CHARLIE
SHOTEN USES MENTAL
EXERCISES TO CLAIM STUD WIN
Charlie
Shoten likes winning tournaments, and
in the past year or so he's won more than
his share. Last year he won four tournaments
and placed second four more times. Two
of the seconds were worth $235,000 (Borgata)
and $107,000 (Commerce). He was also ninth
in Card Player's "Player of the Year"
rankings.
But
Shoten is just as eager to help people,
and he thinks he has the formula. It was
the key to his success tonight, he said,
and it goes way beyond poker.
A
few months ago he was inspired to write
an article called "Play Winning No-Limit
Hold'em," which ran in Poker Player. The
article wasn't about the mechanics of
poker. Rather it focused on mental steps
to achieve "calm, confidence, clarity
and maximum ability to focus."
He's
given copies to players, and several said
it helped their game tremendously. Two,
Carl Nessel and Guy Gibly, credited it
with helping them win WSOP bracelets this
year.
Shoten,
an insurance executive, now plans to market
the article in various forms, and also
send it out to institutions to help those
in need find themselves.
In
any event, a good run of cards didn't
hurt as he scored an easy win in the eighth
event of 2004 Cal State, $500 7-card stud.
The
final table started with $75 antes, a
$200 low-card bring in and $600-$1,200
limits. Shoten started with a chip lead
of $22,500, with Paul Pirrone and Brian
Carroll close behind. TV producer Terrence
Dunn, on the other hand, hardly needed
to show up with just $175. He went out
on the second hand when all he could make
was two jacks against Carroll's trip 7s.
Max
Troy did better on the next hand when
he survived with a nut flush in five cards.
Just then, a friend asked to borrow his
cell phone. "If I'd lost that one, you
couldn't borrow dust," he cracked.
Troy
did even better when he won a $15,000
pot that was three-bet on third street.
Ray "Iceberg" Sitra and Alexander Saidkhania
kept calling, but folded when Troy bet
the river showing two aces.
As
limits went to $800-$1,600, with $100
antes and a $300 bring-in, Pirrone, Shoten
and Carroll were still closely grouped
and leading in the low $20,000 range.
Sitra and Saidkhania were lowest chipped
with about $5,000 each. Sitra had won
this event the past two years. He was
trying for a three-peat, but he wasn't
catching cards and didn't look like he
could do it.
Saidkhania
got some breathing room when he committed
all his chips in three-way action and
took the main pot with a king-high straight
while Carroll took the side with a set
of 6s.
Iceberg, on the other hand, was running
ice cold. He went all in on fourth street
with two small pair. Shoten decided to
call with just a gut-shot straight draw.
He missed, but instead, three running
hearts gave him a flush, and Sitra, a
film producer, finished seventh and was
dethroned as reigning champion.
Saidkhania,
a security consultant, was next out. He
started with a (10-Q)9 straight possibility,
ended up with just two treys, while it
was Troy who made a winning straight.
Troy, who listed his occupation as a dance
teacher, had to leave the dance floor
shortly after limits went to $1,000-$2,000
with $200 antes and a $300 bring-in. All
in, he had a pair of 10s and made a set
on the river, but could only laugh ironically
because Shoten had already made a full
house.
Shoten
and Carroll were about in a dead heat
now with about $33,000 each, while Pirrone
had about $20,000 and Joseph Dattoli,
a $30-$60 stud host at Commerce, was down
to $8,000.
Cards
began coming Shoten's way, and he had
a clear lead with about $40,000 when limits
went to $1,500-$3,000. Picking up the
pace, he busted Dattoli. The pot was four-bet
on third street. Dattoli had splilt10s,
but the host didn't have the most. Shoten
was rolled-up with queens. Dattoli just
made two pair and ended up fourth.
On
the next hand, Pirrone showed a possible
straight on board with 8-10-J-4, but was
actually rolled up. When Shoten bet the
river showing two pair, Pirrone had to
give him credit for a full house and reluctantly
folded. It was a good fold because that's
what Shoten had. Shoten now had close
to $60,000 and began winning three or
four hands in a row before losing a small
pot, then winning a few more in a row.
There was no heading him off.
The
tournament was nearing an end when limits
went to $2,000-$4,000 with $300 antes
and a $500 bring-in. It got heads-up when
Pirrone made kings-up to knock out Carroll,
an aircraft safety engineer.
Pirrone
had about $27,000 to around $68,000 for
Shoten, and didn't seem anxious to prolong
the agony of trying to fight him. "Torture,
man," Pirrone
moaned when Shoten beat his jacks and
10s by turning up a third trey.
Shoten
then made a generous offer which Pirrone
gladly accepted, ending the eighth event.
Calm, confidence, clarity and cards proved
a potent combination.
-- by Max Shapiro
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