Arreca
Destroys No-Limit!
A big heart in a small body is a very
apt description of Eric Arreca, who totally
destroyed the final table of event number
20, $500 no-limit hold’em. Six players
were knocked out before a chip-count deal
was made, and Arreca, with a good run
of cards, personally disposed of four
of them. He ended up with 137,500 of the
226,000 chips in play as he registered
by far his biggest win ever.
The
slightly built, unfailingly polite young
man has been playing professionally four
years, scrambling, observing, studying,
learning all he could from top local pros,
and his win is very much deserved. He
is a poster boy for the virtues of dedication
and determination.
Final
table play began with blinds of $800-$1,600
and $200 antes. Mack “Houston” Curtis,
a producer, produced the most starting
chips, 55,100, but they were rapidly bled
off and the best he could manage was eighth
place.
Oerjan
Groenmo, a pro from Norway, was first
out, on hand six. He raised all in for
7,600 with A-J and couldn’t overcome Eric
Chhor’s pocket 10s.
Houston,
who has a Legends $500 no-limit title
to his credit, started going downhill
on hand 10. He raised pre-flop, bet the
J-6-4 flop and then bet 10k on the turn-card
jack. After very long thought, Rick Villapondo
came over the top and Houston folded.
With Villapondo’s long pauses on every
betting round, the hand took something
like 10 minutes to complete, a compelling
argument for some sort of automatic clock.
Sharon
Neely, the wife of PokerStars marketing
VP Dan Goldman, had her second all-in
escape on hand14. After Houston raised
to 4k, she moved in for $9,800 with pocket
10s, and then Matt Kimbrough, with pocket
queens, came over the top for a total
of 32k. Neely was finished until rescued
by a 10 on the river.
Houston,
meanwhile, lost his fourth straight pot
when an all-in Sam Schenker caught an
ace to his A-4 to beat his pocket 8s.
He finally went all in with A-J against
Lawrence Truong’s A-2 and seemed destined
to bust out when a deuce flopped, but
finally got lucky with a river jack.
Blinds
were now 1-2k with $300 antes. On hand
19, Truong tried a steal, moving in with
8-7. Arreca , in the small blind, picked
him off. He had A-K and flopped an ace.
Four hands later, the flop was A-A-2 and
Houston, hoping no more aces were out,
moved in for about 18k with K-Q. Houston,
you have a problem. Arreca, in the small
blind had A-10 and now three were gone.
A
few hands later, poker dealer Matt Kimbrough
raised to 10k and Chhor called all-in
with K-10. “Moneymaker hand,” Kimbrough
exclaimed, turning over 5-4, the 2003
World Series winning hand. It became a
moneymaker for Kimbrough when it turned
into an 8-high straight, and Chhor cashed
out seventh.
On
hand 32, Arreca continued his dominance
of the table by knocking out his third
player. Sammy Schenker moved in for about
20k with K-Q. Arreca called with pocket
jacks and won when the board came 9-5-2-8-2,
giving him a huge lead.
At
the break 11 hands later, the count was:
Arreca, 114; Villapondo, 40k; Neely, 35;
Kimbrough, 20k; and Min Cho, 17k. A chip
count deal was discussed but nixed by
Kimbrough, who said he never chops.
Play
continued, with blinds of 2-4k and antes
of $500. It went one hand. Kimbrough moved
in with K-9. Once more Arreca had the
better cards as he called with K-J, about
a 2.7-1 favorite. The board came 9-3-2-Q-10,
giving Arreca a straight. With Kimbrough
out, there was no objection to a deal,
and the remaining four cashed out by chip
count.
BIOGRAPHY
Before tonight, the 29-year-old Eric
Arreca had wins at the San Francisco Open,
Hollywood Park’s Sport of Kings and the
Bicycle Casino’s Ho-Ho Hold’em. But his
specialty, after leaving a clerical job
at the San Manuel casino, he said, was
“surviving.” His friends were against
his pursuing poker, but he persevered.
For years, Arreca has been a familiar
face at local tournaments, keenly watching
if he wasn’t playing. He gives credit
to such players as Raymond Davis, George
Rechnitzer and Chris Grigorian for helping
him with is game.
Arreca,
who regularly plays at the Bike’s nooner
events, likes no-limit because you can
“play the players” and don’t need a whole
lot of cards. Tonight, he said, all his
cards seemed to hold up. When he got to
the final table, he planned to play tight
until the last few players, but he kept
catching cards he had to play.
Max Shapiro
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