Stock
Trader Makes Nearly $60,000 in a Day:
Greg Kolo Earns First Major Tournament
Victory
Poker
has obvious similarities to business and
finance. In fact, people who make wise
investment decisions are more likely than
average to translate that success into
a winning poker strategy. One investor
who has proven to be successful in both
finance markets and poker is Greg Kolo,
a 26-year-old stock trader from Hoboken,
NJ. Kolo parlayed a $200 initial investment
into $59,432 at his first major tournament
victory in the second event at the inaugural
“Showdown at the Sands.”
The
final table started off with ten players.
Twenty minutes into play, Al Ardebili
was the first player to bust-out. He moved
all-in with K-10 when the flop came K-Q-x.
The player to his immediate left, chip
leader Greg Kolo was delighted to call
with K-Q, good for two-pair. The turn
card made things interesting when a Jack
fell, giving Ardebili some hope with an
outside straight draw. But a blank fell
on the river, which meant Kolo's two-pair
held up. Ardebili collected $2,622 for
10th place.
A
few hands later, short-stacked Dean Schultz
was forced to play his big blind with
J-3 of hearts. Schultz caught the perfect
flop when three hearts appeared out of
the deck. However, Schultz's “heart”
was broken when another heart came on
the turn. Brad Pierce had A-J -- with
the Ace of hearts, good for a higher flush
-- and eliminated Schultz, who received
$3,496 for 9th place.
Pierce
knocked out another player shortly thereafter
when he faded Albanian player Avdo Djokovic's
all-in pre-flop bet, who held A-10. The
flop brought Djokovic a Ten, but his hope
was short-lived. Pierce with K-J caught
a King on the river, which meant an 8th-place
finish and $4,370 for Djokovic.
Roger
Van Driesen found himself short-stacked
and had to commit his chips with K-2 when
the flop came Q-J-10, giving him an open-ended
straight draw. However, Brad Pierce flopped
two-pair with Q-10. Pierce's hand held
up, which meant Van Driesen was out in
7th-place. Van Driesen, who finished second
in a World Series of Poker event in 2000,
received $5,444.
The
next two players went out very quickly.
Jack Merrin had come to the final table
very low on chips, with just $9,500. He
managed to survive 90 minutes in the finale,
and had an excellent opportunity to climb
right back into contention. Merrin as
thrilled to be holding K-J when two Jacks
came out on the flop, and all of his remaining
chips went into the pot on the turn. Three
of a kind would normally be a powerhouse
hand, but Marques M. Burgess made a straight
and knocked Merrin out in 6th place, which
paid $6,992.
The
next hand, Pennsylvanian John McCann was
eliminated. McCann made two pair, but
lost to a higher two-pair, and exited
in 5th place, good for $8,740.
Down
to just four players, Robert Silverstein
was now in serious danger. Silverstein
managed to survive at least three all-in
situations. His best moment came earlier
when he held 7-7 versus 9-9 and moved
all-in pre-flop. Silverstein managed to
catch a magical 7, which effectively catapulted
the New Yorker four spots up the money
ladder. Unfortunately, Silverstein’s
good fortune ran out when he was all-in
with A-10 versus Kolo’s A-J. Silverstein
caught a ten on the flop, but ultimately
lost to Kolo’s straight when the
final board showed Q-10-2-7-K. Silverstein
took home $10,488 for 4th place.
Bard
Pierce managed to make a nice run at the
final table. He came in second in chips
and seemed to pose the most serious threat
to Kolo, who never lost the chip lead
at any point. However, after some success
in the first hour, Pierce ran “card
cold” at the worst possible moment
and ended up in their place, good for
$14,858.
With
only two players remaining, Kolo enjoyed
a 5 to 1 chip advantage over Marques M.
Burgess. Now, consider this: If ever there
was a “great story,” Burgess
was certainly the sensation of the tournament.
With all due respect to Kolo who won,
Burgess had a day that dreams are made
of. He started off by boarding a bus in
New York at 4:30 am to get to Atlantic
City in order to play in the Sands tournament.
Burgess had seen poker on television at
home and liked the excitement of the competition.
So, he decided this would be the day he
tried to play poker for real. In his first
time ever to play in a poker tournament,
Burgess stunned his opponents and electrified
the large crowd assembled on the third
floor of the Sands Casino with a performance
that was worthy of a standing ovation,
which Burgess graciously received a few
minutes past midnight on the final hand
of the night.
Burgess
was dealt A-Q against Kolo, with the Q-10
of diamonds. Burgess was a big favorite
before the flop. Burgess raised and Kolo
called. The flop came K-9-8 with two diamonds.
Burgess bet out again and Kolo called.
When a third diamond fell on the turn,
Burgess tried to bluff at the pot, and
Kolo nearly beat his opponent into the
pot with all of his chips. Kolo’s
“made” flush left Burgess drawing
dead and it was all over. Burgess, a college
student, collected a staggering $29,716
in his first-ever poker tournament. Twenty
hours after boarding a transit bus, Burgess
was nearly $30,000 richer.
But
Greg Kolo’s day was even better.
In what proved to be a wire-to-wire victory,
Kolo ascribed much of his success to his
background in investing. “Being a
stock trader gave me the patience and
discipline to wait for the right time
to make my move,” he said afterward.
Indeed,
Kolo made all the right moves – and
added $59,432 to his investment portfolio.
Not a bad day at the office.
-- by Nolan Dalla
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