| Scotty Brown Makes 3rd Final Table
Lowest Chipped, He Wins Hold'em
This has been a good week for Michigan pro Scotty Brown. He's made three final tables and finished in the money four times in a row. Tonight he came to the final table lowest-stacked with 11,000 in chips. In 11 hands he was up to 48k, and 20 hands later had the lead. He lost it and got it back a couple of times.
Then came the key hand. He was heads-up with Yohanes Muruz. The flop gave Muruz two pair and Brown an open-end straight draw. Brown hit the straight on the river to cripple Muruz. He soon finished him off and won the 14th event of LAPC X1V, limit hold'em. He would also have the all-around points lead, but his other final tables were no-points shoot-out events.
Brown had been doing informational technology work, traveling the country and playing in casinos whenever he could. About 18 months ago he decided to play full time. He's mostly an Internet cash game player, though he plays selective casino tournaments, and has two wins in Reno. He said he was in his element when the tournament got short-handed, especially because he had plenty of chips to work with.
Tonight's final table started with $1,500-$3,000 limits, and in two hands went to $2,000-$4,000. Not only was Brown tied for least chips, he started in the big blind and a hand later was all in, but survived when he hit a jack to his A-J. Winning three pots in 11 hands, he moved up to 48k.
Seven hands later we lost our first player. Craig Hartigan, an engineer, was all in with pocket queens. Brown had Ah-7s and two aces hit the board. Next out was Derek Bukowski. He raised with K-Q and and Jan Sjavik re-raised with A-10. On a flop of J-4-2, Bukowski called a raise, went all in and couldn't hit either card.
By now Brown had moved into the lead. Then, after limits went to $3,000-$6,000, Meng 'Shane' Ching, who is in the computer wholesale business, advanced to the front when he won a three-way pot by flopping a set of 8s and making a full house.
Brown began moving up when he knocked out Jean Roakoz. Pre-flop, Roakoz raised under the gun with Ah-8h and Brown put him in and out with pocket aces. A couple of hands later, Brown was in the big blind with J-4 and made two pair on the turn. Sjavik raised and Brown re-raised, got a call from Sjavik on the river, and now had the lead again.
The next seven hands saw players go all in four times and escape. Finally, Mikey Nguyen of Seattle had Q-J and went all in on a flop of Q-A-5, losing to the A-8 held by Luis Sanchez, who himself had gone all in twice a few hands before.
Sanchez was next to leave, on hand 62. He raised with A-J, leaving him with three chips. 'Let's both see the flop,' Ching said, getting Muruz to call with 9d-3d. The flop was K-3-2 and Sanchez went all in for his last chips. Muruz had a flush draw on fourth street, but his paired three was enough to knock out Sanchez and get the table down to four.
For once, there was no talk of a deal, and play continued. Brown began getting some good hands and was playing more aggressively as his chip lead grew. With limits at $4,000-$8,000, he had a huge lead with 168k, followed by Muruz, 73k; Meng Ching, 67k; and Jan Sjavik, 19.5k.
Now Brown was raising more aggressively than ever, though Muruz was winning more than his share of pots. Muruz picked up a lot of chips in three-way action when a jack flopped and his A-J beat Ching's K-J. 'Beat me by a point,' Ching said.
Sjavik is a Norwegian information technology manager who picked up 10 wins in World Series super satellites in 2002. He hadn't been getting cards, and on hand 96 was all in from the big blind with 9-2. Muruz called from the button with 7s-5s and spiked a 7 on the river to get this tournament down to three.
By this point, Muruz, a Vegas pro, had the lead with around 150,000 chips. On hand 99, Brown left Ching with 17k when he raised on a board of of 7-7-5-K, either bluffing or showing psychic abilities, because he caught a 9 on the river to outrun Ching's 4-4.
Ching hung on for another nine hands. Finally, there was three-way action. The flop was A-7-3. Brown bet, Muruz raised, and Ching called with Q-7. An 8 turned and a 5 came on the river. Ching, all in showed his paired 7. Brown turned up pocket queens and we were now heads-up.
Brown still led, but a few hands later Muruz pulled ahead by flopping a 9 to his A-9, and a few hands later led by about 227k-100k.
Brown narrowed the gap, and then took over again with the same A-9 when an ace flopped. The count was now reversed. The key pot came right after limits went to $6,000-$12,000. Brown had J-8 and Muruz had 7-6. Brown check-raised when a flop of 7-6-5 gave him an open-end straight, and Muruz made it three bets. Brown raised when a jack turned, then caught a 9 on the river and hauled in an $88,000 pot.
Seven hands it was all over. Muruz raised with A-4, bet blind before the flop and went all in when the board showed K-5-3-6-9. Brown had A-6, and his paired 6 won the pot and the tournament. Max Shapiro
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