Hummer Man Wins Omaha
James
Mena, who drove off with a new Hummer
at this year’s Legends of Poker all-around
points play-off, had a fairly easy win
in the third event of 2003 Big Poker Oktober,
Omaha hi-lo. He arrived at the final table
with an enormous chip lead, holding $71,000
of the $230,000 in play, and maintained
his big advantage until the end when a
deal was made.
There
were many similarities with yesterday’s
opening event. The final table both days
started at exactly the same time: 12:30
a.m. The limits at the end were the same
$10,000-$20,000. Both events ended abruptly
when the final five players chopped it.
And since the tournaments were structured
with 20-minute rounds yesterday and today,
it was no surprise that both were both
over in an eyeblink: 40 minutes yesterday,
30 minutes today.
The
final table started with limits of $4,000-$8,000,
with 8:31 remaining. One of the players,
Mark Demarais, was playing only his second
tournament, and another, Gary Vick, a
programmer, was competing in his first
Omaha event. There also were two “officers”
at the table: Major Polk and “Captain.”
Four
players were knocked out in just the first
eight hands. On hand three, Demarais raised
all in, Mena re-raised, and then Alex
DeDoussis called, also all in. The hands
were turned up. Mena had A-3-5-5, Demarais
had A-2-8-Q and DeDoussis had K-J-5-2.
The board came Q-10-7-5-K. There was no
low and Mena scooped with a set of fives.
With the same number of chips, Demarais
and DeDoussis tied for ninth place, which
paid $220.
Four
hands later, another player was gone.
Limits were now $6,000-$12,000. “I’m
gonna gamble,” declared Captain,
posting his last $4,000 in the big blind.
He had 10-10-K-9. Vick called with 3s-5h-6c-7s.
The board came A-6-3-A-4 with three spades,
and Vick’s flush cut the field to
eight as Captain was discharged with $285
severance pay for eighth place.
On
the next hand, Matt McGown left town.
Vicks had A-K-J-4 and raised pre-flop.
On a flop of Q-7-3 he bet and McGown called
all in with K-6-6-2. A jack turned to
pair Vicks, and McGown cashed in for $360
in seventh place.
Two
hands later Mike Young went all in. He
ended up splitting with Mena, becoming
the first all-in player to survive. As
play continued, players posted all their
chips four more times, and each time got
part of the pot. The first time, it was
Young again with all his chips against
Polk. He took high with 9-9-4-4 and Polk
made a low with 2-4-8-Q when the board
came A-A-2-3-K. Next, it was salesman
Larry Jensen who was all in but got three-fourths
of the pot when he held A-2-7-10 and made
a nut low and two pair with a board of
10-7-3-4-4. Then Jensen split a second
time on hand 15, and there were just two
more hands to go.
Left
with a single $1,000 chip, Young committed
himself holding 2-3-4-9. Then Mena, in
the big blind, raised with a very strong
A-A-2-8. Jensen, who had already called
under the gun with A-5-6-10, called the
raise and went all in. The board came
K-Q-5-10-3. There was no low, Jensen scooped
with 10s and fives, and Young finished
in sixth place, collecting $500.
One
more hand was played, and then a chip-count
deal was examined. Mena led with $76,000;
Vick was second with $58,000; Fred Dak
third with $53,000; Polk fourth with $30,000;
and Jensen fifth with $13,000. After some
minor quibbling, the deal was set, the
tournament ended at the early hour of
1 a.m. and James Mena was the official
winner of this Omaha hi-lo event.
BIOGRAPHY
James Mena, who has lived in this area
pretty much all his life, describes himself
as a part-time player who has been playing
the game for about 15 years. Basically,
he is a tournament rather than a side
game player. He picked up the Hummer at
2003 Legends in a complicated, multi-way
swap deal even though he was not the chip
leader at the time. His other poker accomplishments
include a couple of tournament wins at
the Commerce Casino, along with a no-limit
event at the Hustler Casino. His favorite
game is lowball.
Tonight,
he said, he won some big hands toward
the middle of the tournament, although
the key hand for him came at the second
table. There was four-way action in a
pot that was capped pre-flopped and he
scooped when his two pair held up. When
he came to the final table, he just “cruised”
and let the other players, facing such
big limits, knock each other out.
Max Shapiro
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