EVENT #7 1/2 STUD HI-LO-1/2 OMAHA HI-LO
Thursday March 23 2000
$200 BUY-IN
$800 in chips
$20,000 Guarantee
SPORT OF QUEENS?
By Mike Paulle
For the second consecutive night, four biological females got to the Final
Table. This was an astronomically high percentage of the women who started
the tournament. Horseracing is known as 'The Sport of Kings.' Perhaps poker
tournaments at Hollywood Park will have to start being called the 'Sport of
Queens.'
There were 96 entrants in the $200 Buy-In, 1/2 Stud Hi-Lo-1/2 Omaha Hi-Lo,
for a total prize pool of $20,000 guaranteed. One table was paid, a total of
8 players.
Some of the Notables who played: Eskimo Clark, John Cernuto, Brent Carter,
Marsha Waggoner, Toto Leonidas, Kathy Liebert, Casey Kastle, Anthony Tran,
Freddie Dak, Earl Kim, Walter Smiley, Donald Halpern, Bruce Lee, JJ Volpe,
Alex Papachatzakis, Alfredo Moreno, Andre Maloof, David Levi, Gary Lent, Gary
Solomons, Sirous B, David Kelly, Jun Parado, John Richardson, John Chan, Tony
Keo, Scott Tran, Russ Fox, Herb Stein, Scotty Warbuck, Stan 'Zorro' Zdanowich
and Rudy 'Papa' Diaz.
To set up the Final Table: With barely enough chips for his ante, Steve
Badger caught an unbelievable break when the players decided to pay 9th $595
taken off 1st place money. All-in with pocket 10's in the Stud half, Badger
was followed all-in by Phil Jones with more chips and a low draw. Jones could
only make deuces with no low. Neither gentleman could beat Annie
Brown-Bloom's Queens. Two players were eliminated on the hand, so the Final
Table started with only seven.
FINAL TABLE:
7 mins left of 20 in the Stud half. The antes are $200. The
bring-in is $300. Playing $1,000/$2,000
| Player | Hometown | Chip Count |
| Seat 1 Spring Cheong | Concord CA | $10,500 |
| Seat 2 Hai Tran | Huntington Park CA | $14,000 |
| Seat 3 Pat Fleming | Las Vegas NV | $14,700 |
| Seat 4 Linda Johnson | Las Vegas NV | $4,200 |
| Seat 5 David Williams | Los Angeles CA | $3,800 |
| Seat 6 Oi Liu | Hacienda Hts CA | $11,000 |
| Seat 7 Annie Brown-Bloom | Redondo Beach CA | $18,400 |
| Seat 8 (empty) | | |
With the game shifting back to Omaha Hi-Lo, Card Player Magazine Publisher
Linda Johnson didn't have many chips left and had to take a stand when she
was dealt an A 2. Pat Fleming called with A 6 5 4. The flop came with both a
6 and a 2. The turn came an Ace giving Fleming a higher two pair. Fleming
made a better low and Johnson was pressed into 7th.
Surviving one all-in, David Williams had no choice but do try it again. When
both his low and flush draws failed, Williams took 6th as Oi Liu made a pair
of Kings.
After taking over the chip lead from Annie Brown-Bloom with Queens full, the
cards went dead for Pat Fleming when the Stud half began again. With a pair
and the nut straight draw, Pat bet out and was raised all-in by Oi Liu. Her
hand just kept getting bigger and bigger, as Oi Liu made Aces full to knock
Pat Fleming out in 5th.
Finishing a disappointed 4th, Annie Brown-Bloom couldn't make a hand when she
really need to. Annie went all-in with Jacks. The incendiary Oi Liu was
making all her hands and caught a Queen for a pair.
With three players left, Oi Liu had over $50,000 of the $76,800 on the table.
Neither Spring Cheong nor Hai Tran wanted to tangle with someone as hot as
Oi. They both had under $15,000 in chips as they asked for a save of $4,000
each. That left Liu with a balance of $6,405.
Women have now won three of the seven events at the Sport of Kings and two
straight in poker, the Sport of Queens.
Official Money Winners
1. Oi Liu $7,405
2. Spring Cheong $4,600
3. Hai Tran $2,400
4. Annie Brown-Bloom $1,400
5. Pat Fleming $1,200
6. David Williams $1,000
7. Linda Johnson $850
8. Phil Jones $595
9. Steve Badger $595
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