Two
Young Poker 'Crew' Members
Play First Event; Finish One-Two
Look out, here comes "The Crew."
A few months ago, six young poker players,
five men and a woman aged 21-25, bursting
with energy and enthusiasm, decided to
get together, move to L.A., room together,
share their knowledge and live-game bankrolls,
shoot for corporate sponsorship and help
revolutionize poker. Tonight three of
them entered their first live tournament
as "Crew" members, in the 19th
event of Hustler Casino's Grand Slam of
Poker, $100 no-limit hold'em. When it
was over, one was first and one was second.
When they got heads-up, Joe Bartholdi
had a chip lead of about 4-3 over Brett
Jungblut. After a few hands, Bartholdi
still had a slight lead, and the tournament
ended right there, but they planned to
play for the trophy when they got home.
This is the biggest tournament win for
Bartholdi, a former Binion's dealer who's
23 and has been playing as a pro for five
years. Previously, he had won a couple
of the Mirage's daily events. Another
member of the Crew (a name they came up
with on the spot after the event ended)
is "Dutch Boy," who finished
12th in this year's World Series championship.
Also on hand was a lady with a mini-cam
who hopes to get enough footage out of
the Crew to eventually put together a
documentary.
A door-busting crowd of 352 players showed
up for this $25,000 guaranteed event,
and to accommodate them, there were 10
players to a table and 11 tables with
19. Opening limits at the final table
were $5,000 and $10,000. Bartholdi, down
to $2,000 at one point, eventually went
in four times and survived before going
on to a win.
At the other end was the "Incredible
Shrinking Man," John Drayton, a Hustler
blackjack supervisor. With seven players
left, he had an incredible chip lead of
about $425,000 of the $705,000 in play.
He held onto it after two more players
were gone and then, with limits at 16
and 32k, lost massive quantities of chips
and finished fourth.
Jack Boghossian, a familiar face at Grand
Slam final tables, ended up 10th after
limits had become 8-16k. After a couple
of all-in escapes, he went in on an open-ended
straight draw with a flop of J-10-10 to
his Q-K. Drayton, who started as chip
leader with $127,500, broke Boghossian
with K-J and moved up to about 350k.
The Vegas Pro called the "Grey Ghost"
was next to dematerialize after he moved
in with As-2s. On the button, with pocket
aces, was Raymond Davis. "It's the
second time he's raised my blind when
I held aces," Davis said. "You
think he'd learn by now."
Hustler poker dealer Paul Lui posted his
last chips in the small blind with A-7
and was knocked out by Zaynab Mogadam,
who held pocket jacks.
Hand 34 was a raised pot with three-way
action. A fourth player, Drayton, quickly
folded. "I'm getting out of the way,
it looks like a train wreck," he
said. In the end, an all-in Jungblut tripled
up with A-K.
On hand 44, Davis moved in for $7,500
with A-J. Then Mogadam, aka Xena the Warrior
Princess, re-raised all in with pocket
sixes. Bartholdi, with Q-Q, broke them
both when the board came K-K-5-8-J.
Five-handed, a rough chip count showed:
Drayton, 425k; Jungblut, 135k; Bartholdi,
84k; Billy Alicante, 45k; and Thoi Nguyen,
16k. Two hands later Nguyen went in with
A-Q. Jungblut, with K-J, finished him
by spiking a turn-card jack.
With limits at a gargantuan 16-32k, Drayton
began taking big hits. After Jungblut
check-raised and beat him in a big pot
with pocket nines, he was down to about
175k. After running into Bartholdi's pocket
aces in a pot that was capped pre-flop,
he was left with some 45k. That went in
on hand 59. Holding 9-8, he had an open-ended
straight draw on a flop of 10-7-5. He
missed, and Bartholdi, with J-5, blackjacked
the blackjack boss into fourth place.
Alicante was left short-chipped after
losing a pot just short of 200k. He folded
on the river, after Jungblut bet with
a board of 5-4-3-9-9. "It's a small
pot," Brett said, showing 7-6 for
a straight. On the next hand, Alicante,
in the big blind, was all in with A-4.
He was in the lead against Junblut's K-7,
but a cowboy flopped to shoot down Alicante
and leave him in third place.
Bartholdi was now leading about 400k-300k.
Four hands later, after his lead had narrowed
down to 360-345k, the two called a truce.
The
Crew now had its first major trophy, and
everything seems to indicate that the
poker world should hear a lot more about
these young poker adventurers in the months
and years to come.
Max Shapiro
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