Dr.
Frank Rite Goes on Rush and
Does All Rite in Pot-Limit Event
Dr. Frank Rite is a naturopath, a hypnotherapist,
a clinical nutritionist and an energy
healer, and he needed all his healing
powers when he was down to $200 with about
10 tables to go in tonight's pot-limit
hold'em event. But then a couple of winning
river cards, one against Chris Grigorian,
got him going. For most of the final table
he was in about average shape until, with
10 hands to go, he went on a big rush,
climaxed when he won an $84,000 pot.
With three players left, Rite had about
$120,000 of the $192,800 in play, and
a deal was struck ending the fourth event
of Hustler Casino's Grand Slam of Poker.
Rite's biggest cash-outs to date have
been a $45,000 win at the Aladdin years
ago and a $27,000 pot-limit hold'em win
at Commerce.
The final table got underway with blinds
of $300-$600, 13:27 remaining. Mel Weiner
was chip leader with $39,900, but on the
second hand he went from the proverbial
penthouse to the poor house. In the big
blind with 9s-2s, he bet when the flop
came J-7s-5s, only to have J.C. Tran move
in with K-J. No flush came, the jacks
won, and Tran took the lead with about
44k while Wiener was left with around
17k.
With blinds at $600-$1,200, a big three-way
pot developed on the eighth hand. The
flop was Kh-9c-7h. Dennis Waterman was
in the small blind with K-10 and moved
all in for $3,200.Kavous "Kav" Shariatzadeh
also went all in holding K-Q, and Weiner
called with 10h-8h, giving him draws to
an open-end straight and a flush. Two
rags came and Kav's higher-kicker kings
won. Waterman was out of business, and
Weiner was down to about 8k.
Kav's chips only kept him in action a
few more hands. With a board of K-9-7-8-A,
he check-raised Can Kim and went all in
for 10k holding aces and sevens. Despite
three clubs on board, Kim called, won
with aces and eights, and Kav cashed out
ninth. After winning the next pot, Kim
took the lead with close to 50k.
There were two unfamiliar faces at the
final table: an attorney named Grady Talbot
and a retiree named Gene Resnick. Both
had been playing very cautiously. Finally,
Resnick had a tremendous flop. Holding
Jh-10h, he had a straight flush draw when
the flop came Kh-9h-9. He bet out, went
all in on the turn, missed everything
and lost to Jack Boghossian's nines full.
As play continued, Tran built his stacks
to about 80k and increased his lead after
beating Kim in two pots. Weiner, meanwhile,
hadn't been able to recover and busted
out on hand 30. At this point, blinds
were 1k-2k, meaning that a player could
raise to 7k by calling the 2k big blind
and betting the pot of 5k. In the small
blind, Weiner went all in with Q-10. Rite
called from the big blind with J-6 and
flopped a jack to send Mel home in seventh
place. Three deals later, Rite dispatched
Kim in an unusual hand. Kim moved all
in with pocket threes and ended up with
a full house when the board came J-9-9-9-3.
Rite, however, had A-J, and he made nines
full of jacks.
On hand 36 it was doctor versus lawyer,
though no Indian chief was in sight. Holding
Jh-9h, Talbot raised to 7k and Rite put
him all in for an additional $5,500. Rite
held pocket eights and made a full house
when the board came A-Q-7-A-8.
With four players left, Tran still held
a comfortable lead with about $90,000,
more than twice as much as any other player.
Rite and Boghossian were pretty closely
tied for second with roughly $42,000 each,
while David Levi brought up the rear with
less than 20k. Levi, winner of the Omaha
hi-lo event the night before, had been
down to about $200 earlier, before the
break, and he had been struggling to stay
afloat ever since. He finally went all
In with 9-8, pairing his nine and thwarting
Dr. Rite, who had been trying to anesthetize
him. "Trying to get rid of me, doctor?
Get sick," Levi told him, as the players
engaged in friendly banter.
Rite started making his move on hand 49
when he went in with J-8 and outdrew Boghossian's
Q-J by making a straight. The next hand
saw four-way action, and Rite chased everyone
away by betting the flop.
Hand 54 was the big one. Rite had Q-J
to Tran's pocket eights. With blinds now
at $1,500-$3,000, Tran raised to $10,500
pre-flop and Rite called. Tran then bet
15k into the K-Q-A flop and the turn-card
deuce. The river brought a trey. Both
players checked, and Rite took in an 84k
pot. On the next hand, Tran knocked out
Boghossian when his pocket sixes held
up against Jack's K-Q.
Holding
most of the chips, Rite now agreed to
a deal and the festivities ended.
Max Shapiro
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