Doc
Young Wins Stud/8!
Dr. Kwang Young, who doesn’t play many
tournaments but seems to get in the money
each time he does, played a steady, careful
game to end on top in the 11th event of
Winnin’ o’ the Green, 2004, 7-card stud
hi-lo. The key hand for him came near
the end of a long evening that ended at
5 a.m. when he made a straight to bust
CPA Charles Barker and take the chip lead.
When David Ho finished in third place
a few hands later, Young counted down
54,500 in chips to 41,500 for art dealer
Joe Schulman, and the two made a chip-count
deal.
When
final table limits began at $800-$1,600,
with $100 antes and a $200 low card bring-in,
Ho had a substantial lead with 21,400.
Seven minutes later, limits moved up to
$1,000-$2,000 with $200 antes and a $200
bring-in.
On
the first hand, business owner Nick DiPaolo,
the lowest-chipped starter, went broke.
He had split jacks and made two pair while
Young, starting with (A-7)2, caught aces
and deuces.
Cashing
in seventh was Tipton Schoolhouse, a poker
dealer “able to make a living playing
poker.” On sixth street, Schoolhouse was
all in with (5-7)4-A-8-Q. Rocky Enciso
was freerolling with (4-5)3-10-6-A. On
the river, Schoolhouse got a little protection
with a paired seven, but Enciso caught
a deuce for a straight, and school was
out for Schoolhouse.
When
limits went to $1,500-$3,000 with $200
antes and a $400 bring-in, Ho still enjoyed
a big lead with about 26k. Halfway through
the round, Enciso, currently first in
the all-around points race, tangled with
Boon Eng Kho, who is second. On fourth
street, Kho went all in for $500 with
(J-Q)A-K. He didn’t make his straight,
but it didn’t matter, because Encino,
starting with split queens, made queens-full
as he took a slight chip lead with about
27k.
Limits
were now $2,000-$4,000 with $300 antes
and a $500 low card. Barker, who runs
a medical billing business and has had
final tables at various events, lived
in Richardson, Texas for about 20 years
before he met T.J. Cloutier and discovered
that they were neighbors. On this round
Barker went all in for the fourth time
with low spades. “Oh, oh,” Barker said
as he caught a couple of bananas, but
it became “oh, boy,” as he scooped with
a spade flush and low against Young. Near
the end of the round, the two chip leaders
went at it. Enciso started low and ended
up with 5s and 4s. David had buried queens,
made two pair and became the lead sled
dog again with a bit over 30k.
As
play continued, Enciso ran into trouble
when Schulman, starting with buried jacks,
made a set to scoop and leave Rocky with
only about 4k. A hand later, Enciso started
with (4-4)6-A, went all in and ended up
with two pair. Barker began with buried
10s, made kings-up, and now the table
had four players left.
After
limits went to $3,000-$6,000, with $500
antes and $1,000 bring-in, Ho took a couple
of hits and suddenly dropped from chip
leader to chip trailer. He finally found
himself all in against Young, and caught
a deuce to make a low, split and survive
for the first of five times to outlast
Barker, the original escape artist. On
his last hand, Barker had aces and nines
on his first four cards. But Young, starting
with (4-6)7-8, caught a trey and five
for a straight and a seven low to cut
the field to three. A few hands later,
David was all in with (Ah-10h)6h, ended
up with just two 6s, lost to Schulman’s
8s and 4s and the deal ended event 11.
BIOGRAPHY
Dr. Kwang “David” Young is an internist
with a family practice who has been playing
poker for a long time. He favors stud
eight or better, and has been playing
in the $75-$150 game at Hollywood Park,
but lately has been studying no-limit
hold’em. He estimates he’s played only
six tournaments overall, ending in the
money each time, including a win in a
stud hi-lo event at Winnin’ o’ the Green
six years ago. However, his biggest cash-in
came when he once backed “Eskimo” Clark
and An Tran in a limit hold’em event and
they came in 1-2.
Dr.
Young favors stud hi-lo because he feels
it is much sophisticated than people give
it credit for. His rules for the game
are not to get married to pairs, to play
suited connectors and play hands that
can scoop. Tonight, he said, he was never
in trouble because he played very carefully.
Max Shapiro
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