| Vol XII, No. 14 Wednesday, March 14, 2001
Diana Wins Employee Event!
A lot of dealers and other casino employees got a taste of life on the other side of the table when the Bicycle Casino hosted its first-ever All-World Casino employees Open Tournament. This was the 14th and final event of the 12th annual Winnin’ o’ the Green. The small buy-in tournament proved to be rollicking good fun for everyone, and tournament director Denny Williams (who himself finished a respectable if unspectacular19th) said that in all likelihood it will be repeated next year.
Diana Sanchez, who works surveillance for the Bicycle Casino, started out as a big chip leader at the last table, and then went on to win the no-limit event. It was the first time she had ever played “no limit anything,” and in fact she was a last-minute replacement when her boss, Jerry Jackway, asked her to step in for him. Bike employees made up more than half the entrants, with smaller contingents from Hawaiian Gardens, Hollywood Park and Crystal Park Casino. Also represented were Binion’s Horseshoe, Commerce, Crystal Park, Garden City, Normandie and Sam’s Town casinos.
Six of the nine finalists were from this casino, and Bike employees also ended up finishing one-two-three.in the final standings. Another Bicycle Casino employee, Ronnie Taylor, a dealer and relief dealer coordinator, finished tenth when her Q-9 was beaten by K-Q.
Blinds at the final table started at $1,000 and $2,000. It took only 18 hands to play everything out. There was action to spare among these recreational players, who did not hesitate to move in or call with all their chips in an eye-blink.
On the first hand, West Watkins went all in for $8,900 against Hollywood Park dealer Gilbert Ortiz, who had more chips and a better hand –- K-J against West’s K-7. But a seven on the turn rescued the Bicycle Casino dealer/relief dealer coordinator. On the next hand, though, he gave back the chips he had won to fellow Bike poker dealer Fu Liu, who started with J-8 of spades and made a straight.
Hand four was the last for Nick Seng, a Cambodian-born dealer at Hawaiian Gardens. After Bike dealer Gerard Bourdeau moved in for $8,300, Seng called with his shorter stack. He was a big dog with A-4 against Bourdeau’s A-J, and was virtually drawing dead when the flop came A-J-8.
Two players were knocked out at once on the eighth hand, as four players shoved in all their chips. Sea Kry, a Bike dealer also from Cambodia, had 10-5. Bourdeau had A-9. Gilbert Ortiz, a Hollywood Park dealer, had A-5. And bike dealer Fu Liu had K-J. A board of 10-9-6-10-7 was dealt out. After all the sorting out was done, Bordeau got the main pot, Kry got the side pot, and Ortiz and Liu got to go home.
A hand later, another double-header came up. This time, Kry moved in with J-8. West called with K-T and Sanchez, who had the most chips, called with J-10. She ended up with a straight, and Kry and West both went south.
A bit later, Sanchez had Juan Gomez all in. Gomez, a Mexican-born dealer at the Bike, had Q-J to Sanchez’ A-Q, but they split when the board gave them both a queen-high straight.
With blinds now at $5,000 and $10,000 and $1,000 antes, Rith Seng, a Hollywood Park dealer, goes all in for about $4,000. Bourdeau, who says he likes to play hold’em and pineapple side games as often as possible, pushes in all his chips. Then Sanchez, with the most chips of all, joins the pot. Seng has Q-3 of diamonds, Bordeaux has K-9 of spades, and Sanchez trails with just J-9. But her luck holds up as the board comes J-2-6-6-6 to give her a full house and knock out two more players. With two left, she and Gomez, who rarely plays poker, agree on a deal, and the no-limit novice is declared champion of the first employee’s event.
With another Winnin’ o’ the Green in the books, Williams declared it a success and noted that a number of events drew increased entrants over last year.
--Max Shapiro
BIOGRAPHY
Diana Sanchez, a resident of Whittier, has worked in surveillance at the Bicycle Casino for a year. Before that, she spent four years at Hollywood Park dealing and at the tournament desk. She changed positions because she wanted more of a quiet job, and dealing had gotten “old” for her. Her job is to pull out tapes at any of the Bicycle Casino’s 500 cameras whenever any problem arises.
Sanchez says she plays a little 7-card stud in an occasional side game. She was familiar with hold’em because of her dealing experiences, but hadn’t any idea how to deal with no-limit once her boss asked her to play. “I just caught on as I went along,” she said, and I got braver at the end.” She also got good hands and good board cards when she most needed them, she added. “And the tournament was lots of fun.”
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