Yo-Yo, That's how players at the final table described the action in the Omaha Hi/Lo event, and the term was apt. Chips and leads surged back and forth all night as the cards took unpredictable twists and turns. The finale was amazing. Left with only $12,000 against Warren Karp's $260,000, Steve Hohn went on an unstoppable rush as he overtook and beat his fellow pro to capture the third event of The World Poker Challenge. Earlier, he was down to only $7,000 at the $3,000-$6,000 level.
Hohn is a 52-year-old former stock-broker who turned pro three years ago. His biggest cash-ins came at the World Series where he scored a second and a third in 7-Stud 8 or better events.
The reversal of fortune deprived Karp of his first major victory. He has numerous wins in small tournaments, plus a Seniors second and a second and third at Legends of Poker.
Robert "Chip" Burner Turner was event host. He was knocked out early by final-table finisher George Kraynak, who listed that on his bio sheet as his top poker accomplishment. Chris Bjorin went out on the first hand of the final table. With limits at $3,000-$6,000 he raised and then went all in before the flop with A-4-9-K. The board came K-4-3-4-J, giving him trip fours, of little value against Kraynak's kings full. Six hands later, the freaky nature of this game was aptly demonstrated when Karp held A-2-6-K and called all in when Kraynak , with 2-5-9-J. bet into a flop of Q-J-8. Trailing Kraynak's jacks, Karp called for a ten for a straight, or at least a king or an ace. Instead, two more eights fello, and his A-K played and won! In contrast to Bjorin's quick exit, well over an hour elapsed, with Bill Shalhoob, Karp and "Minneapolis Jim" Mechan all going in and surviving, before the next fatality. David "Cookie" Kerrigan held a tremendous A-A-2-9 against Mechan's mediocre A-5-6-9. The board came 9-7-3-A, giving Kerrigan trip aces, but the Cookie crumbled when an eight came on the river to give Jim a straight. The colorful Meehan, a Minneapolis attorney and tournament veteran, as usual provided most of the entertaining commentary. At one point he peeled and ate a banana at the table, prompting Steve Morrow to issue a "No banana rule". That was a shame because Jim is such an "apeeling" guy. Limits are raised to $6,000-$12,000, and as chip stacks rise and fall, Hohn, Soon Baik and Kraynak all go all in and stay alive. Meanwhile, Karp starts to build a lead when he quarters Hohn in a $72,000 pot. The field narrows after Kraynak, a circuit board designer, commits his last chips with A-2-4-8, but his circuits are blown when no low comes and Baik makes queens-full.
Baik, who finished second in Limit Hold 'em at the Rio's Carnivale in 1999, finally goes all in for the last time against computer analyst Darren Au. Baik misses his low draw, and now five are left. Make that four after Karp and investment manager Bill Shalhoob tangle. Both are dead even in chips and both go all in when Shalhoob, with A-2-6-J, makes a play at the pot by betting into a board of K-10-9-3. Karp, with A-6-7-Q, has nothing either, but makes a desperation call and wins when a river seven pairs him. Limits are now $10,000-$20,000. Au, who started with a chip lead of $77,000 but slowly dropped, makes his last stand against the now surging Karp. Holding 3-6-7-10 Au raises when a flop of Q-10-3 gives him two pair, and then goes all in on the turn, but Karp, wiht 2-3-8-Q, flopped a bigger pair and wins. Three-handed, Karp is the chip leader with about $130,000 to Meehan's $90,000 and Hohn's $80,000. Karp builds his lead when he slow-plays jacks-full and gets Meehan to bite and bet the river. By 8.00pm, he has around $260,000, trailed by Meehan with $28,000 and Hohn with only $12,000. But then Hohn begins his rush. First he knocks out Minneapolis Jim when his A-A-J-5 holds up against Jim's 2-3-Q-10, then scoops two consecutive pots against Karp. By 8.15pm he holds a 2-1 chip lead. The momentum is all his. On the final hand, with $15,000-$30,000 limits, Hohn starts with K-10-9-7 against Karp's A-2-5-K. The flop is 9-9-8, giving Hohn trips. When a queen turns, he puts Karp, now drawing dead, all in to claim victory and his WPC globe trophy - Max Shapiro |
