SOMAIYA
WINS POT-LIMIT
IN DRAMATIC COMEBACK FEAT
Rumit
Somaiya, a British property developer
who plays a lot of poker, staged an unbelievable
comeback to capture the third event of
the St. Maarten Open, $200 pot-limit hold'em.
He started the final table slightly above
average in chips, but halfway through
was down to just $1,900. He then proceeded
to go all in and double up four times,
the last time when he hit a set of fours
on the river to outrun a bigger pair,
and in nine hands leaped from $1,900 to
$30,000.
He
went on to grab the chip lead in the late
stages. With three players left, he had
$81,000 in chips and agreed to a chip-count
deal that gave him the win. Steve Jelinek,
of Manchester, UK, had $63,500 and took
second, while David Michelson, a caddy
from Madison, Ohio, placed third with
$56,000. Somaiya, who prefers pot-limit
and no-limit, had his biggest cash-out
when he won a pot-limit hold'em tournament
at Moscow's first international event
about five years ago.
In
a bizarre twist, Somaiya and Jelinek found
themselves locked out of the casino when
they took a break after 4 a.m. and almost
couldn't get back in. If they hadn't,
then Michelson might have been forced
to play with himself!
The
final table started with a full round
of blinds at $600-$1,200, which meant
initial raises could be from $2,400 to
$4,200. In contrast to yesterday's event
where it took an hour to lose one player,
the first casualty came on the second
hand. Bob Cochran, a California realtor,
raised to $2,800, then called for the
rest of his $9,100 when Jelinek re-raised.
Cochran had pocket eights, Jelinek had
pocket rockets, and nine were left when
the board came Q-7-2-10-J.
Finland's
Ilari Sahamies came to the final table
with a big chip lead of $48,700, more
than twice that of his closest competitor.
On hand number 10 he built it by knocking
out fellow Finn Juha Helppi, who was making
his third straight appearance at the final
table. After Carol Everton raised to $2,600,
Sahamies popped it another 10k with Ah-4h,
and Helppi moved in for $22,100 with pocket
jacks. Everton got out of their way, and
a flopped ace left Helppi in ninth place.
Sahamies
went on to pick up blinds numerous times
with repeated raises of $4,000. But whenever
anyone played back at him, he would fold,
evidence that he was doing a lot of stealing.
Fari
Radimansour, who hails from Birmingham,
UK, finished eighth. He re-raised all
in for about 12k with A-7 and ran into
Jelinek's pocket cowboys.
On
hand 29 the blinds went to $800-$1,600,
allowing raises of $3,200 to $5,600. The
players seemed to catching on to Sahamies'
strategy now, because he raised or bet
three times in the first six hands, and
folded the two times he was raised.
Steve
Vladar, also making his third final table,
raised all in under the gun for $5,500
with A-8 and became a 13-1 dog when Gilbert
de Bouvere turned up two aces. The board
changed nothing, and now six were left.
On
the next hand, Sahamies folded again when
he raised to $5,100 and Jelinek made it
$20,100 to go. It was a reluctant fold,
because this time he had a hand. "I'll
call next time," he vowed, showing
J-J.
On
hand 46, Somaiya hit his low point. He
raised to $5,600 with pocket 10s, Michelson
moved in for 17k with A-Q, and Somaiya
was down to $1,900 when a queen flopped.
Somaiya now did his magic act, doubling
up once with Q-8 against de Bouvere's
J-9; twice with K-4 against Jelinek's
7-5; a third time with J-3 against Sahamies'
10-8; and finally, a fourth time, on hand
56, when he caught a third four on the
river to beat Sahamies' pocket queens
as he hit the 30k mark.
Two
hands earlier the blinds had gone to $1,000-$2,000.
At that point the chip count was: Jelinek,
67k; Michelson, 41k; Sahamies, 40k; de
Bouvere, 30k; Everton, 14.5k; and Somaiya,
7.5k.
Everton,
a British interior designer from Worcester,
UK, finished sixth after moving in for
$6,000 with Qh-9h. She flopped a nine
and picked up a flush draw, but missed
and couldn't beat Jelinek's pocket jacks.
Sahamies
was left very short-chipped when his A-7
lost to de Bouvere's A-10. On the next
hand he was in the small blind and bowed
out in fifth place when his Q-2 fell to
Jelinek's Ks-4s.
On
hand 92, blinds went up to $1,500-$3,000,
allowing initial raises of $6,000-$10,500.
Jelinek still held the chip lead at this
point with about $78,000. But a few hands
later, Somaiya began closing in after
Jelinek raised to $10,500 and then had
to forfeit his bet when Somaiya re-raised
to $33,000.
On
the 104th hand, the field got down to
three players. After de Bouvere made it
$10,500 to go with A-Q, Somaiya came over
the top for $33,000 with A-K. "Can't
lay it down, de Bouvere sighed, losing
when the board came A-7-2-6-A.
Somaiya
now had more than $70,000. Three hands
later he moved into the lead when Jelinek
tried a bluff, betting into a board of
Q-7-5-4-K with just J-6, and Michelson
picked him off holding K-5.
The
race had now tightened up. Another nine
hands were played, with Somaiya increasing
his lead slightly. Finally, the three
called for a chip count and settled on
a split. Rumit Somaiya, the comeback kid,
had his improbable victory.
-- by Max Shapiro
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