2007 WSOP Event 33 - Pot Limit Omaha w/Re-Buys $1,500

  In the Bible there is a Jewish leader named Gideon who took on a mighty force of belligerent Midianites with such a small number of soldiers that, on paper, Gideon's men would have had problems conquering a medium sized bowling team. In poker terms, Gideon was banking on his short stack taking the day. Alan Smurfit could probably empathize with the challenge that Gideon faced as he went into the final day of Event 33.  Alan started the day with a stack of chips so short that the Rio's breakfast bar could probably have produced a stack of pancakes that would make his pile of chips look diminutive by comparison. When it came to heads-up play, he was a complete underdog. He and his pathetic little stack were facing off against Qushqar Morad and his prodigious number of chips. Despite the fact that Morad had enough plastics disks to build himself a little fort, Smurit didn't do what so many other players have done under similar circumstances: give in and gratefully accept the pay day for second place.  Alan took on his opponent's stack like Marlon Brando going after a wedding cake: a challenge that cannot be finished in one gulp. You must take it down one bite at a time. For five full hours Smurfit kept taking little bites out of his opponent's massive stack. Eventually he got even with Qushqar, and once he was on top, finished his opponent off like a champion.  To be fair, there was a degree of luck involved here. On the 31st hand of heads-up play, Smurfit was all in and with one card to go. Morad had a pair of Kings and Alan had a pair of fives. The only thing that could save Smurfit from elimination would be to catch a five on the river. Luck was with him on this day and that five showed up. This allowed Smurfit to double up his stack and make a successful run for the bracelet.PlacePlayerPrize1Peter (Alan) Smurfit$464,8672Qushqar Morad$279,5953Van Marcus$190,3264Chris Bjorin$129,6915Chau Giang$96,0056Brandon Adams$75,7947Robert Fellner$57,2668Birinder Nijran$42,1089Hilbert Shirey$30,317