TAXI
DRIVER WINS OMAHA/8
IN WILD FINISH AFTER SPLIT
The
eighth event of the 2003 St. Maarten Open,
Omaha hi-lo, pretty much ended when the
four remaining players agreed to split
the remaining prize pool evenly and play
for the points and trophy. From there
on it became a Wild West shoot-out. The
first hand was capped in four-way action,
with one player eliminated. Later, the
two finalists doubled the limits to $12,000-$24,000,
and after the lead changed hands several
times, they decided to end things with
one showdown deal.
Wilner,
the last man standing, is a taxi driver
who usually plays cash games at the Victoria
Club, Omaha high being his preferred game.
He's won some small local tournaments,
but this is his first international victory.
The
table boasted two European player of the
year winners. Marcel Luske won the title
in 2001 and will repeat this year, and
Garry Bush of the UK took the crown in
2002, and is the current reigning champion.
Three
players -- Luske, Fari Badimansour and
Graeme "Kiwi" Putt -- were making
their third consecutive final table in
three days. They day before they made
the finals in the second-day no-limit
event and the pot-limit Omaha tournament.
The
affable Kiwi, who came to tonight's final
table lowest-chipped with $3,000, needed
some help, so he performed the Maori Haka
war dance to frighten his opponents. It
must have worked, for he was able to survive
four all-in crises and managed to outlast
two of his opponents.
The
players started the final table at level
11, playing with $1,000-$2,000 blinds
and $2,000-$4,000 limits with 25 minutes
remaining The fourth hand had a freakish
ending. In four-way action, Martini went
all in holding A-A-9-8. The board came
8-4-2-9-5. At the showdown, van der Zijdan
turned up A-2-4-6 and Badimansour showed
A-2-9-10, meaning all three had the same
low of 8-5-4-2-A, while Martini, with
two pair, also took the high end.
On
the next hand, Badimansour went all in
for $1,500 holding J-9-8-8. "Give
me an eight," he called out. He got
his wish on the flop and scooped. Luske
was first to leave the table, on the 19th
hand. He started with A-2-J-K, got double-counterfeited
for the low end and lost to Hannuna's
nut flush. A few hands later, Romano Martini
of Italywent all in with a terrific starting
hand: A-2-3-J and a suited ace. But he
couldn't go anywhere with it as the board
came 9-6-6-K-9, and Peter Benson, a British
retiree, blew him away with kings-full.
With
limits at $4,000-$8,000, Kiwi went all
in for the fifth and last time. He had
a terrific flop of K-8-8 to his A-Q-8-6.
But then a 7-5 came, giving Hannuna a
straight along with his A-3 low. Van der
Zijden had a strange escape on hand 30.
He was all in pre-flop with A-2-3-9. He
didn't make his low, but gladly settled
for quads when three treys hit the board.
Badimansour
went out on the next hand. When Ian Dobson
raised, he decided to re-raise from the
big blind for $9,000, taking his chances
with K-J-5-3 double-suited. A flop of
A-K-5 gave him kings and fives, but Dobson,
holding A-3-4-5, had a winning aces and
fives.
Hannuna,
a Parisian gaming journalist who also
won the French-speaking world backgammon
championship two times, finished in sixth
place two hands later, becoming the third
player to bust out holding the beguiling
but often treacherous A-2. which offers
only about a 25 percent chance of making
the nut low in Omaha hi-lo. Hannuna started
with A-2-Q-10. He missed his low when
the board came K-9-8-5-Q with three clubs,
which gave van der Zijden, a professional
progressive slots player from Amsterdam,
a flush.
Dobson,
a British pro, departed on hand 44. After
Wilner raised, he put in his last chips
from the small blind with a not-very-promising
K-Q-8-4. Van der Zijden also called holding
K-J-10-2 and made a jack-high straight
when the board came K-9-7-2-8.
Four
players were now left. Van der Zijden
and Benson were in the 50k range, while
Bush and Wilner both had a bit over 40k.
One hand later they agreed to split the
money evenly, and with nothing but a trophy
and points left to play for, caution was
thrown to the winds.
On
the next hand, all four players jumped
in and the pot was raised a maximum four
times. Bush started with a splendid A-A-K-K,
but the board of Q-8-3-5-6 didn't exactly
fit his hand. Van der Zijden, with A-2-5-9
took the low, Wilens, with 3-4-8-K, made
two pair and took the high, and Bush took
a hike.
The
tournament got down to two on hand 55.
Benson went all in on the river with a
small flush when the board showed Q-9-8-9-Q
and three clubs, but van der Zijden, with
A-2-K-10, had the nut flush.
With
11 minutes left in the round, Wilner and
van der Zijden decided to speed things
up by going to limits of $12,000-$24,000.
Willens started with the lead, but with
such massive limits, it went back and
forth several times. They finally decided
to end things with one showdown hand.
The first deal ended in a split. On the
next hand, Willens had 2-4-5-6 to 3-3-3-7
for van der Zijden, and a board of A-K-10-5-2
gave Willens the winner with two pair.
-- by Max Shapiro
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