Another
Chip-Burner Win!
The legendary Robert “Chip-Burner” Turner
chalked up his zillionth tournament win
holding the most chips when a five-way
chip-count deal ended the 15th event of
Winnin’ o’ the Green, 2004, $300 Omaha
hi-lo. Turner, an executive host at the
Bicycle Casino, was near the cloth at
the final table when he pulled in a big
pot by beating John Hoang’s full house
with a bigger filly, and kept moving on
up after that.
Limits started at $800-$1,600 with 16:57
left at that level. First to leave was
Matthew Mark, a programmer. He was programmed
for defeat on the second hand when he
called all in holding J-J-9-7. The board
showed 9-5-2-3 and he was drawing dead
because Jamshed “Jim” Bokhari, with A-2-4-K,
had a wheel.
Hand
number eight was the big one. Pro player
John Hoang held Q-Q-J-10 and had a straight
and a set when the board showed A-K-10-Q.
A king on the river gave Hoang a full
house and he check-raised. Turner, with
A-K, had made a bigger full but didn’t
three-bet it and go all in for fear of
going broke if Hoang had pocket aces.
The
honor of next going broke instead went
to Bokhari, a software engineer, after
limits went to $1,000-$2,000. He had 2-5-6-K
and managed to make a number two low when
the board came 7-7-7-3-A. He was chopped
up by Turner with a nut low and by Hoang,
who took high with A-K.
There
were numerous all-in escapes in this tournament,
with the trophy going to Eric Hamilton,
a process server, who did so an eventual
six times and was still around at the
end. “We could play for two days and he’d
still be here,” one of the players marveled.
Jessie
Eagen, a real estate broker, challenged
him for the title by going all in three
times in a row. The first two times, he
had A-2 and he complained that the best
he could do was chopping one time and
getting quartered the next. “You’re lucky
a low came at all,” Keith Sahara reminded
him. The fourth time Eagen put his last
few chips in, he took the main pot in
five-way action and was able to last until
the limits went to $1,500-$3,000.
At
that point, he was low-chipped after losing
to Turner’s straight. On the first hand
with the new limits, Eagan was all in
with A-2-6-10. He made trip aces when
the board came A-K-J-5-A, but Rick “Oz”
Passalacqua had flopped a straight and
Eagen cashed out seventh.
On
hand 34, Turner put Keith Sahara all in
by betting a flop of Q-Q-9 and two diamonds.
Sahara, with J-J-5-2, made a flush on
the river when a 10d hit, but still went
under when Turner, with Ad-8d-8-6, showed
him a nut flush.
A
few hands later, Hamilton went all in
for the fifth time for $1,000 in three-way
action. When the board showed A-9s-7s-Ks-8,
Hoang turned up a second-best flush, but
Hamilton, with As-3-4s-Q, had the nut
flush, and was still around.
On the 40th hand, Hamilton made his sixth
all-in survival with a heart flush. Then,
on the last big hand, Turner and Hoang
went at it, but split. When the board
came K-5-3-3-4 it gave Hoang a six-high
straight and Turner a full house. Finally,
the players began discussing a deal. The
chips were tallied and Turner led with
35.5k, followed by Hoang, 22k; Harold
Kaufler, $20,500; Passalacqua, 12.5k;
and Hamilton, 7.5k. A proposal was made
to divide the money by chip-count and
play for the trophy. “We’re going to play
for two hours for a watch?” Kaufler protested.
His complaint was heeded, and the tournament
ended.
BIOGRAPHY
Robert Turner has been a fixture on
the local scene after moving here from
his native Huntsville, Alabama, where
he first began playing poker. Since 1986
he’s held posts at a half-dozen casinos
here, the majority of the time at the
Bicycle Casino. He currently is player
development manager here where one of
his main accomplishments was bringing
in more no-limit games. “We have one of
the best teams in the business,” he declared.
In
his long tournament career, Turner has
racked up four best all-arounds, six titles
at Amarillo Slim’s Super Bowl, including
two back to back, four at the Commerce
and about 25 at the Bike. Like Barry Greenstein,
Turner emphasized, all his tournament
winnings go to charity, though in Turner’s
case he’s referring to Charity, his wife.
Tonight, he said, he was in pretty good
shape until he got to the final table
and was then rescued by the kings-full
hand.
Max Shapiro
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