GENERATIONAL WARFARE
Bad
news for us old folks, the scientists
say that human beings are at the peak
of their cognitive power in their mid-20's.
Could it be that's why so many players
in their mid-20's are winning tournaments?
Makes sense.
There
were 32 entrants and 34 Rebuys in the
$5,000 Buy-In, Deuce To Seven No-Limit
for a total prize pool of $320,400. Five
players were paid.
The players were already at the Final
Table when they got into the money. The
table formed at eight, but only five of
those got paid.
To get to the unpaid Final Table, Huck
Seed got a little revenge on Johnny Chan
by sending him out in 9th.
At
the 8-place table, Jon Brody went all-in
for his last $20k and rapped pat with
J 9. Mark Weitzman called and drew one.
Mark caught good and sent Brody out in
an unpaid 8th with J 8.
The
unpaid 7th belonged to Mike Wattel, an
Omaha Hi-Lo bracelet winner. Mike drew
one and paired 3's. Fred Bonyadi drew
one and turned over 9 7.
How
tough is it to make the Final Table and
come one out of the money? Ask Fred Bonyadi.
Freddy knew he was in trouble all-in when
Huck Seed rapped pat. Bonyadi drew one.
It was a King. Seed showed 10 6. Now it
was time to get serious.
THE
FINAL TABLE:
21 mins left of 75.
$300 ante $600/$1,200 blinds
Player
Hometown Chip
Count
Seat 1 Jim Bechtel Coolidge AL $30,000
Seat 2 Allen Cunningham Marina del Rey
CA $81,500
Seat 3 Huck Seed Las Vegas NV $98,500
Seat 4 Mark Weitzman Las Vegas NV $53,000
Seat 5 O'Neil Longson Las Vegas NV $66,500
Former champion Jim Bechtel, also with
an omnipresent cigar, was short stack.
He raised and was reraised all-in by O'Neil
Longson. Jim drew one to an 8 5. Longson
rapped pat with 9 8. Bechtel could light
up now, he caught a Jack for 5th�which
was MUCH better than 6th.
O'Neil
Longson doesn't play a lot of tournaments.
His poor hearing is a problem when he
has to follow instructions. What O'Neil
does do is play high stakes live games
where his inability to hear well is probably
a blessing. Longson was on a heater at
the time and grounded Huck Seed in 4th.
Seed got all his chips, about $40k, into
the pot and was covered by O'Neil. Both
rapped pat. Huck flipped his hand into
the muck when Longson showed him 8 7.
In
Deuce To Seven No-Limit Lowball, reading
is fundamental. You have no upcards to
value. If someone represents a hand, you'd
better be sure you know where you�re at
when you commit chips. Mark Weitzman is
referred to as a "lowball specialist."
But even a specialist needs cards sometimes.
Mark was now the short stack. Every bet
would bring someone crashing over the
top to get him out. Weitzman tried a pat
10 all-in against Allen Cunningham and
was 3rd for his efforts. Allen was dealt
a pat 8 6.
Heads
up, the two remaining players chopped
up the prize pool and played for $20k
and the bracelet. The relatively small
amount of money didn't stop the two from
pounding on each other for 2 1/2 hours,
though. Allen Cunningham is the most deliberate
player in the game. It could be 5 cents
a hand and he'd treat it the same way.
(My thanks to Andy Glazer for the final
hand of the match.) It was 3:30 in the
morning now. The blinds were $6k/$12k
with a $2k ante. Allen Cunningham had
a better than 2-1 chip lead and bet all-in
first. To the relief of the tournament
staff, O'Neil Longson called. Each took
one card. Allen won his second bracelet
of an expected closet full when the mid-20's
poker genius caught a 2 on a 9 8 draw.
O'Neil was drawing dead with a 10 7 and
paired 10's.
Mark another one up for the kids in the
continuing poker Generational Warfare.
"He's the nuts," Shelley Carr emoted.
"David Lamb is the man." Has anyone from
your staff ever talked that way about
you? "If someone gave David a $1,000 toke,
he'd put in on the table to be shared
with us," Shelley enthused.
David
Lamb, Shelley Carr, John Kulig and Joy
Gasparian have done a fabulous job handling
the Super Satellites this year. Over 200
seats will be won in the Supers.
Shelley recommends that everyone play
in the upcoming Four Queens (kitty corner
from the Horseshoe on Fremont St.) Tournament
after the WSOP is over and experience
a tournament directed by David Lamb, and
staffed by his excellent Super Satellite
crew.
Meanwhile
there are only two Supers left on Sunday.
They will be huge. Recent winner through
Saturday afternoon were (some are repeaters):
Chuck Thompson, Allan Stonum, Thor Hansen,
Casey Kastle, Richard Anthony, Adam Schoenfeld,
Bruce Mazza, Peter Giordano, Ron Aberman,
Randall Skaggs, Harry Thomas, Jason Lane,
Bill Eichel, Hans Pfister, Don Barton,
Stan Goldstein, Damon Ahmadi, Pierre Peretti,
Leandro Alvarez, Gary Lent, Harley Hall.
Mike Paulle
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