| Nani Dollison, the reigning WSOP ladies champion, bested a record-shattering field to capture the first open event of the 2001 World Series, $2,000 limit hold'em. Her $441,440 victory, with her $53,200 win last year, vaulted her past Annie Duke ($391,854 in 16 cash-outs) as the women's money leader at the World Series.
Dollison was helped by an unusual lucky charm: an oversized mechanical mouse. Whenever she needed a pick-up, she would place it on the table where it would scurry around, blinking its light bulb eyes and chittering crazily.
Dollison, 47, came to this country from Korea in 1972. Until recently a dealer at Sam's Town in Tunica, Mississippi, she is now weighing the options of being a full-time player. If she so decides, she is off to a great year, having just won a rebuy hold'em event at the World Poker Open.
An astonishing 615 players competed, a 24 percent jump over last year's record 496 entrants. There were so many competitors that it took until 5:40 in the morning to winnow down to the final nine even though the last ten players are now combined at one table to skip the time-consuming hand-for-hand routine.
Finishing second was John Pires. He arrived at the final table with $327,000 to Dollison's $242,000; between them they owned nearly half the $1,230,000 on the table. Pires, a quiet and intensely focused pro from San Jose, California, held the chip lead until he got heads up.
Limits at the final table started at $15,000 and $30,000. Eli Elezra, owner of a Vegas photo lab, immediately got in trouble when his A-10 lost to Chau Giang's pocket tens, and he was left with two $500 chips, later diminished to one when he abandoned his small blind. But he proceeded to do the same magic that Dave Crunkleton did with his one chip the day before, eventually surviving all the way up to sixth place, which was worth $22,000 more than ninth.
Meanwhile, a monster pot on the tenth hand proved to be the last one for two players. Ken Shaevel raised with pocket jacks, Peter "The Greek" Vilandos re-raised with pocket queens, Giang made it four bets with pocket aces and Ken Shaevel made a reluctant call. There was now a quarter-million in the pot before anyone saw a flop. The flop was K-K-3. Giang bet, Shaevel and Vilandos called. Giang then bet $30,000 dark, putting his two opponents all in and busting them when two rags fell. Vilandos, a bracelet-holding pro, had fewer chips and finished ninth while Shaevel, a manufacturer's rep, cashed out eighth.
A few hands later it was the St. Valentine's Day massacre, with three players going out in three consecutive hands with such tommy-gun speed that it was hard to follow the action. First, Ralph DiPiero got into a raising war with Pires on a flop of A-9-8. He held pocket tens, but Pires had A-5. No ten arrived to save DiPiero, who owns a cellular phone business, and he got disconnected from the tournament.
On the next hand, Pires decided that Elezra had been there long enough with his couple of chips, and took him out. He had K-3 versus A-9, but flopped a trey, while Elezra couldn't help.
On the next hand, Sirous Baghchehsaraie, a poker player with numerous final table finishes in other tournaments, was mowed down. He seemed in good shape with A-J against the A-10 held by Meng La, another poker player, then busted out when the board came 10-9-9-K-7. Suddenly five players were gone in just a half hour.
With four left, Meng La trailed with about $75,000. That went all in a few hands later when he raised, trying to steal the blinds with J-7, and got re-raised by Pires, who held A-6. On the turn, Pires bet in the dark with aces and sixes. Meng La called for his last $10,000 with no outs, and Pires caught an unneeded ace on the river.
As Meng La departed, the limits jumped to $20,000-$40,000. Three-handed, Pires had about $570,000, while Giang had $400,000 and Dollison about $250,000. But then Giang, a pro with bracelets in Omaha hi-lo and ace to five, drained himself chasing draws. First, he challenged Dollison's pocket kings with A-8 of spades and futilely went after a flush when two more spades flopped. Then he missed a straight draw against Pires, and was suddenly whittled down to about $80,000. Finally he went broke with A-3 against Pires' A-J when the pot was capped on a flop of A-K-8. His last chips went in when a nine turned, and no trey rescued him.
Heads-up, Pires had $690,000 and Dollison had $540,000. They took a ten-minute break to talk deal, and two hands after they returned, their chip positions were reversed. As chips flowed back and forth, both competitors bet and called with the swiftness and assurance of two obviously very good,instinctive players who knew what they are doing.
Pires eventually dropped down to $60,000, then struggled back to about $300,000 After losing a pot to Pires' trip fours, Dollison brought out her lucky mouse, and he was doomed. In a big pot, Pires bet into a board of A-10-9-5-7. Dollison raised (later showing an A-10) and he folded, short-chipped.
In the final hand, Pires went all in with pocket tens against her Q-6 offsuit. The board came Q-9-3-4-7, and Dollison, who's been playing poker for seven years and "couldn't believe" she had beaten 614 players, had done just that.
Max Shapiro
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