JC Tran and Tony G triumph
It may be the most formidable line-up in the event’s history but the newcomers are refusing to be intimidated in the PartyPoker.com Premier League III. In fact, the debutants have been laying down big markers during day one’s play.
JC Tran took down the first heat for 10 points, beating WSOP champion Peter Eastgate heads-up, while Tom ‘Durrr’ Dwan completely dominated heat two only to lose out in the showdown against Tony G.
Heat one
He may have won the $9 million WSOP Main Event but the Peter Eastgate juggernaut was derailed by JC Tran.
Eastgate started the gruelling heads-up with the advantage, holding 395,000 to Tran’s 205,000, but there was to be no repeat of the Dane’s clinical heads-up destruction of Ivan Demidov at the WSOP Main Event final table as Tran brought the world champion down to earth with a bang. The final hand saw Eastgate push all-in with Q-3 off-suit, with JC instantly calling with A-K off-suit. The board failed to bring anything for either player leaving Tran with maximum points.
First out for a bagel was David ‘Devilfish’ Ulliott whose rotten run in the Premier League continues. The top three in the heat were all making their Premier League debuts, with Annette Obrestad finishing third for four points.
10 points – JC Tran
6 points – Peter Eastgate
4 points – Annette Obrestad
3 points – Andy Black
2 points – Roland De Wolfe
0 points – Devilfish
Heat two
In heat two there was huge anticipation ahead of the first match-up between Phil Hellmuth and Tom ‘Durrr’ Dwan. The very first hand saw Dwan flop a full-house only for the ‘Poker Brat’ to hit a flush on the turn. With the history of animosity between the two it was a bad spot for the 11-time WSOP bracelet winner. Hellmuth eventually made the huge lay down but his stack took a pounding and the ‘Poker Brat’ did well to recover and finish fourth.
Dwan continued to look for action whenever he could find it. At the heads-up stage Dwan held the advantage but when his 8-8 failed to hold up after Tony G had gone all-in with J-10 off-suit the advantage swung dramatically in the favour of the ‘Mouth From Down Under.’ Tony dominated the league heats in season two and has kicked-off this Premier League campaign with 10 valuable points.
10 points – Tony G
6 points – Tom Dwan
4 points – Vicky Coren
3 points – Phil Hellmuth
2 points – Juha Helppi
0 points – Nenad Medic
You can follow the PartyPoker.com Premier League III action live and analyse the hands at MatchroomPoker.com.
