Reategui Destroys Event 26
Arizona pro Anthony Reategui was determined not to 'blow it' again. Two days ago he had a 2-1 chip lead heads-up with Nam Le in a $300 no-limit event, but lost. Tonight was different. He was a one-man wrecking crew as he started with a big lead, kept pounding away relentlessly, repeatedly outdrew his opponents, and roared to a convincing win.
Blinds were $800-$1,600 with $200 antes when the final table started with 7:22 left. There was a menagerie of animals at the table. Mickey 'Mouse' Mills had his usual Mickey Mouse charm, which was threatened by a metal coyote owned by Joe Brandenburg, and felines on coins from the Isle of Man brought in by Dan Alspach.
The first 13 hands saw only one flop. On hand 11, with blinds now at $1,000-$2,000, it came K-7-3. Reategui moved in with 7-4. Minh 'Poker Host' Nguyen made a good call with pocket 8s and was rewarded with a bad beat when Reategui turned a third seven as Nguyen finished 10th. Eights continued to be the unlucky hand when Mimi Tran, all in with Jd-10d, made two pair to survive against Brandenburg's 8-8.
Trace Kingery, a retired inventory controller, finished ninth soon after. He moved in with Kh-5h. Tran called with Qd-Jd and flopped a queen.
Two hands later, poker player Hank Caslin pushed in $25,000 with A-Q. Reategui called with pocket 9s. They held up and we were down to seven.
At the break, Reategui, who had aggressively been pushing his opponents around with regular raises, had pulled into a big lead with $145,000, while at the low end, Mickey Mouse was squeaking by with $18,000. The Mouse, an attorney owning a real estate investment trust, has two WSOP final tables among his many accomplishments.
Blinds moved to $1,500-$3,000. On the second hand, Tony Nguyen, all in for $11,000, had the lead with Q-10 on a flop of K-10-7. Alspach had a double belly-buster draw with
J-9, and hit it when an 8 turned.
After two all-in survivals, to the usual chant of M-I-C-K-E-Y, M-O-U-S-E, the Mouse got trapped on hand 37. After Reategui opened with a raise, Mickey, thinking that Reategui was stealing, moved in with Ac-8c. Reategui had pocket 9s and flopped a set to claim his third victim and increase his lead to nearly $200,000. Mickey had hoped to double through, 'hide in a hole,' and last to third place, which would give him the points lead and a $5,000 championship seat.
Tran, a high-stakes side game player, was left with $2,000 after she moved in for $-5. Alspach called with Ah-2h, then moved in when a flop of 7h-6c-3h gave him a nut flush draw. Reategui had a paired seven, and then made a straight when an 8-4 came with no hearts.
It wasn't much of a final match-up. Daniel Alaei, a pro with wins at Legends and Commerce and a $55,000 cash-out at this year's WSOP championship, had $28,000 and Reategui had 10 times as much. On the first hand Alaei was all in with K-10. Reategui had 9-8 and caught two more 8s to win going away.
-Max Shapiro
BIOGRAPHY
Anthony Reategui describes himself as one of the laziest pros in the business, playing just often enough to support his life style. He pretty much sticks to tournaments, live and online. He has a bracelet in a World Series shootout event and a number of small wins in Arizona. His normal style of play is aggressive, and even more so tonight with all his chips.
Tonight he needed to make seven rebuys, but his investment obviously paid off. He was down to $1,000 before the break, then doubled up and moved up from there. He picked up a lot of chips when it was down to three tables, because all the players wanted to make the money and were reluctant to get involved. He gave some credit to the lucky black shirt he was wearing, the same one he had on when he won the World Series event. 44,000 with Ad-2d and lost to Alspach's Ac-Qc. She busted on the next hand with Q-J when Alspach, with Q-7, turned a 7.
Alspach, a retired electronics exec, took a big hit on hand 55 when Reategui, with Qh-6h, turned a flush. Next, Brandenburg, a retired mathematician/engineer, finished fifth. He moved in for $12,500 with A-9. Alspach called with K-J and flopped a king.
Two hands later it got heads-up. Anthony, using his chips as a battering ram, opened for $12,000 with just 7
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