Adam Lippert Beats Friend Heads-Up
To Win Circuit Event 5, $300 No-Limit
The Two Pro Players Have Fun
Teasing Each Other at Final Table
Elizabeth, IN — Brooklyn boy Adam 'Lippy' Lippert was a substitute teacher until he chopped a tournament at Borgata two years ago and decided to turn pro. Along the way he met and became good friends with Andrew Kloc, another full-time player who also shares Lippert's enthusiasm for fantasy sports. Tonight their fantasy came true as they ended up as the two finalists in the fifth event of the WSOP Circuit tour at Caesars Indiana, $300 no-limit hold'em.
True, it wasn't much of a match-up because Lippert, who had dominated the table, enjoyed better than a 7-1 chip lead, and the contest lasted only two hands. But they had plenty of fun at the final table, good-naturedly ribbing each other constantly. When the match ended, Kloc, in mock anger, scattered Lippert's stacks of chips all over the table. (On his bio sheet, Lippert had written that he learned poker from Kloc.)
Lippert is 27 and married. His two biggest cashes were $35,418 and $38,948 for seconds at the Borgata Winter Open and the Foxwoods Poker Classic. He describes himself as a solid player who switches his game around. Asked to sum up the evening, he said, 'Happiness is beating Andrew.' He was also happy to win $32,864 and a $5,000 seat into the main event here.
This was a very bang-bang final table. It took only 18 hands to lose our first five players, and 28 more to the finish. The table started with blinds of 4,000-8,000 with 500 antes and 21:27 left on the clock. It was a virtual photo finish for the chip lead. E. Craig Fields had 110,000; Bryan Dillon 108,000; Keith Maranville, 105,000; and Kloc, 104,000. Lippert was lowest with 34,000.
Here were the starting chip counts:
SEAT 1 Daniel Phelps 79,000
SEAT 2 Wade Woelfel 74,000
SEAT 3 Andrew Kloc 104,000
SEAT 4 E. Craig Fields 110,000
SEAT 5 Adam Lippert 34,000
SEAT 6 Greg Lester 94,000
SEAT 7 Bryan Dillon 108,000
SEAT 8 Andy Alina 47,000
SEAT 9 Keith Maranville 105,000
The first player departed after six hands. Kloc moved in with pocket 9s and Wade 'Soggy' Woelfel called with A-8. The best he could do was pair his 8, and he collected $2,120 for ninth.
Woelfel is a 23-year-old pro from Mankato, Minnesota who's been playing seven years. He's played about five Circuits, learned poker from friends in high school, and his other hobbies are fishing and 'hanging out.' Ninth paid $2,120.
Two hands later, Dillon had 6-2 in the big blind and flopped a straight. Slow-playing, he checked and let Greg Lester bet and then put himself in. At the showdown, Lester mucked his hand and went off to collect $3,180 for eighth.
Lester, 30, is from Hanover, West Virginia. He is self-employed in the trucking business, married with one child, taught himself poker four years ago, and also enjoys golf. His prior poker highlight was a final table in a Denny Crum $300 event.
The key hand of the night came on the 11th deal. On a flop of Q-9-6, Lippert, holding 9d-6d, bet 25,000 on his two pair, Dillon, with Qs-Js, moved in on his paired queen, and Daniel Phelps, holding J-8 for an inside straight draw, decided to also call all in. A deuce and king changed nothing, Lippert tripled up and took the lead while Phelps went out seventh, which paid $4,240.
Phelps, 32, is from Economy, Indiana where he is in network administration. Nicknamed 'Cincinnati Don,' he is married with two children has played poker seven years, and had a prior cash in a Circuit event here last March.
Four hands later, Fields moved in for 30,000 with A-8. 'You got me,' he said as Lippert called. He was right. Lippert had A-10, and the board changed nothing, as Lippert increased his lead to about 350,000.
Fields, 40, is an executive from Cincinnati who is married with two children. He's been playing poker less than a year, and now plays once a month. This his second Circuit event, and he cashed in his first one three days ago. His other interest is soccer. Sixth paid $5,301.
Blinds went to 6,000-12,000 wth 2,000 antes. Dillon, left with 22,000 when His A-9 got beat by Maranville's A-J, went out on the next hand. He pushed in with 10-7 and turned a 10, but was way behind Alina, who had pocket queens and made a set on the river.
Dillon, 52, is a lawyer from Prospect, Kentucky. He's been a player 41 years, enjoys bicycling and hiking, and cashed 192nd in the WSOP main event in 2004, and 12th in the first Paradise Masters. He got into this event via satellite and has entered a dozen Circuits. He got $6,361 for fifth.
As play continued, Kloc and Lippert kept up their banter. Kloc raised 22,000 pre-flop, then bet 40,000 on a flop of A-K-4, folding when Lippert moved in. 'Unbelievable," Kloc groused. I give him walk after walk, and when I raise one time…' He had another 'unbelievable' a hand later when he had Lippert dominated, A-K to A-10, only to have to chop when the board came J-9-9-5-5.
Continuing his streak, Lippert then knocked out another player. He called with Ad-3s after Maranville bet his last 26,000 with K-2. A deuce flopped, but then a fourth diamond on the river gave Lippert a flush.
Maranville, 38, is from Sevierville, Tennessee, is married with one child and has played for 22 years. Fourth paid $7,421
Down to 45,000, Kloc predicted a comeback, and began to make his prediction come true. First he doubled through against his friend. He had Q-9 to Lippert's A-2. Lippert paired his ace but Kloc caught two ladies. Then he made a couple of uncalled all-in bets and began moving up. But right after blinds went to 8,000-16,000 with 2,000 antes, his hopes faded.
On hand 44, he opened for 45,000 with pocket 9s, only to see Andy Alina move in for 114,000 with K-J and Lippert then call with K-Q. Kloc also called, leaving him with 50,000. The pot was checked down as the board came 10-7-4-Q-2. Lippert won with his paired queen and now the two pals were heads-up.
Alina, 33, originally from the Philippines, now lives in Hernando, Mississippi, and has been playing 10 years. At Grand Casino Tunica he has a second and a third in $1,000 H.O.R..S.E Circuit events, and earned $106,161 for winning a $1,500 no-limit tournament there. Tonight his third-place finish paid $8,481.
Lippert now offered a deal but Kloc said 'Let's play.' Two hands later he was all n with 10h-6h. Lippert had Ah-Qc. A board of A K-8-7-J-10 gave him a straight to break his friend...but not their friendship. In any event, Kloc got a very decent consolation prize of $16,962 for second place.
Kloc, from Naugatuck, Connecticut, is 36, unmarried, and has been playing for six years. He learned by playing and reading. His poker highlights include making back-to-back final tables both here and at the Venetian in Las Vegas during the WSOP. —Max Shapiro.
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