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Turnaround Win in Lowball
Tonight's $300 lowball tournament was an act in two parts. In part 1, restaurateur Paul Vinci, winner of Tuesday's pot-limit event, totally dominated the final table. He changed Julius Caesar's famous 'Vini, Vici, Vidi' (I came, I saw, I conquered) to 'Vini, Vici, Vinci.' Virtually unbeatable, he soon passed starting chip leader Steve McAllister, and had a 4-1 lead when he got heads-up with him. In Part 2, things turned around completely. McAllister, head of a consulting firm, won nearly all of their 28 heads-up hands, completely crushing Vinci as he roared to his first major tournament win.
Lowball differs from all other poker games, where you must prove you are 21. For lowball, you must prove you get Social Security. Lowball may not be the most exciting game in the world, but at least it's one where tournament director Ron Cramer doesn't have to keep yelling, 'Spectators stand back!'
Final-table limits started at 800/1,600 with 33:36 left. Hand nine was explosive. The pot was capped in three-way action, with Eric Hill, a hospital clerk, going all in on the last raise. He and McAllister took one card. Vinci showed a pat wheel and Hill, catching a 10 to his 6-draw, was first out.
Vinci then took the next two hands. 'That's enough,' commanded Bob Addison, who won a lowball bracelet in 1988. It wasn't. Vinci won again and again. Meanwhile, McAllister knocked out the second player with a 6-4 on hand 18. Bruce Isaacs, a retiree with a $64,000 payday for finishing second in a Commerce event, had stayed pat with what he jokingly called a 'smooth' 10 (10-9-8).
Limits went to 1k/2k. Robert Hartmann, an attorney, was next out. The pot was raised and re-raised before and after the draw. Hartmann stood pat with an 8-6. Vinci, drawing to a wheel, made a 7. Vinci continued his rush. In following hands, he won in three-way action with an 8-6 while Youssef Akhavan and Addison both caught paint, then beat McAllister's pat 10 with a 9-7 as he moved past the 35k mark.
Boris Kostov, a coin dealer, finished fifth. He and McAllister drew one. McAllister showed a 7-6 and Kostov mucked. Addison went out in fourth place three hands later. He and Vinci both drew one. Addison caught a king, Vinci made a 7. Earlier, Addison told an anecdote about the WSOP 1987 lowball event when Johnny Moss suggested a save. Addison declined and didn't win a single hand after that.
Vinci now won three of the next four hands, once in three-way action with a king when his opponents both paired, as he passed the 50k mark. On hand 43 he eliminated Akhavan, who threw a 9 and caught a 9, while Vinci made an 8.
Heads-up, Vinci led with about 53k to 13k for McAllister. But from that point on, it was virtually all McAllister, as he went on to win about 80 percent of the pots. By the time limits went to 2k/4k, he had the lead with about 35k. The slaughter continued as McAllister won six hands in a row without a showdown Along the way McAllister picked off a couple of bluffs, and Vinci was finally down to 1.5k. He hung on for a few hands, then finally succumbed when McAllister drew two and made a 9-7 to beat Vinci's pat 9-8. -- Max Shapiro
BIOGRAPHY
Steve McAllister heads a managerial consulting company dealing in industry certification. He began playing poker seriously 10 years ago when he discovered hold'em. No-limit hold'em, that is. 'I have no patience for limit,' he said. He's also been trying to branch out and now also plays Omaha and stud/8. His lowball experience goes back years ago when he played $40-$80 in a small club.
He attributed tonight's unbelievable turnaround to a couple of factors. When it got heads-up, he began playing more aggressively. 'Now I could draw two and three cards and not wait for a hand.' On the other hand, he felt that Vinci, who had been the aggressor, changed his style of play, suddenly backing off, many times not playing to a showdown. Earlier, he said, he had been all in with three tables left, won with a 6-4, then began catching cards to take the chip lead when the final table started.
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