Oceanside Dealer Allen Wins!
Richard Allen, a poker dealer at Ocean’s Eleven, says he isn’t confident in a tournament unless he’s short-chipped halfway through. A peculiar strategy, perhaps, but it seems to work for him, because he short-chipped his way to victory in event number 12 of Winnin’ o’ the Green, Omaha hi-lo.
He got a big assist from Di Quach, who F-worded himself into a devastating 10-minute penalty with three players left. Quach had $22,500 when he was asked to step outside, and only $7,500 when he returned after three rounds. When he busted out in third place a few hands later, Allen and runner-up Bob Schwartz, a computer consultant and bridge enthusiast, were almost even in chips, and they chopped it.
It took a long time for the tenth player to get eliminated, but Jesse Knight finally left when no low came for his A-2 and Schwartz made a flush. At the final table, limits went to $2,000-$4,000 on the second hand. Through the first 14 hands, every player except Allen Cunningham and Sirous Baghchehsaraie took his turn going all in and escaping by splitting or scooping. On hand 15, Sirous found himself in the big blind, all in with only J-6-2-2 going for him, and got blown away when Schwartz, holding A-A-K-K, caught a third bullet on the river.
Meanwhile, Badger had been barely holding on. The first hand he played was the 11th , when he went all in with A-2-3-5, made a wheel and got quartered Right after Sirous departed, the celebrated Omaha specialist risked his last chips again with A-2-8-J. Mike Woo had 5-6-9-Q. A board of A-Q-7-3-4 gave Woo a straight and a better low after the ace counterfeited Badger.
Right after limits jumped to $3,000-$6,000, Cunningham was in the big blind with 10-9-7-4. Quach raised with A-3-8-J and Cunningham added his last $1,100. A board of K-J-5-5-6 missed him completely and the quiet young pro from Bloomington, California, quietly left. Woo, a realtor who said his greatest poker accomplishment was winning an Omaha tournament at Commerce by beating Max Shapiro, by now was down to $5,100. He, too, found himself in the big blind and called all in when Schwartz raised with A-A-4-8. The aces stood up, and so did Mike.
Paul Honas, who finished fifth in stud hi-lo the night before, lasted until hand 28. Schwartz, holding A-4-6-8, hit a surprise full house on a flop of 4-4-8. He bet $6,000 when a seven turned, and Honas, holding a 2-3 for the low, called. But a three on the river counterfeited him and gave Schwartz a better low. A cruel game, Omaha.
Moments later, Quach got into an argument with another player over the strategy and etiquette of betting or checking down a hand with another player all in. Quach hotly blurted out the forbidden word, and the hammer came down on him as the next hand started. In that hand, Tony Jennings was trapped in the small blind for his last $2,100 with K-9-8-4. Schwartz had A-2-5-J, Quach had 3-5-10-J and Allen had 10-10-A-K. The board came 7-7-8-2-A. Jennings busted out, but moved to within six points of Justin Westmoreland in the points pay-out race. Quach, with the best low, earned a split before he split.
Returning, Quach lasted only a few hands. With the board showing K-Q-4-5, he bet his last $5,200 with a queen and an inside straight draw. Both opponents called. Schwartz, with K-5-6-2, held two pair, and a cowboy on the end filled him and finished Quach. The two finalists then agreed to call it a night, and Allen, with a few chips more, was declared the winner. –Max Shapiro
BIOGRAPHY
Richard Allen, 59, has dealt poker at the Mirage, Stardust, Golden Nugget, Casino Morongo, Elsinore and now at Ocean’s Eleven. A poker player for 40 years, he got his start playing no-limit 7-card stud home games in his home town of Detroit. His game of choice now is Omaha, and he prefers tournaments to side games because he found he was playing too long in live action games and losing his concentration.
Tonight he was short-chipped all the way to the last two tables, which is just the way he likes it. It seems that whenever he has a cash-out, it always comes after he got low early on. “No matter how hard I try, I can’t get seem to get chips in the first half. That’s the way my luck runs,” he says. “But I don’t care. Winning chips at the low limits is just an ego-builder, anyway.”
CHIP POSITION · FINAL TABLE
Paul Honas $6,400
Sirous Baghchehsaraie $4,700
Alan Cunningham $20,700
Mike Woo $9,100
Bob Schwartz $15,700
Tony Jennings $16,900
Di Quach $9,700
Richard Allen $17,200
Steve Badger $12,100
ALL-AROUND PAY-OFF POINTS
Name Total
1. Justin Westmoreland 112
2. Tony Jennings 106
3. Men Nguyen 99
4. Pat Enos 86
5 Di Quach 81
6. Sinh Quach 75
7. Khang Pham 73
8. Del Cabot 70
9. Paul Honas 68
10 Sirous Baghchehsar 65
11 John Inashima 65
1 Ken Davis 63
1 Art Kern 61
1 Richard Radford 59
15 Mario Esquerra 59
1 Lich Bui 59
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