Eric Napoleon Comes from Behind to Win the Omaha-8-or-Better
Today’s Omaha 8-or-Better event started at noon and the final ten players took their seats at the final table at 6:55 with 38 minutes remaining at the $300-$600 limit.
Joe Beevers, nicknamed, “The Elegance,” was the chip leader with $12,125, O’Neil Longson was in second with $11,125, Eric Napoleon, nicknamed, “Pot Monster,” was in third with $8,950, Ken Seale, nicknamed, “Scorpion,” was in fourth with $6,175, Mike Chow was in fifth with $6,075, Kurt Van Hortleben was in sixth with $5,525, Geoff Waxler, nicknamed, “Dead Heat,” and Ram Vaswani were tied for seventh place, Sam Silverman was in ninth place with $4,375, and Tom Brownscombe, who finished 4th in yesterday’s no-limit event, was in last place with $3,875.
The bad news was the next player out wouldn’t receive any cash because only nine places would make money.
At 7:30 Tom Brownscombe was that unlucky player. He got all his money in with 7-6-4-3 against Sam Silverman’s A-J-10-2. The flop came 7-8-9 and it was all over for Tom.
At 7:35 the limit rose to $400-$800 with $200-$400 blinds. Ten minutes later the remaining nine players took a dinner break and at 9:45 they resumed play.
At 9:20 Geoff Waxler put his last $200 in on the small blind and took an early out with king high. Geoff collected $815 for his ninth place finish.
At 9:30 the limit increased to $600-$1,200 with $300-$600 blinds.
Five minutes into the new level Mike Chow got all his money in with K-Q-Q-J. The board came Ks-6s-5-K-3s and Ken Seale scooped the pot with J-Js-8s-9 when he hit the spade flush on the river. Mike pocketed $1,085 for his eighth place finish.
At 10:15 Kurt Von Hortleben lost to a lower low and the nut flush for high. Kurt took $1,360 for his 7th place finish.
At 10:20 the limit increased to $1,000-$2,000 with $500-$1,000 blinds.
At 10:30 Ram Vaswani was down to his last $500 chip after flopping a pair of aces holding A-J-3-5 against Eric Napoleon who also flopped a pair of aces holding A-6-6-10. On the turn another ace came keeping Ram in the lead with his jack kicker but disaster struck on the river when the dealer turned a ten giving Eric the aces full of tens. Ram had to settle for a sixth place finish and collected $1,630.
At 10:50 Ken called all-in with his remaining $1,000, O’Neil called, and Eric called. The flop came 10d-7d-4d, O’Neil bet, Eric raised and O’Neil called. The turn card came a seven, O’Neil checked, Eric bet and O’Neil called. The river came a four, and it was checked by both players. Eric showed the nut flush with A-8 of diamonds and scooped the pot, sending Ken Seale to the rail in fifth place with $1,900.
At 11:15 O’Neil Longson was left with $1,000 after posting the big blind. Eric called, Sam raised, Joe called, O’Neil called all-in and Eric called the raise. The flop came 4-5-7 of diamonds, Joe bet, Eric called and Sam called. The turn came a jack, Joe bet, Eric folded and Sam called. The river came a king, Joe bet and Sam called. Sam and Joe split the pot and sent O’Neil home in 4th place with $2,175.
Eric was in the lead now with $34,000, Sam was in second with $20,500, and Joe was a little behind with $13,000.
Two hands later Joe went all-in with A-K-Q-2 and was called by both remaining players. The board came J-10-6-2-10 and scooped the pot with a pair of sixes. Joe took home $2,985 for his 3rd place finish.
At 11:25 the limit rose to $1,500-$3,000 with $1,000-$1,500 blinds.
At 11:45 Eric won the last hand of the tournament and sent Sam home in 2nd place with $5,705.
Eric Napoleon, from Austin, Texas was declared the winner of the $540 Omaha 8-or-better.
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