Wolfie Sees Tell, Eats Up #23
Anthony 'Big Bad Wolf' Guadagni had a tell on Ken Neeley. Every time Neeley had a big hand, Guadagni later revealed, he would nervously drum his fingers on the table. So, when Neeley raised calmly, without a drum-roll, Wolfie put him on a 'mediocre' hand and moved in for 77,000 with pocket 9s. Neeley then called for about 72,000 with pocket 8s. The Wolfman flopped a set, blew down Neeley's house of chips and took an enormous lead. With four players left, Neeley had nixed a chip-count deal. Now there were three, the deal was made, and with more than half the chips in play, the Wolf got the lion's share.
Action at the final commenced with 400-800 blinds and 100 antes, 17:25 left on the clock. Chip leader, with 70,600, was Stuart Krasney. Lowest, with 4,300, was Joshua Day. On the first hand, Day went all in from the big blind and got lucky when his A-3 turned into a straight. He got decidedly less lucky four hands later when he raised all in with pocket jacks. Anthony West called with pocket 10s and Joshua called it a day when a 10 flopped.
The comeback kid at this point was mortgage broker Roland Weedon. Just before the final table he was down to 700 chips and doubled through a couple of times. In final-table early action, he won consecutive all-ins with A-K, then picked up two more pots, and by hand 13 had soared to 38,000. Then, on hand 24, Christopher Barash raised 3,200 with 10s, and Weedon moved in from the button. With a sigh, Barash called. Weedon had queens, and Barash checked out in ninth place while Weedon shot up to about 50,000.
Ken Neeley then peeled 9,600 from Weedon's stacks when he went all in for the second time, winning this time with king-high. 'My middle name is Dandruff,' Neeley announced, 'I won't go away.' As play continued, Gioi Luong took a couple of pots, once by flopping a set of queens, then by forcing Krasney to fold on a flop of 8-8-8. He now had 70,000, roughly in a tie with Guadagni. On hand 37, Rodeen Talebi tried an all-in move from the cut-off seat with his last 9,000. Guadagni, suspecting a bluff, picked him off with pocket 8s. Seven were left, and Wolfie now had the sole lead.
Two hands later, 'Dandruff' Neeley moved in for the sixth time, for 26,600 with pocket 9s. Krasney called with Ad-9d. Neeley flopped a set, and suddenly the starting chip leader was down to about 11,000.
When blinds went up to 800-1,600 with 200 antes, rough chip counts were: Guadagni, 82,000; Luong, 68,000; Neeley, 60,000; Weedon, 51,000; West, 16,000; Roland Viola, 9,500; and Krasne, 10,000. As play resumed, Viola tripled up when his K-Q stood up. On hand 50, Weedon opened for 4,000. Viola called and Krasne moved in for 2,000 more.with As-4s. Weedon busted him when his pocket 5s held up.
On hand 54, Luong had pocket aces in the small blind. When the flop came A-Q-J, he checked, and let West, with Q-K, bet all in. West's only hope was a straight, but instead, two running 8s filled Luong. 'Best hand I've seen in three hours,' West said, as he cashed out sixth. Now Luong took a slim lead.
Four hands later Viola moved in for about 16,000 with Js-10s. Neeley, who is in commercial real estate, called with A-10. The board came Q-9-2-6-2, and now we were down to four.
A chip count was called for. Luong had 86,500 to 86,000 for Guadagni, while Neeley had 67,000 and Weedon, 55,300. The payouts would be $30,345, $30,220, $25,610, and $22,605, but Neeley said no, and play continued.
Ten hands later Wolfie busted Neeley. The chip count and payout was Guadagni, 151,400 and $43,665; Luong, 88,500 and $31,355; and Weedon, 55,300 and $24,870. Guadagni gave up 3k, and the deal was sealed.
As Neeley was cashing out, he was ragged for not taking the earlier deal and thus losing $16,000. 'I didn't lose $16,000, I won $8,800, he snapped. 'Maybe this was life-changing for you, but not for me. I wanted to win!' That's called perspective.
-Max Shapiro
BIOGRAPHY
Anthony 'Big Bad Wolf' Guadagni has been playing poker for 20 years, and playing seriously for the last four. He said he had been going through some rough times, and gave his girlfriend, Reka, credit for inspiring him, helping him get his head straight and getting him on track. The two of them met at Hollywood Park, and he's been tutoring her in poker ever since. Guadagni has been splitting his poker time between cash games and tournaments, but now is getting more into tournaments. Last year he won best all-arounds at the Hustler Casino's Grand Slam of Poker and at Hollywood Park, and has a third at Commerce.
In cash games, Guadagni likes to play $30-$60 Omaha hi-lo. Tonight he came to the final table in second position and said he had never been in trouble earlier.
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