Howard Walker has Quick Win as
Event 10 Ends in Four-Way Deal
This was by far the fastest final table and the shortest tournament to date. The final table played less than an hour when event 10 of Grand Slam of Poker, $100 no-limit, ended in a four-way chip-count deal just before midnight.
Pro player Ken Tierney came to the final table with a chip lead of 91,500 and was in front all the way until the final hand when Howard Walker busted the last player and went in front. The deal was made and Walker took the title and trophy and an official $17,150 for first place.
Walker has been playing mainly online poker for the past two years after a hiatus from the game for several years. He has a win at the Normandy's Masters of Poker and cashed out at the Grand Slam last year. After this victory, he plans to play more live tournaments.
Tierney had been working in online ad sales for temporary staffers until he took up poker a year and a half ago. He plays mostly $300 to $500 no-limit live games. His big hand came with three tables left when he took a pot of about 30,000 chips when the big blind moved in and he looked at pocket kings.
This tournament was also noteworthy in that it featured an appearance by Dirty Wally, the semi-fictional cardroom character and star of this writer's humor column in Card Player magazine, and winner of 175 tournaments nobody ever heard of. Wally, who is actually 85 years old and appears to still be alive, stayed alive in this tournament after going all in three consecutive times at the third table and managed to make the final table...barely.
Also with him was Nick Geber, co-host with Wally of a satellite radio show, Bluff Poker Radio, which is owned by Bluff magazine. Geber just missed the final table, finishing 11th.
Wally didn't want to keep his friend waiting, so he busted out on the first hand after final-table action began with blinds of 1,500-3,000 with 500 antes and 13:48 left on the clock. After Tierney raised 9,000 with pocket jacks, Wally moved in for 16,000 with Ac-Kc, losing when he couldn't help.'Well, if you can't play that hand, what can you play?' he shrugged. Wally took home $540 for finishing 10th.
Players continued to get knocked out fast, and within 30 minutes, half the field was gone.
Five hands after Wally said goodbye, Neo Hoang, a computer programmer, was short-chipped on the button and threw in his last chips in with J-9. Charles Johnson called with K-Q. The board came 10-5-4-2-8, and two were gone. Ninth paid $675.
Blinds were now 2,000-4,000. Three hands after Hoang went broke, Daein Kang joined him at the payout window. He moved in from the small blind and was called by Walker.'I've got nothing,' Kang admitted, turning up Q-5. Walker had A-K, and a king on the river sealed Kang's fate as he cashed out in eighth place, which was worth $1,025.
Another two hands went by, and another player dropped out. This time it was Charles Johnson, a car salesman, who was all in with Kc-9c against Tierney's pocket treys. Tierney made a full house when the flop came 3-10-10, and Johnson called it an evening as he finished seventh, picking up $1,250.
Moving right along, we lost our next player on the very next hand. Dani Pourat, a woman's clothing designer, went broke with Q-9 against Tierney's K-3 when the board showed J-7-3-J-A. Sixth place was worth $1,575.
Incredibly, only 12 hands had gone by, and half the table had been eliminated.
Things now slowed to a relative crawl, because it took another 15 hands to knock out the next player, who would also be the last.
Jerome Akmal, who made 10 final tables one year, is a ticket broker who went broker on hand 27. Under the gun, he moved in for 32,000 holding A-7 offsuit.'You always raise my big blind,' Tierney complained.
He folded after Walker, who had the button, called with A-Q offsuit. A flop of 7-8-6 gave Akmal the lead, but then a queen turned and Akmal was turned loose in fifth place, taking home $1,800..
Blinds now went to 3,000-6,000 with 1,000 antes, but no hands were played. Instead a deal was suggested and the chips were counted down.
The final pot of 72,500 had moved Walker past Tierney into the lead with 155,000. Tierney had 130,500 chips and cashed second for an official $8,575. Next was Larry Vance, a retiree, who had 90,500 chips worth an official $4,275. Tony Nguyen had 89,000, and fourth paid $2,700. —Max Shapiro |
