Kenny Tran Claims 2008 WSOP Heads-up Event
June 16th, 2008
Kenny Tran claimed his maiden WSOP victory after dominating the $10,000 World Championship Heads Up No Limit Hold’em Event #25. Kenny Tran defeated eight players heads-up to win the title and claim a $539,056 payout on top.
A total of 256 players took part in the heads-up event but by the final day, only four players remained for the semi-final matches:
Kenny Tran v Jonathan Jaffe
Vanessa Selbst v Alec Torelli
Each player began the day with 1,280,000 chips and the first semi-final match saw plenty of action as the chip lead swung back and forth between Tran and Jaffe. Tran began putting some hands together and began dominating proceedings until finally Jonathan Jaffe called all-in. Kenny Tran called and showed pocket jacks against Jaffe’s K 8. No help came on the drawn cards and Tran was through to the final.
The second semi-final was evenly contested as the lead swung between Vanessa Selbst and Alec Torelli. However Torelli began to build himself a lead and soon after got Selbst all-in. A straight on the river gave Torelli victory and a final heads-up match against Tran.
In the best of three final, Kenny Tran took the first game to take a 1-0 lead when his pair of fours held out to beat Torelli’s hand. Tran then dominated the second game until Torelli called all-in on his Q 10. On the flop Torelli had the lead but the river card was a club giving Tran a nut flush and victory.
Final Standings:
Kenny Tran - $529,056
Alec Torelli - $336,896
Vanessa Selbst - $108,288
Jonathan Jaffe - $108,288
