King
For a Day: Binion's Poker Dealer, Johnny
Arrage, Stuns Poker World and Wins $178,600
and First Gold Bracelet
There
are rare moments in poker when the results
of a tournament final table can actually
change someone's life. That special moment
occurred in the $1,500 buy-in Limit Texas
Hold'em event at the 2003 World Series
of Poker, when Johnny Arrage pulled off
a startling upset victory and achieved
every poker player's dream -- winning
the most coveted prize in poker, the gold
bracelet.
Arrage had been coming to his job as a
poker dealer at Binion's Horseshoe for
the last 14 years. He arrived each day
and remains one of the most popular employees
at the legendary casino. Arrage also played
poker semi-professionally on the side
and made extra income. This year, Arange
decided to invest a little extra in himself
and take his game to a new level. In Event
#1 at this year's World Series of Poker,
Arrage took third-place -- which was a
nice payoff, but didn't carry the same
significance as winning a poker tournament.
Indeed, the closer one gets to the taste
of victory, the more insatiable the appetite
becomes.
Two
weeks later, Arrage was sitting at his
first World Series of Poker final table
(in an open event), although the task
ahead seemed formidable. Arrage came into
day two with just $40K in chips (in 5th
chip position) versus the always dangerous
Kathy Liebert, with $97K. It took nearly
five hours for the first eight players
to be eliminated before Arrage and Liebert
would meet in an epic heads-up duel for
the gold bracelet.
The first player to exit from the ten-player
final table was South Dakotan Tom Ralph,
followed by Norweigian-born Thor Hansen.
Hansen was shooting for his third win
at the World Series of Poker, but could
never generate any momentum on the final
day. Next, Texan Trent "Chainsaw" Sessions
was cut away from the action, and took
8th place. Joe Brandenburg, an engineer
from Portland, went out next in 7th place.
Down
to six players, New York-native Al Korson
was the next player to make an exit, followed
by Gino Yu, from Southern California.
Jaime Atenloff, a businessman from Uruguay
went out in 4th place and collected $29,000.
Incredibly, most of the damage over the
last few hours had been done by poker
dealer-turned-player, Johnny Arrage. He
rocketed into the chip lead mid-way through
the final table and nearly had Liebert
out of the tournament at one point. Liebert
had been the real survivor at the final
table, as she was down to only $2K at
one point. Amazingly, she managed to come
back and get into a heads-up confrontation
by picking her spots carefully and getting
just enough of a rush of cards to remain
a serious threat.
With three players remaining, the approximate
chip counts were as follows:
JOHNNY ARRAGE: $300K
KATHY LIEBERT: $100K
NICK FRANGOS: $72K
This
was Nick Frangos' second final table at
this year's tournament. He was eager to
improve on his previous fourth place finish,
and did so -- but not to the extent he
wished. Frangos finished third, good for
$45,900.
The two-hour showdown between Arrage and
Liebert was truly remarkable, and featured
an ending that no one in the audience
could possibly have predicted (including
Arrage, perhaps). Arrage started off with
roughly a 3 to 1 chip advantage over Liebert,
but saw his lead crumble gradually over
the first hour. Liebert was the far more
patient of the two players. She seemed
content to wait it out for better hands,
hoping to outlast Arrage who appeared
to be getting impatient by over-betting
his hands. Arrage won more of the small
pots, while Liebert won the bigger pots.
One
big hand came when Arrage and Liebert
got into a raising war, then saw a flop
of 8-7-7. Liebert was holding Q-7 and
waited until the turn to pull a check-raise
on Arrage. Liebert took down a huge $130
K pot. Incredibly, despite the slide,
Arrage remained completely relaxed --
almost of the point of carelessness. After
losing the big pot to Liebert, Arrage
turned around and joked with the crowd.
He wasn't the least bit fazed, drinking
cocktails, and explaining to everyone
who would listen that he was having the
time of his life.
No doubt, this match featured a completely
opposite contrast of styles, with Liebert
the far more studious and serious of the
two players. She had valid reason to take
the game more seriously. Liebert has been
one of the top tournament players in poker
for nearly ten years, but incredibly --
has not yet won a gold bracelet. In fact,
although she's won over a million dollars
at a single poker tournament, the one
thing that has eluded her so far has been
a World Series of Poker title.
When
Liebert built her marginal chip lead into
a 3 to 1 chip advantage during the heads-up
finale, her victory seemed to be a foregone
conclusion. It appeared Arrage was content
with the second-prize showing and $91K,
while Liebert was primed for her first
world championship.
Then,
the limits went up to $5K-10K, and the
world might as well have been turned upside
down. Liebert's dream was shattered. Arrage
went on a 25-minute run that left everyone
in the room shaking their heads in disbelief.
The key hand of the lightning strike was
a full house made by Arrage (with pocket
7s) to the board's 7-6-6. Liebert did
not reveal her hand, but it was clear
she was shocked by the good fortune of
Arrage.
In
a stunning reversal, Liebert saw her 3
to 1 chip lead vanish, and she was left
with only $25K when the final hand of
the night was dealt:
LIEBERT:
J-9
ARRAGE: K-5
FINAL BOARD: 8-6-5-4-10
Arrage won with a pair of 5s.
The
victory brought the crowd to it's feet.
Arrage said afterward that he'll take
a few days off, then return back to work
at the Horseshoe as a poker dealer on
Monday. He says he has something in store
for players who are critical of poker
dealers. "They don't think dealers can
play. Next time I hear that when I'm sitting
in the box, I'll show them this (gold
bracelet) and ask -- 'hey, where's yours?"
Arrage
was genuinely thrilled with the victory,
and truly enjoyed his World Series of
Poker experience. One observer sitting
in the crowd cheering Arrage's victory
summed up it up best when he said, "I've
been coming here to the Horseshoe every
year for 33 years, and this is the most
fun I have ever seen a player have at
the final table."
Indeed,
Johnny Arrage won a victory on this day
on behalf of everyone who has toiled in
the box day after day, put up with abuse
and rude comments, and still managed to
act professionally. On this day, the tables
were reversed.
-- by Nolan Dalla
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