OMAHA-HA
You
want a real bad beat story? We've got
one. You have to laugh or cry in Omaha-ha.
There
were 35 entrants in the $1,500 Buy-In,
Omaha Hi-Lo Split for a total prize pool
of $49,350. Five players were paid.
To
setup the Final Table, in the battle of
the Daniels, Daniel won and Daniel lost.
Daniel Teitelbaum had $300 left. Daniel
Negreanu had $400. At stake was a Hall
of Fame jacket because neither of them
was getting to the money. Negreanu sat
out the hand. Teitelbaum played his 2
3 3 4 and was beaten both ways for 11th.
THE FINAL TABLE:
17 mins. left of 60. The blinds were $150/$300
with a $25 ante.
Player
Hometown Chip
Count
Seat 1 Brent Carter Oak Park IL $ 2,500
Seat 2 Phil Ivey Atlantic City NJ $ 4,600
Seat 3 Layne Flack Las Vegas NV $ 3,800
Seat 4 Maureen Feduniak Las Vegas NV $12,000
Seat 5 Daniel Negreanu Las Vegas NV $
400
Seat 6 Tom Franklin Gulfport MS $ 5,000
Seat 7 Jerry Howe Cashmere WA $ 6,400
Seat 8 Max Stern San Jose, Costa Rica
$10,600
Seat 9 Chris Bjorin London, UK $ 1,800
Seat 10 Mel Patton Modesto CA $ 5,600
Just
what Daniel Negreanu needs is another
jacket, but that's all he got. He'd have
had to win about five scoops in a row
to be competitive. As it turned out Mel
'General' Patton hit Dan high with Q's
and 2's and Maureen Feduniak knocked Dan
out in 10th with a better low.
The
Hall of Fame isn't turning out to be what
the World Series was for Phil Ivey. Along
with Layne Flack, also at this table,
Ivey won three events in this year's WSOP.
In all three he was completely dominant.
It's funny to see Phil actually be human
and lose once in a while. He was that
invincible earlier in the year. Phil took
his last shot with A 10 6 3 all-in. Mel
Patton trimmed Ivey both ways with 4's
full of Aces and a better low.
Also
having a tough tournament is Chris Bjorin.
Chris is getting close, but not there.
Bjorin's all-in was A J 7 5. Brent Carter
scooped Chris out in 8th with A K 6 3,
A's and 6's with a live Trey.
Have
you complained about a bad beat lately?
Well here's one you can't top. Mel Patton
liked the turn. The King fell giving him
Quad Kings. Only one card could possibly
beat his hand, and only if Brent Carter
had pocket Aces in his hand. The flop
had come with an A K, then the King on
the turn, then an Ace on the river. Many
reraises later Patton showed his Quad
Kings and Brent Carter turned over his
two Aces for Quad Aces on the river. Patton,
like a good soldier, only said he should
have saved the last two bets. He didn't
whine, curse or throw anything. Next hand!
Max Stern said later when Patton was eliminated.
"I have great respect for your game,
sir. 98% of the players in poker, after
the beat you took, would have been gone
in three hands." Mel Patton is a
poker hero.
An
hour later we still had seven players
until Captain Tom Franklin tangled with
the chip leader Maureen Feduniak. Maureen
had been making two pair stand up all
day. And not even the top two pair, which
are hands that usually gets crushed in
Omaha Hi-Lo. With Tom all-in on his last
$200 call, Maureen turned over A's and
3's, first and fifth pair. That left Captain
Tom high and dry with A K Q 2.
One
of the great survivors in tournament history,
it was surprising to see Brent Carter
go out 6th. One out of the money. But
when Mel Patton showed him nut nut, Carter
was down to his last few pills. All-in
on the next hand with a terrible Q 7 5
3, Brent got a big gulp when he could
only make two Treys which lost to trip
Deuces.
The
pressure was finally off. Everyone left
was getting paid. Maybe that's why Jerry
Howe tossed in his remaining $600 when
he had to know he was beat in 5th. The
board came 6 3 2 4 6. Jerry made trip
6's on the river, but he was drawing dead
by then under Layne Flack's wheel.
After
one of the worst beats possible, Mel Patton
had less than $1,000 left. Maybe because
he's a poker dealer (unemployed) he was
undisturbed by how horrific the beat was,
since he's dealt so many of them himself.
At the time it looked like a big financial
swing for an unemployed person. To pay
a $1,500 buy-in and miss the money by
one out? Well, the General didn't miss
the money. He played superbly. The blinds
and a couple failed draws were his Waterloo,
however. All-in with Q 6 4 4, Patton crossed
the river Styx when Layne Flack made Kings
up on him. An impressive performance.
Too bad a lot of poker's crybabies weren't
watching.
"Wizards," Layne Flack called
them. Those are the people who sucked
out on him to put Flack in his 3rd place.
Layne bets so fast and aggressively, it's
impossible to tell if he's bluffing or
not. So, for better or worse, he gets
a lot of extra calls. Most of the time
it's for better. That's why Layne leads
the current 'Player of the Year' standings.
But sometimes it's for worse. Flack was
pounding the pot as he usually does. This
time he had a hand, pocket Aces. Maureen
Feduniak had a low draw when she was counterfeited.
She made a pair of Deuces on the flop.
And a second pair, of 3's, on the turn.
Unbelievably, Maureen wiped the voluable
Layne Flack out with yet another two pair
that held up. The fourth and fifth pair--3's
and 2's.
Heads
up, English-born Maureen had a 3-2 chip
lead on the American. Central American.
Dr. Max Stern is not only a world-class
player, one of his nicknames is 'El Bandito.'
So Feduniak was in trouble with this matchup
from the outset. Max was going to be able
to bet Maureen off hands, and she wouldn't
be able to do likewise.
This
was a confrontation from two of the best
poker families in the world. The Sterns
and Feduniaks are great poker-playing
husbands and wives. All four have won
many individual titles.
But
with the two spouses anxiously sitting
on the side, Maria Stern and Bob Feduniak,
the joke was that Maureen and Max married
the wrong people or they would already
have the prize pool locked up.
The
key hand in the matchup came when Maureen
uncharacteristically raised before the
river. A third Heart came on the turn.
Feduniak is such a solid player, it must
have been hard for Stern to call an obvious
flush with only the third best one Jack
high. But he did it. Maureen had only
a 4 3 of Hearts. (This was Max's second
outstanding call of the night. He'd called
a raise from Mel Patton when a third Deuce
came on the river. Max only had A Q. Mel
had A J. Only the great players know these
things.)
The
end was inevitable as Max refused to double
the short-stacked Maureen up. Eventually,
after several all-ins that were chopped,
Maureen turned over a full house all-in---3's
full of 5's. But the good doctor had a
higher full house 5's full of Queens.
What
else can you do but laugh at Omaha-ha?
The Sterns and Feduniaks were going to
dinner. Max said "I'm buying."
Mike Paulle
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