THE GEEZER'S OPEN
With
scheduled nap times every second level,
this event took almost three days to finish.
Matt Savage, co-Tournament Director, had
the best line. Coming back from the one-hour
dinner break, Matt asked the players over
the loudspeaker, "For those of you who
may have forgotten where you were sitting,
we'll be glad to help."
There
were 396 entrants in the $1,000 Senior's
for a total prize pool of $372,240. Four
tables were paid, a total of 36 players.
Kilgore was here. But so was the American,
Buffalo. Two guys went out on the same
hand at different tables to avoid getting
the dreaded booby prize. Bill Kilgore,
who's everywhere, and Charles Buffalo,
who's disappeared, shared 36th place and
a couple bucks over the buy-in.
To setup the Final Table Sunday afternoon,
John Biebel waited until Mike Sexton had
the stone-cold nuts before John went all-in.
The only card that could beat Biebel was
a Queen on the river to give Sexton the
nut straight with his A K. Biebel slow-played
his pocket Kings into oblivion before
betting them and got 11th place for it.
THE
FINAL TABLE:
42 mins left of 75
$300 ante
The blinds were $1,000/$2,000
Player
Hometown Chip
Count
Seat 1 Pat Callahan Las Vegas NV $33,500
Seat 2 David Troyer Fredericksburg VA
$10,600
Seat 3 Mike Sexton Henderson NV $85,000
Seat 4 Fred Brown Howell MI $43,300
Seat 5 Johnny Davis Mesa AZ $17,000
Seat 6 Chris Wunderlich Higley AZ $58,800
Seat 7 Bill Swan Wichita Falls TX $21,900
Seat 8 Dennis Lane Corte Madera CA $43,700
Seat 9 Bill Bertram Reno NV $14,200
Seat 10 Ben Battle London, UK $70,600
It was nice to see some NEW faces at the
Final Table, even if the faces were OLD.
It didn't take very long for the jello
to be served. In the classic poker hand,
A K against pocket Queens, Dennis Lane
had raised and short-stacked Bill Bertram
reraised all-in on the button with the
Queens. No waiting, the King windowed
sending Bertram off and to his rocker
in 10th.
On
the poker internet newsgroup: rec.gambling.poker,
pocket 5's have a name. They are called
"Presto" and the hand seems to have magical
powers. Repeatedly, Presto has been known
to crack far more powerful hands. Not
today, however. Today, Presto dominated
two weaker hands. Chris Wunderlich raised
under the gun with the pocket 5's. Johnny
Davis only had a few chips over his big
blind and "didn't look" before tossing
them in. Davis had A 4 and was miles ahead
on his way out the door in 9th.
On
the very next hand, Wunderlich picked
up Presto again, and found a new way to
win with the pocket 5's. Chris flopped
a set and let 'Fast' Freddy Brown go all-in
against him. Brown had outs, but they
were Brown outs. You know what I mean?
Freddy had J 9 for a flopped up and down
straight draw. He needed a King or an
8 to stay alive. There was a power failure
for Freddy and he went downtown into 8th.
Veteran
tournament warrior Pat Callahan made a
move on the blinds with his last $20k
and the K J of Clubs. The incredibly hot
Chris Wunderlich had a brainstorm. Chris
picked up pocket Aces in the big blind
and decided to call. Such bravado for
an oldster! Chris's bravery was rewarded
immediately as Pat Callahan in 7th was
drawing dead on the flop that came A 3
3.
If you can win with pocket Aces once,
you can lose to them twice. Chris Wunderlich
was only playing the rush that had brought
him to the clear chip lead when the paradigm
shifted. (Poker Definition: paradigm=$2,000).
After being unable to lose a hand for
the first hour, Chris had to wonder where
his luck went from then on. It seemed
inconceivable that Chris could be the
next one out, but that's what happened.
He ran into pocket Aces twice, once he
had pocket 10's and then pocket Queens.
All-in now for his last $4.5k and an A
8, Wunderlich got to test his wanderlust
as he wandered toward the door in 6th.
Ben Battle had K J and made trips.
The Battle of Britian was won by a few
incredibly brave young pilots. Ben Battle
of Britian only had a proven loser on
his side, A 8 all-in. Mike Sexton shot
Ben out of the sky in 5th with an A K
that played.
Shortness
has nothing to do with age. Shortness
is usually fatal, age inevitable. David
Troyer came in 10th in chips with only
$10,600. That he lasted to 4th is a testament
to David's grittiness. Troyer finally
surrendered to shortness and went all-in
with A Q. Bill Swan called with A K and
didn't need the King that came.
"This is a bad call," Mike Sexton said
and shoved in his stacks. Turned out Sexton
was correct, just premature. After several
minutes of contemplation, Mike called
the preflop $35k reraise all-in bet of
Dennis Lane. Sexton had A J. Lane had
pocket 7's. It wasn't as bad as Mike had
feared, this time. Mike had two overcards,
and the Ace flopped to give Dennis more
than a penny in 3rd. Lois would have been
proud of Lane's super performance.
"37
cashes and only one bracelet, that's pretty
bad," Mike Sexton was making fun of his
WSOP frustration. But he might be second
guessing two calls that he made heads
up that probably cost him another bracelet.
It seemed clear that Mike, the tournament
veteran, could chip away at Bill Swan.
Sexton didn't need to make any 'coin toss-type'
calls.
"I
think I played the hand well, he could
only put me on a bluff," Bill Swan said
of the first of two pivotal hands. Swan
had slow-played pocket Aces to the river.
What could have been a disastrous mistake,
turned golden. Bill bet $81k all-in with
the board Q 9 4 6 8. With pocket Jacks,
a bluff was about the only hand Mike Sexton
could beat. Mike called and Swan turned
over his Aces.
Still,
Sexton was the clearly superior heads
up player. He clipped Swan's stack repeatedly
until the fateful hand arrived. Mike flopped
two pair with 7's and 5's. Sexton may
have gotten greedy, only he knows. In
any case, Mike let Bill Swan see the turn
card cheaply. The board was 7 5 3 8 K.
Bill went from an ugly duckling on the
flop to a Swan on the turn when his 9
6 hit the paydirt, gutshot straight. Bill
went all-in and, again, Mike Sexton called
when he didn�t have to.
There
is nothing in this world easier than playing
a tournament from the sidelines. No one
but Mike Sexton can know what his thinking
processes were on those two calls. He
may have made the correct play on both
of them. It sure didn't look like it from
the stands. Mike Sexton is a great player,
a gentleman and a credit to poker. But
may have let 'The Geezer's Open' bracelet
slip off his wrist, today.
Mike Paulle
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