Dave Kopacz Wins #9 After Wife
Makes Him Trade Slots for Poker
Elizabeth, IN - Up until two years ago, David Kopacz only played slots and knew nothing about poker, while his wife Stacy was an accomplished player who finished 10th in a Circuit main event here last year. Then, trying to pry him away from the machines, she paid to have them both attend Camp Hellmuth poker boot camp. Still, until now, Kopacz's most striking poker achievement was finishing on the bubble twice in a row in Circuit main events at New Orleans and Tunica. But her prodding paid off tonight when he came in first in the ninth event of the WSOP Circuit tour at Horseshoe Southern Indiana, $1,000 no-limit poker. It was the final preliminary event before the three-day championship contest starts.
No matter how he finished, he still would have taken home the most money, along with a gold ring and $5,150 seat into the main event, after an unofficial four-way deal was made when he had more than half the chips. But he won the event outright, and his official cash was $53,330. Still, Kopacz hasn't given up slots entirely. In fact, last week he hit a $90,000 jackpot at Harrah's Metropolis, so he planned to pay for his and Stacy's entry in the main event here as a birthday present for her.
Kopacz said he didn't master much strategy at Camp Hellmuth since he was a beginner and it was hard to grasp everything that was said, and feels he still plays perhaps more tightly than he should.. But he did pick up a lot of tell info from instructor Joe Navarro at the camp, and that helped him a lot. "Joe said I was his best student," he noted. His other poker strong point is being good at math, but he acknowledges that his wife is a "far better player" than he is. He also has a fourth-place in a Rincon event.
Kopacz, 48, is from Hopkinsville, Kentucky where he is the chief technology officer of a web hosting firm. His main hobby is amateur radio, and in 2004 he was named the amateur radio operator of the year. He also sponsors a program to fly low-income children interested in amateur radio to an annual event in Jamaica. He has them write essays and then picks the best one for an all-expense-paid trip. He's taken kids from places like Portugal, Argentina and Italy as well as the U.S. thus far.
With nine players left at 2 a.m., the field voted to play through rather than return the next day. There were 48 minutes left on the clock, with blinds of 3,000-6,000, and 500 antes. Chip leader with 311,000, was James Ruszkiewicz, closely followed by Matt Shepsky with 300,000.
Here were the starting chip counts:
Seat 1. Nick Blackburn 191,500
Seat 2. Troy Weber 187,000
Seat 3. James Ruszkiewicz 311,500
Seat 4. Kerry Rowden 134,500
Seat 5 .Steve Russell 22,500
Seat 6. Harold Dennis 109,500
Seat 7. Matt Shepsky 300,000
Seat 8. Bryan Sapp 68,000
Seat 9. David Kopacz 231,000
Low man with 33,500 was Steve Russell, and he immediately left when he was all in with pocket 8s against Ruszkiewicz's Q-10, and lost the coin-flip when the board came K-K-Q-64. Ninth paid $3,292. Russell, 50, is from Coolsville, Ohio and has a contracting business. He's been playing poker 35 years and this is his 10th Circuit.
Bryan Sapp, making his second final table appearance here, began second-lowest with 68,000.
Matt Shepsky put him all in by raising with Q-10. Sapp, with A-3, was outdrawn when a queen hit, and finished eighth, worth $4,938. Sapp is 26, from Louisville, and divides his time between real estate and poker. He's been playing four years, has entered 20 Circuits, and has $800,000 in tournament cashes thus far. In an earlier $1,000 event here he officially finished third for $16,000, though he made an unofficial deal for nearly twice as much. Last year he chopped the main event here for $117,000.
Harold Dennis then had a lucky escape. He bet 100,000 when the board showed A-K-9-10, and then Shepsky raised him all in. "Nice hand," Dennis said when Shepsky turned up A-Q to his A-J. But then another 10 on the river got Dennis a split. Blinds moved up to 4,000-8,000 with 1,000 antes. A few hands into this level, Kerry Rowden pushed in for 96,000 holding 6-3. Shepsky, who had been giving the most action, called and beat him with K-J. Rowden later later explained that he had been completely card dead and decided he would try an all-in move the next time he was in the big blind.
Kerry, 43, is an attorney from Iberia, MO. He taught himself poker four years ago and won a $700 event at the Tunica Circuit earlier this year. Tonight he took home $6,584 for seventh
As play progressed, Kopacz took a big bite out of Ruszkiewicz's chips with pocket aces against As-10s. A few hands later, Roszkiewitz raised to 40,000, Kopacz re-raised and Ruszkiewicz moved in. It was a repeat: A-K for Ruszkiewicz, pocket aces again for Kopacz. The board came 9-8-8-9-J, and Ruszkiewicz, finishing sixth, pocketed $8,230. Ruszkiewicz, 27, owns a business in Mukwonago, WI. and has been playing four years.
Next out was Dennis. Holding pocket 5s, he moved in for 47,000 on a flop of 7-7-2, and got called by Shepsky with A-6. When a 6 turned, that did it. Dennis, 34, lives in Nicholasville, Kentucky and is self-employed in commercial construction. He learned poker six years ago from friends, has entered five Circuits, and this is his first final table. For finishing fifth, he won $9,876.
As the round neared an end, Kopacz, holding Q-J, took two bets of 100,000 from Shepsky by betting into a board of J-7-2-3 and then the river when another deuce hit. Shepsky mucked without showing, and suddenly Kopacz had a big lead of about 800,000 of the 1.575 million chips in play; As the round ended, the four players made a deal, with Kopacz getting the most money, the trophy ring and main event buy-in. But since Harrah's does not recognize deals, for the purpose of this report, whoever ended up with all the chips would be declared the winner and interviewed.
Blinds now went to 6,000-12,000 with 2,000 antes. On the first deal, Nick Blackburn pushed in his last chips with pocket 7s. Shepsky called with pocket queens and made a set when the board came A-3-2-J-Q. as Blackburn officially cashed fourth for $13,168. Blackburn, nicknamed "Rocky," lives in Longbottom, Ohio and is retired. He learned poker 30 years ago.
As play progressed, Shepsky took over the lead after moving in with A-2 and beating Kopacz, who called with 10-8. After extended play, with Kopacz now back in the leading after Shepsky folded a big pot, it was nearing 6 a.m. It got down to two after Troy Weber moved in with pocket deuces. Kopacz made the obligatory call with Kc-10c and caught two 10s. Third place paid $16,460. Weber, 37, lives in West Terre Haute, Indiana and is in the industrial distribution business. He's been playing 20 years and his prior cashes included a chop in a $300 Circuit event in Tunica and a sixth in the Midwest Regional Championship.
With the money already decided, Kopacz and Shepsky decided to call it a night, but first had to play a show hand to make things legal. Shepsky moved in. The board came A-9-5-7-10. Kopacz turned up Js-7s, and Shepsky mucked without showing.
For second, Shepsky got an official $27,982. He is 25, a former student turned pro, and lives in Skokie, Illinois. He learned poker in 25-50 cent home games two years ago and has several tournament cashes, including $39,445 for finishing 325th in a WSOP main event. --Max Shapiro
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