Deck Runs Hot for Bracelet Holder
J.J. Chun in Limit Hold'em Victory
'I'm hot, hot, hot,' said J.J. Chun, late in final table action. He was. Down to 12,000 with three players left, he began catching cards like mad, went on a rush and roared to victory in the 10th event of Cal State 2005, $1,000 limit hold'em.
Chun won a bracelet in lowball in 1994 along with some victories back at the Bike's Diamond Jim Brady, left poker for the therapeutic equipment business, and recently returned to the game. Tonight his final opponent was another bracelet winner, Todd Witteles.
This was the second straight under-100 entrants, one-day events. The final table started at 11 p.m. with 10 players, though only nine would be in the money. With 99,000 chips in play and blinds starting at only 200-400 with 400-800 limits, it looked like a long night ahead, and it did take nearly five hours.
There were 46 minutes left on the clock when play started. Joe Baron, an inventor, had the chip lead with 18,200. Low man was Fred Adli with 2,500, but he got breathing room on hand three when he tripled up with pocket aces.
This was hands-down the talkingest table to date, with everyone chattering away and frequently oohing and aahing over hands as they came down.
When blinds went to 300-600, Baron was still the leader with 18,000. A couple of hands into the new level, Ted Covington, a salesman, was down to one 500 chip after folding on all-spade flop. He put it in the next hand with pocket aces. Marwan Abdelal cracked them. He had Qh-9h, flopped one queen and hit another on the turn, and after 28 hands, everyone was in the money.
Two hands later, a big pot came down in multi-way action. Todd 'Dan Druff' Witteles, with pocket 9s, flopped a full house when 10-10-9 came. Then a third 10 hit the river. 'I got screwed,' he said. No, he didn't. Nobody had a pocket pair, or the fourth 10, and Witteles now had the lead with about 25,000. Adli, meanwhile, had Ac-7c, and got short-chipped chasing a flush.
Witteles, a Vegas pro, won a limit hold'em event at the World Series and finished third in another this year. He is a high-limit cash game player, and those were his first major tournaments. Card Player named him the WSOP player of the year.
A few hands later, Adli, this time with 8d-6d, again chased and missed a flush and got knocked out by Jerry Young, who had K-Q and caught a king on the flop. Ninth paid $1,285.
Moshe Yona, a contractor, was the next player to leave. Short-chipped, he was all in with A-10 in three-way action. Chun had K-3, flopped a trey, and the small pair held up. Yona got $1,600 for eighth.
After limits went up again to 800-1,600, with 400-800 blinds, Abdelal suffered a costly bad beat. A flop of Q-10-9 gave him a straight. But then two running 9s came. He had to fold when Kevin 'The Snake' Blakey bet out, though it was Baron who won, with a K-Q full.
Four hands later, Abdelal was all in from the small blind with Qh-8h. Witteles had Q-J. A board of K-7-A-10-K gave him a straight, and Abdelal, a pharmacist, finished seventh, which was worth $2,240.
Two hands later we lost another player. Down to 1,200, also in the small blind, Farokh Tabrizian committed with Ac-6c. He didn't make anything when the board came Js-10s-3c-2s-7s, and Blakey, hitting a jack with Q-J, left Tabrizian in sixth place. His payday was $2,880.
The pot of the night came on hand 77. On a flop of Kc-10d-4d, Witteles bet, Blakey, who won the no-limit event the night before, raised with K-10, Witteles called and Jerry Young re-raised. Blakey called and so did Witteles, saying, 'you roped me in.' A Jh flopped. Blakey bet. 'You roped me in,' Witteles said again. 'Might as well raise.' Witteles bet out with a 4s on the turn. Witteles turned up A-Q for a straight, beating Young's A-K as he roped in the pot and now had about 65,000, two-thirds of all the chips in play.
The Snake was now down to the cloth, and two hands later he raised all in with As-10s. Chun, in the big blind, called blind and was almost ashamed to turn up J-4. It did the trick, though, because a flop of 4-3-2 gave him a winner, and the Snake crawled off in fifth place for $3,520, but also taking with him the points lead.
On hand 87, Young, with K-10, put in his last chips when the board showed Q-7-4-2. Witteles had A-J, the ace-high held up, and we were now down to three players as Young, a real estate investor, collected $4,480 for fourth.
An approximate count now showed Witteles leading with about 60,000 to 30,000 for Baron and 12,000 for Chun.
Blinds now went to $500-$1,000, with $1,000-$2,000 limits. Chun, talking non-stop, began to come alive. He beat Witteles in a couple of pots, the last time making two pair with J-8, and the chip count now was close to even among the three players. Baron, slightly ahead, suggested a deal, but Witteles nixed it. 'If I go down, I go down,' he said.
As play continued, Chun kept picking up chips. 'I'm getting showered with pairs and pictures,' he said. At the end of the level, he had taken the lead with 44,000 to 30,000 for Witteles and 25,000 for Baron.
Blinds became $500-$1,500. Chun continued to win. Baron went out on hand 136. Holding A-J, he made top pair on a flop of J-10-2 and bet. Wittles had a straight draw with Q-9, raised to put Baron all in, and instead won when a queen turned. Baron got $7,680 for third.
Chun now had close to a 2-1 lead in a heads-up match between the two bracelet holders that lasted 29 hands. On hand 150, Witteles was down to 11,000 when he had 9-8, flopped a straight, then lost to Chun's flush when four diamonds hit the board.
On the last hand, he finished Witteles off when he had J-6 to A-J and flopped a 6. 'Thank you, poker gods,' he said.
Max Shapiro
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