| Highway Contractor Playing Poker Just 10 Months Wins #19, No-Limit
John Smith, a highway contractor, must be a fast learner. After only 10 months
experience playing poker, he was the declared winner of event 19 of LAPC XIV
after a four-way deal.
The key hand for him in this $970 no-limit hold'em event came early at the final
table. Smith had started as leader with 135,600 chips, followed by Glenn Cozen
with 113,000. On the third hand the two big stacks tangled. Smith ended up taking
about 50,000 from Cozen, jumped into a huge lead and was never headed after
that.
Smith is mainly a $10-$20 no-limit side-game player, though he had one prior
final table at Commerce last year. In this event he said he worked his way up
slowly but surely, playing selectively "and aggressively when I needed
to be." He paid tribute to Cozen, who finished second at the 1993 WSOP
championship. "He wouldn't let me get away with anything," Smith said.
When the deal was made, Smith had 171k in chips, followed by Chris Crockett,
127k; David Daneshgar, 126k; and Steve Shkolnik, 109k.
Crockett is in the construction business with his father, who finished 10th
in limit hold'em the night before. He is only three weeks past 21. When he was
only three days past 21, he made the money at a $3,000 no-limit event at Tunica,
and tonight worked his way up to second place after starting second-lowest chipped.
The youngster would seem to be a someone to keep an eye on.
The final table got underway with 24:58 left at level 13, playing with $200
antes and blinds of $1,000-$2,000. Two of the players turned out to be partners.
Business partners, that is. Cozen and Norm Lapin are developers, managers and
owners of surgery centers.
Hand three took five minutes to play out. Smith raised, Cozen made it 20k to
go. The flop was A-Q-10. Cozen bet 10k. The turn, an 8, was checked. On a river
queen, Cozen bet 20k, Smith raised 50k, and after long deliberation, Cozen folded.
Smith, who later disclosed that the 8 gave him a set, now had about 185k while
Cozen was down to about 61k, and he could never fully recover after that.
Lee Smith, who was best all-around in the 2003 Poker Round-up, was first out
on hand six. Derek Harrington moved in with pocket queens on a flop of A-A-4.
John Smith called all in with pocket 9s, and Lee Smith with pocket 10s The ladies
held up.
Chris McCormack, a pro with a second at the World Poker Finals, ended ninth.
With $1,500-$3,000 blinds and $500 antes, he was done in by a disastrous flop.
Holding A-K, he moved in when the board came K-J-8. Smith crushed him with a
set of jacks.
Shkolink is a movie location manager with a second in a hold'em WSOP event.
There was nothing subtle about his play tonight. He just kept moving in, four
times in the first 15 hands, 11 times by tournament's end. Amazingly, he was
never called.
While Cozen was fighting his way back and playing many pots, his business partner
was card-dead. Up to hand 31, Lapin had only played one pot and was down to
$4,500 after posting the big blind. Cozen, on the button, raised. Lapin folded
and that probably ended their partnership.
Lapin managed to outlast Shamill "Short Stack" Kostashuk, a mortgage
broker. After Smith made a small trap raise with A-A, Kostashuk re-raised his
last 4K with K-J, and couldn't beat the 6-1 odds.
When blinds went to $2,000-$4,000 with $500 antes, Smith still had a good lead
with 201k. Lapin had been able to get up to 19k, but that was it. In the big
blind with A-9, he called all in, after Harrington, with A-Q, bet the flop of
K-Q-2. Lapin finished seventh.
As play went on, Daneshgar, a financial analyst, got up to about 125k by picking
off a bluff that Smith tried after missing his straight draw. Meanwhile, young
Crockett was getting good cards, picking up pots and moving up, into the 80k,
then the 90k range.
Cozen had a narrow escape on hand 63. He was all in with Ac-7c and Shkolnik
had him covered with As-9s. The chips were split after the board came A-J-8-8-5.
The count at this point was: Smith, 154k; Crockett, 122.5; Daneshgar, 122k;
Harrington, 55k; Shkolnik, 49; and Cozen, 40k. A few hands later, Cozen decided
he had to do something and moved in for 35k with Qc-7c. His timing was not good
because Harrington, now down to 26k after losing a pot to Crockett, had pocket
kings. Cozen couldn't help and Harrington made a set when the board came 6-5-3-K-A.
Right after that, Cozen was in the big blind. Blinds were now $3,000-$6,000
with $1,000 antes. He had only 10h-7h, but put his last 4k in after Daneshgar
raised to 13k and Smith called with As-2s. Three spades hit the board. Smith's
flush took in all the chips and Cozen was out in sixth place.
Seven hands later, it was all over. Harrington moved in with pocket queens.
Shkolink had him covered and called with pocket 8s. The flop was A-A-3. Shkolnik
called for an 8, and the poker gods granted him his wish. Harrington was gone,
the four made their chip-count deal, and John Smith had his first trophy. Max
Shapiro
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