Marathon Man
Darrell 'Gigabet' Dicken Wins Grueling 13-Hour
Final Table in WSOP Circuit Championship at Harrah's Rincon
Poker tournaments are as much a test of mental and physical endurance as playing as skill. Sure, the best players typically have an edge. But after hours and hours of forgettable hands and mundane decisions, everything can become a big blur.
In a sense, time is an adversary of experience, since younger players enjoy certain advantages. This point was demonstrated in the seventh World Series of Poker Circuit championship event of the 2005-06 season, held at the Harrah's Casino-Resort near San Diego. The winner, 28-year-old Darrell 'Gigabet' Dicken quite simply outlasted the competition, which included some very battle-seasoned foes. In fact, the two heads-up finalists happened to be the two youngest players at the final table. Clocking in at over 13 hours, this was no accident.
This was the second consecutive year that Harrah's Rincon hosted a WSOP Circuit event. Harrah's Rincon is located on the Rincon Tribal Nation Reservation, nestled high in the mountains about 60 miles northeast of San Diego. Last year's champion, Chris ‘Jesus' Ferguson was conspicuously absent from the starting field of 109 players, opting instead to play in the NBC 'Heads-Up Challenge' held simultaneously at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. Indeed, tournament poker is now so popular that some major events unavoidably overlap.
Nevertheless, the championship event generated a million-dollar prize pool -- $1,035,500 to be exact. It took 22 hours to eliminate the first 100 players, leaving the final nine in the money. They returned for the final table which was held inside Rincon's Pavilion Ballroom. No one could have possibly predicted the marathon finale that would take place -- as day phased into night, which became the next morning. When play commenced on the third and final day of play, savvy tournament veteran Kathy Liebert had a slight chip lead over her closest two competitors - Adam Kagin and Darrell Dicksen. In what could only be characterized as an atypical event for the final table, it didn't take long for the first player to be eliminated:
9th Place - Just three hands into play, Tom McCormick, a.k.a. 'The Shamrock Kid,' moved all-in with his last 18,000 in chips with 6-6. Desperately short stacked, he hoped to double-up and jump into contention. But McCormick might as well have been standing on the railroad tracks staring up at a roaring freight train. His sixes were steamrolled by Gary Lent's K-K. When two kings flopped, good for quad-kings, McCormick stood up and walked away. McCormick, who has 19 cashes and 10 final tables in his illustrious poker career, lasted just eight minutes at the final table. But he did manage to collect $31,065.
8th Place - Yosh Nakano, a longtime professional poker player, was the next player to exit. He took a bad beat when he was all-in pre-flop with K-K against Darrell Dicken's 10-10. When a 10 flopped, Nakano went from big favorite to big underdog. Nakano failed to catch one of two remaining kings in the deck and went out in eighth place. Nakano, a high-limit casino host at the Bicycle Club in Bell Gardens, CA, earned $41,420 in prize money.
7th Place - Then, the unexpected happened. Proving that poker tournaments are impossible to predict, widely-respected tournament pro Andy Bloch went from second in chips to the rail within a devastating 30-minute span. He lost about half of his stack to Gary Lent when he folded to an all-in river bet by Lent (the hands were not shown). Then, about ten hands later, Bloch tried to steal the blinds with an all-in raise with 4-4. Bloch's nemesis, Lent woke up in the big blind with A-A. Wham! Bloch was hammered when an ace fell on the turn, ending any hope of a miracle. Lent, who was low on chips from the start, rocketed up close to the chip lead. Meanwhile, Bloch walked off the gang plank and drowned in 7th place, receiving for a $51,775 consolation prize.
With six players left, Darrell Dicken had the chip lead with about 370,000 to Lent's 300,000. Liebert, who had played relatively few hands up to that point, was in third place with 180,000. The remaining three players were all under 100,000 in chips.
6th Place - The next key hand brought the crowd to its feet. Adam Kagin was low on chips and moved all-in with A-9. Kathy Liebert was delighted to call the raise holding K-K. Kagin needed lots of help and caught a few extra outs when a 9 flopped. The board showed 9-6-5. Then, Kagin became a big favorite when an ace rained down on the turn, good for two pair. Liebert was drawing to just two outs. There were more than a few gasps of disbelief and screams of joy when a king fell on the river, giving Liebert trip-kings. All Kagin could do was smile and extend a congratulatory handshake to the smiling Liebert, who had reversed the tables one final time. Adam Kagin, making his third-final table appearance in his relatively short poker career, picked up $62,130 for 6th place.
5th Place - If Jim Pechac was a cat, he used up half of his lives at this final table. Pechac, was short on chips from the start. He arrived with only 18,000 - outchipped 13-1 by the big stack when play began. But Pechac survived four all-ins before finally succumbing to a mixed blessing - a 5th-place finish. On his final hand, Pechac made a very tough all-in call holding A-9 after the flop came Q-9-6 (two hearts). He also had a flush draw (two hearts), to go along with second pair. Kathy Liebert, holding Q-J, had top pair. Two black blanks fell on the turn and river, eliminating Pechac who had become a crowd favorite as the underdog. Jim Pechac, who almost did not play in this event due to being plagued by back problems a few days earlier, was pleased with his decision to enter this tournament. He received $72,485 in prize money.
4th Place - Then, the long wait began. It took seven hours for the next player to go out. Darrell Dicken seemed to be well in command until he lost 100,000 from his stack when Gary Lent made a straight and seized the chip lead. The four remaining players traded off blinds and antes for what seemed like an eternity. Then, WeiKai Chang was struck by a bolt of lightning. Low on chips for the first eight hours of play, Chang moved from the shortest stack up to near the chip lead when he was dealt 6-6 and won a 260,000 pot. Chang moved all-in with the pair and was involved in three-way action against Liebert's A-Q and Lent's K-J. Any face card would doom Chang to a fourth-place finish. Incredibly, the pocket sixes survived five scary board cards and Chang went from pretender to contender.
Chang's rise in chips changed everything. Forced to play more hands rather than wait for the lowest player's elimination, the four finalists got more aggressive. But the changes in strategy failed to remove anyone from play.
On the next decisive hand, Kathy Liebert re-raised all-in pre-flop with A-J suited and was called instantly by Darrell Dicken with 10-10. The flop came Q-Q-2 and it looked like Liebert might go out. But she spiked a jack on the turn (good for a higher pair), which catapulted her into the chip lead with nearly 400,000. Meanwhile, Dicken fell to the shortest stack.
Then, Dicken extracted his revenge. He was all-in with A-Q against Liebert's A-K. An ace flopped and both players were committed. Dicken caught a queen and Dicken was back to about 300,000 in chips. The merry-go-round continued to spin.
Eleven hours into the finale, and well past midnight, fourth-place was finally settled when Gary Lent moved all-in with A-K and was called by Darrell Dicken holding 4-4. With 400,000 in the pot and the chip lead at stake, Lent hoped to catch a pair. He missed. That eliminated Lent, who collected $82,840. 'I could have waited around longer and tried to move up (into a higher money finish), but I don't play for second,' Lent said afterward. 'I play to win.' Considering Lent's perilously low chip stack at the start, he could claim a moral victory - having survived 11 hours of play.
3rd Place - That big hand gave Dicken a decisive chip lead. With blinds escalating, WeiKai Chang moved all-in with K-7, which was called by both Dicken (J-10) and Liebert (K-J). The final board showed 7-5-2-2-Q, which tripled up Chang. But Liebert was eliminated and had to settle for third place. She collected $113,905. 'I was proud of the way I played tonight,' Liebert said afterward. Who could argue? She rarely had the worst of it each time she was all-in. But the cards did not fall her way.
When heads-up play began, Darrell Dicken enjoyed a decisive 11-1 chip lead over WeiKai Chang. The end seemed near. But those expecting to see Chang bowing out gracefully were in for a very rude awakening. The comeback began. Chang became the aggressor and quite simply, made the correct play just about every time he was faced with a tough decision. He managed to double-up early in heads up play, putting him at a 5-1 disadvantage. Then, he got lucky when his A-5 outdrew Dicken's A-8, resulting in another giant leap forward. Chang took a few blows before he managed to double up on another big hand, and after about a half-our duel, he was outchipped by only 2-1. A few hands later, Chang won another hand, and for the first time in the tournament - he held the chip lead. What remained of the audience braced themselves for what appeared to be another epic duel.
Dicken was accustomed to adversity by this time. Showing absolutely no emotion during the unfortunate turn of events, Dicken continued to play his best game. After three hands, Dicken regained the chip lead. Then, he began to pull away with a series of over-the-top moves intended to put Chang to the test for all of his chips. Nearly an hour after heads-up play started, the final decisive hand of the tournament took place when Chang was dealt 10-10. Chang raised. Dicken, holding J-J, re-raised all-in. Chang thought for a moment, and called. He instinctively knew he was in trouble, a fact confirmed when the hole cards were revealed. Chang needed one last miracle, a ten, which did not come. The pocket jacks held up and Dicken was the champion.
2nd Place - WeiKai Chang played superbly. Even Dicken, the winner, acknowledged Chang's exceptional survival skills. The crowd gave Chang a well-deserved ovation for many exciting moments. Chang's payday as the runner-up amounted to $207,100.
1st Place - Darrell 'Gigabet' Dicken, from Waterloo, IA gets his unusual nickname from playing online poker. 'Gigabet' is well-known in Internet poker circles, having won a considerable amount of money in recent years. Dicken acknowledged that online poker helped to sharpen his real-life tournament skills.
'We played a lot longer than I thought we would,' Dicken said in a post-tournament interview. 'We were four handed for something like seven hours. That has to be some kind of record.'
When asked about keys to surviving a marathon finale, Dicken replied: 'I was just playing good cards and position, waiting for the right moments. I got lucky once in a big pot, and also got unlucky once. So, it balanced out.'
Dicken received the coveted WSOP gold and diamond ring presented to each Circuit winner. He also collected $372,780 in first-place prize money. A reporter asked Dicken what he plans to do with all the cash. 'I don't know,' he replied. 'Put it in the bank?'
Oddly enough, after such a grueling emotional and physical experience the last thing on the new champion's mind was the prize money. It was an afterthought. Perhaps Dicken was more motivated by the ultimate thrill of victory and having vanquished some very tough competition. Indeed, to the greatest of champions such accomplishments are priceless.
Written by Nolan Dalla, WSOP Media Director
Tournament Director - Jimmy Sommerfeld
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