moon missed an open-ended straight draw with 8-7. That put Cada back up to 108 million and Moon down to 86.5 million.
Just a few hands later the final hand saw Cada raise to 3 million on the button and Moon reraise to 8 million. Cada moved all in and Moon called for his last 67 million instantly with Q J. Cada showed 9 9 and they were off to the races. The flop came down 8 7 2 and Cada’s camp went wild. Cada stood away from the table, burying his face in Cliff Josephy’s chest, unable to watch. The turn was the K, giving both sides of the auditorium something to gasp at. With just six outs separating him from elimination, Moon watched as the 7 hit the river and a deafening roar moved throughout the theater. Moon was eliminated in second place and Cada was the world champion at just 21 years of age, setting a new record as the youngest winner in history. He broke the previous mark set by Peter Eastgate just one year before him.
How the Hand Histories Look Now
The 2009 main event final table proved quite possibly more than any other final in the event’s history the old adage that you need to get lucky to win a poker tournament. Multiple players came from behind to win huge hands when they needed to double up and survive. In the final hand Cada held the lead from start to finish but he had received some help to get there.
So did Cada get lucky? Or did he have the heart to persevere and wait for the right spot to get his money in where other players might have just given up and been happy with the million-plus they were to be awarded as a member of the November Nine? One thing is for sure, Cada’s decisions at the final table made him $8,546,435 richer and it also crowned him as the youngest world champion ever. He also proved that tournament poker is always a game of survival at its heart.
The answers to these questions are for you to decide.
