75-Year-Old
Retired Retailer Wins
Event #5 in Twist-and-Turn Thriller
This
$300 no-limit hold'em tournament had more
excitement, drama and unpredictable twists
and turns than all the preceding four
events of Hustler Casino's Grand Slam
of Poker Tournament III combined. With
eight players left, David "The Dragon"
Pham had nearly 40 percent of the chips
and looked like a runaway winner. Then
Kenna James came on strong to take and
later exchange the lead with Pham. But
the final match-up was not between these
two top pros but between Josh Wentlandt,
a young aerospace engineer who had been
playing short-chip cliff-hanging for most
of the tournament, and Saul Eskin, a 75-year-old
occasional player who once owned a chain
of women's clothing stores. Five hands
later it was over and Eskin had his first
tournament win ever.
The
final table table started with a bang
when two players were knocked out simultaneously.
At one second table, Pham flopped a king
to his K-9 to outrun the pocket 10s held
by David Gordon, who finished 11th. At
the other, Minh Nguyen had pocket kings
and finished 10th when he went up against
James, who had pocket aces.
Final table action started with $600-$1,200
blinds and $200 antes, 5:30 remaining.
On the third hand, Wentlandt, who started
second-lowest in chips, grabbed more than
half of poker player Ryan Hughes' stacks
when his 3-3 held up against Hughes' A-6.
With
blinds at $1,000-$2,000 with $300 antes,
Hughes moved in for $21,600 with A-Q,
and Pham, who started with a $63,400 chip
lead, called. And won with A-A. Hughes
placed ninth and Pham now had close to
100k.
James
tried to find a term for the seven mortals
pitted against the fearsome Pham. Randy
Holland gave the answer: "We're the seven
dwarfs."
Holland
was the first "dwarf" to trudge off. He
moved in for 11k with Kd-6d and couldn't
catch Sheldon Hayashi's Ad-Qd. A hand
later, Berk Brown, who started with only
6k, moved in with Q-J. James and Pham
called. The board came 8-6-5-K-8 and James
won with Ad-2d. Brown, finishing seventh,
is gaming manager at Diamond Lil's poker
room in Washington.
Pham,
meanwhile, who almost invariably puts
in about three times the big blind when
he opens with a raise, made a big bet
on the flop, forcing Eskin to fold. By
hand 16, Eskin was down to about 12k when
he moved in and won with A-J to James'
A-10.
Pham
took Hiyashi out. He had Ah-7h to Kh-Qh,,
made a 9-high straight and climbed to
130k. On hand 28, with blinds of $1,200-$2,400,
Eskin doubled up and relieved Pham of
35k with K-K against Pham's A-K. Then
Paul Pirrone beat Pham in a small pot.
"Sticks and stones against Goliath," said
James. "Goliath" was cut down to size
even more when Pham folded a $40,000 pot
after James moved in on the flop. James
then took the lead with about $90,000
when he knocked out Pirrone after his
Ah-Kh held up against Pirrone's Ad-Jd.
It
was now a three-way race, even after Pham
managed to retake the lead. Meanwhile,
Wentlandt, who won a Heavenly Hold'em
event at Commerce and has a second and
third at Legends, was fighting to stay
alive. He moved in an eventual six times
without ever being called.
Chips
now began to move back and forth. James
picked up a $70,000 pot against Eskin
by slow-playing pocket aces. When he bet
only $15,000 on the river with two pair
showing, it looked like he was betting
ace-high.
After
Wentlandt had moved all in four times
in 10 hands, James said he looked like
an Internet player.
Right
after Pham won a pot with a bluff holding
8-5, blinds went to $1,500-$3,000 with
$500 antes. Pham had now moved back up
to 125k against 80k for James, 28k for
Wentlandt and 25k for Eskin.
Then
Eskin started moving up when he was all
in with Q-10 and hit a queen on the river
to outrun James' 9-9. By now the action
was drawing a crowd of about 50 spectators.
Eskin kept moving up, James down. The
seventh time that Wentlandt moved in,
James called and took a big hit. He had
6-6 and Wentlandt, with Kd-8d, made a
flush on the turn. On hand 67 James, with
J-9, moved in for his last 4k after pairing
a 9 on the river. But Wentland, with Q-5,
had paired a queen on the turn, and now
three were left..
With
$500 antes and 2k-4k blinds, the count
was: Pham, 118k; Wentlandt, 85; Eskin,
55k. Then Eskin took a 50k pot from Pham
with A-A.
The
turning point came when Pham, with A-Q,
raised to 37k after the flop came Q-8-7
and Eskin moved in holding 6-5. "Hooray
for the old guy," Eskin said when a 4
turned to give him a straight, a 120k
pot and the lead. The Dragon was almost
out of fire when he lost a 100k pot to
Eskin. He had A-10 and lost to Eskin's
set of deuces. Eskind then slayed the
Dragon when Pham was stuck in the big
blind with J-4. Eskind moved him in holding
pocket queens. The board came 8-7-3-9-9,
and Pham left quietly in third place.
Heads-up, Eskin led, 136k-122k. Three
hands into the match-up, Wentlandt abandoned
another 100k pot when Eskin moved in on
a flop of 10-10-4.
Two
hands later, Eskin opened for 20k with
Ac-10c. Wentlandt called with Ad-8d. On
a flop of 7-2-3, Eskin bet 15k, and Wentlandt
moved in with a 46k raise. A jack and
a five came, and Eskin's 10 kicker was
enough to let him take in all the chips
and score a remarkable win.
Max Shapiro
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