Frankie O'Dell is the Legend of Legends
The Legend of Legends & Media Invitational freeroll event today combined poker pros and amateurs in a Charity tournament with cash and a Championship entry in the prize pool. This unique field contains winners from any previous Legends of Poker events and entries from the Media including on-line poker trades, poker webcast sites, and myself, staff writer at The Bicycle Casino. The prize pool is separated into 2 categories: the top media player is playing for $2,500 in cash and a donation of $2,500 to the player's charity of choice. The Legends winners will be playing for a $10K seat into the 2006 Legends of Poker Championship event and the title of 'Legend of Legends'.
The first elimination occurred on the 3rd hand when Karlo Gharabegian, a television editor and 2006 Legends winner, raised his 3rd consecutive pot. This time he got called by Tony Berns, Manager/Producer of WPT on-line content, for his last $1,900 and the 2nd caller was Steven Shkolnik, a location manager for the film industry. The flop was A-7-3 and Steven bet out which made Karlo fold. Isolated with the all-in, Steven showed his Q-10 against Tony's 10-5. The turn 10 and river 8 did not help Tony, and Steve's Queen kicker played. Tony Berns was eliminated in 10th place.
The next elimination was hand #5 when Frank Henderson, WSOP Bracelet Holder, pushed his short stack all-in preflop to get called by Steven Shkolnik. Frank held A-10 with one overcard to Steven's pocket Jacks. The board was 3-5-10-Q-8 and Steven's Jacks hold up eliminating Frank in 9th place.
On hand #9, Jeff Holsey, an on-line poker room manager, found himself all-in against Jeff Clayton, a KCBS cameraman. Jeff H. showed K-3 against Jeff C.'s A-8. The board was 6-10-Q-10-9 and Jeff C.'s Ace high takes the pot. Jeff Holsey finished in 8th place.
Hand #15 had Sharla Lehrmann, a writer for PokerPages.com, all-in preflop against Jeff Clayton. Jeff had Sharla's A-4 dominated with an A-K. The board was 5-6-8-Q-8 and Sharla Lehrmann finished in 7th place. Sharla had generously agreed to chop the $2,500 Media prize with the other 4 Media players at the final table even though she had a large chip lead.
Hand #20 had Steven Shkolnik pushed all-in with 10-10 against Jeff Clayton who called for his last chips with A-Q. The board was 8-8-4-6-3 and Steven has eliminated his 3rd competitor during the final table. Jeff Clayton is eliminated in 6th place. Ronnie 'Cardboy' McMillan is the lone media entry left against four other Legends winners. Ronnie received a $2,500 donation to the charity of his choice.
'Cooler' hand of the final table had Karlo all-in preflop with an A-4 against Frank O'Dell's pocket Queens. The flop was A-A-Q. The turn was one of Karlo's three outs, the 4. Karlo's turned a bigger boat and doubled up.
The very next hand had Ronnie McMillan, short stacked in the big blind, calling Frank O'Dell initial raise from UTG. Ronnie showed K-5 and Frank showed A-10. The board was 9-10-J-7-5 and Ronnie McMillan, 'Live at the Bike' production assistant, finished in 5th place as the top Media player. The final 4 players were all previous Legends winners and were playing for a single $10K seat to the Legends Championship event.
The next elimination on hand #26 had Stan Goldstein, a pro player who had just lost a big pot to Frank O'Dell, was all-in against Karlo Gharabegian. Stan showed his A-J and Karlo had 10-10. The board was 4-8-9-2-6 and Stan who had the chip lead for a good part of the tournament, was eliminated in 4th place.
Two hands later, hand #28, Karlo, with his newly acquired chips, checked his big blind to Frank's limp. The flop was 8-J-Q. The players were all-in post flop and Frank showed his flopped Queen high straight. Karlo flopped two pair and need to fill up. The turn and river were 5-10. Frank wins the pot with the straight and Karlo finishes in 3rd place. Karlo got my vote for most selectively aggressive player at the table taking down more pots uncontested at the final table than any other player.
The heads-up match lasted for nine hands for eight flops. Frank kept the pressure on Steven Shkolnik by constant betting and raising and consequently, Frank won 8 of the 9 hands heads-up. The final hand played out when Frank raised preflop on the button and Steven called. Frank held a dominating A-J to Steven's K-J. The board was 7c-10c-Qc-Jc-X and Frank took down this pot. With all the commotion of the final hand (read Frankie celebrated his win) I did not conclusively determine if the Ace-high flush beat the King-high flush or the Ace kicker beat the King kicker. Either way, Frank O'Dell won the heads-up match and the $10K seat in the Legends of Poker Championship event. Steven Shkolnik played great poker eliminating several opponents early in the final table and continued playing solid in the later rounds.
-Jay 'Bugsy' Siegel
BIOGRAPHY
'Legend of Legends' winner Frankie O'Dell is a pro player from Denver, CO. His best and favorite game is Omaha but he excels at Hold'em as well. He was coached by Mike Matasow, which explains two things: his ultra-aggressive style and his table-talking ways. I must say that Frankie was well-mannered and respectful throughout the match. He chose not to trash talk or compete with the AM570 radio show going on in the background. Frankie took a commanding lead heads-up, forcing his opponent to difficult decisions on every hand and every street. Frank won a Legends title in 2003 in No Limit Hold'em and has now won entry into the $10K Championship event.
Media winner Ronnie McMillan found himself short stacked midway into the final table but picked his spots with exact precision to outlast the other 4 media participants. Ronnie is donating the $2,500 to The Tracey McCullick Foundation for kidney recipients. This was suggested by 7th place finisher, Sharla Lehrmann. Ronnie, a local pro player, also doubles as a production assistant (aka Cardboy) at Live at the Bike, a live streaming webcast of cash poker games (www.liveatthebike.com). Ronnie, a former film editor, combines his editing talent and poker skills to assist in the production of Live at the Bike. If you would like to contribute to The Tracey McCullick Foundation, contact Sharla Lehrmann at www.pokerpages.com and tell them Ronnie sent you.
Final Table - One LOP Seat & 1 Cash Prize
1 Frank O'Dell (Denver, CO)
LOP $10K Seat
2 Steven Shkolnik (Los Angeles, CA)
3 Karlo Gharabegian (Glendale, CA)
4 Stan Goldstein (N. Fontana, CA)
5 Ronnie McMillan (Downey, CA)
$2,500.00 charity +$2,500.00
6 Jeff Clayton (Glendale, CA)
7 Sharla Lehrmann (Austin, TX)
8 Jeff Holsey (Santa Monica, CA)
9 Frank Henderson (Houston, TX)
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