November 20, 2005

In almost every episode, we've started with all of these complicated scenarios of who had to do what. Not this time. It's the finals. Whoever wins 2 out of three games wins the match and $400,000. Johnny Chan. Todd Brunson. Someone's taking home a heap of money.

Match 1

Hand #1 - Chan (Q/9 ?) and Brunson (K ? 6 ?) both start out conservative to see a Flop - 7 ? 9 ? 10 ?. They both check to a 5 ? on the Turn and a K ? on the River. It's Brunson's hand to lose, and he bets at it. Chan calls and pays off Brunson.

Hand #2 - Chan has a J ? / 10 ? and calls. Brunson has a Q ? J ? raises and gets called. The Flop - 2 ? 7 ? 7 ?. Brunson bets at it and Chan folds. Brunson is a quick 2 for 2.

Hand #3 - Brunson has A ? 9 ? and raises, which Chan calls with a 6 ? 2 ?. The Flop - 8 ? 7 ? 8 ? . They both check to the K ? on the Turn. Chan bets, but Brunson calls it. The River is a Q ? and both players check through again. Brunson wins another pot.

Hand #4 - Chan has a 10 ? 9 ? and raises it up. Brunson has a K/Q ? and quickly calls. We see a 4 ? 10 ? K ? and both people connect on the Flop Chan connects on the middle pair and bets at it, but Brunson connects on the high pair and raises. Chan goes All-In and Brunson quickly calls. Chan needs a 10 or a 9, which he doesn't get on the Turn (6 ?) or River (Q ?). Brunson wins the first match and only needs to win one more for $400,000.

Match 2

Hand #1 - Chan has a K ? Q ? and raises. Brunson had an 8 ? 6 ? and calls it. The Flop is a 9 ? 5 ? 3 ? and he has an inside straight draw. A 7 ? shows up on the Turn and Brunson makes his straight. The River has an A ? and Brunson bets. Chan has nothing and wisely folds. Brunson now has the early lead on the second match as well.

Hand #2 - Brunson, with a K ? 4 ? calls. Chan actually has a hand with pocket 6's and limps in to see a A ? 5 ? 2 ? on the Flop. They check to a J ? on the turn and a K ? on the River. That river gives Brunson Kings and just checks through. Brunson wins again and Chan has yet to win anything.

Hand #3 - He could win one here, with an A/J ?. Brunson has a K ? 7 ?, but he connects on the Flop when a 5 ? K ? 9 ? shows up. The Turn has a 2 ? and the River has a 6 ? - neither of which are good for Chan. Brunson bets again and Chan folds. 7 Matches. 7 Wins for Brunson.

Hand #4 - Brunson has another good hand - a A ? 3 ?. Chan, with a Q ? 9 ?, raises and Brunson...folds??!? CHan wins a hand, but is still down, 1,150,000 to 850,000.

Hand #5 - Brunson has 6 ? 3 ?. Chan has...Kings. Uh-oh. The Flop has a 7 ? 4 ? 2 ?, and Brunson has a gut shot straight draw. He bets and Chan calls. The Turn - 9 ? Brunson hasn't made his straight and now Chan bets. Brunson bails and gets out of the way.

After seeing a montage of Johnny Chan's trip to Versace for some more florescent color shopping (yikes) we go to...

Hand #6 - Brunson bets 8/7 ? and hoping that Chan has nothing. Chan has lovely ladies, however, and goes All-in. Brunson escapes disaster and folds.

Hand #7 - Chan has a K ? 4 ? and calls. Brunson checks a 6 ? 2 ? as we see the Flop - K ? K ? 2 ?. That's Trips for Chan, but it's Brunson, with 2 pair, who bets. Chan raises (of course) and Brunson calls. The Turn - 7 ? and Brunson fire more chips at the pot. Chan calls. The River is a 5 ?, which doesn't help anyone. Brunson checks to Chan, who bets 200,000. Brunson thinks he doesn't have the winning hand (and he doesn't - so he folds, giving Chan the chip lead.

Hand #8 - Brunson goes back to good hands - this time, an A ? 8 ?. Chan calls with a 7 ? 4 ? and we move to the Flop - an 8 ? 4 ? 2 ?. Chan bets and Brunson raises. Chan sees that his hand may have issues, so he folds.

Hand #9 - Chan has K/J ? and limps in. Brunson has a 10 ? 8 ? and...raises? He does and Chan quickly calls. The Flop - A ? 7 ? J ?. Chan has Jacks and Brunson, with a gut shot straight draw, bets. Chan calls and we go to the turn - 3 ?. Brunson goes All-In and hopes that Chan doesn't call. Chan calls and he likes what he sees. The River...a 4 ?. Chan doubles up and Brunson is in deep peril to lose this round.

Hand #10 - Brunson goes all-in with a K ? 5 ? - and he's dominated by Chan's A ? 8 ?. The Flop - 10 ? Q ? 4 ? The Turn - 2 ?. Brunson needs a King or a 5 for this Match to continue. The River - 7 ?. Chan evens up the match at 1 apiece and we go to the tie breaker.

Match #3

Hand #1 - CHan has a K ? 3 ? and limps into Brunson's 6/8 ?, who raises. Chan bails and Brunson takes the first round.

Hand #2 - Brunson has more hearts. This time, it's a 6/5 and he raises again. Chan has a K/7 ? and he calls. The Flop - 5 ? 10 ? 8 ?. Brunson hits the 5's but Chan has a Flush Draw - which he gets on the Turn on the A ?. The River - 9 ? and Chan bets 150,000. Brunson only has 5's and he folds.

Hand #3 - Chan has - Vowels - and raises. Brunson has a nice hand with a K ? Q ? and calls. The Flop - 5 ? 5 ? A ? and Chan has a full house. They both check to a 10 ? on the Turn. Now it's Brunson with both a flush and a straight draw and Chan bets. Brunson calls as we see the River - 7 ?. Brunson hits nothing and is free to fold when Chan bets 80,000 - but he calls and pays Chan off. Chan is now up 1,260,000 to Brunson's 740,000.

Hand #4 - Chan has a 9/2 ? and limps in -= as does Brunson and his 5 ? 3 ?. The Flop - 7 ? J ? 4 ?. They both check, but on the Turn (4 ?), Chan bets to try to get Brunson out of the pot. Chan gets his wish, Brunson folds and Chan has a bigger lead.

Hand #5 - Brunson has a nice k/10 ? and raises into Chan's....Ladies. Uh Oh. Chan calls and we see a Flop of 8 ? A ? A ?. The Aces are scary to both people but Brunson bets and Chan calls. The Turn - 6 ? and it's now Chan who bets. Brunson folds and Chan is getting hot at the most opportune time, now leading 1,350,000 to 650,000.

Hand #6 - Brunson has a J ? 7 ?. Chan has a 5 ? 3 ?. They check through the Flop (Q ? 6 ? 2 ?) m but Chan bets on the Turn (J ?) Brunson calls - and he'll call on the River (4 ?) - but that river gives Chan a straight and that's now 5 straight winning hands for Chan, who leads 1,510,000 to 490,000.

Hand #7 - Chan has a J/9 ? and raises. Brunson, with an A ? 8 ?, goes All-In, now should Chan call and lose, they will be virtually even, so it's not a bad bet to call. That being said, Chan folds and Brunson gets some chips back.

Hand #8 - Chan has a K/8 ? and calls. Brunson checks with a Q ? 2 ?. He connects on the Flop with a Q ? 4 ? 5 ?, but Chan has a flush draw and raises. Brunson goes all-in and Chan, who would only be trailing by a little should he call and lose, calls. The Turn - 9 ?. If the River has a Diamonds or a King, the match is over. The River - 7 ?!!!!!!! Chan knocks out Brunson and is the winner of Poker Superstars 2!!!!!!

Chan picks up $400,000 and has a grand total of $515,000. Don't feel too sorry for Brunson though - Todd gets $140,000 for making it to the finals and takes home a total of $235,000.

We see highlights of the last match and Johnny Chan rejoicing, and then we fade to black. End of series.

My take? I loved it. I loved every minute of this show. The strategy was great, the caliber of stars was wonderful and I learned a hack of a lot. This easily gets an A and I look very forward to seeing Poker Superstars 3.

That ends the recap for this series. This is Gordon Pepper, hoping that you felt like a Superstar in reading these recaps.