CAR MANAGER WINS POT-LIMIT
WITH RIVER INSIDE STRAIGHT
On the final deal of the 20th event of 2006 LAPC, a river trey gave poker pro Anthony Reategui kings and treys. Much to his astonishment, it also gave James Carroll an inside straight. And that ended the $1,500 pot-limit event, giving Carroll, sales manager for a Cadillac dealership in West Covina, first place, $77,986, and the coveted Remington trophy.
He got there despite a blunder that landed him a 20-minute penalty for exposing his cards when there were three players left.
Carroll, an enthusiastic tournament player who plans to play more side games now, was making his first cash since last year. In 2005, Carroll won the LAPC 7-stud event, and also has a win in no-limit at the Bike's Big Poker Oktober. Reategui, from Chandler, Arizona, has a World Series bracelet in no-limit hold'em shootout in 2005.
It took a couple of hours to lose the last two players before getting to the final table. With fewer than 100 entrants, this would be a play-through event, and it didn't end until 4 a.m.
When the final table assembled, blinds were 600-1,200, which permitted an initial raiser to open for anything between 2,400 and 4,200. There was 44:47 left on the clock. Reategui was in front with a sizeable chip lead of 99,300.
On the first hand, Safinrdin Ahmad, a restaurant owner with several final tables, moved in with pocket 9s and was destroyed by pocket kings held by Jose Torres, a businessman/player who's won four tournaments in the last two months.
With Safinrdin gone, everybody was in the money.
Joe Brandenburg, a retired mathematician/engineer with multiple tournament wins, finished ninth. Holding A-4, he bet into a 9-4-3 flop, was raised by Reategui and re-raised all in. Reategui had pocket 10s, and Brandenburg couldn't improve.
Blinds moved up to 800-1,600, allowing first raises from 3,200 to 5,600. On the first hand, Dan Pugliese, who is in TV production and has 10 final tables, was in the big blind with 5-3 while Torres was on the button with pocket 4s. A flop of A-4-2 gave Torres a set of 4s and Pugliese a wheel. Pugliese check-raised and Torres put him in. When the cards were turned up, Torres called for a full-house pair. He didn't get it, but settled for a fourth four on the turn, and then had to sweat out Pugliese's straight flush draw.
On hand 30, Lance Tahata, a poker prop at the Hustler, went up against Ted Leva, a Houston consultant with a bracelet in pot-limit hold'em. It was the classic match-up, queens for Tahata, A-K for Leva. Tahata re-raised all in pre-flop, then went broke when an ace turned.
Three hands later, Mike Carson was all in for 4,800 with pocket 9s to Leva's pocket 10s.The bigger pair prevailed, and Carson, a pro with a WSOP bracelet in pot-limit hold'em, was out in sixth place.
Next out was Scott Bohlman, another pro with a third place at the Bellagio's $5,000 Five-Diamond event. He had pocket jacks. Reategui had Kc-10c. Two clubs flopped, and an Ac then gave Reategui a nut flush.
On hand 53, Torres raised 10,000 pre-flop with J-8, and was called by Reategui, who had pocket 7s. A flop of 9-8-6 gave Torres the lead with two 8s, but also gave Reategui an open-end straight draw. Torres bet 20,000, Reategui raised 20,000, and Torres moved in. A harmless trey turned, but then a 5 on the river gave Reategui his straight, and Torres cashed in fourth.
The next level brought blinds of 1,000-2,000, which let players raise between 4,000 and 7,000. At this point, Reategui had the chip lead with 134,000. Carroll was close behind with 124,000, and Leva had 77,500. Ten hands into the new level, Leva bet the pot before the flop. Carroll called and turned up his cards, Ad-9d, thinking that Leva had gone all in. The flop was A-Q-10. Carroll bet his exposed paired ace and Leva folded. Carroll won the pot, but inadvertently or not, he had exposed his hand, which carried a mandatory 20-minute penalty. He had to sit out six full and one partial round, which cost him 19,000 chips.
Just before he returned to action, the game got heads-up. With a flop of 8c-7d-4c, Leva bet out with A-10. Reategui had 9c-3c, raised the pot, and Leva went all in. A 3c on the turn gave Reategui a flush, and then a 6c came on the river for good measure.
A brief time was still left on the penalty clock, but Reategui, in a sporting gesture, brushed it aside. A few hands later, Reategui raised when three hearts flopped, but folded when a fourth heart turned as Carroll advanced to a close tie in chips.
Hand 95 was the final one. With K-3, Reategui raised pre-flop and Carroll re-raised With a board of K-8-5-4, Carroll bet the pot. When a river trey gave him two pair, Reategui bet all in. Carroll turned up A-2 for an unexpected straight, and this tournament was over. -Max Shapiro
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