Damien Zillig wasn’t even sure he’d make in time for the game tonight. He and partner Alyssa Webber arrived in town tonight from BC and barely made it. Their flight was delayed and they weren’t even at the Calgary airport when the tournament began tonight.
They both made it in time for late registration and while Webber wasn’t able to run up a stack, Zillig found his way to the winners’ circle. Zillig was actually one of the shorter stacks when they got to the final table, with runner-up Mike Malm leading the way, but once play was in the money, he found a new gear.
His rungood ramped up and he was the big leader by the time they were five-handed. He then proceeded to send Mal Hagan and Hasan Al Ghunaim (who was the runner-up in January’s Main Event) to the rail to build an even bigger stack.
Malm then took out Gerry Edwards in 3rd to send the match heads up with the stacks close to even. They played a few smaller pots, most of which went to Zillig and when the final big confrontation happened Zillig was back in the command chair.
The final hand was pretty uneventful until the turn when Zillig put Malm in a tough spot, potting his open to force him into a fold/shove decision. Malm tanked for more than five minutes agonizing over the decision until they finally got it all in with Malm on two-pair and Zillig technically behind on top pair, but holding all the draws in the universe.
It was his straight draw that hit on the river, but that was just one of many possible outs for him. It seems like a good bet that we’ll see Zillig in the Main Event Day 1b tomorrow. He and Webber are in town for the poker, but also for the upcoming birthday of their son on Monday so the win tonight is just a bit of a bonus before the big prize of quality birthday time.
