Realtor
Reels in Stud Win!
Beverly Hills realtor George Rechnitzer,
a consistent final-table finisher at local
tournaments, scored a wire-to-wire victory
in $100 7-card stud hi-lo, the seventh
event in Winnin’ o’ the Green 2004. He
arrived at the final table with the chip
lead and had half the chips in play at
one point when the contest got down to
three players. But when he pointed out
that everyone was playing well and that
it was getting close to 3:30 in the morning,
it became let’s make a deal time and the
usual chip-count payout was agreed to.
For winning, Rechnitzer pocketed an official
$7,360.
The
final eight assembled after Alex Dedoussis
finished ninth. He had 7s, couldn’t improve
and departed when Rechnitzer paired his
ace. Limits started at $3,000-$6,000 with
$500 antes and a $1,000 low card bring-in,
with 11:39 left. It was a fast final table,
the more so for a split-pot game. Half
the field was gone in 17 hands, and the
lights went out 20 hands after that.
Terry
Ebert started lowest-chipped with $4,000.
By the sixth hand, he had not played anything
and antes had eaten up $3,000 of it. He
finally played hand six and won, staying
alive when his K-J flush edged Bill Muir’s
K-8 flush. On the next hand, though, he
went broke when he missed his draw to
an A-2-3-4 and lost to Muir’s 8s and 5s.
Limits
jumped to $5,000-$10,000, with $1,000
antes and a $1,500 bring-in. With an average
chip count of only $21,000, this did offer
the players much maneuverability. A few
hands later, taxi driver Ulises Molina
had engine failure and finished seventh.
He was all in on fourth street with (A-7)
5-3 and then caught a boatload of bananas.
Rechnitzer was a bit more fortunate. He
started with (6-6)A and made aces-full.
Muir, a drapery installer, was next to
go all in, but scooped with a 7-low and
two aces for high.
One hand later, Keith Shiraki chased a
low but could only make a pair of 6s while
Patrick Schulze started with a very low
(A-7)5-2 and ended up with a set of 7s,
shrinking the field to five. And just
one hand later, Denfield Eudelle finished
fifth when his kings were crushed by Boon
Eng Kho’s aces-up.
On
hand number 20, Kho showed a 5-2 and bet,
then kept betting every street until he
was all in. Rechnitzer was not deterred.
All he had was pocket 4s, but he kept
calling. At the end, all Kho could produce
was a lowly pair of deuces. “Nobody can
bluff me,” Rechnitzer declared, as Kho
packed up and left in fourth place. However,
the Palmdale resident wasn’t entirely
unhappy because his finish vaulted him
into first place in the all-around points
race. He now has 83 points, nine ahead
of Jun Parado.
The
three finalists pressed on. Once more
Muir put in all his chips, and once more
he got a reprieve, scooping with aces.
The
limits now moved up to $8,000-$16,000,
with the same $1,000 antes and a $2,000
bring-in. At this point Rechnitzer still
led with more than $60,000, while Patrick
Schulze, a former contractor turned swap
meet specialist, had about $50,000 and
Muir trailed with a bit under $40,000.
Rechnitzer now caught a run of cards.
On one uncalled hand he showed aces and
fours, on another, split aces. As his
opponents folded to him, he climbed to
about $75,000.
After
a few more hands, Rechnitzer made his
chip count suggestion. He had $71,000,
Schulze had $49,000 and Muir had $31,000.
Everyone was agreeable, they shook hands
and event number seven was in the books.
BIOGRAPHY
George Rechnitzer is an affable, well-respected
but tough competitor who made 12 final
tables last year, 13 the year before and
had a best all-around at the Hustler Casino
the year before that. During that period
he had a win in eight or better at Hollywood
Park and a couple of seconds and thirds
at Commerce. Last year at the World Series
he made the final table in the Seniors
event and had a cash-in at the $10,000
championship.
The
realtor has been playing poker for 20
years and he plays all games in tournaments
and live action. In cash games he prefers
high-limit action: $100-$200 stud and
$80-$160 hold’em. Tonight he was down
to the cloth with only $200 left at the
third level, but slowly climbed upward
until he had enough chips to manipulate
his table. His strategy for this event
was to play only good cards, and he had
to resort to bluffs just twice.
Max Shapiro
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