Brahmi
Wins…by $500!
When the 14th event of Winnin’ o’ the
Green 2004 got down to four players, it
was as close – to quote one of the finalists
– as a shave with a short razor. David
Kelly had 15,500 in chips, Charlie Brahmi
had 15,200, Anthony Nguyen had 15,000
and Patrick Schulze had 11,500. A chip
count deal was in the works and the headline
had already been written: “Kelly Wins…by
$300.” But then Schulze, a retired contractor,
backed off. One more hand was played,
Brahmi won a small pot, the players then
agreed to give Schulze a little extra,
the deal was set, Brahmi now had 15,800
to Kelly’s 15,300 and the headline was
revised. With only 57,000 in play and
limits at 1-2k, any player could have
gone broke in two hands, so everyone was
happy with the chop.
Brahmi, a full-time player, was sporting
the 1999 World Series bracelet that he
got for winning the limit hold’em opening
event worth $399,000. He was also sporting
a less desirable trophy, a cane, the result
of a freak accident in January. He had
just come in 10th in a tournament in Tunica
and was seated at a slot machine at the
Gold Strike casino when a motorized money
cart struck and dragged him, damaging
his toe and requiring surgery. Maybe worse,
he said, it kept him from entering the
main event there and made him miss the
entire L.A. Poker Classic at Commerce.
Tonight’s
event was $300 7-card stud. Limits started
at $500-$1,000, with $75 antes and a $150
low-card bring-in. Claudia Gutwirth, who
lives in Brooklyn, is a charity drive
writer looking to do more creative writing.
She was out on the first hand. She started
with (A-2)2 and made aces up on fifth
street, but lost lost when Brahmi hit
his spade flush.
Limits
now went to $800-$1,600 with $100 antes
and a $200 bring-in. Robert Najera, a
public insurance adjuster, was left with
about $1,600 when he folded on sixth street.
He had open jacks but knew he couldn’t
beat Brahmi, who raised when he caught
a king on fifth street, then bet out on
the next card. Jaime Perez, starting lowest-chipped
was next to go all in, but he made jacks-up
to overcome Brahmi’s buried aces. Najera
then finished seventh. He started with
(K-Q)2, made kings-up and was edged by
Perez’s aces-up. Arash Ghaneian wasn’t
happy because he had folded his pocket
aces when Perez bet with open bullets,
and would have won with aces-up had he
called.
Ghaneian
was the designated chatterer at the table.
At one point he announced, “May the person
who needs it most win.” Kelly’s hand immediately
shot up.
Limits
went to 1-2k with $200 antes and a $300
bring-in. Players now began discussing
deals because the limits had become so
high in relation to the chips they had.
Some
22 minutes into that level Ghaneian busted
out. He went all in with (8-2)8-6. Brahmi
had (J-10)J-3. Then Brahmi caught a third
jack on fifth street. “I’m drawing dead,
Ghaneian said,” and cashed out in sixth
place.
Five
minutes later, the next and last player
to break played his final hand. Perez
raised with split aces and was re-raised
all in by Schulze, who had split queens.
Schulze then hit a third queen while Perez
picked up a flush draw on sixth street,
but couldn’t get there.
The
tournament appeared to be over with a
chip-count chop until Schulze backed out
and the one additional deal enabled Brahmi
to snatch the title from Kelly and be
crowned the winner. It was a stroke of
luck, and he didn’t get hit by a cart
again either.
BIOGRAPHY
Charlie Brahmi operated retail stores
on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City for
20 years before turning to poker 11 years
ago. He was an amateur for a couple of
years until John Bonetti came into his
life and began coaching him. “He was always
sneaking up behind me and advising me
on my play, and he was always right,”
Brahmi says gratefully of his mentor.
In addition to the big WSOP win, Brahmi
also has a couple of $1,000 Omaha victories
and one in $1,000 hold’em at the Taj and
a best all-around at Foxwoods where he
entered six events and made four final
tables which included a first, a second
and a third. In side game action, he plays
$20-$40 or $30-$60, “which is plenty big
enough for me.” From here he’s off to
play on the Party Poker Million III cruise
because it’s the only World Poker Tour
event playing limit hold’em.
Max Shapiro
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