Parisian
Ladies Clothes Vendor is
Winner of $300 No-Limit Hold'em
It
was the classic match-up in the biggest
pot of the night: Q-Q for David Atlan,
a Parisian vendor of ladies clothing,
and big slick for Marcel Sabag, a cellular
phone store owner. Atlan, all in, won
and doubled through to more than $150,000.
He held onto his big chip lead until the
tournament got three-handed. A chip-count
deal was then made and Atlan became the
winner of the ninth event of Hustler Casino's
Grand Slam of Poker Tournament III, $300
no-limit hold.em.
Atlan
has been playing poker for three years,
exclusively pot-limit and no-limit. He
has one prior tournament win at a Paris
casino, and had a second at Hollywood
Park two weeks ago, both in no-limit hold'em.
This
was far and away the most colorful and
diverse final table seen thus far. Besides
the Parisian merchant, we had one actor/celebrity
blackjack TV co-host; one recording artist;
an ex-nightclub owner now running a film
production company, a recently turned
pro from Ireland, and, last but not least,
an online pro dressed as Spiderman whose
nickname is...Spiderman! That plus one
gentleman who asked to be identified only
as "NA".
Final table action got underway with $300
antes and blinds of $1,000-$2,000, 19:15
remaining. Dave Stann is the actor who
co-hosted a celebrity blackjack TV show,
came in second in a World Series of Blackjack
event, won the "Vegas Challenge" on the
Travel Channel and has numerous poker
cash-ins. He started shortest-chipped
but doubled through against film producer
Cliff Cantor on the second hand and got
to stick around a while.
Less
fortunate was the Spiderman, aka Partha
Datta. Datta is an online pro who made
26 Internet final tables last month. He
is a student of Mickey "Mouse" Mills,
who pointed out that super-aggressive
play that works well online isn't as suitable
for land-based casinos. "When you get
knocked out online, you can just press
a button and play in another tournament,"
Mills pointed out. This was borne out
when Datta raised to $22,000 on the fourth
hand with A-K, then moved in for about
$18,000 even when he completely missed
the flop of 9-2-5. Sabag squashed Spidey
with pocket 10s and took the lead with
about $110,000.
Stann
went out soon after blinds went to $1,200-$2,400
with $400 antes. He went all in for $9,000
with A-J and lost to New Jersey pro Chris
Ackerman's pocket deuces.
Ackerman
made it two kills in a row when he went
against recording artist Darius Campo,
who has had numerous tournament cash-ins.
Campo opened for $8,000 with Ah-3h and
Ackerman put him in for another $7,000
with As-Ks. Nobody improved and Campo
finished eighth as Ackerman ran his chip
count to about $90,000.
Ernell
Castro, a salesman, made a very bad choice
when he moved in with pocket treys after
an ace flopped. Atlan had Ad-6d and easily
put him away in seventh place.
Cantor,
who had been dropping down, bounced back
up to more than $50,000 after Ackerman
opened for $8,000 with K-J. Cantor moved
in with pocket 10s and flopped a set.
Just
before blinds went up, Rory McHugh, the
Dublin investor banker who just turned
pro, went out. McHugh, making his second
consecutive final table, moved in for
about $13,000 with Jh-10h and couldn't
catch up to Sabag's Ah-10h. He finished
sixth.
Blinds
were now $1,500-$3,000 with $500 antes.
A rough count showed Sabag in the lead
with about $115,000, followed by Atlan,
$85,000; Ackerman, $65,000; NA, $60,000;
and Cantor, $50,000.
The
turning point of the tournament came a
couple of hands into the new round. Sabag,
with Ad-Kd, opened for $12,000, Atlan
moved in for about $75,000 with pocket
queens and Sabag called. The board came
8-8-7-10-3, and suddenly Atlan vaulted
into the lead with over $150,000. "There
was nothing you could do," Cantor assured
Sabag, who was now down to about $38,000.
As
play continued, NA, who had been playing
fairly conservatively, moved in after
Cantor had opened for $10,000. Cantor,
a semi-pro, quickly mucked his K-Q suited.
NA
left the scene on hand 32. Sabag raised
to $12,000 with A-Q and NA moved in with
Kc-10c. Sabag improved when a queen flopped,
and the anonymous one finished fifth.
"I'm
back in business," Sabag exulted. Alta
still led with about $150,000 while Cantor
now had $115,000 and Sabag $73,000, while
Ackerman trailed with $38,000.
Blinds
now moved up to $2,000-$4,000 with $500
antes as the tournament neared a conclusion.
Ackerman dropped further down when he
bet $5,000 into a flop of Kh-Qh-9d, then
folded when a 2h turned and Atlan bet
out.
Two
hands later Ackerman made his last stand.
He moved in holding Ks-9s and Sabag called
with pocket jacks. The board came Q-9-8-7-6
and now three were left.
The
chips were counted. Atlan had $155,000
to about $115,000 for Cantor and $102,000
for Sabag. The deal was made and the man
from Paris locked up his win.
Max Shapiro
|
