ARIZONA
PRO JIM PECHAC
RUNS ONE CHIP INTO A WIN
Arizona
pro Jim Pechac was down to one chip three-fourths
of the way through the final table. Holding
A-K, he threw it in when a king flopped,
won that hand, and then the next two.
Outtalking and outplaying the competition,
he continued to climb until he had a $4,000
lead with four players left. The players
then made a chip-count deal and Pechac
was declared the winner of the fourth
event of 2003 Four Queens Poker Classic,
$200 limit hold'em.
With
a skipped dinner break, the event ended
at the early hour of 9:30, whereas all
three prior tournaments had concluded
right at midnight.
Pechac,
who prefers split games, has been playing
professionally for about 10 years. He
has a win in no-limit hold'em at the Bicycle
Casino's 2001 Legend of Poker, and this
year finished second in S.H.O.E. and fourth
in Omaha/8 at the World Series.
Arriving
at the final table with the second chip
lead, Pechac said he was in decent shape
throughout most of the tournament. He
described his play at the final table
as selective because it was difficult
to get anyone off a hand. He named Steve
Kaufman as his toughest opponent. Kaufman,
a professor, came in third in the 2000
WSOP championship event.
There
were 16 minutes left at level 10 when
the finalists sat down to play with $400-$800
blinds and limits of $800-$1,600. New
Yorker Gerald Lewis, shortest-chipped,
lasted five hands. He had A-K to Anthony
Lazar's pocket nines and went all in on
a capped pot. Lewis had the lead when
the board showed Q-2-2-A, but a river
nine gave Lazar a full house.
A
few hands later, Danny Morgan was down
to $100 and gambled with 7s-5s. The flop
was A-A-J. Mark Gierish bet, and the colorful
Jon Andlovec, better known to the poker
world as Hippie Jon, put in his last chips
with A-7. Gierish had A-K, and when rags
came, Morgan finished ninth and Hippie
Jon eighth.
Limits
now went to $1,000-$2,000. On hand 12,
the fourth player departed. Hideo Shida,
from Japan, bet into a J-4-2 flop with
pocket treys and Gierish raised with A-J.
Shida bet all in when an eight turned.
He couldn't help his threes and finished
seventh. On a rush, Gierish was now in
a virtual tie for the lead with $41,000.
Bob Craig, who started as chip leader,
had $42,000, and Anthony Lazar, with over
80 tournament wins in Las Vegas, was low
man with $7,000. He soon went all in but
was saved by pocket aces.
Craig
then hit Gierish hard twice to move up
to about $56,000. The first time he had
pocket aces and made a set on fourth street.
Four hands later he had pocket 10s to
Gierish's A-Q. Gierish flopped a queen,
but on fourth street Craig caught a third
10.
Two
hands later, Pechac, holding A-Q, flopped
queens full. Slow-playing the turn, he
failed to bust Kaufman, but nevertheless
left him with just $2,000. Kaufman quickly
went all in three times, but nobody could
finish him. "More lives than a cat,"
remarked Gierish after Kaufman continued
his escape act later.
Pechac,
meanwhile, started to go south after Michael
Millstone, a table games dealer playing
only his second tournament, turned his
pocket aces into a full house.
After
limits went to $1,500-$3,000, Pechac went
all in for the first time, winning against
Craig when he had A-K and the flop came
K-9-5. He survived on the next hand when
his K-J turned into a straight. Then,
making it three in a row, he beat Craig
again with a 10d when four diamonds hit
the board.
"What
a comeback!" he exulted, coming to
life now that he had about $35,000. "Twenty
minutes ago we couldn't get a word out
of you," Gierish reminded him. Acting
frisky now, Pechac bet blind pre-flop
against Kaufman. It wasn't that much of
a gamble, because he held K-K against
Kaufman's A-Q. He then put Kaufman in
and left him in sixth place after a queen
came, too little and too late, on the
river.
It
was now hand 54. Pechac had the chip lead
with $48,000, and only four more hands
were to be played. On the final deal,
Lazar raised with A-3, Pechac re-raised
and Lazar added $500 more to go all in.
Craig was calling all the way with Kc-Jc.
Two clubs flopped, a fourth club on the
turn gave him a flush, and Lazar cashed
out in sixth place.
The
count was now: Pechac, $52,000; Craig,
$48,000; Millstone, $22,000; and Gierish,
$13,500. A deal was struck and Pechac
added another win to his resume.
Max Shapiro
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