Brit Destroys Charity Event
England's Tony O'Hagan, a part-time player, was the clear winner of tonight's Mariani-Buss $3,000 no-limit hold'em charity event. He started the final table with a big lead and then went on a rush mid-way through. Knocking out the final three players, he had more than 70 percent of the chips when the event ended in a four-way deal.
In this charity tournament, 10 percent of the $220,000 prize pool went to the Lakers Youth Foundation, leaving a net of $199,800. Neither of the Lakers owners made the money, though Jerry Buss made the second table and Frank Mariani almost made the third.
The final table started at 3 a.m. With 445,000 chips in play, blinds of only $400-$800 and hour rounds, it looked like a long night ahead. After seven minutes of very cautious play, blinds went to $600-$1,200 with $200 antes. On hand eight, Yosh Nakano, high-limit host at the Bike and ambassador for PokerBlue, a new online poker site, opened for $3,000 with A-K. James English, a retired real estate broker, called with Jd-4d and flopped a flush. Nakano, with one diamond, moved in for about $12,000. He didn't connect, finished 10th, and the remaining nine were now officially in the money.
One of the players, Bernard "Beeno" Ko, has had some small tournament cashes, but the Hendon Mob database gives him far more credit because another player with the same name has won several events, and the two players have gotten their stats combined. "I've got to build my own reputation," said the real estate investor. Starting well below average in chips, he only played one hand in the first couple of hours, and four all told, and somehow managed to finish fourth
On hand 17, the flop showed Jc-9s-2s. Daniel Shak (not Shaq, just the Lakers owners played tonight), had Qs-10s, giving him draws to an open-end straight and a flush. He bet $3,000, Yakov Hirsch, a poker player from Brooklyn, raised and Shak moved in. He missed and lost to Hirsch's A-J. Hirsch doubled through to about $80,000 while Shak was now short-chipped. On the next hand, Shak re-raised all in with pocket 7s. Kevin Lazzaro had A-10, an ace flopped, and the commodities trader, who had three WSOP cashes this year, including a final in Omaha/8, finished ninth.
A few hands later, after English, who has three Bellagio tournament wins, won a three-way pot with a straight, he moved into a slight lead with about $130,000. On hand 35, Robert "Chip Burner" Turner, in late position, raised to $9,000 with A-7. Seeing he had only $2,500 left, veteran pro Randall Skaggs, holding pocket 7s, put the Bike’s executive host in and then out when the board changed nothing.
Hand 44 saw a battle of the stacks. O'Hagan raised pre-flop to $11,000. On a flop of 8-8-7, English bet $20,000. O’Hagan raised $40,000 more. English made a good laydown with pocket queens because O'Hagan showed pocket aces. He now had the lead back with more than $150,000.
On hand 45, Steve Dunning, who owns a car dealership in Alaska, doubled through at the expense of Kevin Lazarro, an Ohio electrician, when he filled with pocket 8s. A few hands later, a very short-chipped Lazarro was all in with Q-J, and O'Hagan beat him easily with pocket jacks. Continuing his assault, O'Hagan knocked out Hirsch, who finished 57th in this year's WSOP main event. On hand 55, O'Hagan, with pocket kings, raised $20,000. Hirsch had pocket queens, moved in for $70,000 and couldn't improve. O’Hagan now had something like $260,000. Ko, meanwhile, had hardly played anything. "I'm letting Tony do all the work," he said.
Tony then did some "work" on Dunning, who has two WSOP final tables. He raised $20,000 with Ac-Qc and Dunning moved in with pocket 8s, the same hand with which he crippled Lazzaro. But they didn't work this time because a board of K-J-9-10 gave O'Hagan a straight and almost more chips than he could see over.
At the break, the count was: O'Hagan, $322,000; English, $72,100; Skaggs, $41,500; and Ko, $10,400. It was approaching 6 a.m., and the weary players, after considerable discussion, agreed on a tournament-ending deal. - Max Shapiro .
BIOGRAPHY
Tony O'Hagan was born in Scotland, raised in Canada and now lives in England. He's played poker for eight years, but it only occupies a marginal amount of his time. He's won one previous tournament, a small one at the Taj's U.S. Poker Championship. Most of his poker time is devoted to no-limit cash games for various stakes in Vegas and in California. Right now he's ready to market a "simplified form of poker" casino game he invented, and doesn't think he'll have much if any time for poker after that.
Tonight, O'Hagan didn't play many hands, and didn't have to, because he kept getting enough premium hands so that he could be very selective. He estimates that he may have been dealt pocket aces eight times. In conclusion, O'Hagan said he likes playing at the Bicycle Casino because it's been very lucky for him.
CHIP POSITION FINAL TABLE
Kevin Lazzaro
$22,500
James English
$80,000
Randall Skaggs
$16,000
Tony O'Hagan
$115,200
Daniel Shak
$48,500
Fernando Ko
$28,100
Steve Dunning
$32,80
Yosh Nakano
$11,200
Robert Turner
$38,800
Yakov Hirsch
$53,200
Chips raced and/or blinded off: +1,975
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