Fred Fuster was looking to defend his title in the Triple Triple Draw. With Jeramy Govert's elimination in 3rd place, Fuster was heads up with James Cordell.
James Cordell had the chip lead when heads up play began but all it takes is a hot or cold streak to change things drastically in a format like triple draw.
Chip Counts
Cordell: 915,000
Fuster: 435,000
The blinds were 15,000/25,000 with limits of 25,000/50,000 and there were only a few hands of 2-7 left before the change to A-5. Fuster would lose some chips before the game changed.
Fuster Doubles
On A-5, Fuster put in two bets to 50,000. Cordell called and drew two. Fuster took one. Action went check - bet - call.
Declarations: Cordell took two; Fuster drew one. Cordell checked and Fuster bet 50,000 of his remaining 55,000. Cordell called and improved to drawing one. Fuster was pat.
Cordell checked to Fuster's single chip behind. Fuster put it in and Cordell called.
Fuster rolled over 8764A and doubled up through Cordell's 9732A.
Dealt Badugi vs. Dealt Badugi
There were some smaller pots played before all hell broke lose on a badugi hand. Both players were dealt pat hands and the pot ballooned to over 200,000 before checking down with no breaks. Cordell was dealt a queen badugi while Fuster held a king.
The badugi hand would cripple and frustrate Fuster as he called it his biggest mistake of the tournament.
A-5 for the Win
After some back and forth, the game came back around to A-5. Cordell limp-called a raise from Fuster. Fuster would draw one to Cordell's three.
It didn't take long for Fuster to get the rest of his chips in. He went pat after the first draw and Cordell drew one on the second and third draws. Fuster had made a 8632A. Cordell drew into a 76 with 7654A.
Fuster would fall just shy of defending his triple triple draw title. This year belonged to James Cordell. Fuster took $3,340 while Cordell took down $5,100 for 1st place.
Event 13 Payouts
1st: $5,100
2nd: $3,340
3rd: $2,220
4th: $1,490
5th: $1,020
6th: $700
7th-8th: $490