PHIL
‘PENNS' AN EASY WIRE-TO-
WIRE VICTORY IN OMHA HI-LO
The
pen, so the saying goes, is mightier than
the sword. Tonight, Phil Penn was mightier
than everybody else combined at the final
table. He arrived with the chip lead and
steadily built it up until, with seven
players left, he owned 60 percent of all
the chips in play. With four players left,
he still had $101,500 of the $164,100
on the table, and the $300 Omaha hi-lo
event abruptly ended with a deal.
Penn,
a semi-pro, said he was never in trouble
throughout the tournament. He surged ahead
with three tables left when he took down
three major pots, once with a set of aces,
and twice with full houses. Penn has had
a couple of prior tournament wins in stud
and stud hi-lo at the Bicycle Casino.
Stud, he said, has been his favorite game,
but tonight's win gave him a taste for
Omaha.
The
final table got underway with $800-$1,600
limits and 3:59 remaining, and soon went
to $1,000-$2,000. Penn took a couple of
early hits, losing once to Farhang Ebadipour's
set of queens, and the next time when
his 6-high straight lost to Kathy Kolberg's
better low and higher straight It didn't
make much of a dent in his stacks, though,
and he soon got the chips back with interest.
Penn
is a quiet, serious player, but there
was plenty of merriment at the table,
largely provided by Chris "The Armenian
Express" Grigorian. "Armenian Airlines,"
he would proclaim whenever he showed winning
pocket aces. Kolberg also added her share
of wit. Kolberg, who is the daughter of
former world champion Jack Keller, finished
second tonight.
It
took close to an hour to eliminate the
first player, and nutritionist Frank Rite
was the chief culprit. He started with
only $3,600, and getting him to commit
an extra chip to the pot was a major accomplishment.
He reluctantly went all in twice and got
away with splits. Then, with only a single
$500 chip left after posting his small
blind, he debated whether to join a four-way
pot in which Jamished Bokhari was all
in for $1,000. If they both got knocked
out, they would tie. He kept his chip,
and it was a good decision. Joshua Biedak,
the Canadian student making his second
straight final table (along with Grigorian)
had As-2s-4-Q. He missed his flush draw
but scooped with trip queens. Bokhari
mucked and finished 10th.
Two
hands later, with limits now $1,500-$3,000,
Rite tossed in his last chip with A-3-10-K.
With a board of J-9-8-7, Ebadipour went
all in for $2,500 holding 3-4-5-5. A trey
on the river counterfeited both of their
low draws, and Kolberg, with A-5-6-Q,
busted them both with a straight and an
8-7-5-3-A low, which beat Ebadipour's
8-7-5-4-3.
The
chip count now stood at: Phil Penn, 72k;
Joshua Biedak, 28k; Massoud Setayesh,
20k; Nash Ball, 16k; Kathy Kolberg, 15k;
Chris Grigorian, 6k; and Shawne Portman,
5k.
Portman
debated whether to go all in after Grigorian
bet a flop of J-9-9. "If he calls..."
Grigorian said. He didn't finish the sentence
but ominously sliced his hand across his
throat. Portman took him at his word and
folded, and Grigorian showed jacks-full.
Now
Penn began building up his chips. He was
past $80,000 when he bet on the river
and got no call from two opponents. The
hand after that he flopped a set of kings
to Setayesh's set of 7s, and then made
a flush as well. He now hit the $100,000
mark, where he would hover for the rest
of the tournament.
Portman
went out in three-way action. He moved
in under the gun for $1,500 holding J-J-Q-7.
Setayesh raised with A-2-3-8. Penn called
with A-4-4-Q. On a flop of A-6-10, Setayesh
bet all in. A trey on the turn gave him
aces-up and the only low. He scooped,
and Portman finished seventh.
There
was a second woman at the table, Nash
Ball of Atlanta, Georgia, a commercial
appraiser. When Grigorian raised, Kolberg
berated him for picking on the women and
folded. That's when Grigorian, for the
first time, gleefully showed his "Armenian
Airlines." He was getting more and more
animated. "Ship it to Armenia," he cried
a few hands later when he made a wheel.
As
play continued, there was a very unusual
hand: a three-way chop! Setayesh had A-2-3-K,
Biedak had A-2-4-10 and Kolberg had A-2-5-6.
When the board came Q-7-2-9-9, they all
had nines and deuces with an ace kicker.
Next,
Ball went all in for $4,500 in the big
blind. She had 2-4-7-Q. Kolberg had A-2-4-4.
No low came on a board of K-J-3-J-9, and
Kolberg's 4s were sufficient to roll Ball
out of the tournament.
On
the next hand, Setayesh had all his chips
in with A-5-7-8, but scooped against Biedak
when a flop of A-A-7 gave him a full house.
Grigorian
was next out, and he shook his head in
disbelief at how it happened. On a flop
of J-2-5, he bet all in holding A-4-5-Q,
which gave him a wheel draw. He was startled
when Biedak called with just 10-9-6-5,
but then a 10 turned to give the Canadian
student two pair. The Armenian Express
was gone, and so was a lot of the laughter
at the table.
A
few more hands were dealt, and then the
four finalists began talking deal. A chip
count showed Penn still well ahead with
$101,500. Kolberg was second with $26,000,
followed by Biedak with $22,500 and Setayesh
with $14,000. An agreement was finally
reached, and the players cashed out in
the order of their chip count.
-- by Max Shapiro
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