Yes Phil…Jim Pittman Can
Spell P-O-K-E-R!
The 2008 Winnin' o' the Green series event #15 $500 No Limit Hold'em got underway at 4:15pm and 91 players entered with about 40% electing to rebuy for another $500. The prize pool was $62,565 with $25,025 going to the winner. The final table was set at 10:45pm at Level 9 with a 100 ante and 400/800 blinds. The average chip stack was 32,000 with 40-minute rounds.
The first elimination occurred on hand #6 when Kirk Conrad raised all-in under the gun and was called by the big blind Eddie Yade. Kirk showed A-K and was in the classic race against Eddie's Q-Q. The board came K-J-3-10-7 and Kirk's pair of Kings won the pot. Eddie Yang finished in 10th place.
The next elimination occurred about 45 minutes later on hand #25. Kirk was involved when he called an all-in raise preflop against Randy Holland. Randy's pocket 6s were racing against Kirk's two overcards (A-9). The board was 7-4-4-J-9 and the river 9 ended Randy's tournament for the day. Randy Holland, a recent winner at the 2008 WOG and making his 3rd final table appearance, was out in 9th place and took home $1,250.
On hand #44 a key swing pot developed between three players. Jim Pittman, Fancisco Robles, and Lance Tahata all saw a flop of Q-3-2. Francisco bet out and Jim raised Lance out of the pot. An Ace fell on the turn and Jim pushed all-in with Francisco quickly called. Francisco had pocket 3s for a flopped set and Jim held 4-5 and turned a wheel. The river 9 kept Jim's straight on top and Francisco finished in 8th place and took home $1,565.
It took another hour before the next big confrontation when Keith Rogers raised preflop and Behzad Javadzadeh re-raised all-in for another 3,000. Keith made the easy call and showed the A-9. Behzad had 5-3 and the board came K-J-8-A-10. Keith's top pair beat out the Behzad who was playing the board. Behzad Javadzadeh finished in 7th place and earned $2,190.
Hand #81 Yizhaq Amar raising all-in for his last 12,500 from the small blind and getting called by Keith Rogers in the big blind. Yizhaq showed K-9 and Keith had A-9. The board was Q-Q-2-7-A and Keith had the lead the whole way. Yizhaq Amar, a contractor form West Hills, CA was out in 6th place and earned $2,815.
Hand #107 had the Lance Tahata on the button raising all-in with K-8. Kirk Conrad called from the big blind with pocket 9s. The board did nothing to improve either player's hand with 10-7-2-A-J and Kirk's 9's hold up. Lance Tahata, winner of event #10 just a few days ago, finished in 5th place and added $3,440 to his bankroll.
On the last hand of the event, Pogos Simityan and three other limping players saw a flop of A-5-4 rainbow. Pogos, first to act, pushed all-in and got called in two spots by Kirk Conrad and Jim Pittman while Keith Rogers got out of the way. The turn Jack and river 4 was checked down. Pogos had 3-6 for a busted open-ended draw and Jim Pittman showed A-7 for Aces-up. Kirk mucked his hand. Pogos Simityan finished in 4th place and pocketed a respectable $4,380.
With three players remaining, a chip count was evaluated with all players having fairly comparable chip stacks. With a brief discussion, the deal was unanimously accepted. Jim Pittman was the chip leader with 125,500 chips to Kirk Conrad's 116,000. Jim Pittman was declared the winner, awarded the trophy and collected his prize money. Kirk Conrad finished in 2nd place after playing some tough final table poker and Keith Rogers took 3rd place.
-- Jay 'Bugsy' Siegel
BIOGRAPHY
Jim Pittman is best known for his televised appearance at the 2005 WSOP Main Event. It was Phil Hellmuth, Jr. who got beat in a hand by Jim and Phil said to the other players 'This guy can't even spell poker.' That hand made Bluff Magazine's 'The Best of the Worst' list of televised meltdowns in poker. Jim has been player poker for 4 years and learned from his Uncle Bob. He is the owner of Pittman Products Int'l and holds patents on truckbed air mattress's. Jim win came from hand #44 where his wheel propelled him into the chip lead and he never looked back.
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