‘Tonight Don Topel might win a million dollars’ boomed Sopranos star and host Steve Schirripa as episode two of the much maligned ‘Face the Ace’ aired on American television network NBC on Saturday.
The $1 million jackpot was the carrot dangled in front of 41 year old truck driver Don Topel, after he had brushed aside Full Tilt pros Howard Lederer and Erik Lindgren in the previous episode. The gutsy Topel opted to face off against a third and final ‘ace’, risking an empty-handed departure if he lost. Despite a hearty effort, Topel was ousted by stocky Canadian and former WPT player of the year Gavin Smith.
With Topel craving female star Jennifer Harman, he looked slightly surprised when Smith made his entrance from behind the smoke glassed windows. The first major pot went Smith’s way. On a 5
Q
K
7
6 board Smith (K 8) managed to milk his top pair, with Topel chasing his straight (J 10), to no avail.
The second major hand was a bit of a cooler situation for Topel, who tucked into a slice of pizza as he played. Nevertheless he made a good fold. On a 5 Q 10 board, Smith held Q 10 for top two pair, with Topel tabling Q 9 for top pair. An $86k bet into a $103k pot on the turn saw Topel fold and left him with a short stack. He was soon disposed of as his K 5 was ousted by Smith’s A 6.
The next contestant was nurse Martia Owens, who was delighted to square up against Great Dane Gus Hansen. Everything seemed to go Hansen’s way, as he scooped a monster pot early on. On a 3 3 10 6 A board, Owens could not lay down her top two pair (A 10), with Hansen tabling 10 10 for a flopped full house. Her mistake was perhaps 3 betting Hansen pre-flop with a marginal hand. Hansen was victorious soon after when his A 4 held up against Martia’s Q 8, gifting him $10k to go to a charity of his choice.
You can watch the entire episode here on Pokertube.com.