HOM(E)
ALONE
When
one chip leader after another self-destructed,
our winner was left alone at the top.
There
were 155 entrants in the $3,000 Limit
Hold'em for a total prize pool of $437,100.
Two tables were paid, a total of 18 players.
Mike
Laing was doing all the work Tuesday night,
busting player after player. With an A
7 suited, Mike put the remaining 18 in
the money when his seven played against
an A 4 suited.
The
Final Table was setup Tuesday night when
Ron Stanley also used an A 7 to advantage.
Jesse Daniel went all-in with an A 6 and
flopped a 6. Stanley found a 7 on the
river so the last ten could go home for
the night.
THE
FINAL TABLE:
22 mins left of 75
The blinds were $1,000/$1,500
Player
Hometown Chip
Count
Seat
1 Benny Wan Alhambra CA $19,000
Seat 2 Mike Laing Franklin PA $79,500
Seat 3 Barney Boatman London, UK $48,500
Seat 4 Ron Stanley Las Vegas NV $44,500
Seat 5 Barry Greenstein Rancho Palos Verdes
CA $68,000
Seat 6 John Hom San Rafael CA $50,500
Seat 7 David Enoch Lawrence KS $32,500
Seat 8 David Plastik Las Vegas NV $50,000
Seat 9 Doug Saab Birmingham AL $37,500
Seat 10 Lamar Hampton Castleberry FL $36,000
For
the first two hours everyone won a few
hands except Barney Boatman. The ship
had already set sail for the third-time
WSOP 2002 Final Table member (joining
Phil Ivey), but Barney didn't know it
yet. Boatman found that no matter what
he did, he couldn't win a hand. Besides
he was sitting next to Mike Laing who
was often yelling in his ear. Barney seemed
almost relieved to go out first after
suffering so long. In desperation or resignation,
Boatman floated his last $5,000 into the
pot with a Q 5 of Clubs. Doug Saab launched
Barney out to sea with an A J and a Jack
on the flop.
From
gags about boats, we regress to gags about
trains. Ron "Carolina Express" Stanley
(I don't have to make this stuff up, it's
given to me.) was next to chug out of
the station. With Boatman gone from the
three seat, Ron now had the dead spot
which was sitting just to the left of
the remonstrative Mike Laing. To increase
the ignominy, Stanley's last chance at
some chips was ended by Laing with an
8 7 who turned two pair to Ron's A K with
a King on the flop. Ron freighted his
last $3,500 into the pot with an A 9.
Barry Greenstein was catching a lot of
cards at the time and didn't hesitate
to call The Express with K 10. The rails
were greased for Ron in 9th when a 10
came on the turn.
Now
for some biblical references. Enough,
already? David Enoch looks like a bible
character with his beard and ponytail.
Except that he wears a snappy fedora which
they probably didn't have too many of
in olden days. Either David got no cards
or he plays too tight, because he wasn't
in enough hands to get any chips. Enoch
made a few shekels by being around for
8th place, though. David survived one
all-in with an A 7 when an Ace flopped
against Doug Saab's pocket Queens. But
Enoch had to go back to Kansas, Dorothy,
on the second all-in when Benny Wan spiked
an 8 on the river for trip 8's.
There
are lots of ways to win at poker. Mike
Laing's favorite way is to yak non-stop
at an opponent until they commit suicide
to get away from him. But a strange thing
happened to Mike's plan. He ran into a
couple of guys deaf to his strategy. Benny
Wan, sitting to Laing's right in the One
Seat, was in his own world. The new player
to Mike's left, Barry Greenstein, was
on a heater. And John Hom was too far
away, in the Six Seat, to be bothered
too much by Mike's constant chatter. Laing
turned into his own worst enemy by repeatedly
raising the pot from early position and
paying off the better hand on the river.
Rapidly Mike went from chip leader to
low stack. The Final Table suddenly grew
much quieter when Laing went all-in with
10 9 and found pocket 9's in the big blind
held by Benny Wan.
One
of the old guard, Lamar Hampton has been
coming to the WSOP for over 20 years.
In all that time, at all those Final Table
Lamar may never have had so many bad beats.
Twice three-out Kings hit the river to
beat him. On one memorable hand, Benny
Wan made a spectacular call on Hampton
with only an A J high. They split a pot
Lamar desperately needed as Hampton also
had A J. "What did I do wrong?" Lamar
lamented.
Short
on chips in a multi-raised pot, Hampton
took a flyer with pocket 9's knowing that
he must have an under pair. He did. In
the pot of the night, Hampton went out
6th when another under pair hit trips
and rivered a full house. David Plastik
had pocket Queens, Barry Greenstein had
pocket 10's. All were overpairs to the
5 4 2 flop. But a 10 turned, and a deuce
rivered. Greenstein won a monster pot
to take over a commanding chip lead.
"I'm
the unluckiest poker player in the world,"
David Plastik was wrapping himself in
pity. Since it's not true that he's the
unluckiest, no one was giving David much
sympathy. Plastik is having his best year
on tour and has become a force in every
event he plays in. "I'll never play pocket
Queens again," David said. Also untrue.
Pocket Queens cost Plastik most of his
stack in the huge pot that Barry Greenstein
won. Then they cost him his place at the
table for 5th when David went all-in with
them again against Greenstein. Barry could
catch a snowflake with a blowtorch at
the time. Greenstein had an A 4. The flop
came 2 7 3, then a 5 on the turn to set
David off like a C4 explosive. But then
Plastik isn't always wrapped too tight.
Driving
defensively didn't work too badly for
Doug Saab. Starting 7th in chips, Doug
stayed in the slow lane most of the day
letting the speed boys wreck themselves.
Saab had one problem on his way to the
big money, he couldn't beat Barry Greenstein.
Running low on fuel, Saab wouldn't show
his hand when Barry flopped 8's and 5's.
Then his pocket 5's got hammered by Greenstein's
A 10. Now all-in for his last $1,000 in
the small blind, Saab drove off into the
sunset in 4th when John Hom caught a pair
of 5's with A 5.
At
this point Barry Greenstein had over half
the chips on the table. It would have
meant some long green for Barry if he'd
offered the other two players a chip count
deal, but he didn't. After being so hot
for so long, either Barry went defensive
to wait for one of the other two players
to emerge as a heads up opponent, or Greenstein
suddenly got NO CARDS. Because three-handed
Barry both stopped playing and, of course,
stopped winning. It was a disaster. In
quiet desperation, Barry kept looking
back at his girlfriend�the great limit
hold'em player, Mimi Tran�sitting behind
him. If only she could have taken over
his chips, he may have thought, the couple
would have made much more money. In an
incredibly short time, the 2-1 chip leader
had almost nothing. And this without playing
very many hands and winning almost none.
Barry survived two all-ins then lost the
third to John Hom when Barry's Q 5 flopped
a Queen, but Hom's A J flopped a Jack.
Barry Greenstein left in a stunned 3rd,
and didn't get his first WSOP bracelet,
with the supportive Mimi Tran at his side.
So all is not lost.
Heads
up, John Hom had a 5-3 chip lead on the
phenomenally gifted Benny Wan. John wasn't
going to make the same mistake Barry Greenstein
did. He gave Benny a very generous offer
immediately. They played for the 1st bracelet
for either of them.
Benny
Wan almost came from worst to first. Still
it was the best effort in this year's
WSOP--from 10th in chips at the start
all the way to 2nd place. Benny Wan played
spectacularly. He started with less than
1/20th of the chips and at one point took
over the chip lead with over half. That's
some climb. But after the deal, it was
Benny and the Yucks. Wan waned badly.
He couldn't win a showdown against John
Hom and his bluffs were raised so he had
to dump his hand. It was ugly. Going straight
to the felt, another former chip leader
bit the dust. With a 4 on the river, John
Hom made 5's and 4's and won his first
bracelet. Veteran tournament player John
Hom was Hom(e) Alone.
Mike Paulle
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