Poker Tournament Gallery
January 9, 2003
The entry-fee was $100 which created a prize pool of $8,800. Play began in the grand ballroom of the Gold Strike Casino-Resort at 6:00 pm on Thursday evening. By 10:00 pm most of the players had been eliminated, leaving just 11 players in the tournament. What follows are the highlights of the final 90 minutes of play: Down to 11 players and two tables, "Bruno" from Denver, CO was rudely bounced from the tournament when he moved "all-in" with A-7 of hearts and was called by the big blind, with Q-J. Bruno, who was in the lead, loved his situation -- at least until he watched in horror as a nightmare of all nightmare flops came -- J-J-J -- giving his opponent four-of-a-kind. The room, which included nearly 100 bystanders, roared as the four jacks were crudely revealed, thus seizing Bruno's remaining chips and eliminating the popular Coloradoan in 11th place -- one spot shy of making the final table. Fargo's best poker player, Jane Barnstuble (a.k.a. "New Jane") arrived at the final table lowest in chips -- with just $7,500. A few hands after play at the final table began, Jake Rowlett (a.k.a. "Torax") found himself low on chips as well, and moved "all-in" with 7-7. Unfortunately, he ran into New Jane's 8-8 and found himself completely dominated. The flop failed to bring Torax a miracle 7, thus resulting in an early departure from the grand finale, although he can be proud of his 10th place finish. Next to bite the dust was Scott Niebling (a.k.a "Doc H"), from Cary, NC. Doc H sat down with $8,500 and was gradually blinded-off as the antes and blinds increased. Doc H was forced to commit his remaining chips from the blind with K-6 but ran into big trouble when the "SD Kid" was dealt A-K. A much-needed "6" failed to materialize which meant a 9th place finish for Doc H. Rhonda Vought was one of three females to reach the final table at the PokerSchool Online tournament. PokerPages founder Mark Napolitano stated that about 15 to 20 percent of the PokerSchool Online members are women, clearly above and beyond the norm found inside most poker rooms. Seadog arrived at the final table in decent chip position with $17,000. However, she ran card-cold at the worst possible moment and was unable to muster much of a move. Blinded-off by four orbits, Seadog was forced to commit her final chips with 6-7 versus her opponent's A-6. A six arrived on the flop, giving Seadog serious kicker problems. Seadog failed to improve, which meant a "ruff" ending in 8th place for the lady from Gainesville, GA. Next, an interesting series of hands developed -- with New Jane in the spotlight. First, she was dealt 10-10 and moved "all-in" against Bill Curry (a.k.a. "Wild Bill"). The wild man was absolutely delighted to call New Jane's "all-in" raise with Q-Q, which held up and snapped-off most of New Jane's chips. Incredibly, on the very next hand -- New Jane extracted her revenge and got most of her chips back when, this time, she was dealt the pretty pair of ladies. New Jane's Q-Q destroyed Mark Zacharia (a.k.a. "Zadvocate"), who held proverbial pocket losers -- 10-10. Suddenly, New Jane was back in business and Zadvocate was in trouble. A few hands later, Zadvocate -- who gets his creative nickname from combining his last-name "Zacharia" with his profession as an attorney ("Advocate") -- was low and chips and committed himself with J-8 suited. Unfortunately, Zadvocate's motion to stay at the final table was denied by an Ace-high, and the Pittsburgh, PA counselor was sentenced to a 7th place finish. Chris Gennick (a.k.a. "GoBlue84") came to the final table with $13,000 and managed to survive the first hour with a combination of patience and timely aggression. However, he was slowly blinded and anteed down to his final chips and found himself perilously short-stacked. He was forced to commit his remaining chips with 9-5 and ran into Wild Bill's K-J. The K-J didn't need help, but when a Jack fell on the turn, GoBlue84 had no hope. Gennick, a University of Michigan graduate (hence "Go Blue") was wolverineed out of the tournament in 6th place -- at least better than the Michigan football program ranked this year in the polls. At least no one mentioned to GoBlue who won the national championship this year in college football. No, that would have been too cruel. Dan Crandall (a.k.a. "SDKid"), who comes from Rapid City, SD (hence, the "South Dakota Kid") came to the final table in very comfortable chip position with $22,000. He wasn't able to improve his chip position, however, and found himself "all-in" with A-3 versus New Jane's J-10. The cards were dealt and the final board showed K-8-8-K-4 which meant the SDKid's ace played as the fifth card, giving him a slight glimmer of hope. It wouldn't last. New Jane roared back on the following hand when she was dealt 7-7. Chip-leader Wild Bill opened with a large pre-flop raise. Then, New Jane moved "all-in" putting all the heat back on Wild Bill. He contemplated his decision for a lengthy period of time before finally folding his hand (he stated he held 3-3). The decision turned out to be a wise one for Bill, who's pocket threes were totally dominated by the over-pair. The laydown meant New Jane was now the chip leader at the final table. Then, the drama really started to unfold. Ruth Spiegel ("a.k.a. Spiegel") came to the final table with $26,500 but went through a series of ups and downs until she was left short-stacked with less than $10,000. She was forced to commit her last chips in the big blind with a very ugly 7-5 of diamonds, against her opponent's K-4 of diamonds. It was a horrible spot to be in for Spiegel, who cried out "NO DIAMONDS!" She got her wish. No diamonds came. Even better, the flop brought Spiegel a gorgeous-looking five, thus giving her a pair. A knightly king failed to come on the final two cards, which meant the lady from Henderson, TN had survived an heart-wrenching "all-in" with the worst of it. What a monumental hand that turned out to be. On the following hand, Spiegel moved "all-in" again and won the pot. Suddenly, she was up close to $25,000 in chips -- back to where she started at the final table. Deja vu all over again. The SDKid was not able to force such a dramatic comeback. He committed his final chips with K-2 suited against Spiegel's Q-10, and was the pre-flop favorite. However, the SDKid's smile turned to stone when Spiegel caught a ten on the flop, and the SDKid was knocked back to Rapid CIty and Mount Rushmore in fifth place. The final four players represented the battle of the sexes -- two men versus two women. Praying for help, Wild Bill (from the great State of Illinois) pulled-out his voodoo doll -- a Chicago Blackhawks mascot intended to be his bounty prize. Wild Bill hoped he would not have to give the doll away, should he go on to win the event. Opponents remarked that perhaps they should go ahead and let Wild Bill win the tournament, so they wouldn't have to take the hideous doll and have to hopelessly explain to friends and loved ones why they are returned home from a poker tournament with a doll dressed as a hockey player. But I digress... Down to the final four players, the chip counts were as follows:
Hugh Moran (a.k.a. "Be Lucky") was not-so-lucky when he was next player to get bounced from the final table. With antes up to $2K and blinds at $5K-10K, it took only a few rounds would bust any player. Be Lucky made his last stand with K-5. He faced a large raise made by Spiegel in the small blind and put her on a steal -attempt. With a king-high in the big blind, Be Lucky reluctantly called. His instincts were right. However, his K-5 was toppled by Spiegel's Q-10 when the final board read J-10-5-8-A. The pair of tens had put Be Lucky, from San Diego, CA out in 4th place. From the start, New Jane had her eye on winning a plaque. Three impressive plaques were provided by Mark and Tina Napolitano from PokerPages, and were placed on the final table. In addition, a gold-engraved clock was awarded as the grand prize. Spiegel pulled-off another stunner when she called New Jane's "all-in" pre-flop raise with J-8. New Jane held the K-6 of hearts. The final board showed 8-9-5-Q-2 giving Spiegel a pair of 8s to New Jane's no-pair. The delightful lady from Fargo went out in 3rd place to cheering and applause. She did manage to win a plaque (in addition to $1500). Down to the final two players, Spiegel enjoyed a 3 to 1 chip advantage over Wild Bill. But it was Spiegel wo was the wild renegade. Spiegel, wearing a black cowboy hat and a blue-jean shirt had survived earlier on an "all-in" hand with 7-5. Then, she had stormed back to take a commanding chip lead. The finalists joked throughout the final table, and kept the audience laughing most of the time. However, the overall friendliness of the final table masked what turned out to be a highly-competitive tournament filled with emotion and drama. The final hand of the night came nearly five hours into the tournament. Wild Bill looked down and saw a pocket pair, 6-6. He quickly moved his chips into the pot and was called by Spiegel with K-4. The final flop of the night came: K-10-8. Spiegel had top pair. Down to two outs (either remaining 6), all Wild Bill could do was watch and pray for a miracle. But lady luck on this evening favored Spiegel, who with a pair of kings won the first-ever PokerSchool Online poker tournament. Afterward, Spiegel payed tribute to her opponents. "I am so excited," she said. "When I looked around and saw how tough some of the players were, I didn't think I could get through my first table." In a gesture that exhibited exceptional class and generosity, Spiegel donated the remainder of the prize money to the tournament dealers and staff. The final bounty came to an additional $688, which Spiegel immediately gave to the dealers. " I want the dealers to welcome us back next year," she said. Indeed, from the outset, the tournament prize money seemed to be secondary to the competitive spirit and cordiality exhibited by all of the PokerSchool Online participants. Playing for "bragging rights" amongst peers and taking home a nice trophy for first place was the ultimate prize. Those bragging rights were won by Ruth Spiegel, from Henderson, TN. At least, until next year.
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