Housing
Developer Beats Tough
Final Table to Win No-Limit Event
Real
estate developer Christopher Nichelson
faced down an awesomely tough final table
loaded with well-known pros to win the
seventh event of Hustler Casino's Challenge
Cup, $200 no-limit hold'em. The table
featured such name players as Randy Holland,
Chris Grigorian, David Levi, Anthony Tran,
Dennis Waterman and Cliff Cantor, along
with Tonie Hur, winner of the earlier
pot-limit hold'em event.
Pocket
9s were the key hand for Nichelson as
he took down two key pots with them. Almost
exclusively a side-game player, Chris
favors $20-$40 hold'em and stud hi-lo.
Though he's won some small tournaments
at the Bicycle Casino and Crystal Park,
his biggest score previously came when
he placed fifth in a California State
Poker Championship event several years
ago. He had high praise for the tournament
structure, calling it the best he's ever
seen for events this small.
Marla Schwartz took a bad beat to finish
11th and miss the final table. In the
big blind, she raised $1,800 all in with
A-10. Grigorian called from the small
blind with 6-5. Marla had the lead with
a board of Q-9-7-K until a river 8 gave
the Armenian Express a gut-shot straight.
Blinds began at $800-$1,600 with $200
antes, 17:52 remaining. Internet publisher
Jon Eoyang finished in 10th place, which
paid $835. Levi raised with 6-6 and Jon
moved in for $5,700 with A-7 off. David
flopped a set. Jon had a nut flush draw
on the turn with four diamonds out, but
couldn't hit.
One hand later, Waterman, the Oregon logger,
got splintered. Tran raised $4,000, Nichelson
called with 8-8 and Waterman called all
in for $3,300 with K-10 of diamonds. When
an A-8-10 flop gave Nichelson a set, he
moved in for $17,500 and Anthony folded.
A turn-card 8 gave Nichelson quads. But
had he slow-played he would have gotten
a lot more chips because a river ace would
have given Anthony, who said he folded
A-Q, aces-full. Waterman collected $975
for finishing ninth.
On hand 16, Nichelson doubled up in both
chips and chocolates. When Jim Schmidt,
a salesman from Spokane, Washington, raised
$7,000 with pocket 7s, Nichelson, holding
pocket 10s, moved in for $11,700 more
plus a box of chocolates given to all
the final-table players. Jim called the
entire bet and lost when the board came
A-8-2-K-3.
Hand 25 was by far the most dramatic of
the Challenge Cup tournaments to date.
Before the flop, night club owner Cantor
was all in with a pair of 4s against Nichelson's
pocket 9s. The flop of J-10-3 changed
nothing. Cliff seemingly was rescued when
a 4 turned to give him a bigger set …
but then a river 9 gave Nichelson a bigger
set! Cantor's eighth-place finish was
worth $1,390.
Right
after blinds went to $1,500 and $3,000
with $500 antes, Holland, owner of two
World Series bracelets, moved in from
the small blind holding A-6 offsuit. Grigorian
called from the big blind with A-4 of
diamonds.
Grigorian
missed a flush draw, but a river 4 was
enough to give him a winner as Randy cashed
out in seventh place for $1,670.
David Levi, the "You play goood" ex-soccer
pro from Israel, now knocked out the next
two players, both times starting with
the lesser hand. On hand 42 he had Schmidt
all in with Q-6 versus K-8, then paired
his 6 on the turn. Schmidt collected $2,225
for sixth place.
Hur, the recently graduated student, had
earlier survived an all-in encounter when
he made a flush with K-10 of clubs. Two
hands after Schmidt departed, Levi made
it $20K to go with pocket 6s. Hur called
for slightly fewer chips with pocket jacks.
He was left with a $2,780 pay-out for
fifth place when Levi hit a set on the
turn.
With
$222,400 in play, Grigorian now led with
about $80,000. Tran had around $50,000,
with Nichelson and Levi each with approximately
$45,000.
A
few hands later, Levi, with A-J offsuit,
moved in from the small blind with a $29,700
raise. "I've had a lot of luck with this
hand," Nichelson mused, pondering his
action. He called, and sure enough, turned
up pocket 9s again. What's more, on the
flop, he again hit a set. "To think I
almost threw it away," he exclaimed.
As
Levi cashed in for $3,335 for finishing
fourth, Nichelson became the big chip
leader with about $105,000. Tran had about
$42,000 and Grigorian roughly $75,000.
Three
hands later, Grigorian raised with A-Q
offsuit. Tran called all in with A-6 of
spades. A-X suited had proved to be a
good hand several times before, but not
now. Grigorian stilll led on fourth street,
then hit a queen for good measure to send
Tran home in third place with $5,280.
Heads-up,
Grigorian had a very slight lead. Though
no deal was discussed, Grigorian later
said he doesn't do them, even though turning
them down had brought him bad luck four
times before.
The
final match-up lasted 19 hands. When blinds
went to $2,000 and $4,000 with the same
$500 antes, the two Chrises were just
about dead even. Grigorian pulled ahead
by taking a $57,000 pot when he bet $20,000
into a 10-9-3-J-9 and Nichelson folded,
saying he shouldn't have checked the turn.
But Grigorian was then left with only
about $62,000 after Nichelson bet $28,000
into an A-9-2 flop with A-Q and Grigorian
moved in with A-8, drawing dead when a
queen turned. The match ended two hands
later when Nichelson raised with 8-8 and
Grigorian moved in with Ac, 7c. The board
came 10-3-2-10-K and Grigorian settled
for $10,565 while Nichelson took home
$21,125 … and two boxes of chocolates.
Max Shapiro
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