MIAMI
JOHN WINS OMAHA HI-LO
AFTER ROLLER-COASTER RIDE
"Miami John" Cernuto has won some 20 Omaha
tournaments in his sterling career, but
never before encountered the dizzying
ups and downs he endured before finally
winning the 20th event of LAPC XIII, $1,500
Omaha hi-lo.
Midway
through the final table, he was all in
a series of times before going on a huge
rush that brought him a big chip lead.
But after locking horns with poker pro
Fred Koubi in an exciting 58-hand final
match-up that saw several chip-lead changes,
he again had one foot in the grave. He
went all in repeatedly (13 times in all),
before finally ending up on top.
The
final table started with only eight players
after "Super Mario" Esquerra and Brett
Jungblatt were knocked out in the same
hand by Cernuto. He had A-K-Q-3. The flop
was Q-7-7. No low came and his paired
queen won everything.
That
got him to the final table with a chip
lead of 36.5k, 2k ahead of Ken Flaton.
At the other end were Andrew Bloch and
Peggy Stein, near the cloth with 4k and
5k respectively. The table began with
limits of $1,500-$3,000, with 26 minutes
left.
In early going, Bloch and Can Hua went
all in and got out with diamond flush
scoops. Stein, a housewife, then gave
a seminar in tight play. Some 22 hands
passed before she played anything, committing
her last $1,000 and beating Param Gill
with pocket queens. Then she folded her
blinds, and didn't do anything until she
posted her last chips in the big blind.
But during this round, with limits at
2-4k, she moved up a notch after Massimiliano
Pescatori, an Italian pro, bowed out.
He had As-2s-Kh-8h when Koubi put him
in with Ah-Ac-4h-7c. A board of Q-8-6-5-2
gave Koubi a straight and a better low.
Back to Stein. In the big blind, she had
A-2-3-8 to Bloch's K-J-10-9 and lost to
his jack-high straight.
Flaton,
with A-2-6-6 and Bloch, with A-2-5-7 tangled,
both looking for a low. They both missed,
and Sykhawk's two 6s left the Maryland
pro in sixth place.
Limits
were now 3-6k. The count:
Koubi,
54.5k; Gill, 33.5k; Cernuto, 24.5k; Flaton,
20.5k; Hua, 19k. Two hands into this level,
Flaton took a big pot from Koubi with
a miracle river card. Koubi was leading
with aces-up and a better low when a river
5h counterfeited him, giving Flaton the
low and a flush.
Hua
went out on hand 50 when he missed an
incredible draw. Holding A-K-10-9 with
a flop of Q-J-7, he needed either an 8,
9, 10, king or ace for a straight. None
came and Gill beat him with just pocket
8s. Gill, meanwhile, was putting in most
of the raises. "I've never picked up so
many good hands," he marveled.
Soon
after, Cernuto found himself in survival
mode, staying alive by scooping or splitting
with first a straight, then a full house,
then a flush. With limits at 4-8k, he
still had only 15k and continued his perilous
existence.
His
closest call came when he and Koubi both
had trip 5s on the flop. Koubi had an
ace kicker, but Cernuto paired his queen
on the river for a full house. That gave
him a slight lead, and he kept moving
up until he had close to 100,000 of the
152,000 chips in play.
He
then knocked out Gill, holding A-K-K-5
to A-K-7-9. "You win this it's a miracle,"
he said when the hands were turned up.
No miracle. A few hands later, Flaton,
who had already gone all in a few times
himself, made his last stand by raising
all in with A-Q-9-5 double suited. Koubi
called blind. He had only 9-8-3-2, but
made a straight when the board came J-7-7-10-9.
After
they got heads-up, Koubi had a tremendous
flop. Holding 4d-5d-2-6, he had trip sixes
and a straight flush draw on a board of
7d-6d-6. Miami John had only Q-7-4-2,
but a 7 turned to give him bigger trips,
and then a queen on the river filled him.
By
the time limits went to 6-12k, Miami John
had a commanding lead of 127-25k. But
the game was far from over. Ten hands
later, after Cernuto had folded several
hands and then missed a flush draw, Koubi
had marched into the lead. After Cernuto
blundered and misread his hand for a straight,
Koubi took a very big lead.
By hand 125, Miami John was very low on
chips, but warned, "I've been lower than
this, baby." True to his word, he began
going all time and time again, each time
managing to stay in action. Then, after
limits went to 10-20k, he scooped two
consecutive hands, first with aces and
a 6-4 low, the next time with a better
straight than Koubi's, and once again
had the chip lead. He lost it a few hands
later when he folded on the flop, then
got it back for good after he raised on
a board of K-Q-5-10 and Koubi folded.
On
the final hand, No. 150 to be precise,
Miami John held As-Qs-6c-3d, while Koubi
held 7h-6h-6d-2d. A flop of Ah-9s-2h gave
Koubi a flush draw and Miami John aces
and a better low draw. Koubi took the
lead when a 2s gave him trip deuces. But
then a king of spades on the river made
a nut flush for Miami John, giving him
his hardest-ever Omaha win.
-- by Max Shapiro
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