| Level: | 22 (15000/25000/25000) |
| Entries: | 1/60 |
| Prizes: | $17,100 |
| Local Time: | 2:10 AM |
It was a crazy end to the side game tonight. I wasn’t able to catch much of the action until they got into the money, but from three down to the finish was quite a ride.
The final three players cut a deal with Jody Fayant in the lead. That gave him the biggest payout of $4,875, with Duke Saddleback & Jeff Clarke agreeing to $4,275 each. After that, they played down for the trophy.
Saddleback was the first to fall, sending his chips to Clarke. Shortly after they got heads up there was a massive cooler that everyone at the table initially thought Fayant won to take down the game.
They both connected with the flop and the money went in. Fayant was on top pair, and held against Clarke’s bottom pair, but when the stacks were counted, Clarke had a slight lead, giving Fayant the double but leaving Clarke with about 200k still behind.
What followed next was a series of doubles for Clarke that eventually ended with the comeback win. In one example, Fayant had Clarke dominated preflop, leaving Clarke’s seven as his only live card.
He flopped it and held for his first double, then doubled again in the next hand. In the final showdown, Clarke was once again behind when the money went in preflop, but ahead by the river when his queen-eight rivered the snowman to crack Fayant’s suited king-ten.
Clarke was back on top by a bit at that point, and that ended the improbable comeback. In the end, Clarke won the final four hands all in, and in every case, he was behind Fayant when the chips went in. Heads-up poker is a strange game, and a lot of time, it’s Mr. Variance that actually wins the tournament.
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Jeff Clarke | $4,275* |
| 2 | Jody Fayant | $4,875* |
| 3 | Duke Saddleback | $4,275* |
| 4 | Resul Dauti | $1,795 |
| 5 | Brian Wells | $1,195 |
| 6 | Brad Bishop | $685 |
