Trading car deals for card deals, two auto dealers haggled for the pink slip on the crystal globe winner’s trophy in the World Poker Challenge’s sixth event, $300 no-limit hold‘em. Steve “Seymour” Gulbelson, owner of a car lot in Tacoma, Washington, drove off with first-place cash and glory, while Raymond “Bulldog” Beck, who does business in Tulsa, Oklahoma, settled for second. Once, when Bulldog said he raised without looking, Seymour asked him, “As one car dealer to another,” to swear on NADA, the National Auto Dealers Association bible. Beck, who also is Midwest PR man for Merle Haggard, won last year’s championship event at Tunica.
Jack Fox was the day’s host, and at his suggestion, the European system of having all cards turned up at the showdown was tried for this one event. Midway through the final table, tournament assistant Steve Morrow also announced that winners of each event would be invited to act as a host at WPC 2002, with rooms comped for the entire tournament.
With blinds at $1,000-$2,000, the final table started with action to spare. Ted Nguyen, a part-time floorman at the Casino Real in Monteca, California, moved in pre-flop on the second hand for $22,600. Gulbelson called. It was a classic match-up: Ted‘s A-K of clubs versus Seymour‘s two red queens. The board came J-J-8-5-8, and Ted exited. Three hands later, Hasan Habib made it $7,000 to go and Bulldog re-raised $14,000. After agonizing at length, Bruce Kipfer finally called all in for aout $18,000 with pocket eights. He was the favorite against Bulldog’s A-9, but an ace turned and Kipfer was turned loose.
Habib, who last year had final table finishes at both the World Series and Tournament of Champions, started as a substantial chip leader with $112,900, but had rotten luck from the start. First, he had to abandon the pot when Bulldog re-raised him. Next, he was nailed by Gus Beaz when he tried to steal a pot with a 4-3 pre-flop. And on the next hand he was cut down to about $25,000 after losing a big pot to Beck. Hasan raised to $7,000 and Bulldog came over the top for $27,000 more. After staring at his opponent, looking for a tell, Hasan put him all in for $44,400 more with A-Q of spades. But Bulldog had pocket jacks and the board
brought no help. “Rebuy,” jokes Bulldog, the new chip leader with about $150,000. A few hands later, Hasan gets busted on a bad beat. Andy Tse, a stockbroker, makes it $10,000 to go with 10-7 of clubs, and Hasan moves in for $22,000 with K-10 of diamonds. The board comes 9-4-2-9-7, and the river seven busts the pro from Pakistan. Two hands later, Gus Beaz, a Miami stock trader born in Spain, moves all in for $16,000 on the 16th hand with K-Q. Seymour calls with pocket kings, and four players are gone in just 16 hands. It will take 29 more to knock out the fifth.
Meanwhile, with blinds raised to $2,000-$4,000, Beck still holds a small lead over his fellow car dealer, $140,000 to $128,000. But then Bulldog gets his leash tugged and loses a $110,000 pot to the stockbroker from Hong Kong when Tse makes a straight on the river. Hamid Mohammadi, a building engineer contractor, is next out. He moves in for $11,500 with A-6 and is called by John McQuillen, a retired dealer from Deadwood, South Dakota, turned stock trader. John has K-J and f lops a jack.
Four-handed, Seymour has built his stacks to $137,000. Andy has $108,000, Bulldog $79,000 and McQuillen $60,000. After only a half-hour of negotiations, they make a deal more or less on chip count and agree to play for $10,000 and the title. Soon after the limits rise to $3,000-$6,000 with a $1,500 ante, McQuillen is booted out. He puts himself in for about $30,000 holding A-4 of clubs. Bulldog sees the bet with A-8 of spades and wins by making aces and eights. The three finalists all have more than $100,000, with Andy the leader. But the stockbroker makes a bad investment when he raises to $20,000 and then calls Seymour’s all in bet of about $90,000. Andy has K-J of clubs and Seymour’s A-10 wins when a 10 flops. Andy’s portfolio finally becomes worthless when he pits his kings against Bulldog’s fours. He raises to $20,000, and then raises all in when Beck bets $20,000 on the flop. But a four turns, and Bulldog fills on the river to get heads-up with his fellow car guy.
Bulldog has a substanatial lead now, but drops down to $85,000 when he raises to $20,000 with A-9 of diamonds. Seymour comes over the top all in for $123,000 more with A-Q of clubs, and wins when the board comes all rags. Two hands later, Seymour has an unpromising 10-5, but makes trips on a flop of J-5-5. He checks the flop blind, but when Bulldog, with 8-2, bets $20,000 on a fourth street eight, he looks at his cards, puts his opponent all in, fills up with a river jack and the 36-year-old occasional tournament player locks up his first major win. —Max Shapiro
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