Steve Badger Plays to Win:
Mission Accomplished
The 2008 Winnin' o' the Green had 19 players pony up $1,070 for event #22 Omaha Hi-Lo. The field was small but distinguished including WSOP Bracelet holder Frankie O'dell, Miami John Cernuto, frequent final table and multiple event winner Mickey "Mouse" Mills, and 5-time Winnin o' the Green winner Steve Badger. The players that did decide to play were given a very generous 5,000 in chips and 45 minute rounds. This allowed for a lot of play and created a 10-hour tournament for at least 2 of the 19 players.
The anti-climatic final table was set at 9:30pm with 9 players but since only 3 were in the money, it was only a incremental victory. On hand #7 a quiet Eric Strasser, from Scottsdale, AZ, went out in 9th place. No details of the hand were available.
On hand #14 Mickey "Mouse" Mills, who arrived at the final table with only 1,400 chips, got it all-in with A-J-10-9 against Kelli Gast holding A-A-10-4. The board came 8-3-3-K-X and Kelli's Aces-up bested Mickey's pair on the board. Mickey, a gentleman always, congratulated everyone at the table and finished in 8th place.
Now that the short stacks were gone, there was a lot of play without any eliminations fort the next hour. On hand #33 David Doeh got it all-in against 2 players. David held 6c-7c-J-J while Tim Fu had 3-4-5-7 and Steve Badger showed Ah-Qh-K-8. The board was A-Q-8h-2h-3h and Steve's nut high flush won the high half of the pot while Tim's nut low 3-4 took the low. That left David without the nuts and he finished in 7th place.
On hand #42 Frankie O'dell, who had just taken a big hit to his stack, was all-in against Alan Mittelman. The details are missing but Alan made a straight and Frankie mucked his hand. Frankie O'dell finished in 6th place and I believe the table was relieved to now have one of the toughest players at the table against the rail.
A long 40+ hands later Kelli Gast, who has been nursing a short stack effectively for almost 2 hours, found herself in a familiar spot: all-in and called in multiple spots. Kelli held 2-4-7-9 and Alan Mittelman A-K-Q-5 while Stephen Ladowsky held 7-7-6-Q. The board was Q-10-7-9-2 Stephen hit a set of 7s for the high-only pot. Kelli, a DJ for KLOS radio here in Los Angeles, was eliminated in 5th place after a strong short stack run.
On hand #92 Stephen Ladowsky was all-in with Ac-Jc-2-4 against Steve Badger's A-2-7-K. The board came K-J-2-3-A. The flopped King gave Steve top two pair to edge out Stephen's top and middle pair. Neither player had a qualifying low. Steve Badger scooped the pot and Stephen Ladowsky finished on the money bubble in 4th place.
Three handed play lasted only 10 hands when Tim Fu got it all-in with a respectable A-2-5-6 against Steve Badger's A-2-K-Q. The board was K-10-8-5-J and Steve's nut straight scooped the pot as no low was possible. Again, Steve shared an A-2 with his opponent and scooped both pots by capturing the high with no low.
Heads-up play began with a 55%/45% chip stack ratio between Steve Badger's chip lead and Alan Mittelman. The negotiations were made and Steve Badger was declared the winner and Alan Mittelman earned the nickname "Always a Bridesmaid" since he has taken 2nd place so many times and never earned a title.
-- Jay "Bugsy" Siegel
BIOGRAPHY
Steve Badger won his 5th Winning o' the Green Omaha title since its inception in 1994. This was his first tournament that he played this year and he anticipates the next tournament he enters will be the $10K WSOP Omaha this summer. Steve does not like multi-day tournaments and that keeps him limited to a few tournaments per year and he bites the bullet on the WSOP event. Steve stays very busy with his website: www.playwinningpoker.com . It is a must read for any Omaha player and it is full of valuable info on many aspects of poker. Steve felt that even though it was a small field it was a difficult one due to the talent that showed up. He was playing to win and was not backing down to any deal or play that would prevent him from playing for the win. Steve had his protégé Shirley Rosario sweating him for the final table. Shirley plays a similar style to Steve and they both put a lot of pressure on their opponents which adds to the discomfort of players who are not used to playing at such an aggressive level. Steve enjoys playing at The Bike and is very pleased with the structure of tonight's tournaments and thanks the staff for making him feel welcome and comfortable every time.
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