Dan Kaesser Plays Limit Hold’em By
Mistake, But Still Manages to Win it!
Las Vegas, NV--Dan "Danny K" Kaesser, a resident of Las Vegas, was the winner of event three of the WSOP Circuit tour at Caesars Palace, $500 limit hold'em. Interviewed afterwards, he said he was a no-limit specialist. Asked why he then played in a limit event, he sheepishly admitted that he didn't realize it was limit when he sat down, and didn't find out until he tried to make a raise that was more than the set amount. Nonetheless, he still went on to win the event, which was worth $14,143 and a striking diamond and gold trophy ring (though the ring actually went to runner-up Ronnie "Mr. Belicoso" Nesheiwat after a heads-up deal).
Kaesser said he wasn't as confident as he would be playing no-limit, but just tried to play pots where he felt he had the best hand. Normally, he plays no-limit cash games, $5-$10 and higher.
Kaesser had a run of bad luck in this event, but then began to win some pots and was second in chips when the final table got underway. Kaesser is 35 and has been a pro for five years. Before that, he was a bartender in a high-end bar in Denver. Last month he had a six-way chop in a Wynn Classic event, winning an official $7,530 for sixth. Kaesser has two children and "a hot wife."
We got down to the final table of nine on day one. Instead of having the players return the next day, action continued until the 2 a.m. cut-off, by which time three players had been knocked out. Late in the evening, Scott Silverman was down to one 500-value chip, and wasn't keen on coming back the next day so very short-stacked. Remarkably, he hung on, recovered, and outlasted three players who got knocked out in the next half-hour. He would eventually last all the way to fourth place.
When the final table started, Nesheiwat had the lead with 129,500 chips.
Here were the starting chip counts:
Seat 1. Theodore McCollom Jr. 15,000
Seat 2. Michael Lena 21,500
Seat 3. Ronnie Nesheiwat 129,500
Seat 4. Corey Edelman 74,500
Seat 5. Scott Silverman 8,000
Seat 6. Danny Kaesser 82,000
Seat 7. Jimmy Fricke 21,000
Seat 8. Erhart Edquist 25,000
Seat 9. Chris Winchester 11,000
First to go on day one was Theodore McCollum, who collected $1,179 for ninth. McCollum, 52, from Seabrook, Texas, is in land development. His cashes include a third in the New Orleans Bayou Classic, an 18th in a New Orleans Circuit event, and 13th in the Wynn Classic this year.
Next out was Michael Lena. He was all in against Corey Edelman, who had pocket aces. Lena flopped a straight, but Edelman, the second woman to make a final table thus far, hit a full house on the river. For eighth, Lena collected $1,571. Leno, 35, is a poker pro from Indio, California. His tournament highlight was finishing sixth in a $2,000 event at the Wynn Classic this year.
Finishing seventh was Erhart "David" Edquist, taking home $1,964. He had pocket 10s and ended up losing to a full house. Edquist is from San Diego, California.
The six finalists returned at 2 p.m. the next day. (As did the 11 remaining players from the $1,000 no-limit event that also began the day before.)
Play began with 1,500-3,000 blinds and 3,000-6,000 limits. Chris Winchester, a 31-year-old correction officer from Vegas, was first to go. He was all in with Q-2 on a flop of Q-K-7. Edelman had pocket aces, and Winchester couldn't improve, finishing sixth and cashing for $2,357.
Meanwhile, Silverman, continuing his remarkable recovery, was dealt pocket aces and doubled up against Nesheiwat, who had Jc-6c. Later, a short-stacked Jimmy Fricke picked up some chips by outdrawing Kaesser. He had K-6 to Kaesser's A-10, winning when a 6 flopped. But not long afterwards Fricke was all in, this time with K-2, and had two callers, Nesheiwat and Edelman. Holding A-J, Edelman bet into a flop of 7-8-3, and Nesheiwat called. A deuce turned and then a river ace locked it up for Edelman. Finishing fifth, Fricke picked up $2,750. Fricke, nicknamed "Gobboboy," is a poker player from Mahomet, Illinois, who turned 21 just three days ago. He came in second in the Aussie Millions last year, winning $795,279..
Next, Silverman was left with one chip when a player with a winning hand thought he was all in and failed to bet the river. It didn't do Silverman much good, though. Right after that gift, he was up against Kaesser. Silverman was the favorite with A-4 versus 9-8. But when the board came 8-6-2-10-10, the paired 8 beat him, and Silverman cashed $3,143 for fourth. Silverman, 59, is a retiree from Lone Pine, California. He has a pretty interesting resume, holding prior jobs as a carpenter, salmon fisherman, roughneck, RN and now poker player. He has a long list of cashes, the largest being $25.000 for winning a $300 limit Oktoberfest event at the Bicycle Casino back in 1993.
Blinds now became 2,000-4,000 with limits of 4,000-8,000. As play continued, Nesheiwat got short-chipped after losing a hand to Edelman. She started with A-4, flopped an ace and hit a 4 on the river, and he mucked, down to 23,000. But he immediately began a recovery, doubling through by making two pair, eventually surviving all-in situations four times.
Now it was Edelman who started to fade. On her final hand, she put in her last chips from the button with Qs-8h. Nesheiwat called with K-9, winning when the board came 2-10-K-3-5. Third place paid $4,321. Edelman, 33, is from Las Vegas.
Heads-up, Kaesser had 255,000 chips, while Nesheiwat had 71,000. But Nesheiwat proved very hard to put away, as he continued to survive all-in situations. Then, he got spectacularly lucky on one hand. He had J-10. Kaesser, with A-J, flopped top two when the board came A-J-9. Virtually dead, Nesheiwat turned a 10 and hit another 10 on the river!
But that was his high-water mark. On the final hand, Nesheiwat, holding 10h-9s, bet his last chips into a board of 7c-Jc-6d-4s. He was behind, because Kaesser, with 8s-7h, had flopped a pair, and a Jh on the river failed to help Nesheiwat. For finishing second, he made $7,857. Nesheiwat, 32, is a business owner/poker pro from Tinley Park, Illinois.
He has cashes in a Heartland of Poker event at the Majestic Star Casino and the Hustler Casino in Gardena, California.
--Max Shapiro
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