MERCHANT
MARINE VETERAN
ON LEAVE WINS $500 HOLD'EM
A
28-year veteran of the Merchant Marines
named Muhamad Sani was the winner in the
11th event of the 2003 Four Queens Poker
Classic, $500 limit hold'em. Sani, who
is based in Seattle, is a chief steward
with responsibility for supervising food,
bedding supplies and similar shipboard
amenities for crewmen. He also gets to
play a lot of no-limit hold'em while on
the ocean.
Sani,
who gets a 60-day leave every four months,
decided to spend a portion of it playing
poker. He's been here a week, losing every
day, but finally made up for it with his
first major tournament win. His prior
tournament experience had been confined
to small events in Seattle. In this tournament,
he said he had trouble finding hands until
late in the session, then climbed steadily
upwards once he got to the final table.
The table started with $400-$800 limits,
playing 50-minute rounds, with 15:31 left.
There were only nine players present because
two had been knocked out at the same time
at the second table.
One
of them, David Plastik, was considered
on the "bubble" and eligible
for the Bubble Tournament Oct. 5. Tournament
director David Lamb said that if the other
unidentified player cares to step forward,
he too could play in that free invitational
event.
John
Wood, president of a retail store chain
in New Hampshire, departed on hand 16.
He had A-8 and flopped an ace, but pro
player Frankie O'Dell out-kicked him and
kicked him out with A-Q. Wood collected
$910.
Virginia
Beach consultant Herb Van Dyke started
with the fewest chips, $2,100, and lost
his last chips on hand 33. He was all
in from the small blind with 10-5, couldn't
catch anything and lost to O'Dell's A-4
when the board came J-7-3-2-4, and he
cashed in eighth for $1,150.
On
the next hand, a pro poker player who
asked to be identified only as "M.N.,"
had pocket aces against Denny Qutame's
pocket kings and lost when Qutame flopped
a set. "You're a lucky man,"
M.N. said. Then M.N. suffered another
setback against self described "gambler"
David Ritter when he bet into a flop of
Q-J-6-Q-Q and got check-raised by Ritter,
who held the fourth lady. But the luck
factor evened out on hand 41. Qutame had
J-10, hit a big flop with J-10-7 and bet
all in on the turn. This time M.N., with
pocket sevens, had the set, and Qutame
collected $1,615 for seventh place.
With
limits at $800-$1,600, John Strzemp was
next out. In three-way action, he re-raised
poker player Doug Saab with Q-J offsuit,
and then threw in his last $100 chip on
the flop. Saab had Jc-8c. The board came
7-5-4-8-5 with a third club on the river,
and Steve Wynn's chief financial officer
added $2,075 to his finances for finishing
in sixth place.
At
the next break, gambler David Ritter,
who started with a substantial chip lead
of $21,800, was now lowest chipped with
$9,500. On one hand, his bluff had been
picked off by Saab, a pro player from
Alabama, who called with just a paired
five. But Ritter's real leak seemed to
be bleeding off chips by continually paying
off bets on the river. Sani now led with
$31,000. M.N., who had dropped down to
$4,200 after running into Sani's pocket
aces, had recovered to $20,500, while
Saab had 19k and O'Dell, 15.5k.
Three
hands after limits went to $1,000-$2,000,
Ritter, in the big blind, was down to
$2,000. The board showed two aces and
a 10. Holding just K-Q, Ritter once more
tried a desperation bet and went all in.
Sani, who had J-10, had an easy call with
his paired 10, Ritter collected $2,075,
and now the field was down to four. After
long negotiations, a deal was struck.
Sani got $10,870 and the title; M.N. got
$9,370; and Saab and O'Dell took $8,770
each.
Max Shapiro
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