Another interesting themed match brought together three poker playing couples in husband/wife team Marco Traniello and Jennifer Harman, David Benyamine and fiancée Erica Schoenberg, and long-time significant others Phil Laak and Jennifer Tilly.  All good friends, the table banter was friendly and at times a little wacky, understandable when Phil Laak is present.

The match started very poorly for Erica Schoenberg, as she found herself with only $12k out of her original $20k in starting chips after just 4 hands.  It didn’t get any better for her on the 5th hand, as she found As Kh under-the-gun and raised to $600.  Phil Laak called with pocket 8s, as did Marco Traniello in the big blind with 6c 5d.  The flop came 7h 4d Ks, giving Erica top pair/top kicker and Marco an open-ended straight draw.  Marco checked, Erica bet $1500, Phil folded, and Marco check-raised to $3000.  Erica reraised to $6500, and Marco called.  Both players checked the 9h on the turn, and the 3d on the river gave Marco the nuts.  He put Erica all in, and when she called, she was out in 6th place.

The first hand of Day 4 wound up being brutal for Phil Laak.  With the blinds at $300/$600, he raised preflop with Kh Jd, and David disguised the strength of his hand by smooth-calling on the button with Ac Ad.  The flop was Jc 10c 8c, and Laak, thinking his hand was good, checked to induce a bet from David, who made it $1000 to go, prompting Laak to immediately move all in.  David called but Laak had him covered.  The turn was the 9c, putting 4 cards to a straight flush on the board while giving David a flush, but when the river didn’t bring the Qc or 7c that Phil needed for a chop, he was left with only $2000.  With his shoes already on, Laak moved all in on the very next hand with Qs 10c, and David again looked him up with Qh 8h.  But David turned an 8, and the room became much quieter as Laak was eliminated in 5th place.

Jennifer Harman was the next to fall prey to David who slow played pocket aces once again.  With the blinds at $400/$800, Harman opened for a raise to $2000 with pocket 9s.  Benyamine called with his aces, as did Tilly with Qs 8s and Marco with 8c 7c.  The flop was 2d Ks 5h, missing Tilly and Traniello who both checked, and Harman bet $6000.  David raised to $12000, causing the blinds to fold and leaving Harman to reraise all in for her remaining chips.  David called, and Harman couldn’t connect on her 2-outer to overtake David’s overpair to the board and was sent home in 4th place, leaving none of the 3 couples who began the match intact.

On Day 5, with the blinds at $600/$1200 and David holding a commanding chip lead, all three players limped in and saw a flop of 3d Kd 2d.  Tilly had 3h 7h for bottom pair, Marco had Ks 9d for top pair and a flush draw, and Benyamine didn’t connect.  Jennifer checked from the small blind, Marco bet $3500, David folded, and after deliberating, Tilly pushed all in for her remaining $11,200.  Marco made the easy call, and when the turn brought the 5d, Marco had made a flush and Jennifer was eliminated in 3rd place.

Heads-up play began with David having an $86k to $34k chip lead over Marco.  With the blinds at $1000/$2000, the final hand saw David moving all in preflop with Kd 9h and Marco making the call with As 4h.  The flop came 10s 6s 8d, giving David a gutshot straight draw, which he made on the turn when the 7c hit the board, leaving Marco drawing to a 9 for a split.  But the river was the Qc, and David Benyamine won his first PAD title in convincing fashion.