Doc Wins Hi-Lo in 1st Try
Playing 7-stud hi-lo for the first time in a casino, Paul Liu, a sports medicine
surgeon, somehow captured tonight's $500 event after a final two-way deal. Mainly
a home game player who "hates" split games, he was so unsure of ground
rules that at one point he had to ask if a wheel counted for low.
Final-table play started with $100 antes, a $200 low-card bring in and $800-$1,600
limits, 27:52 remaining, and Liu holding a slight chip lead. Margot Friis made
it despite having 200 chips blinded off when a late limo pick-up made her 2-1/2
hours late.
Low-chipped CPA Mallory Smith busted on hand three. He started with (A-6)A to
Houston pro Vinny Vinh's (4-6)4. On fifth street, Vinh caught a third 4 and
made 4s full while Smith made useless trip aces on the river.
Four hands later, Vinh put another beat on a player. Friis, with a set of 6s
and drawing to a 6, bet all the way. She missed the river but bet. Vinh raised
to put her in and turned up a flush and 8-low.
Frank Mariani Jr., whose father won the earlier stud hi-lo event, now took
a very bad beat. Jim Douglas started with (2-7)A, caught a 7 on fourth street
and put Mariani all in, only to see junior turn up a set of treys. But then
Douglas, a dentist, made aces-full and extracted Mariani from the tournament.
Limits went to $1,500-$3,000, with $200 antes and a $400 bring-in. and Liu now
leading with $39,500. Vinh took two beats, first missing a low while realtor
George Shahrezay made aces-up, then losing to Douglas' pair of 8s. He dropped
to $1,200, but took three pots in a row to climb back to $15,000.
As play continued, Shahrezay picked up some pots, passed Liu and edged into
the lead.. Limits now went to $2,000-$4,000 with $500 antes and $300 bring-in.
Liu then let the f-word slip and gave up $2,800 in antes and bring-ins while
serving his time.
Controversy erupted on hand 64. Vinh, all in again, got away with aces-up, but
then complained that Shahrezay, freerolling with a made 7 and a chance to scoop,
hadn't bet against Douglas. Shahrezay pointed out that he had no high and didn't
want to force Douglas to fold in case he could knock out Vinh.
On hand 68, Vinh was all in again and made trip queens on the river. Liu had
(A-7)3-4-3-2. "I need a 5," he said. He got it, and his wheel left
Vinh in fifth place while Liu now had about $70,000.
Ten hands later Hank Castillo, an ex-cop now in auto sales, was all in. He and
Shahrezay both started with 2-3-4. Castillo, drawing to a 6-straight, missed
and made two 6s. Shahrezy, with 2-3-4-5, caught an ace, and for the second time
we had a bike at the Bike on the river as Castillo finished fourth.
After limits went to $3,000-$6,000, a deal for most of the money was made. Liu
led with 59k while Shahrezy had 37k and Douglas, down to 9.5 k a few hands earlier,
had recovered to 32k. As play continued, Shahrezy folded a couple of hands mid-way
through and was down to $5,000.He then went out when he could only make two
10s against Douglas' aces.
Heads-up play continued for 25 hands, with Douglas taking the lead with a wheel
against Liu's trip 8s. Finally, after Douglas folded a hand on fifth street,
Liu was in front again and a final deal was made. -Max Shapiro
BIOGRAPHY
Paul Liu, whose medical specialty is sports medicine and spinal surgery, says
his passion is poker, which he started playing 25 years ago when he was 17.
He plays mostly in "kitchen table" home games where he is forced to
play a lot of split games, which he hates, preferring one-winner games. No-limit
hold'em is what he likes best. He came here tonight to play in no-limit satellites,
and after losing three of them, decided to try his hand at hi-lo, which he had
never played before in a casino.
In side action, he plays limit hold'em, but spends a lot more playing time in
weekly tournaments. He's only played one prior major tournament, in a WPT event
last year which he got into via a satellite. Tonight, he said he increased his
chip count pretty much all through the tournament. His strategy centered around
playing only premium hands, becoming aggressive as he got more comfortable with
the game. |
