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Poker Dealer Wins Omaha/8
Ralph Juarez, a poker dealer at the 500 Club in Clovis, California, won the second event of Winnin' o' the Green, $200 Omaha hi-lo...with big help from Dr. Barry Marfleet. Three-handed, Chan Vu had the lead with 67,500 chips, while Juarez had 48,500 and Marfleet 28,500. A deal was discussed, but Marfleet said 'not yet.'
On the first deal after play resumed, Marfleet misread his hand and blew off most of his chips to Juarez. And on the following hand, he lost his remaining chips, again to Juarez. By now, Juarez had taken a slight lead. He chopped the prize money even-up with Vu, but took the title, points and trophy.
With only 144,500 chips in play, action at the final table started with limits already at $2,000-$4,000. It promised to be a fast night and it was, taking just 32 hands and a bit over an hour.
Play began with 22:52 left at level 11. Only nine players made it to the final table after two were knocked out simultaneously. Two of those nine were gone in the first three deals, both at the hands of Charlie Updegrove. On hand two, Lawrence Michael, arriving with just 7,500 in chips, raised with a handful of paint: K-Q-J-J. A board of 8-7-6-5 was not good to him, but he was pot-committed and bet his last chips. Updegrove already had two pair with A-5-7-10. Michael, an online Omaha/8 player, couldn't catch up and finished ninth.
On the next hand, Hung Nguyen, who arrived with the smallest amount, 4,500, finished eighth. He went all in under the gun with A-4-9-10. His low bid was counterfeited when the board came K-7-5-4-5 while Updegrove made a full house with A-K-7-5.
Juarez himself was all in on the next hand. He scooped and survived against Marfleet when his pocket aces held up and Marfleet, with A-2, didn't make a low. Vu, who started as second chip leader behind Marfleet, began moving up on hand 10 when he scooped Updegrove with a straight.
Limits now went to $3,000-$6,000. Poker game host Ted Chong was left with a single chip after Marfleet raised all in with A-A-10-8 and beat Chong's Q-Q-J-5. The next pot was the biggest of the night. Chong was all in from the small blind for 1,000 with four-way action. The board came Q-9-3-7-2. Vu bet each level and was called all the way until the end, when Bragg and Updegrove folded. Vu, with A-A-4-7, had a nut low, while Chong, with 3-4-9-Q, picked up one chip and survived with two pair. Vu got the rest and now led big with close to 70k.
As play continued, Chong survived again with a full house, and then Bradley Bragg escaped with he made a nut flush to outrun Vu's trip kings. On hand 26, Updegrove had 3k left when Juarez, who had been playing very aggressively, raised. After long thought, Updegrove called all in with K-Q-7-5. Juarez had mainly a low-draw hand with A-2-2-Q, but made a full house when trips hit the board. Updegrove, a DWP boilermaker, was seventh.
On the next hand, limits became $5,000-$10,000. The end was near. On the first hand, Chong, all in with K-Q-Q-J, had a set of queens on a board of J-6-5-Q. Vu had A-3-9-10. A river 8 gave him a straight, and Chong finished sixth. One hand later, Bragg ended fifth. He had A-K-Q-7. The best he could do was pair his king. Marfleet, with A-A-6-6, flopped a set of 6s and filled. And two hands later, Jose Contreras Jr., a regular at the Commerce's Omaha tables, finished fourth. He had A-5-8-Q double-suited and lost when Vu, with A-3-7-8, made a 10-high straight.
Now came the failed deal and play continued. 'I made a mistake,' Marfleet said on the next hand when he thought he had made a spade flush holding one spade and a club. He did have pocket 10s, but lost to Juarez' paired ace. His last chips went to Juarez on the next hand. He had Q-J-7-5. Juarez had K-K-3-2 and scooped on a board of A-4-6-9-Q.
Juarez and Vu and chopped, and event No. 2 was over. Max Shapiro
BIOGRAPHY
Ralph Juarez, 49, began playing poker at age 7 in nickel and dime games which were always going on at home, then in high school, and in casinos when he was 21. He's dealt poker over the years at close to a dozen cardrooms, and is now back at the 500 Club, where he dealt when he was about 25. The 500 Club is a small, six-table place that used deal Omaha hi-lo exclusively, but has now changed with the times and offers just hold'em, which is bringing in much more business. It's been a 'lucky club' for Juarez. He's had one other final table at the Bike, and a final at Hollywood Park.
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