WINNER: Robert Williamson III

Our first UBT Poker Champion!

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PLAYERS:

The players are Robert Williamson, Annie Duke, James Grosjean, Adriana Jade, "Hollywood" Dave Stann, and Ken Einiger.

Robert and Annie are established poker stars, while Adriana and James are poker novices. Ken and Dave went into the final with some poker experience, but are primarily blackjack players. The preliminary rounds of this event were contested in Elimination Blackjack, where the top two players from the semis advanced to this poker final. The first-place qualifiers from the semi-finals started the poker event with $750,000 in chips, while the second-place qualifiers received $500,000 in chips. This format evened things out somewhat, as Adriana, James, and Dave started with the bonus.

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ELIMINATION:

Adriana: Adriana had been crippled in an earlier hand when she ill-advisedly went all in with AQ after Robert had raised with AK. (see "Strategy Notes"). She then picked up KK, but didn't have enough chips when she went all in to scare off Annie, who held 88. She had a chance to get back in the thick of it, but Annie caught an 8 and Adrianna was the first out.

James: James played very tight throughout. He lost a significant pot to Hollywood Dave when he built a big pot pre-flop with JJ, then folded to Dave's AK, and went out in 5th place soon after.

Annie: Annie was cruising along and gathering chips, but lost a key pot to Dave with TT vs A9. She then went all in with 99 and was eliminated in fourth place in a huge pot when Ken made a questionable call with QcTc and prevailed when a queen hit the river (see "Strategy Notes").

Hollywood: Dave played well throughout, but eventually was crippled when his AK ran into Ken's aces. He went out in third place with K5 vs. Robert's KQ (see "Strategy Notes").

Ken: Ken faced early elimination when he move all in with 44 against Dave's KK, but flopped a 4 and doubled up. Shortly after, he doubled up again, this time victimizing Annie, who held QQ vs Ken's AA. Ken got all in again with TT, but ran into Robert's AA, leaving him very short stacked. He then won a series of all-in confrontations, building his stack to the point where he had enough bust Annie when he called with QT, taking a significant lead. Ken then picked up KK, but ran into Robert with aces again. However, he bounced back with aces of his own vs. Dave's AK to regain the lead. He eventually succumbed in the heads-up match when he flopped top pair with 92 but was out kicked by Robert's K9.

Robert Wins
Against lesser-skilled players, who tend to play too many hands, the correct approach is to play solidly and wait for the big hands. Robert adopted such a low-risk strategy, and was fortunate to pick up a series of powerful starting hands that held up and propelled him to the victory.


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SEASON ONE RECAP:

Episode 1: The final table is a powerhouse, featuring great play, a classic good-versus-evil scenario...

Episode 2: This is an emotion-packed contest, with tempers flaring (between Matthews and Pine) in later rounds...

Episode 3: If anything, this episode demonstrates that you're not out till you're out. Tyrone Jackson is down to just $15,000 on hand 9...

Episode 4: This is a strategy-packed match that provides plenty of fodder, as you'll see, for Strategy Notes...

Episode 5: The match is a roller-coaster ride of ups and downs, featuring a couple of excellent strategic plays and the first playoff of the UBT series...

Episode 6: It's a shootout. At hand 25, the three remaining players—Monica, Jennifer, and Angie—have nearly $1 million among them...

Episode 7: As has been the case earlier in this season, the repeat players, Gary Debernardi and John Cernuto, fair much better the second time around...

Episode 8: Dave gets battered mid-match and has to climb back from a significant deficit to get to heads-up play with Erica Schoenberg...

Episode 9: All of the players obviously have tournament chops. Ken Smith is the consensus favorite, but David Matthews, Adriana Jade, and Hollywood Dave are all considered prominent...

Episode 10: With huge bragging rights on the line (not to mention the prize money), the players are dialed in for this one and there are loads of high-end...

SEASON TWO RECAP:

Episode 1: This wasn't a timid table, but the eliminations came slowly and there were three players all the way to the 30th hand...

Episode 2: As it often does, it came down to cards in the end—but rather than it being about who got them, it was more about who didn't...

Episode 3: With two seasoned blackjack-tournament pros (Anthony and Blair) and one poker-tournament superstar...

Episode 4: This match will go down as one of the strangest and best in UBT history...

Episode 5: The blackjack players excelled on this day, with Ken Einiger and Adriana Jade steadily pulling away from the field..

Episode 6: Chips flew early in this match and three players, including Ken Smith, were already gone by the end of hand 8...

Episode 7: The final table of the UBT's first Poker vs. Blackjack Superstar Showdown features an interesting mix of poker and blackjack luminaries...

Episode 8: The three "favorites" mentioned above go out before the third Elimination Hand and the All-Stars contest comes down to the unlikely trio...