Hi-Lo Specialist 'RA' Wins Event #2: $300 Omaha Hi-Lo Tournament
The 2007 Winnin ‘O' the Green series featured event #2, a $300 +$40 Omaha Hi-Lo tournament which attacked 171 entries and created a prize pool of $51,300. The 9-handed final table was set at 12:30am and two of the players were extremely short stacked.
The first elimination occurred on hand #7 when both short stacks did battle. Stan Zdanowich and Paul Lee were both all-in and the board read 10h-3h-2-K-x. Stan's A-4-10-K (Kings-up) was behind to Paul's K-K-Q-10 (trip Kings) with no low and Paul took on a few more chips but was still short stacked. Stan finished in 9th place and earned $895.
The next elimination came on hand #14 when Hamid Captain tangled with Charles Fleming. Charles, with a slight chip lead on Captain, called the all-in and showed As-3s-10-K. Captain showed A-9-K-K. The flop showed 10s-7-6s giving Charles the flush draw. The turn was a deuce and the river was a spade (8s) giving Charles Fleming the flush for the high and the nut low. Hamid Captain is eliminated in 8th place and collects $1,025.
On the next hand (#15), Paul Lee's short stack was tested. Paul is all-in against 'Super Mario' Esquerra. Paul's Q-T-9-9 vs. Mario's 2-3-6-J is no match when the board develops 'The Wheel' (2-5-4-3-A). Mario's flopped a 6-high straight and Paul's high only hand just didn't have a chance. Paul Lee finished in 7th place and received $1,280 of the prize pool.
Just 2 hands later (#17), Super Mario got it all-in against RA. Mario showed 2-3-7-8 and RA held A-3-6-10. The board was 8-7-6-9-Q and RA's 10-high straight and A-3 low edged out Mario's two-pair and 2-3 low. Super Mario finished in 6th place and earned $1,795. Look for Super Mario in future final tables— he is a frequent final table player and he is playing at the top of his game.
That was just three eliminations in four hands. The action continues with the typical split pots and no significant chip movement until hand #24: three way action with two players all-in. RA, having both opponents outchipped, held Ks-7s-3-5. Charles Fleming held A-3-K-10 and Ralph Juaruz held A-2-K-7. The board was Ah-2d-4h-6s-Kd. RA's wheel is good enough for the high and beats Ralph's 6 for the low. RA build a nice chip stack and eliminates two players. Charles Fleming took 5th for $2,315 and Ralph Juaruz who started the hand with more chips than Charles finished in 4th for $3,075
The next 35 hands were played 3-handed where Shirley Rosario became short stacked but was not considering any chip count deals and consequently built herself up to about an average chip stack. The next elimination came between RA and Dean Bui. Dean was playing quite aggressive all night and maintained the chip lead at the final table until he lost a couple of large pots to Shirley and RA. RA had him covered in Dean's final hand.
RA held K-K-4-8 and Dean held a similar hand 10-J-4-8. All the money went in post flop with a board of 4-6-9. The turn 4 gave both players trip 4's but it was RA's King kicker that did it when the river Queen landed and Dean Bui finished in 3rd place and collected $4,875.
Once heads-up, Shirley had a big hill to climb. She had about 20,000 of the 256,500 chips in play. RA made a gracious offer to end it right there (for a few extra bucks) but Shirley was determined to play it out despite the chip deficit. Shirley let RA know she appreciated the offer but she felt that she had to just play it out to the end. Shirley fought for another 25 hands and built her stack up gradually.
It was hand #85 when the match completed. Shirley was all-in with A-Q-9-3 and RA had A-10-10-6. The board was 7-J-J-K-Q. The Queen looked good for Shirley but it also made RA the straight to the King. The match was over and Shirley finished in 2nd place earning $9,745. RA was the champion and earned $20,520.
Runner up Shirley Rosario, took last year off of live tournament poker while she did battle away from the poker table fighting off cancer. She is healthy now and this was the start of her comeback (hence no deals). She played well and she mucked her cards preflop more than the other 2 players combined. Shirley said this was mainly due to the quality of her starting hands more than playing tight. If you have seen Shirley play Omaha you know that she loves to raise in the appropriate situations. You can follow Shirley on the comeback trail on her popular website: www.poker-babes.com.
-Jay 'Bugsy' Siegel
BIOGRAPHY
RA is a Hi-Lo tournament specialist (Omaha & Stud). He has been playing since 1996. He attributes his win to determining his opponents playing style (Dean Bui) and getting more involved with Dean. RA felt Dean was playing too aggressive and then was following that aggression by betting/calling too often on later streets. RA called a preflop raise with J-J-J-4 just to get involved with Dean. RA won the hand as he stayed in all the way to the river. Congrats to RA and we'll see him next on Wednesday, March 7, 2007 in the Stud Hi-Lo event.
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