Dave Costain Celebrates 10th Wedding
Anniversay by Winning $500 No-Limit
After Long Heads-Up Battle, He
Wins with Full House Vs. Straight
Stateline, NV—Dave "Red" Costain got married here 10 years ago. Making sure there was a Circuit event when his anniversary rolled around, he came back to town with his poker-playing wife Heidi to celebrate. It was auspicious timing, because he ended up winning the fifth event of the WSOP Circuit tour at Harveys, $500 no-limit hold'em. The victory was worth $15,448.
The win did not come easy. He fought a very long heads-up battle with Vineet Sharma that saw several chip lead changes. Badly hurt when Sharma made a river straight, he dropped down to a 6-1 underdog before doubling through twice and then taking the final hand when he slow-played a full house on the turn and allowed Sharma to hit a flush on the river.
Costain, 34, is from St. Clairsville, Ohio where he is an assembly line operator technician at Colgate-Palmolive. He began playing poker with his family when he was nine, seriously for two years. He's mostly a cash-game player, preferring $2-$5 and $5-$10 no-limit, but had a tournament cash in the $5,000 main event at Horseshoe Southern Indiana this year along with several more at local casinos in West Virginia.
Costain said he is definitely not an aggressive player, in fact "pretty tight." but adjusts his style to the table. At the final table tonight he was especially wary of the two players to his left, Lance Greenberg and Sharma, who played very aggressively and had big stacks most of the way through. He gave thanks to his wife for supporting him in poker, as well as to his two daughters, seven and eight, "who are supporting me from home."
The final table, which would last for more than five hours, was reached at the end of day one. The remaining nine returned the next day to resume play at level 15 with blinds of 1,500-3,000, 400 antes and 10:19 remaining. Leading the pack with 143,000 chips was Sharma.
Here were the final table chip counts:
Seat Name Chips
1. Charles Fiorella 79,500
2. Ryan Thomas 60,300
3. Glen Chileski 88,200
4. Neal Cooke 64,500
5. Ernie Hernandez 36,700
6. Paul Damany 49,300
7. Dave Costain 128,800
8. Lance Greenberg 91,600
9. Vineet Sharma 143,000
Not until blinds had gone up twice, to 2,500-5,000 with 500 antes, did we lose our first player. Neal Cooke was all in with A-8 against pocket queens, couldn't hit and took out $1,080 for ninth. Cooke, 39, is from Loveland, Colorado where he is a saltwater fishing guide. He's played poker about 10 years and has an 11th place finish at a $500 event at Caesars Palace that drew 328 entrants
Next out was Paul Damany. He moved in with A-9 and Greenberg looked him up with pocket jacks. A flop of 2-7-J gave Greenberg a set, and that did it for Damany, who took out $1,491 for eighth. Damany, 34, is a business owner and part-time pro from London. This is his second Circuit. He's had three small cashes at this year's WSOP. H knocked out Phil Hellmuth in a $2,000 limit hold'em event and was knocked out by .eventual winner Daniel Negreanu when Negreanu hit a set of kings to crack his pocket aces. His other hobbies are is working out with his girlfriend and drinking.
Glen Chileski was next to go. He went all in with A-J after Sharma raised. Sharma turned up pocket kings, Chilesk couldn't find an ace, and went out seventh. It paid $2,005.
Chileski is 61, from Grass Valley, California, and he listed his occupation as "Lover of life." He learned poker three years ago in a VA Reno hospital where, as a wartime purple heart combat veteran, he was undergoing chemo for his agent orange illness. On his bio sheet, on this Veteran's Day, he asked everyone to never forget the veterans killed and missing in action. Chileski has cashed in at least five Circuits, winning event #5 two years ago here, also on Veteran's Day. Several days ago he wrote a letter to his three-year-old grandson predicting he would make the final table today. His other hobbies including travel, hunting, fishing, Harley riding and collecting antiques
With blinds at 3,000-6,000, Ryan Thomas was all in with A-7, up against a bigger ace, Greenberg's A-K. He couldn't pull it out and ended up in sixth place, which paid $2,519. Thomas, 3l, is a restaurant manager and semi-pro from Jacksonville, Florida. Before that, he owned a restaurant from age 23 to 29, sold it and has been traveling ever since. He learned gin first, then poker by age 12.. He's had several small local tournament wins.
After blinds went to 3,000-6,000, another player departed. Charlie Fiorella moved in with A-Q and had much the best of it when Sharma called with Q-10. He was still alive when the board came 7-4-J-6, but then a river 10 paired Greenberg and left Fiorella in fifth place. It paid $3,265. Fiorella is 58, retired, and from Sunnyvale, California. This is his fourth Circuit, and he's had four cashes. Chess is his other hobby
Hernandez, who started lowest-chipped, had been all in a number of times but was still around. Then he got down to a single 1,000 chip when Costain moved in with A-Q and he called with pocket jacks, losing when Costain hit a queen on the turn. Final-table announcer Tom Sexton then related the story of how "Treetop" Jack Strauss had been down to a single chip in the 1982 WSOP championship event, and went on to win it. Hernandez, unfortunately, is no Jack Strauss. He posted his last chip from the small blind on the next hand. He had pocket treys, while Costain, in the big blind, had 8-2. Costain caught an 8 on the flop, another on the river, and Hernandez finally went out in fourth place, which paid $4,318.
Hernandez, 45, is a drywall contractor from Pleasanton, California. He started playing poker in family games, has entered four Circuits, and this final table is his poker highlight. His son, Ernie Jr., also finished this event in 14th place. He's been married 23 years and also has a daughter.
Limits went to 5,000-10,000 with 1,000 antes, and at this level Greenberg busted. He was down to 15,000 after he moved in with A-10 and Costain, calling with A-K, doubled through against him. All in two hands later with just 5-3, he was called by two players, losing to Costain's K-7 when the board came K-A-J-10-K. Third place paid $6,221. Greenberg is 54 and retired and lives in Sunnyvale, California.
Heads-up, Costain had roughly 500,000 chips to about 240,000 for Sharma. A big turnaround came when the flop came 8c-2s-7c. Costain bet 50,000 and Sharma moved in. After long thought, Costain called with 8d-5c for top pair. Sharma turned up 6s-5s for an open-ended straight draw. He hit it when a 9 turned and now had a big lead.
Then, with blinds at 6,000-12,000, Costain doubled up twice, once with A-9 against A-7, then with pocket aces against A-10. He now had about a 4-3 lead. On the final hand he had 10s-6s to 5d-3d for Sharma. On fourth street, Costain made a full house when the board showed 2d-6c-6s-10d. He bet a mere 25,000 and Sharma called. The river card, a 9d, gave Sharma a flush. Costain moved in, Sharma called, and this event was over.
For finishing second, Sharma picked up$9,048. Sharma, 47, is from India and now lives in Fremont California, working in the technology industry. He learned poker from Dan Harrington's books. This is his fifth Circuit and he has cashes at Bay 101 and WPT events.
--Max Shapiro
|
