Hustler
Tournament Dealer Chris Cellery
is Dealt a $40,000 Victory
Chris Cellery, a Hustler Casino poker
tournament dealer playing in only his
second major tournament, took down an
official $40,060 win in the 14th event
of Hustler's Grand Slam of Poker, limit
hold'em. He arrived at the final table
with the chip lead, ran up an enormous
count with four players left and swept
to an easy win after that.
Heads-up, he was ahead of retired attorney
Steven Sam Naideth, 180-83k. After six
hands without much change, they agreed
to a chip count deal. Until an earlier
pot-limit Grand Slam event, Cellery had
only played small events. The more experienced
Naideth's biggest win came when he placed
first in a Heavenly Hold'em event at the
Commerce in 1998, winning 32k.
As often happens with big fields, there
was a notable absence of top pros at the
final table. With 211 entrants and 316
rebuys and add-ons, the final table didn't
get underway until 4:15 a.m. Even with
40-minute rounds and gradual limit increases,
the blinds by that time were a punishing
$1,000-$1,5000 with $1,500-$3,000 limits,
and two hands later went to 1-2k blinds
and 2-4k limits. That left Ron Faltinsky,
with $7,200 in chips, and Eric Arreca,
with 8k, enough for just two big bets
each.
Both players folded until their blinds.
On hand eight, Faltinsky took his blind
with K-5. He paired his five on the turn,
but realtor George Rechnitzer, in the
small blind with 6-5, made two pair and
put the vitamin distributor all in and
out. Arreca, a young local pro, mucked
his two blinds when Rechnitzer raised
both times. Down to 4k, he raised all
in on hand 16 with A-8 and flopped an
ace,. But once again Rechnitzer, with
a puny 7-5, made two pair to leave Eric
in ninth place.
Two hands later, Escondido construction
man Chris Heintschel was in the small
blind and put himself all in with As-9s.
Tony Abesamis was in the big blind with
10-5 and flopped a five. Three down.
Cellery, with pocket aces, then relieved
Rechnitzer of all the chips he picked
up when he knocked out the first two players.
The most active player at the table thus
far, Rechnitzeer then went all in, doubled
up and rebounded.
Leo Alvarez departed on the 32nd hand.
With limits at 3-6k, he pushed his A-10
all the way without connecting and lost
to Cellery's J-10 when a jack flopped.
After winning the next pot, Cellery moved
into a big lead with about 80k and was
never close to being headed after that.
Abesamis was left with $2,900 after folding
a big pot on the river, then doubled up
once, but was on his way out. A couple
of hands later he raised all in with K-Q
and was met by Naideth with pocket fours.
A jack and 10 flopped to give Abesamis
an open-end straight draw. "Nine!" shouted
a supporter from the sidelines. A 10 came
on the river. "All right!" yelled the
friend, who obviously is badly in need
of glasses.
With limits now at 4-8k,shoemaker Gioi
Luong was shooed out. He raised all in
from the big blind with Q-7. Rechnitzer
stayed with him from the big blind with
9-2 and made his favorite hand again:
two pair.
Four-handed, all the players had plenty
of chips, but that situation did not last
long as Cellery proceeded to go on a rush.
First he took a big pot from Naideth to
move up to about 135k. Next he took a
bite out of Rechnitzer's stacks with pocket
jacks as Rechnitzer missed his nut diamond
draw. And then, with pocket kings, he
flopped a set against Young Song. He now
had about $180,000 of the $263,000 in
play, and the only question seemed to
be who would finish where in the next
three spots.
Rechnitzer answered part of the question
a few hands later when limits had reached
6-12k. All in with pocket deuces, he was
a slight favorite against Naideth's A-K,
but became a 10-1 dog when an ace flopped
and he cashed out fourth. A few hands
later, Song took the big blind and posted
his last 5k with Q-3. Naideth had pocket
nines. They held up when the board came
J-6-2-2-J, and the tournament was now
heads-up, with Cellery holding a chip
lead of about 2.3-1.
After six hands, Naideth had picked up
about $8,000, not enough to make much
difference, and the two agreed to settle
up by chip count.
Cellery, who said his tournament dealing
experience gave him a feel for playing,
was cautious when asked if he'd try to
move into the big time now. "We'll see
what happens," he said.
Max Shapiro
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