| Mixed Play and Intuitive Calls Earn
Charlie Satoot a Shootout Victory
Local pro Bashar "Charlie" Satoot, mixing his play and making some
gut-feeling calls, ended up as chip leader and tournament winner when a four-way
deal was cut in the eighth event of LAPC XIV, the $970 no-limit hold'em shootout.
Some big draw-outs helped too. In all, Bashoot was responsible for eliminating
four of the six players who were knocked out before the deal.
Bashoot is on a roll now, having coming in second in the limit hold'em shootout
two days earlier. A little below average in chips when the final table got underway,
he played aggressively at the outset to build up his stacks, then changed gears
as play progressed.
A key hand for him came when Todd Berman, another poker player, moved in for
$1,525. All Satoot had was 9c-8c, not a holding he would normally call with,
but he somehow sensed that Berman had a "trouble hand." He called,
turned a straight and knocked Berman out.
Satoot and Steve Hohn, another poker player, shared the lead for most of the
tournament, but then Susan Trabue, a movie and TV stuntwoman, made a late surge
and finished second. When the deal was made, Satoot had 10,850 in chips to 8,750
for Trabue, 6,125 for Hohn and 5,400 for Scotty Brown.
Even with a chop, this was the longest final table to date, nearly five hours.
The tournament started with 21 tables on day one. The winners of each table
then played down to 10 and returned the next day. Final-table blinds began at
$25-$50 and two minutes later went to $50-$100. Hohn won a $1,000 no-limit event
at LAPC in 2003, has various stud/8 and Omaha/8 wins, and also has a second
and a third-place finish in 7-stud hi-lo at the World Series. In early going,
he was the most aggressive, picking up pots with steady raising. He was finally
challenged by Scott Lazar who re-raised, but then gave it up when Hohn came
over the top. Hohn later played the same hardball when Tommy Hang re-raised
him $850 more. Hohn moved in and Hang folded.
Early play was cautious and it took 48 hands and nearly 90 minutes to lose our
first player. Blinds by now were $75-$150. Lazar, a professional magician turned
movie producer, had pocket kings and bet $800 into a flop of 10-9-8. Satoot
had an open-ended straight draw with K-J, and after very long thought, called.
A 7 turned to complete the straight. Satoot put Lazar all in and made the magician's
chips disappear. Lazar, with numerous final table tables and a World Series
money finish, is still looking to collect his first trophy, but settled for
$3,259 10th place money.
Nine hands later saw five-way action. The flop was Jh-10h-7h. Brandon Wong moved
in with J-9 and cashed out when Scotty Brown turned up Kh-6h for a flush. Wong
picked up $4,074 for ninth.
When blinds went to $100-$200, Hohn had the lead with approximately 6,500 chips,
followed by Satoot with 5,200; Brown with 4,800; Traube with 4,000; Kenny Cruz
with 3,100; Berman with $2,800; Tommy Hang with 2,300 and Dan Pugliese with
1,300.
The third player didn't leave until hand 99, when Batoot make his instinctive
call with the suited 9-8 to knock out Berman, another pro, who collected $5,093
for finishing eighth.. "An online call," Batoot joked. He was now
about tied with Hohn for the chip lead.
Batoot had the goods when he knocked out his third opponent. Blinds were still
$100-$200, but now there were $25 antes as well. Batoot raised with pocket kings
and Hang went all in, losing with Qd-6d. "Did you put me on a bluff?"
Satoot asked. Hang's payout for seventh was $6,111.
Hohn then took a pot from Satoot and moved into the lead for a while. He raised
1,400 chips pre-flop, then moved in for 3,850 more on a flop of 8-6-6, and Charlie
folded.
Kenny Cruz said he was making his first final table since 1997 (he has a good
memory). He was all in on hand 152 with K-Q against Hohn's K-9. Two more kings
hit the board, but Cruz' queen played. Two hands later, though, the stunt lady
put him out with a bad beat. Cruz pushed in all his 2,050 chips from the cutoff
seat holding pocket kings. Trabue called with pocket 7s. The flop came 7-6-2,
and Trabue's set left Cruz in sixth place, which was worth $7,130.
Hand 166 was the last of this event. Pugliese, a TV producer, was in the cut-off
seat when he looked at pocket 6s and opened for $900. Satoot, with pocket 10s,
smooth-called. The flop brought 4-3-3, Pugliese moved in for $2,975 and Satoot
called. A queen and then a 4 didn't help Pugliese, and he finished fifth and
took home $8,148.
Protracted negotiations got underway. Finally the final four agreed to terms,
and the shooting in the shootout stopped.
Fourth place paid an official $12,222, while third place was worth $19,148,
second paid $37,497; and first, $75,201, along with the impressive Remington
trophy. Interestingly, even with his first- and second-place finishes, Batoot
is still without points in the all-around race because the shootouts aren't
included.
Max Shapiro
|
