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Wagner Wins 1k No-Limit
Ken Wagner, a self-described 'hobbyist,' came to tonight's final table second-lowest in chips. But he won every vital pot he played, took the chip lead on the final hand, and was declared the winner of event 23, $1,000 no-limit hold'em, after a five-way deal. The win ended Wagner's dry spell following his best all-around performance at Legends last year.
The final table got underway with 500/1,000 blinds and 200 antes, 46:43 left. Nobody departed at that level. The closest was when lowest-chipped Melissa Hayden re-raised all in for 9,800 with pocket 10s. Dennis Waterman flopped a flush draw but missed, and she doubled through at his expense. On the last hand at this level, though, she had 10s again, this time lost 11,700 to an all-in Wagner's Q-Q and was dangerously short-chipped again.
Blinds became 800/1,600 with 200 antes. On the first hand, Paul Nguyen raised and said if he lost with his hand he'd never play another tournament. Lance Allred, who is in advertising, moved in, whereupon Nguyen folded, saying if he lost he wouldn't be able to play a tournament again. On the next hand, George Rechnitzer was all in from the big blind with A-8 and finished 10th when Nguyen, with K-J, flopped a king.
Down to 600, Hayden, a photographer/poker player, doubled through once, but soon after went broke when she called Can Hua's all-in bet. She had A-5 to his A-J and his kicker was the difference. Waterman, winner of the $500 pot-limit hold'em event, never recovered after giving up half his chips to Hayden. On hand 41 he moved in for 6,800 from the button, losing to Allred's pocket treys and finishing eighth. Two hands later, Randy Holland looked at pocket aces and made a modest raise of 5k. Hua moved in for roughly 25k with pocket jacks. The bullets won and six were left.
Holland now had the lead in the 80k range, but Allred grabbed it 15 hands later. Holding As-4s, he flopped the nut flush. He bet 5k, then checked the turn when another trey came. Charlie Shoten moved in for about 26k with pocket 6s and finished sixth when he couldn't make the full house he needed. Shoten has a psychologically oriented poker book called 'No Limit Life' coming out in a month. Its purpose, he said, is to help readers achieve the mind-set of the world's greatest players.
Two hands later, blinds went to 1k/2k with 300 antes. A rough count showed Allred with about 125k, followed by Holland, 85k; Kory Mathewson, 38k; Nguyen, 37k; and Wagner, 20k. On the first hand, Wagner doubled up again for about 20k when his pocket jacks beat Allred's A-J. A few hands later, Allred lost the chip lead when the two big stacks tangled. Allred opened for 13k with pocket jacks and Holland called. When the flop came Q-4-2, Allred bet 8k and Holland moved in. Allred folded. He showed pocket jacks and Holland reciprocated by showing A-Q.
The last hand of the night was the biggest one, and it changed everything around. Wagner moved in for 35k with A-K and Holland called with pocket 10s. When the board came A-K-6-J-5, Wagner was suddenly the chip leader with 78.8k. The chips were counted and a deal was made. Allred was second with 74.8k; Holland was third with 69.7k, Mathewson, an attorney, was fourth with 52.8k; and Nguyen fifth with 30.6k
-Max Shapiro
BIOGRAPHY
The hobbies of 'hobbiest' Ken Wagner are fishing and digging for antique bottles... and playing poker, which he's been doing for 39 years. Last year, at Legends of Poker, he didn't win any events, but made final tables and had seven cash-ins, good enough for winning best all-around. Since then he's played a lot of tournaments and hit a prolonged dry spell until he finished 12th at a Winnin' o' the Green event a few days ago, and then booked tonight's win.
Wagner's favorite games are Omaha hi-lo and no-limit hold'em. Tonight, he said, he was in decent shape as a whole, never in jeopardy until the blinds caught up with him and got him down to well below average when he started the final table. Then he had pocket queens twice, pocket jacks and then A-K, all of them winners. He felt he played very solidly tonight, and stole a couple of pots in addition to the big hands he had.
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