Comeback
Win for Kessler!
Allen Kessler was a 9-1 chip underdog
when he got heads-up with Dan Quick in
tonight’s $500 7-stud hi-lo contest. Spurning
an offer of an extra $200 to go away,
the Pennsylvania resident dug in, took
the lead in 14 hands and eight hands after
that won it all with a 6-low and a straight.
Though
he’s had many final tables, this marks
the first tournament win for Kessler,
a split-game specialist who owns two gaming
websites. Earlier, he had been trading
the chip lead with Margot Friis. Then,
after catching a succession of great starting
hands that went nowhere, he dipped way
down and went all in three times before
making his great comeback.
Tonight’s
event started with 41:56 remaining at
limits of $800-$1,600, with $100 antes
and a $200 low card bring-in. Quick had
the lead with 18,200 in chips. Kessler
started with an average 9,100, then began
moving up when he scooped a big pot with
aces and a 7-low on hand 11.
On
hand 19, David Kelly made two-pair and
an 8-low to scoop Patrick Schulz, who
was making his third final table. Left
with $500, Schulz went all in on the next
hand in what started out as six-way action.
Several players dropped out after Tim
Fu bet on fourth street, and Schulz survived
with two pair. “I hope he comes back and
busts you,” Hasan Habib half-jokingly
chided Fu. He didn’t. On the next hand,
Schulz missed his draw to a 6-low and
Habib finished him off with two pair.
Habib, meanwhile, had been setting some
kind of record for being the low card.
In the first 25 hands, he caught a baby
more than half the time.
Soon
after limits went to $1,000-$2,000, Tony
Grand finished seventh. He started with
low cards, ended with three pair and succumbed
to Keller’s set of 8s. After beating Quick
on the next hand, aces and 8s versus aces
and 7s, Kessler moved into a clear lead
with about 24k. On the very next hand,
Habib finished sixth when the best he
could find was a pair of treys against
Quick’s straight 7.
Friis, who plays $40-$80 at the Bike when
she isn’t out golfing, moved into a slight
lead when she raised with a board of 5-5-6-4,
and Quick folded. David Kelly, meanwhile,
wasn’t catching anything and he wasn’t
happy. “Anyone ever heard card-dead?”
he grumbled. Losing to Kessler’s larger
two pair, he was down to $1,400 as Kessler
regained the lead. A few hands later Kelly
tossed in his last $800 with (A-K)3. and
busted out fifth with 3-3 against Quick’s
8-8.
At
the break, the chip count stood at: Kessler,
32,500; Friis, 23,700; Quick, 15,600;
and Fu, 500. Play resumed and Fu’s lone
chip immediately flew to Kessler. All
Kessler made was A-K, but that sufficed
against Fu, who started with (4-5)A, s
and ended up with A-Q. The three finalists
made a deal for the bulk of the prize
pool and played on. As play continued,
Quick eased into the lead and then increased
it when he made two pair against Kessler,
who started with four low cards and made
kings.
Kessler’s luck continued to desert him
when he started with (3-6)4-5 and ended
up with two 4s against Quick’s aces-up.
Then it got heads-up after Friis raised
with (A-3)6. Quick put her all in with
(8s-10s)9s and made his flush.
Trailing
7k to 65k, Kessler started catching cards
as limits went to 2-4k. After surviving
with a flush, he made a full house against
Quick’s flush, then took the lead with
about 50k after making a straight 7. Then
came another straight and a 6-low, and
Kessler’s remarkable comeback was complete.
BIOGRAPHY
Allen Kessler owns two gaming websites,
DoubleJoker.com and PlaySolitaire.com,
and does advertising for another website
for singles. He’s been playing poker seriously
about six years and has final tables at
Foxwoods, the Bellagio and Four Queens,
as well as a second-table finish in Omaha
hi-lo at the World Series. He plays mostly
$75-$150 stud hi-lo, but will play a tournament
if it’s hi-lo, or sometimes a mixed-game
event.
Kessler
likes hi-lo games because he feels that
a bad player has a much better chance
of winning in hold’em, which he says is
more of a gambling game and a mind game:
“You just put in your chips and see what
happens. But in stud hi-lo, if you don’t
start with the right hands, you have very
little chance. Like playing middle pair,
for example.” Tonight he was the chip
leader at the third level, then remained
stuck with that chip count until making
the final table.
Max Shapiro
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