European pro Rob Hollink beats the Americans at their own game by taking down the $10,000 Limit Hold'em Championship event
Wednesday 18th June 2008
Limit Hold’em has always seemed very much like the American’s game. Through years of it being spread in their casinos, it’s been played at home games up and down the country. That makes the victory for Rob Hollink of The Netherlands all the sweeter, I am sure.
The path to the gold wasn’t simple for the Dutchman though, with fellow professionals Andy Bloch and JC Tran on the final table with him. The chip counts and seat allocations for the climax was as follows:
Seat 1: Andy Bloch - 370,000
Seat 2: Rob Hollink - 893,000
Seat 3: Tommy Hang - 578,000
Seat 4: Cy Jassinowsky - 231,000
Seat 5: Jerrod Ankenman - 441,000
Seat 6: Chris Vitch - 201,000
Seat 7: Brock Parker - 166,000
Seat 8: J.C. Tran - 247,000
Seat 9: Aaron Katz - 1,232,000
Bloch wasn’t having the best of days, and after allowing a good amount of his chips go to Tran and Katz, he was always going to be in trouble. Eventually he ended up being eliminated in seventh, and by the hands of Hollink, whose 9d-8d outflopped Bloch’s Jd-3h.
Hollink was the executioner of his other pro rival, when JC Tran succumbed to his second nut flush. Tran collected $128,075 for his fifth place.
The eliminations of Katz and Hang set up a Hollink vs. Ankenman shoot-out for the bracelet. With many of the heads-up battles in recent events having lasted several hours, this one was a relatively crisp affair. Hollink’s momentum began when he made a wheel straight and then a small flush to take an imposing chip lead. It was to be a case of history repeating for Ankenman, who finished second in the $3,000 Limit Hold’em event in 2006. In the final hand of this event, Hollink’s Ac-5d was ahead of the Ts-7s, and once the flop came A-4-5, the money and bracelet headed towards the land of clogs and windmills. Congratulations Rob Hollink!
