Brian Carrole
|
Engineer Rings Up First Win!
By Max Shapiro
Brian Carrole, an aviation engineer, blueprinted his first major tournament win by
capturing Big Poker Oktober's $300 Championship Hold'em event. Nearly lowest-
chipped at the start of the final table, he pulled in several key pots and held better than
a 3-1 chip lead by the time he got heads-up with Dr. Andy Lin, an engineering vp.
Tournament of Champions founder Chuck Humphrey, who won the lowball event
the night before, finished 11th. He went out in three-way action against George
Marlowe and Bill Fain in a pot that was capped before the flop. Humphrey went
all in for $700 when he flopped a king to his A-K, but Fain, owner of the Gold Hill
hotel in Virginia City, struck gold with a river flush. It took another 40 minutes to
dislodge player number 10. Chiehtai Chao had pocket tens, but Minh Hoang flopped
three kings and then filled.
With $2,000-$4,000 limits, Dan Torla, who works in marketing, departed in two
hands. He started with A-J of spades against poker player John Phan's A-Q of
clubs and got throttled when a queen flopped.
Carrole took his first big pot at the last table against Marlowe, a tournament regular who
designs and manufacturers decorative ceramic masks. Marlowe trusted his last chips to
A-Q, but the masked man got shot full of holes by Carrole's four cowboys. Two hands
later, the engineer played too loose in building and losing a $25,000 pot. When a flop
came 6-K-7, Carrole, with K-8, check-raised Minh Hoang, and four-bet it when Hoang
re-raised. He then paid off when Hoang bet his winning K-Q on the river.
Right after the limits rose $3,000-$6,000, Minh Truong, who banks Asian games at
the Hustler Casino, got his bank broken after Carrole flopped a set of tens. Lin, mean-
while, never having many chips to work with, managed to stay in action after his pocket
kings saved him when he went all in. Soon after, Fain got low on chips after calling a
re-raise by Carrole, and then folding on the flop. Two hands later the hotel man was in
the small blind and called all in for $3,700 when Hoang raised. He had nothing but A-2
of diamonds, and Hoang took him down with A-J after pairing his jack on fifth street.
The key hand of the night came when Phan raised and Carrole, with A-Q, re-raised. Pan,
after much deliberation, called. Hoang, meanwhile, with pocket kings, quietly called too.
On a flop of 4-7-Q, Carrole instantly bet out, Hoang re-raised all in for $200 more and
Phan folded. An ace fell on the river to give Carrole two pair and bust Hoang. Later, Lin
was in the big blind with only $400 left. When Phan bet a flop of A-9-K, he called without
bothering to look at his cards. When he did, he found a paltry 5-2 against Phan's A-6. But
a miracle four and three gave him a straight and the main pot. Soon after that, his A-K of
spades turned into a flush to eliminate Phil Nguyen, a student, who had A-6. On the next
hand, Phan, in the big blind, was all in with K-2 and lost when Carrole, with A-9, flopped
a bullet.
Heads up, Carrole had $106,600 to Lin's $31,500. When a deal failed, they played it out.
Five hands later, Lin was all in with K-J against Carrole's pocket fives, and the engineer
caught another five on the turn to end the tournament.
Biography - Brian Carrole
Brian Carrole, 46, was born in Texas, raised in Gardena and now lives in Lomita. He is
a carreer aviation engineer now working with military jets at Boeing in Long Beach. A
poker player since he was 20, he plays mostly side games. He cashed out in a couple of
Diamond Jim Brady events and has won some small tournaments, but this is his first
major win. He likes all games, but is particularly partial to lowball.
Tonight he started "hot," tripling up in the first 15 hands, than drifted down to $1,500
before starting his upswing. Up until the last table, he got by mostly by picking up a lot
of small pots. "I played a little too aggressively," he said, analyzing his play, "and played
too many hands." But, for tonight at least, his strategy worked because he managed to
suck out on a lot of hands, he added.
|
