| Car Dealership Manager Wins 7-Stud
After 3-Way Chop Ends Long Battle
It took 47 hands for tonight's 7-card stud final table to get down to four players, and nearly as long to get to get to three, with all four finalists grabbing the chip lead at one time or another.
Finally, Max 'Italian Pirate' Pescatore was eliminated. A quick chip-count deal was then made, and James Carroll, a used car manager at a Cadillac dealership, who held a big lead with 103,000 chips, was declared the winner.
Quan Duong, a retiree, came in second with 41,000 in chips, just ahead of Houston restaurant consultant Bradley Williams, who had 40,000 and finished third..
Carroll began playing poker in home games when he was 13. His interest in poker had been dwindling until he lost a leg due to illness last year. Recuperating at home with little to do, his attraction was rekindled when he began watching poker on TV. He now plays up to 10 tournaments a month, with five final tables and some small wins to his credit. He plays all games, but this is his first stud tournament.
Carroll said he mixed up his play and bought 'an awful lot of pots. But I'm a firm believer in luck,' he added.
Final table limits started at $1,000-$2,000 with $200 antes and a $300 low-card bring-in, 4:29 remaining. Action began very cautiously, with no calls on third street until hand six. The first big pot came on hand 11. Carroll re-raised with pocket aces in three-way action, and the bullets held up.
Ki Suk Hong, who is in sales, was first out, with set against set. Hong had buried 5s and made a set on sixth street, but it was too little too late because Williams, starting with pocket 9s, snagged a third 9 on fourth street.
As action continued, Pescatori, a colorful pro from Milan, Italy, was giving the most action. Pescatori, with several major tournament wins, including a $2,500 WSOP Circuit limit hold'em event this year, and a Legends no-limit victory in 2004, was garbed in a pirate's head scarf fashioned from a cloth with the tri-colors of Italy's flag.
At the other end of the action was local pro Bruce Levitt. Starting badly short-chipped with 8,600, he didn't play his first hand until the 25th deal. It would also be his last. Holding (9-9)8-7, he raised. Gevork Kasabyan, another pro, re-raised with (Q-J)K-J to put Levitt all in.
The jacks prevailed. 'Closest thing to a hand I saw,' Levitt shrugged, cashing out.
Soon after limits went to $2,000-$4,000, Kasabyan started with diamonds and went all in. He made nothing and was blown out by Williams' aces-up.
Pescatore took a big hit when he lost to Duong's aces-full, then returned the favor later by getting his chips back from him with pocket aces.
David McAfee, an engineering director, finished fifth. He was all in with a straight draw, ended up with trip treys and lost to Carroll's flush.
A lengthy deal discussion got underway. The count was: Carroll, 79,600; Duong, 50,600; Pescatori, 35,200; and Williams, 16,600. Pescatori would only go for a partial chop ('The only reason I'm playing is to win,' he said), and in the end there was no deal.
Now the lead began changing. The next player to go in front was Duong, when he turned up three aces in the hole against Carroll.
The players then took a 10-minute break, returning to limits of $3,000-$6,000, with $500 antes and a $1,000 low-card. At that point, Duong still held the chip lead with 75,700, followed by Carroll, 46,200; Pescatori, 43,700; and Williams, 18,300.
Williams then made a recovery. He bet with a second ace showing on sixth street and Pescatori folded. Williams then showed two additional buried aces. 'I had an ace too,' Pescatori cracked.
Playing aggressively, Williams picked up more chips, and by hand 65 the race had tightened, with Williams, Carroll and Duong all in the 50k range. Pescatori trailed with a bit over 30k, then continued to drop even more as he caught much more than his share of low door cards But then, with limits at $4,000-$8,000, $500 antes and a $1,500 low card, Pescatori suddenly shot into the lead when he picked off a river bluff by Williams and won with 9s and 4s.
Two hands later, Carroll retook the lead with about 88,000 when he beat Pescatori with aces.
Williams was next to go all in, but he survived when he made aces-up against Duong's kings-up.
Hand 91 was the last. Williams raised with pocket 10s. Carroll re- raised with split 9s and then Pescatori made it three bets to go, putting in his last chips with pocket kings. Williams didn't like what he saw and folded his 10s. The cards were dealt out. Williams paired his buried jack. Pescatori got no help, and the pirate went down with his ship as Carroll increased his lead.
This time there was quick agreement on a deal, and Carroll had his biggest payday.
-Max Shapiro
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