Another
Dealer Gets Green!
Barry
Bergida, a dealer at Hawaiian Gardens,
was out-chipped by $285,000 to $165,000
when he got heads up with Joseph Isagulyan.
Playing carefully and steadily in a 26-hand
match-up, he finally won all the chips
in tonight’s no-limit event which drew
376 entrants. So the three events thus
far have been won by two poker dealers
and a floorman. At the finish, the stakes
had soared to blinds of $30,000 and $60,000
with $10,000 antes, the highest level
that tournament director Denny Williams
could ever recall.
The final table started with $1,000 antes
and $3,000-$6,000 blinds, 5:37 remaining.
There was $450,000 in play, and Jim Shiffermiller
had only $7,500 of it, so it was no surprise
that he was first out, collecting $480.
On the second hand the retired computer
company vice president had Ah, 10h and
went all in under the gun. He lost to
Isagulyan’s A-Q when the board showed
J-A-2-7-8.
Hand 3: Tournament stalwart Dan Heimiller
raised with A-J. On a flop of Q-6-5 he
moved in for the rest of his $56,000.
“Queen?” he said in surprise when Isagulyan
covered him and turned up Q-9. A river
queen iced it, and Joe, having won all
three pots so far, moved into a commanding
chip lead. Dan picked up $570.
Hand 6: With $4,000-$8,000 blinds and
$1,500 antes, Cheryl Kaufman was in the
small blind and went in for one extra
chip with Q-5. M. Duckworth had K-Q and
flopped a king to win easily. A homemaker
and wife of ex-Hustler casino manager
Craig Kaufman, Cheryl won a ladies event
at Commerce last year. Eighth place paid
$570.
Hand 8: Freddy Legaspi moved in. “Super
Mario” Esquerra, in the big blind with
7-6 of hearts, had $10,000 left. “I’m
not sure I should call,” he said, reluctantly
doing so. Legaspi’s A-K stood up, and
so did Mario, to collect his $900.
Hand 14: $2,000 antes and $6,000-$12,000
blinds. Legaspi, who had been piling up
chips with uncalled all-in moves, now
pushed in a single stack of $1,000 chips
about 8-feet high holding A-K. Daniel
Dahan, a contractor, called from the big
blind and added about 20k more with 10-7.
He busted out in sixth place and collected
$1,235 when a turn-card king left him
no outs.
Hand 15: A classic confrontation: two
queens for Rolando Florendo, A-K for Duckworth.
Florendo raised to 24k and Duckworth moved
in for 45k more. An A-6-2-8-10 came, and
suddenly Duckworth was worth $166,000.
Hand 24: With $3,000 antes and $10,000-$20,000
blinds, Bergida doubled through against
Isagulyan when his A-J held up against
J-9. Low on chips, Joe then feasted on
Duckworth when his K-J outran A-10, building
back to $76,000. Two hands later, Duckworth
was all in, again against Isagulyan, again
with the better hand, K-10 versus J-8,
and again lost when Joe made trip 8s.
Duckworth, a computer programmer, collected
$1,570 for fifth place.
A few hands later, Legaspi went broke
on the beat of the week. When Joe raised
to 40k with K-Q, Freddy moved in for 25k
more with A-9. When the flop came A-A-5,
Freddy’s trip aces made him a 98.4 percent
favorite. But then a 10 and jack gave
Isagulyan a straight, and Freddy cashed
out for $2,240.
When blinds went to 20k and 40k with 5k
blinds, Bergida had a small lead. but
then Isagulyan took over by busting Florendo
with K-Q against his K-7. The two finalists
played cautiously, giving up blinds and
folding against pre-flop all-in raises.
Barry gradually pulled ahead, and Joe
was left with $75,000 when he folded an
all-in bet on a board of 5-3-2-10. Then
Joe doubled up by catching a trey to his
A-3 against Barry’s A-10. The match went
seven more hands after the $30,000-$60,000
blinds kicked in. On the final hand, Isagulyan
put up his last $44,000 in the big blind
with 9-3 against Q-J, and it was all over
when the board came K-Q-2-J-4.
BIOGRAPHY
Barry Bergida has been a dealer/relief
dealer coordinator at Hawaiian Gardens
for three years. Before that, he had been
a dealer/floorman at Crystal Park since
its opening. He also umpires baseball
games for high school and below levels,
and coaches his son’s basketball team.
His daughter recently came in third in
a national cheerleading competition.
He plays $50-$200 tournaments when he
can find time, and won an Omaha high event
at the Bike’s Mini Series last year. He
rarely plays side games; he prefers $1
pan “So I can hear the old ladies complain.”
Barry describes himself as a mostly solid
player. “I don’t steal much. Tonight I
was getting cards, so I just waited.”
He was only all in once when he tried
to buy a pot with 8-7. Against an A-K,
he got lucky and caught a river 7.
Max Shapiro
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