Poker
Pro/DJ Wins Omaha!
Brian Haack, who divides his time between
playing poker and disc jockey club gigs,
scored his first major win tonight in
$500 Omaha hi-lo, the 22nd event of Winnin’
o’ the Green, 2004. He came to the final
table with a very big lead, holding 24,000
of the 65,000 chips in play. At the final
break, he was in second place with 1,500
less chips than Tim Foley had. Two hands
were played, Foley lost some checks and
Haack was back on top when a four-way
chip-count deal was made.
Omaha
guru Steve Badger had won this event the
past two years and was hoping for a three-peat.
But despite the encouraging presence of
his lovely protégé Shirley Rosario (who
operates her own poker website, Poker-babes.com),
the best that he could manage was sixth
place.
There
were only eight seats at the final table
after Badger broke two players by turning
a wheel. Finishing 10th was Mike Crescenko,
while Raymond “Iceberg” Sitra, who was
the bubble boy three nights ago, had a
tad more chips and at least made the money
if not the table.
The
final table got underway with blinds of
$300-$500, limits of $500-$1,000 and 41:56
left. “Miami” John Cernuto arrived second-lowest
in chips and was out on the second hand.
He picked up a promising A-2-2-5, but
only one low card hit the board. “Mickey
Mouse” Mills bit him by going in with
A-J-10-8 and making a full house on a
board of J-10-5-Q-J. Seven hands later
the mouse had almost the same hand as
Miami John: A-2-5-6. He got triple counterfeited
when the board came A-2-Q-5-8, while Gebrehiwet
Goitom made a bicycle. “Amazing…nice hand,”
the mouse murmured, left with $500.
A new dealer who had earlier wreaked damage
on Badger’s stacks sat down. “The cooler
comes in,” Badger cracked, referring to
the bad-luck movie character who is employed
by a casino to stand next to hot players
to cool them off. The ill luck instead
descended on Mickey Mouse, who was all
in from the big blind with 3-4-5-7. The
mouse got skinned alive when the board
came A-8-3-K-A, giving Badger the nut
low and Foley, with aces full of kings,
the nut high. Mills cashed out seventh,
complaining that he had been unable to
make a good hand in 90 minutes.
With
limits now at $800-$1,600 Badger got in
big trouble on hand 24. He raised pre-flop,
then called down as the board came Q-8-5-10-3.
Foley took low with A-2, Goitom had high
with two pair and Badger, left with $300,
mucked. He later said he went in with
an A-4-5 suited. Three hands later Badger’s
three chips were posted in the big blind.
A board of K-10-A-6-A gave Foley aces
full. “Cold deck,” Badger cried out as
he turned up his useless cards one by
one: 4-6-8-10.
Grady
Talbot, an attorney who won the earlier
$100 Omaha hi-lo event, was down to $1,000
and raised all in two hands later from
the small blind holding K-K-Q-6. McDermott
called with a suited J-10-9-5 and left
Talbot in fifth place with a third club
on the turn gave him a flush.
As
play continued, McDermott went all in
four times over the next 15 hands, managing
to pull out with something each time.
At the end of the level, Foley had taken
the lead with 20.5k. Close behind were
Haaack with 19k and Goitom with 18k while
McDermott trailed with 8k. Limits went
to $1,000-$2,000. After two hands, McDermott
had played catch-up and had 15.5k. Haack,
with the same 19k, now owned the lead,
while Foley had slipped to 16k and Goitom
to 15k. The four now made their deal,
and Haack was the new Omaha champ.
BIOGRAPHY
Brian Haack, who spins records at
clubs in the Los Angeles/Hollywood areas
and at home parties, has been playing
poker for 20 years. He’s had a few small
wins at such local Vegas tournaments as
the Orleans, but nothing to match tonight’s
victory. Most of his poker time is spent
in live action. This is his first tournament
of the year and might well also be his
last, he added, because he has “a terrible
habit” of finishing one out of the money
so many times. (Well, maybe he’ll give
it another shot, he reconsidered.)
While
he plays all games, he prefers Omaha and
mixed games in general. In side action,
he plays a lot online and at local clubs
two or three times a week, at mid-limit
stakes, $40-$80. Haack describes himself
as a fairly aggressive player. Tonight,
he said, he didn’t win any spectacular
pots but just had a gradual build-up of
chips throughout.
Max Shapiro
|
