Mario
Wins All-Around #2
“Super
Mario” Esquerra, who earlier this
year won best all-around at the Bicycle
Casino’s Mini Series of Poker, did
it again for 2003 Big Poker Oktober, winning
the best all-around playoff and, officially
at least, $500 and the “mystery car”
Pinzgauer military vehicle. Esquerra did
it the hard way, because he had only 24
points for the invitational tournament.
That gave him just $240 in chips in additional
to the $300 in chips given to each player.
He
also got lucky. With five players left,
John Henson, a telecommunications technician,
had the lead. A chip-count deal (including
$18,000 cash in lieu of the vehicle) was
almost consummated, but Patrick Schulze,
the low-chipped player, balked and play
went ahead. One hand later, Esquerra took
the lead away from Henson, and the hand
after that Schulze was knocked out and
this time the deal was done.
After
alternating rounds of hold’em, Omaha
hi-lo and 7-card stud hi-lo, the game
became no-limit hold’em for the final
table. Starting with a full 30-minute
round, the blinds were $200-$400. Esquerra
arrived very close to the chip lead, and
seven hands later took it over. Manolito
Navarro, with A-5, raised $2,000 in late
position. Esquerra moved in for $6,900.
Lu Jun, in the big blind, called all in
for his $2,100. And Manolito also called
all in, $200 shy of Esquerra’s bet.
Esquerra and Jun both turned up pocket
kings. The board came 10-8-4-5-Q.
“You
just became very dangerous, Mario,”
Henson said as Esquerra pulled in the
lion’s share of the pot. Navarro
got $125 for 10th place.
Jun
didn’t last very long after doubling
up. Two hands later, he opened for $2,500
with Js-10s and Henson moved him in with
A-Q. On the turn, Jun had an open-end
straight flush draw, but couldn’t
connect. Henson’s ace-high won and
Jun finished ninth, which was worth $165.
On the next hand, Henson made his second
kill. After Schulze opened for $1,500,
Henson made it $4,500 to go and Chan Vu
moved in for $2,500 more. This time it
was Vu who had the A-Q, in diamonds, to
Henson’s pocket eights. Two diamonds
flopped, but Henson’s eights held
up, and Vu collected $210 for eighth place.
Henson now had the lead with about $22,000.
He would hold it until that next-to-last
hand.
On
hand 21, the blinds became $300-$600 with
$100 antes. Two hands later, Larry Jensen
was in the big blind with 10-7. Esquerra,
on the button, raised with K-J and Jensen
tossed in his last couple of chips. The
board came 8-8-3-5-6, and Esquerra’s
king-high was good enough to leave Jensen
in seventh place, worth $285.
A
hand later, Eric Hamilton made it $1,400
to go with pocket eights and Matt Duggan,
a psychologist, went all in with a $3,500
raise. Hamilton called, his eights held
up when the board came K-6-2-6-9, and
Duggan cashed out for $360 in sixth place.
“Good
call, we need a ride home,” called
out Raymond Davis, kibitzing from the
sidelines.
Another
five hands went by, and the clock was
stopped as the players discussed deal.
The chip count was: Henson, $21,600; Esquerra,
$12,900; Hamilton, $10,700; Gioi Luong,
$8,200; and Schulze, $5,100. After long
negotiations, Schulze couldn’t get
the extra money he wanted, and play went
on.
On
the next hand, Esquerra raised $2,000,
Henson made it $5,000, Esquerra moved
in and then took the lead when Henson
folded. On the following hand, Schulze
moved in for his remaining $4,900 with
Ac-4c. Luong called with A-K. Two more
cowboys flopped, and Schulze got $475
for fifth place. A new chip count showed
Esquerra in the lead, followed by Henson,
with Luong now in third position and Hamilton
in fourth. This time a deal was made,
and Super Mario added another victory
to his long resume.
BIOGRAPHY
In addition to Mario Esquerra’s two
best all-arounds this year, he’s
had similar titles at the Bike, Commerce,
Hollywood Park and Viejas. His total tournament
victories number in the hundreds. His
biggest cash-out came when he, John Bonetti
(his mentor) and Charlie Brown did a three-way
chop of the $600,000-plus prize pool in
the opening event of the 1999 World Series.
Although he just missed cashing out in
this year’s WSOP championship event,
he was rated as one of the favorites after
winning four super satellites.
Tonight,
Esquerra said, he had a strong feeling
he would win the event once he began accumulating
some chips. He said his game has improved
since he returned to religion and realized
he didn’t have to challenge people
to prove how strong he was. He’s
also been toying for some time with the
idea of writing a book, with maybe 150
players already anxious to buy a copy
if he ever writes it.
Max Shapiro
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