Tournament poker is quite a roller coaster ride, as Curt Kohlberg learned on Friday (not that he didn’t already know it).
The Massachusetts poker player with over $3.6 million in The Hendon Mob cashes went from hero to zero quickly on Day 1a of the $3,800 buy-in World Poker Tour (WPT) Choctaw Championship. But there’s a positive to his abrupt elimination — he can always rebuy.
Fast Start, Fast Exit for Kohlberg
The 2024 edition of the WPT Main Tour event at Choctaw Resort & Casino kicked off at 11 a.m. on Friday. Just over 60 players took a seat at the start of the day, a number that has grown significantly through the first six levels, and registration will remain open until the start of Level 9.
At the time of publishing, during the dinner break, 260 players had signed up. That includes some big name pros such as Anthony Zinno, Scott Ball, Chino Rheem, and the defending champion, Jared Jaffee.
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Frank Stepuchin and Ren Lin were among the players who busted early on Day 1a. Kohlberg, on the other hand, was the biggest stack early on, and appeared to be the first to crack 100,000 chips, up more than 50,000 chips from the 50,000 starting stack.
During the first level, not long after shuffle up and deal was announced, he turned a straight and nearly doubled up. Moments later, he moved all in on a 9x9x5x4xJx board and didn’t receive a call, but he did surpass 100,000 chips. But in Level 6, he’d find himself on the wrong end of one of the most entertaining Day 1a hands.
Natalie Ferguson, the under-the-gun player, raised to 2,000. Dustin Bowman, with Q♠10♠, and one other player called before Kohlberg got a bit ambitious with 9♥3♥ on the button and raised it up to 9,500, forcing everyone but Bowman off the hand.
The flop came out Q♥9♠7♣, a little something for both players. Kohlberg, with middle pair, continued telling the story that he had a big hand as he bet 8,000 and received a call from a superior hand. When the 4♥ appeared on the turn, the hand began to get out of hand.
Kohlberg, having picked up a flush draw, bet 28,000, and then Bowman check-raised all in for about 70,000. Sitting on a small pair and a draw, Kohlberg decided to call it off and gamble for his last 67,000. But the J♦ on the river didn’t improve his hand, and the early Day 1a chip leader was out before the dinner break.
“Didn’t expect to see either of those hands,” a player at the table commented.
PokerNews will have a full recap of the Day 1a following its conclusion.