Best online poker games on Launchpoker.com

  When your trophy case includes a World Poker Tour stud championship along with a World Series of Poker bracelet that represents your skills in stud as well, you have had a pretty good career. This is probably what Mike Rocco is thinking today after winning Event #35, the Seven-Card Stud final. After adding a WSOP championship to his already impressive resume, all that is probably left for him is to get engaged to Pam Anderson.



  Going into the final table Rocco was the chip leader with 255,000, but close on his heels was Al Barbieri who was working with 252,500. With only 2500 chips separating the two leaders at the start, it is fitting that it was these two who finished the tournament heads-up for all the marbles.



  Long before we got to the final pairing, there were seven other players who would try to have something to say about who would be left standing at the end. Jeffrey Siegal was the first casualty of the day as he crossed swords with Max Troy and found himself impaled on Troy's triple sevens.



  Watching Max add Siegal's chips to his stack must have set a little fire under the britches of Al Barbieri, because the next two eliminations belonged to him. Andre Boyer was his first victim who was closely followed by Ajax, Ontario's Danny Kalpakis. Barbieri added their chips to his stack and was quickly becoming a favorite to win it all.



  Rocco had added to his stack by eliminating Giacomo D'Agostino in 5th place but almost made a costly mistake against Levon Torosyan. During the first of three hands, he took 20,000 or Levon's remaining 26,000 chips. It is perplexing why he didn't finish off a potential foe when he could have put Torosyan all in, but he didn't and left a wounded player in the tournament to continue to cause trouble.



  Levon tripled up on the next hand, making sure Rocco paid for his earlier generosity. Unfortunately for Torosyan, Mike had learned from his mistake and when Rocco had trip Queens with the opportunity to put Levon all in again, he didn't hesitate. Levon Torosyan was out in 3rd place. This left only Al Barbieri and Mike Rocco.



  Al Barbieri had driven much of the action at the final table, and was the chip leader going into heads-up play. People watching this final pairing were now murmuring about Al's prediction from Day 2 when he was a chip poor charity case. He announced to the table as the 2nd day was winding down, "If you guys don't get me in the next forty minutes, I'm gonna win the whole thing."



  By the end of Day 2 he was 2500 chips removed from the lead and by the heads-up portion of Day 3 he was the chip leader and had all the momentum. Alas, his career as a prophet would be short lived.



  Mike Rocco spent the final table pushing Al Barbieri around like he was a star linebacker using a member of the marching band as a chew toy. Mike began putting a hurt on Al's stack right out of the gate and didn't stop until Barbieri was bowing to his pair of Kings on seventh street of the the final hand. Al was hoping for a miracle on the river card, but nothing happened that would improve his pair of helpless little threes and he was out in second place.



  Mike Rocco had the rare privilege of having his very first WSOP cash be a championship winning performance. Congratulations Mike!