Miner
Digs Way to Pay Dirt!
There wasn't much finesse to the final
event of Winnin' o' the Green 2003. It
was pretty much bang-bang, all in every
hand. Seven players departed in 19 hands,
and seven deals later it was over. Rusty
Bagaygay had the chip lead three-handed,
but after that it was all Michael Fetter,
and the man who is a miner by occupation
dug his way to victory in the $100 no-limit
hold'em event.
Noel Castro finished 11th. He was in the
big blind for his last $1,500 with 5s,
6s and Frank Schram beat him with pocket
10s. The final table started with $500
antes and $2,000-$4,000 blinds, 24 minutes
remaining.
On hand one, Brian McCann moved in for
$15,500 with K-10 and Peter Paik finished
him with pocket aces. Brian collected
$415. Two hands later Badia Khalil raised
all in for $12,000 holding Q-J. Rusty
called with pocket 9s, and made a straight
when the board came 10-7-2-8-J. Ninth
place paid $475.
Four hands later Frank Schram called all
in for about 20k with pocket kings after
Monty Grinkevich moved in. Monty, holding
A-Q, took the lead when an ace flopped,
but Schram also made a straight to survive.
Ty Methfessel anted his last $500 chip
on hand eight. He had only 9-5 to Rusty's
K-J, took the lead when a 5 flopped, but
then a river king left him in eighth place
for $590. The pace did not slow. On hand
12, Tony "TNT" Nasr called all in for
$2,000 with A-6. Paik moved in with J-8
and Tho Ngo called all in with K-K. The
board came A-J-6-10-8. Tony took the main
pot with aces and 6s, Paik took the side
pot with jacks and 8s and Tho took a hike,
taking home $710.
On hand 13, with $1,000 antes and $3,000-$6,000
blinds, Paik pushed in his $20,500 with
10-8. Fetter was waiting with pocket aces,
and Peter took sixth-place money of $950.
The pattern so far had been for Rusty
to make nominal raises while everybody
else simply moved in. On the next hand
Rusty again raised to 12k with Kh, 10h.
Tony, in the big blind, had 6-7. But since
'67 is his wife's birth year, he decided
to call with his last 4k. So much for
sentiment. Rusty flopped three cowboys
and filled on the river to blow up TNT,
who cashed in for $1,185.
A few hands later Grinkevich was also
in the big blind, all in with the same
"lucky" 6-7. Frank Schram had K-9 and
made two pair and Monty departed with
$1,660. Bagaygay now led with $96,000
to $77,500 for Fetter and $42,500 for
Schram. But after losing pots to Fetter
and Schram, Rusty's chips shrunk. On hand
24, Michael busted Frank when his Ad,
7d held up against K-Q after the board
came A-8-6-K-8. Third paid $2,365. Fetter
now held a 5-1 chip lead, and he closed
things out two hands later, going in with
Q-9 against Bagaygay's 10-9. Rusty flopped
an open-end straight but missed and took
home $4,615 while the miner had a major
win of $8,995.
BIOGRAPHY
Mike Fetter, 40, is a miner who does
underground pipe work. Deeply religious,
he requested that this biography make
mention that he is "a servant of God."
A poker player for about eight years,
he plays nooner tournaments at the Bicycle
Casino, with an occasional larger event,
as well as a lot of Internet poker. This
is only his third or fourth casino tournament
this year. No limit is his favorite game.
He has a win at the Normandie, but his
highlight was winning best all-around
at the Mini Series last year, which gave
him a seat in the WSOP championship, where
he finished 19th.
Tonight he made a remarkable comeback
to win the event because with three tables
to go, he was down to only $50 after his
A-Q lost to a paired jack.
Max Shapiro
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