| Logger Cuts Up Pot-Limit
Dennis Waterman, the former Oregon logger turned full-time player, chopped his way to a win in the 20th event of Winnin' o' the Green 2005, $500 pot-limit hold'em. He came to the final table with the most chips, was in front or close to it the whole time, and had built up a substantial lead when the tournament ended in a six-way chop. Waterman, who just came off a fourth-place finish in the Professional Poker Tour's $500,000 freeroll at Bay 101, and is writing a series of poker books, said the key to his success was his ability to mix up his play.
Meanwhile, Keith Dabols, making his third final table, along with an 11th-place finish at WOG, finished seventh to pass Paul Vinci for the all-around points lead.
A full 45 minutes were left when the final table got going with blinds of 200/400, which in pot limit would allow a first-in raise of between 800 and 1,400. Though the final table started with 10 players, only nine were paid. Obviously nobody wanted to be the bubble, because after a full round of play, we still had a full table. The closest to losing a player came on hand 21 when Chan Kong re-raised all in and was called by Jenny Kang and Waterman. The board of K-K-J-2-9 was checked down. Kang turned up pocket 6s, Waterman 10s, and Kong barely escaped with four kings.
Finally, three hands after blinds rose to 300/600, a bubble boy floated off on a freak hand. Business owner Dave Limor raised all in with pocket 8s and Ben Yahalomi called with pocket 10s. Limor looked safe when a flop of J-8-2 gave him a set, until runner-runner 9-7 gave Yahalomi, who is in the tile construction business, a straight.
Five hands later, Jenny Kang raised with 7s-5s from the cutoff seat. Yahalomi re-raised with A-K and Kang called all in. A king turned, and now eight were left. Kang was paid $680 for ninth. Yeon Byung of Seoul, South Korea, was next out. He raised with pocket 10s. Dabols put him in for his last chip with A-Q and flopped aces and queens. Byong picked up $850 for eighth.
At the next break, Waterman had the chip lead with about 14.5k, while Jim Schmidt, the most aggressive player at the table, was close behind with 13k. Chris Karagulleyan was shortest-chipped with about 7k. Blinds now were 500/1,000, permitting initial raises of between 2k and 3.5k.
Dabols finished seventh on the 59th hand. He raised and Waterman put him all in. 'I have an ace,' Dabols said, turning up Ac-7c. Waterman was slightly better. He had two aces. A board of J-10-4-7-6 failed to rescue Dabols, and we were down to six. Waterman had increased his lead to 23,600, and a chip count was called for. Behind Waterman were Schmidt, 13,000; Kong, 9,600; Jeff Stein, 8,500; Karagulleyan, 7,300; and Yahalomi, 5,600. A deal then ended the evening.
Waterman collected an official $13,600 for his victory. Schmidt, who got an official $7,820 for second, has several cash-outs at Fiesta al Lago. Kong got $4,080 for third and Stein got $2,380 for fourth. This was the second pot-limit final table for Stein, a writer, who said he needed the money to help buy a car for his son, a Marine returning from duty in Iraq. Karagulleyan, who has a WPT championship win at the Bike, tonight got $1,870 for fifth. Sixth place paid $1,530 for Yahalomi. -Max Shapiro
BIOGRAPHY
Ex-logger Dennis Waterman just picked up $45,000 for his fourth-place finish at the PPT invitational at Bay 101, the same amount he collected for finishing 23rd at the WSOP championship event in 2003. His biggest cash-out was $103,596 for winning the $1,500 no-limit event at the 2002 Five Diamond Poker Classic. Waterman, who used to play 80 percent side games, now specializes in tournaments because there are so many of them going. In side action he likes 7-stud and no-limit hold'em.
Waterman also writes three columns a month for Pokernews.com. The series of books he is writing, the first due out this summer, will explain how tournaments have eight distinct phases with different strategy needed for each phase. His general strategy for tournaments is to adjust to the situation and mix up his play. 'People who play predictably are in trouble,' he said. 'If every pitch is a high hard one, sluggers will knock them out of the park.'
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