Poker Tournament Results

Harrah's Atlantic City Poker Tournament - WSOP Circuit Event

Michael R Litten

Tournament Report

DHL Courier Michael Litten Carries Off $64,272 in Atlantic City Opener Playing only his second tournament, Michael Litten, a courier for DHL for the past nine years, captured the opening event of the Harrah&'s WSOP Circuit tour at Harrah&'s Atlantic City. Victory in the $300 no-limit contest was worth $64,272 for the 44-year-old resident of Havertown, Pennsylvania. Apart from a tournament at Borgata, where he finished 20th, Litten&'s prior poker experience pretty much consists of playing online for free. The key hand came when he was heads-up and virtually dead even with Anthony 'Grip' Morton. Dealt pocket aces, he slow-played them, got Morton all in, and ended up with over 3 million chips to just 101,000 for his opponent. Morton hung on for another 10 hands, doubling up a couple of times, but the end was inevitable. This opening event drew a mob of 824 entrants, a big jump over the 438 players who turned out for the prior Circuit opener here on Feb. 7, which had a $500 buy-in. Day 1 ended with 22 players left. They returned the next day with Arie Abitol, with 510,000 chips, leading the pack. The final table got going after Litten, with pocket 4s, filled up to knock out Vincent Skoff in 10th place. Play got underway with 2,000 antes and 8,000-16,000 blinds, 21:22 left in the round. Morton, with 750,000, was now the chip leader. SEAT 1 Larry Kanavas 340,000 SEAT 2 Terry Anderson 375,000 SEAT 3 Konstantino Pashos 129,000 SEAT 4 Paul Lambrakis 458,000 SEAT 5 Arie Abitol 532,000 SEAT 6 Mark Heid 112,000 SEAT 7 Michael Litten 425,000 SEAT 8 Anthony Morton 750,000 SEAT 9 Manuel Carvalho 176,000 The first big action came on the seventh hand. In three way action, Mark Heid, who started lowest-chipped, raised all in pre-flop with A-Q. The flop brought 9-9-2. Larry Kanavas bet 100,000 with pocket 10s and Paul 'Paulie Nuts' Lambrakis, with more chips, moved in with pocket 8s. The turn brought a 10 to fill Kanavas, leave Lambrakis short-chipped with about 125,000, and knock Heid out in ninth place, which paid $4,944. Heid is a 34-year-old accounting director who moved from Miami to Toms River, New Jersey (isn&'t it usually the other way around?) and has been playing poker three years. An A-Q also finished Lambrakis. With blinds now at 10,000-20,000, 3,000 antes and hour levels, he moved in for 93,000. Abitol called with J-10 and had an open-ender when the flop came K-Q-J. An ace turned to give him a Broadway, and Lambrakis, 34, a Brooklyn accountant, took home $7,416 for eighth place. Two hands later, sales engineer Manuel 'Mac' Carvalho finished seventh. He moved in under the gun for 65,000 with A-4, was bad shape when Litten called with A-Q, much worse shape when the flop came Q-9-9. Carvalho, who learned the game from the Internet and books just 13 months ago, couldn&'t catch up and took home $9,888. He is also 34 and is from Baltimore, Maryland. Terry Anderson is a 43-yearold legal secretary from Laurence Harbor, New Jersey, who has been playing poker for over 30 years, honing her skills in the Air Force. She earned her seat by winning the North Brunswick Firehouse Championship. Tonight she was by far the most solid player at the table, but couldn&'t do much and steadily drifted down. Hand 27 was her last. On a flop of Q-9-5, Abitol bet 200,000 holding J-10 for an open-end straight, and Anderson, with Q-9, moved in for 90,000 more. Abitol hit his straight with an 8 on the next card, and Anderson finished sixth for $12,360. Kanavas was next out. He moved in for 130,000 with 6-5 when a flop of Q-4-3 gave him a straight draw. Konstantino 'The Dragon' Pashos called with Q-2 and proceeded to make quad queens. Kanavas, 51, is originally from Greece, now lives in Deer Park, New York, and has been playing poker 'for fun' since his early 20s. Tonight he had a lot of fun when he picked up $14,832 for finishing fifth. After the break, a rough count showed Abitol leading with about 1.2 million, closely followed by Pashos, with over 900,000, while Litten and Morton were both in the mid-500,000 range. Blinds became 15,000-30,000 with 4,000 antes. A key hand then came down when Litten, with A-Q, moved in for 536,000 on a flop of Q-3-5, and was called by Pashos, who had K-Q. The higher kicker held up, and Litten was the new chip leader. The Dragon never recovered after that, and had his fire snuffed out on hand 43. Holding Q-10, he pushed in for his last 160,000, and Morton chased him down with 8d-5d. The flop came Kd-10d-5c, giving Pashos second pair and Morton a flush draw. The turn brought a 9d, and Pashos was drawing dead to Morton&'s flush. Pashos is 35, from Bayside, New York, and is a car dealer. He&'s been playing poker for 10 years, and this was the third time he entered a WSOP Circuit event. He also made a final table in a $500 event in 2005. Asked about 'other hobbies' on his bio sheet, he answered correctly: 'Is there another?' Fourth place paid $17,304. Three-handed, the approximate chip count was Litten, 1.4 million; Morton, 1.2 million; and Abitol, 670,000. Two hands later, the board showed 8-7-6-3. Holding 8-7 for two pair, Abitol went for a check raise. After Morton bet 50,000, he counted out another 150,000, and tried to get more, only to be told he could not reach back. No matter, because Morton, with 10-9 for a straight, moved in. Abitol couldn&'t improve and collected $19,776 for third place. Abitol, a real estate broker originally from Israel, now lives in Bayside, New York, his nickname is 'Lucky,' and he&'s been playing poker for three years. Heads-up, Morton had about 1.8 million fo 1.4 million for Litten. The big hand came on the 54th deal. Litten limped with his pocket aces, then bet a trap 50,000 on a flop of 9-6-2. Morton, with 8-6, raised 200,000, and Litten moved in. A queen and 4 changed nothing, and Morton was down to the cloth. Ten hands later, with 20,000-40,000 limits and 5,000 antes, Morton moved in with pocket 9s. Litten called with K-7, flopped a king, and it was all over. Morton, 39, works for ALM Rentals and is from Danville, Virginia. He&'s been playing poker seven years and tonight earned $34,114 for his second-place finish. - Max Shapiro For more information, please contact: Max Shapiro -- WSOP Media Director at (323) 356-3303 Or visit our official website: www.worldseriesofpoker.com World Series of Poker Commissioner - Jeffrey Pollack Director of Poker Operations for Harrah&'s Entertainment - Jack Effel Harrah&'s Atlantic City Poker Room Manager - John Arthur