| Repeatedly drawing two cards and hitting while final opponent David “Rabbi” stood pat, Cliff Yamagawa took over the chip lead and then first place in the 16th event of World Series of Poker 2001, $1,500 ace to five draw lowball. “It took me 20 years but I finally got a bracelet,” said the 43-year-old Yamagawa, who’s been propping high-limit hold’em games at Commerce Casino for 14 years. He started propping at the old El Dorado in Gardena when he was 20 and lied about his age.
“This is such a life-changing event,” Yamagawa said of his victory. He rarely plays tournaments but this win inspired him to now take a shot in the big one. About 20 years ago he made a WSOP final table in some now-defunct game he can’t even remember, but the field was so short and the pay-out so little that he didn’t even win anything.
This was the biggest cash-out for Rabbi, whose previous biggest win was a pot-limit Omaha event at the Orleans.
Rabbi, 45, has been playing the game since he was 11. He said he was impressed by Cliff’s skill, but also frustrated by his luck. “He never missed, never bluffed.” Not quite true, Yamagawa corrected. He said he bluffed twice at the final table and four times before that, but won all six times without having to show his hand.
David was the third player to bring an unusual lucky totem to the final table (after Nani Dollison’s mouse and Chris Ferguson’s prospector). His was “Butch,” a musket-toting infant frontiersman doll which his father put in his crib when he was born, and which he has slept with every night since. Whenever he makes a final table the doll comes with him.
Only seven players (and Butch) made it to the final table. Stan Goldstein had knocked out players eight and nine simultaneously with a pat seven. Jerry Reed, who listed his occupation as “inventor,” had more chips and got a patent on eighth place.
Right after limits rose to to $2,000-$4,000, there was three way action. Bill Baxter, who has six bracelets (five in deuce to seven and one in ace to five), was hoping to tie Phil Hellmuth’s record seven. He raised and got called by Yamagawa and veteran lowball pro Steve Flicker, who stood pat. Cliff started a pattern by drawing two, then betting out and winning with no calls.
Businessman Ace de Hollan put in his last $500 in four-way action on the 18th hand. He drew one, caught a ten and lost to Rabbi’s 8-6.
Professional player Stan Goldstein was not having much fun. He visibly winced when he drew to three wheel cards and a joker and paired his five. A second time he drew to a bicycle and again paired a five. The third time he had such a draw, in a raised pot, he got gun-shy and threw his hand away. Seeing Flicker hit several times, he asked wistfully, “How do you draw and make those hands?” Later, when he put in his last $500 against Baxter and finally won, he had the answer: “The secret is to draw two.”
After Baxter raised and Yamagawa made it $18,000 to go, retired farmer Glenn Schott, from the little town of Pixley, near Bakersfield, California, committed his last $2,500. He drew three and made a jack. His opponents took one, and Baxter plowed the ex-farmer under with an 8-7.
Goldstein, meanwhile, still was not happy. Lowball is a game that can try the patience of a saint, and Stan has never claimed to be a saint. Four hands after Glenn departed, he re-raised Baxter and stood pat with a nine. Bill and David each took a card. Stan bet his last $1,000. David raised, and then showed a six. “I used to play this game but I hate it now,” was Stan’s parting comment. “I’d rather have root canal.”
Rabbi now led with $76,000. Yamagawa had $51,000, Flicker had $43,000 and Baxter, $20,000. Levels now went to $3,000-$6,000. On the first hand, Flicker drew two against a pat Baxter and made a wheel. Fortunately, Goldstein had just left and was spared further aggravation.
Two hands later, Bill lost his chance at a seventh bracelet. He went all in, drew one and caught a jack. Cliff drew a card to an eight and won with a nine.
Steve, now losing pots, was about to flicker out when he won a small one. “That’s the one I needed,” he said. Bob Thompson reminded him that those were his words at a Seniors tournament and he soon had all the chips. This time it was different. After pairing a five and losing to Rabbi’s king, Steve was left with $4,000. A couple of hands later, his last $1,000 went in against Cliff, who drew one and made a straight six. Steve was drawing dead when he took a card to 8-7-3-2, and the queen he caught made no difference.
Two-handed at 6:30, David had a slight lead, about $100,000 to $90,000. After an hour of heads-up play, they agreed to speed things up with half-hour rounds, starting at $4,000-$8,000. A half-hour later, with limits at $5,000 and $10,000, their starting chip position hasn’t changed all that much. Cliff pulled ahead after making a seven, and then came a whole succession of winning two-card draws. “You’re dynamite on two-card draws,” said David, who had usually been standing pat with nines. When a dealer named Howard Priest came into the box, the Rabbi remarked, “Just what I need, a priest.”
The priest didn’t change things much, but the next dealer gave him enough winners to retake the lead. But he lost it when Cliff, again drawing two, made a winning jack. With limits jumped to $8,000 and $16,000, Cliff won two more pots with his favorite draw, first making a jack, then getting David to fold after the draw.
On the last hand, Cliff raised and David re-raised. He took one. Cliff took (naturally) two. David, drawing to a seven, bet his last $4,500 dark and caught a queen. Cliff made an eight, and his 20-year wait was over.
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