Marty Appel
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Appel Wins in 'Steady Climb!'
By Max Shapiro
Describing his victory as an "uneventful, steady climb," investor Marty Appel rode
the up escalator to victory in event number 11 of Big Poker Oktober, stud hi-lo. The
only truly explosive hand at the final table had stunning four-way action with three
players all in during a hand that Appel pulled out with a full house on the river for a
share of the pot. His final opponent was Derek Bukowski, a poker player and dealer
at the Bicycle Casino who won an Omaha event in the Mini World Series tournament
here. When the two were even in chips, they chopped the money and played for the
trophy with accelerated, five-minute rounds.
Third-place finisher Raymond "Iceberg" Sitra, who has his own TV production company
and is a contributing editor at Poker Digest magazine, had a frustrating evening. Coming
to the final table with the second chip lead behind Appel (the two of them had more than
half of the chips), Iceberg melted down as he repeatedly started with a big pair against
low cards, only to get outdrawn on the high side.
Chuck Barker, a CPA doing medical billing, finished ninth. He raised all in with
split queens and lost to Carlito Maldanado's flush.
At the final table, Patrick Schulze, who works swap meets for a living, got low on
chips paying out antes. Finally, on the 12th hand, he raised with a door card ace and
and went all in on the next card. Tony Brenner, who won a Legends 7-stud event this
year, then followed him all in chasing a low. He missed, Schulze ended up with a
completely busted hand, and Sitra, turning up three down card spades for a flush,
scooped and busted both of them. Iceberg then disposed of Lampaya by outrunning
his pocket queens when he snagged the case king on the river to make two pair.
After limits were raised to $2,000-$4,00, with $300 antes and a $500 bring-in, the
stage was set for the four-way, big hand of the night. Julio Maldonado, a box-maker
originally from Mexico, called all in on fifth street with pocket queens and four
diamonds. Darrell Woods, winner of the earlier $100 stud hi-lo event, next put all
his chips in on sixth street with a low draw, and Appel followed him all in with two
small pair. Sitra, meanwhile, was in good shape with the most chips and three jacks.
With three players all in, the cards were dealt out. Maldonado missed his flush and
was carried out in a box. Woods made an eight low for part of the pot, Appel filled
with a river three for the high end, and all Sitra got was frustration.
Shortly after, Woods, all in with split aces, lost to Appel's two pair. When limits
went to $3,000-$6,000, Appel had about $42,000 to around $18,000 for Bukowski
and $12,000 for Sitra. After losing a couple more pots with the best starting hand,
Sitra finally put in his last $2,100 with an ace up and 9-7 down. Appel had split
kings to freeze Iceberg, with just ace-high, out of the tournament.
Heads-up, Appel had about twice as many chips as his Polish-born opponent. They
traded chips for a while until Derek started to catch up when he scooped a pot with
three deuces. Finally, after making trip nines (which he checked on the end without
getting Marty to bite), they were roughly even and decided to chop and play for the
title. With limits quickly escalated to $5,000-$10,000, Appel put out the lights by
making jacks-up against Bukowski's two tens
Biography - Marty Appel
Marty Appel, 45, is originally from Detroit and now in Chino Hills, California. He
won several Diamond Jim Brady tournaments 10 years ago in hold'em and stud, then
took a long hiatus from tournament poker while he concentrated on his business,
building up and selling Sara Lee bakery distributorship routes. Selling out and getting
into real estate and securities investments two years ago, he now had the time to get
back to tournaments. Though he's made lots of final tables, this is his first
tournament win since returning to action.
"I was connecting tonight," he said. "If I needed a card on fifth or sixth street, I got it.
No fluctations, no rushes, just a real steady climb at every level. It was unglamorous,
but I could afford to be patient." Appel says he plays all games, but he prefers
split games, stud and Omaha, along with no-limit hold'em.
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