ATM Guy Mike Ratcliff Withdraws 38K
By Winning Horseshoe Circuit Event #7
Elizabeth, IN--Mike Ratcliff is a busy man these days. He owns a company
that refurbishes ATM machines, particularly when a bank changes hands. With
the current financial turmoil and a giant bank like Washington Mutual being
taken over by Chase, he has a lot of refurbishing to do and will be flying to
California soon. But first there's poker business to take care of, and tonight
he made a big withdrawal, not from an ATM but from the prize pool in event #7
of the WSOP Circuit tour at Horseshoe Southern Indiana, $300 no-limit hold'em.
Finishing first, he collected $38,351, along with a $5,150 championship event
seat and a gold trophy ring. He did it by knocking out three short-stacks in
early action after nine were left. That gave him the chip lead, and he held
it, or was close to it, until the finish.
Ratcliff, 53, is from Martinsville, Indiana and learned poker from his father
35 years ago. His biggest prior cash came from winning a $500 Denny Crum Poker
Open event here, then cashing some more in the main event. Ratcliff plays cash
games but prefers tournaments because there's a better mix of players. And he
likes no-limit because he can get players with mediocre holdings off their hands
before they can suck out on him. He said he generally plays conservatively,
but can be aggressive when needed, especially with good position. Ratcliff has
played between five and eight Circuits. He's married with two children, and
also likes to fish.
This event attracted a strong turnout of 457 players who created a prize pool
of $137,100. It was after 2 p.m. when this tournament got down to 10 players.
At that point there were 28 minutes left at level 17, with blinds of 8,000-16,000.
Well in front at that point with 580,000 chips was Beau Moore.
Here were the starting chip counts:
Seat 1. Christopher East 301,000
Seat 2. James McKinney 170,000
Seat 3. Charlie Williams 113,000
Seat 4. Frank Spaulding 294,000
Seat 5. Ian Gillespie 380,000
Seat 6. Michael Ray 330,000
Seat 7. Steve Lotshaw 150,000
Seat 8. Mike Ratcliff 390,000
Seat 9. Randall Cox 340,000
Seat 10.Beau Moore 580,000
Frank Spaulding started just a little below average with 294,000, but took
some hits and was all in with K-2 after a cowboy flopped. He was up against
a better king, Steve Lotshaw's K-Q, and went broke after the board showed K-10-7-10-9.
Spaulding, 36, is a serial entrepreneur from Chicago and is married with three
children. He's been playing five years and this is his fourth Circuit. He also
likes video games. Tenth paid him $1,406.
At 3 a.m. the nine remaining players agreed to pack it in and return the next
day, now playing with blinds of 10,000-20,000 and antes of 3,000.The round ended
with all nine left after two all-in players, Randall Cox with 10d-9d and Charlie
Williams with Kd-10d, both outran opponents holding an ace. Cox survived with
a flush, Williams by hitting a 10 on the river.
We finally lost a player when a short-chipped Lotshaw, frustrated when he
couldn't even see a face card, was all in from the small blind with just 4-2.
He was covered by Ratcliff, in the big blind with 9-4. Lotshaw finished ninth,
worth $2,557, after the board came 9-4-3-10-7. Lotshaw, 57, is a former United
States Auto Club National Driving Champion. A resident of Brownsburg, Tennessee,
he has been playing poker since he was a kid. He's played five or six Circuits,
and has a prior final table to his credit here. Lotshaw, married, is self-employed.
Just before the level ended, another player went out. Randall Cox, in the
small blind, pushed in his last 100,000 with A-Q, and got a button call from
Ratcliff, who had Kc-4c. The board was Q-Q-2-10-9 with three clubs, giving Ratcliff
a flush as Cox took home $3,835 for eighth.
Cox, 52, is from Springfield, Kentucky and has a trucking company. He learned
poker from friends 25 years ago. This is his second Circuit. Cox is married
with two children, and also golfs.
Players returned from a break to blinds of 15,000-30,000 with 4,000 antes,
and suddenly action speeded up, with five players going out before the next
level. A few minutes into the round, Charlie Williams ended seventh. He was
all in with A-8 in the small blind against Ian Gillespie, who had Kh-Jd. Four
hearts hit when the board showed Qh-10h-6s-9h-6h giving Gillespie a flush. Finishing
seventh, Williams was paid $5,113.
Williams, nicknamed "Daddy-O,", 49, is a "land developer/pirate"
from Indian Lake, Ohio who learned poker from friends, TV and books a little
over two years ago. This is his fifth Circuit, and he's won some local tournaments.
He has one child and likes Harleys and scuba diving.
Soon after, Michael Ray moved in for 131,000 with Ad-10h, and Ratcliff pushed
in his much bigger stacks with pocket kings to shut out the competition. Q-10-9-5-10
came, and Ray cashed sixth for $4,793. Ray, 50, is from Indianapolis, in sales
and is looking for a wealthy poker-type girlfriend. He started poker playing
with friends and family 35 years ago. He has one child and likes to walk and
hike.
In earlier action, Christopher East had taken a big hit when he ran into pocket
aces, and was down to about 70,000 with seven players left. Doubling through
a couple of times and winning more pots, he now had a lot of chips. Then he
doubled up again against Ratcliff and proceeded to knock out Moore and take
the lead. Moore, the starting leader but now low in chips, moved in with A-7.
East called with A-10 and, his bigger ace won.after the board cards came A-5-2-3-Q.
Moore picked up $7,670 in fifth place. He lives in Lexington, Kentucky, works
in delivery and leaned poker 20 years ago on a school bus. This is his first
Circuit and his poker highlight. He has one child.
Right after that, Ian Gillespie called all in with A-9 after East bet his
pocket kings. All rags hit, and Gillespie cashed fourth for $8,949. Gillespie,
25, from Covington, Kentucky, is a commercial window cleaner who has been playing
poker four years. He has one child.
After blinds became 20,000-40,000 with 5,000 antes, the key hand of the night
came down. On a flop of Qc-7c-6s, Ratcliff, holding Q-7 in the big blind, bet
100,000 on his two pair. East, with pocket kings, made it 300,000 to go from
the button, and Ratcliff moved in. An ace and 4 didn't change anything, and
a huge pile was pushed to Ratcliff. He now had nearly 2 million to around 550,000
for James "Angry Jim" McKinney and less than 150,000 for East.
However, it was McKinney who was next out. He called with pocket 9s after
Ratcliff moved in with K-J. McKinney was alive until a king rivered, and departed
third, which paid $10,227. McKinney, 32, formerly an investor, is now self-employed
and lives in Cincinnati. He began playing five years ago and has entered 17
Circuits. He is married with two children, and his other hobby is working out.
Heads-up, Ratcliff, with over 2.4 million to East's 300,000, enjoyed an 8-1
advantage. But East proved tough to put away, pairing his ace a couple of times
to stay alive. On the 14th hand, he pushed in with another ace, holding As-6c.
Ratcliff called with 10h-Jd, and this time beat the ace when the board came
Kc-Jh-5d-5c-2h and East went south..
Finishing second, East settled for $20,582. East, whose nickname is "Mouffsmack"
is 30, self-employed, and lives in Spanishburg, West Virginia. He learned the
game five years ago from the "Perry Simpson Poker School, and this is his
third Circuit. His poker high point was finishing 58th in a $1,500 Circuit event
last year. East is married with two children.
--Max Shapiro
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