A
REAL 'VEGAS NIGHT'
All
over America, in places like church basements
and Moose halls, there is regularly held
something called a 'Vegas Night.' This
is where people who live too far from
a casino go to gamble. That's where our
winner tonight practiced for the real
thing--a 'Vegas Night' that could only
happen in Las Vegas.
There
were 60 entrants in the $500 Buy-In, Seven-Card
Stud for a total prize pool of $28,200.
One table was paid, a total of eight players.
Ninth
place was a double whammy for tournament
veteran Randell Skaggs. It was one out
of the Final Table and also one out of
the money. Skaggs went all-in on a straight
draw with his last few chips. Randall
was heads up against Don Barton, who called
with an ace in the hole and caught an
ace for a pair that held up.
THE FINAL TABLE:
30 mins left of 45
The ante was $25, bring-in $50,
playing $200/$400
Player
Hometown Chip
Count
Seat 1 Joe Bowers Salt Lake City UT $2,275
Seat 2 Minh Nguyen Bell Gardens CA $1,000
Seat 3 Karen Mengden Glen Mills PA $6,025
Seat 4 Julia Wurth Hamburg, Germany $2,425
Seat 5 Richard Ziskind Las Vegas NV $6,775
Seat 6 Don Barton Pahrump NV $3,200
Seat 7 Randy Allen Medina OH $6,150
Seat 8 Brent Carter Oak Park IL $2,550
It's
common to see the short stacks go out
first in tournament final tables; it's
uncommon to see the short stacks stay
in order like a Conga Line headed out
the door. Tournament pro Minh Nguyen was
the lowest stack at the start, with only
$1,000, so he got the dubious honor of
leading the Bunny Hop to the rail.
(To
avoid confusion, this was the California
Minh Nguyen. He finished 24th in this
year's World Series of Poker Championship
Final. The Nevada Minh Nguyen made the
Final Table in that same event this year.
And of course, neither gentleman is the
famous Men 'The Master' Nguyen. Told ya
we'd avoid confusion.)
Ace
high flushes were the order of the day
at this table tonight. If you had an Ace
high flush draw, you were golden. When
Nguyen made his Aces up on 6th street
against Randy Allen, Minh raised all-in.
Randy was happy to call the last bet.
He was already there with his spade flush.
"I can't believe he caught the Ace of
Spades," Minh mumbled as he left in 8th
place. Nguyen's Aces and Nines didn't
fill up on the river.
Next
up and out was Joe Bowers. His starting
$2,275 was dead money in 7th. In complete
frustration at his lack of cards, Bowers
predicted he'd be dealt the deuce low
card on the next hand, when Joe had only
a few hundred dollars remaining. Bowers
was correct. The deuce ripped right off
the top for him in the One Seat. Joe had
taken about as much abuse from the deck
as he could stand and he completed the
bet for $200, with his deuce up, to try
to go all-in and end his misery for the
night. Richard Ziskind was the chip leader
at the time. With a Queen showing, Richard
raised to get heads up against Joe's lowly
deuce. Everyone at the table could see
clearly that Bowers was on tilt. Ziskind
had split Queens, but he was trailing
to the all-in Bowers by fourth street
as Joe caught running Kings. Never fear,
however. Ziskind also had the magical
back door flush draw on fourth street,
and the flush came in runner runner Ace
high.
There's
now a new poker axiom: Never get a message
at the Final Table. Julia Wurth was holding
her own until a relative in the stands
sent over a masseuse for her. Wurth came
all the way from Germany, and from that
point on it could hardly have been wurst.
Julia had plenty of chips on her last
hand, when she started with split 10's,
and she raised to narrow the field. There
would be no reason for Randy Allen to
fold; he had three hearts. You know the
rest of the story. On the biggest pot
of the night to that point, Wurth called
Allen's bet all-in on the river with Kings
and Tens. And for the third consecutive
knockout hand, the winner showed an Ace
high flush.
The
Bunny Hop to the door continued with the
next lowest starting stack leaving in
5th. Coming in, Brent Carter was the only
player at this table with either a WSOP
bracelet or a Hall of Fame watch. Brent
had both. The wily Carter tried to represent
a made hand to Karen Mengden. Brent pounded
the pot on each card. Karen didn't wilt
under the pressure, however, and finally
caught an Ace on 6th street for a pair.
Carter's straight draw had the distinct
disadvantage of not being a flush draw.
Both players paired on 6th and 7th street.
Brent's Kings and 9's lost to Karen's
Aces and 10's.
Stretching
the dance metaphor to the limit, the last
in our Conga Line was the player who started
4th in chips. It would be no surprise
to anyone that follows tournament poker
that Don Barton made a Final Table in
a Stud major. Don plays everything well,
but he excels at Seven-Card Stud. For
a while, Barton looked like he might take
this thing. He was raising every hand
and stealing tons of antes. But suddenly,
the table starting standing up to his
aggression and it was exactly at that
point Don couldn't make a hand. Barton
went to the felt with alarming speed.
Don
tried one last raise with split 4's. Richard
Ziskind had been run over by Barton, on
his immediate left, for hours. Ziskind
finally got his revenge on Barton by calling
Don down to the all-in river with a pair
of Jacks which held up.
But
that was Richard Ziskind's last hurrah.
Nicknamed "Dr. Z," Z's cards were putting
him to sleep, they were so bad. Repeatedly,
Richard couldn't even call the bring-in.
So the chain gang was finally broken up,
as the player who started first in chips
finished 3rd. He was running so bad at
the end, that when Ziskind saw a split
A J with his last few chips, it looked
like a hand. He went all-in. Karen Mengden
had split Kings to let Dr. Z go to bed.
Heads
up, Randy Allen had a better than 3-1
chip lead oven Karen Mengden. For hours
the cards had flat run over Randy. He
even joked about throwing away his first
three-flush starter all night. Karen lives
about 1 1/2 hours from Atlantic City and
play $30/$60 Stud mostly. Occasionally,
she said, she'll go as high as $75/$150.
She was delighted to find that the Hall
of Fame was playing her game today. Presumably
$6,490 helped pay for her trip, because
this was Randy Allen's 'Vegas Night.'
No one else was going to win.
Ironically,
it was an Ace high Diamond flush that
cost Karen most of her chips. When Randy
showed a third deuce up, Karen already
had her flush. She knew she was beat when
Randy raised her, but Karen had a gutshot
straight flush draw and called.
On
her last hand, Karen had about as many
outs against Randy's pair of 9's as was
possible. She had a straight draw, four
spades and three overcards. Nothing came.
Randy
Allen lives far from any casino. When
he's home, he plays in local 'Vegas Nights'
but "never" Seven-Card Stud. Randy Allen
had one of those nights that can only
happen in Las Vegas, and specifically
at Binion's Horseshoe. He won his first
major: the inaugural event of the 2002
Hall of Fame Poker Classic.
Mike Paulle
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