Joel Casper Plays First Omaha Event
And Wins PLO Circuit Tournament
He Decides to Enter at Last Minute After
Getting Knocked Out of $1,000 Event
Hammond, IL--Joel Casper, a 28-year-old pro from Chicago, had never played Omaha in a tournament in his life and no more than 40 hours in side games. Then, after getting knocked out the second day in the $1,000 no-limit event on a bad beat (A9 versus A-4), barely cashing, he decided to take a crack at the $200 pot-limit rebuy Omaha event, which was slated to start in 10 minutes. The bad beat wasn't so bad after all because he ended up winning this sixth event of the WSOP Circuit tour at Horseshoe Hammond. His victory was worth $19,475 and included the coveted gold-and-diamond trophy ring and a $5,150 buy-in to the main event here.
He found Omaha very much to his liking. "I'm a gambler by nature," he explained, "and Omaha gives you a lot more draw possibilities for making big hands." He got some quick coaching from friends along the way, but admitted he's still hardly an expert in the game.
Casper's style is to play aggressively pre-flop, giving the illusion of looseness, but then play "small-ball" poker afterwards. Casper, who had previously been a financial planner, has played poker five years and turned pro three years ago. He divides his poker time about evenly between cash games, favoring $10-$20 no-limit, and tournaments. This is his third Circuit try, and he has a Heartland Poker Tour championship win worth $122,334, along with a handful of WSOP cashes on his resume. He also enjoys sports.
This PLO event drew 142 players who made 511 $100 rebuys, building a prize pool of $78,648. Day one ended with nine players left. When they returned the next day, blinds were 1,500-3,000 with 11 minutes left in the round. Arriving as chip leader with 489,500 was Alec Milam. Meanwhile, seat 9, owned by Edward O Chana, was unoccupied.
Here were the final table chip counts:
Seat Name Chips
1. Terry Harden 116,000
2. Jason Rice 40,500
3. Brian Schwartz 37,000
4. Csaba Vicen 114,600
5. Alec Milam 489,500
6. Joel Casper 107,000
7. Va Shon Watkins 34,000
8. Karl Sederberg 142,000
9. Edward O. Chana 230,000
First out, in 10 minutes, was Brian Schwartz, who started very low-chipped with 37,000. He was all in with K-K-10-9. Aces beat kings, and Karl Sederberg had A-A-J-Q. The board came Q-3-2-7-8, and Schwartz cashed ninth for $2,021. Schwartz, 28, is from Chicago and is president of a sports memorabilia company. He learned poker at home games four years ago and his poker highlight is a 33rd-place finish in a WSOP PLO event last year. He also enjoys golf.
Blinds were now 2,000-4,000. Next to go was Va Shon "Julian Verse" Watkins, the lowest-chipped starter. He had Q-10-9-5, and a flop of J-8-2 gave him a wraparound straight draw. He moved in and was called by Casper, whose Q-J-10-6 gave him a pair of jacks along with a straight draw. A straight didn't come when an 8 turned and a 5 rivered, and the jacks held up. Watkins, finishing eighth, won $2,389. Watkins, 22, is a pro from Aurora, Illinois who previously had been a Sam's Club employee. He started playing four years ago and learned by watching High Stakes Poker on TV. This is his second Circuit. He also enjoys sports, working out and movies.
Doing a Phil Hellmuth, Chana finally arrived 30 minutes late. He immediately proved that aces don't always beat kings. He had K-K-10-7, up against an all-in Jason Rice, who held A-A-10-3. The flop came K-7-5, and Chana's set of cowboys corraled Rice into seventh place, which paid $2,940. Rice is 33, from Kenosha, Wisconsin, where he is a car salesman. He's been playing since childhood, has entered six Circuits, and this is his poker highlight. He also likes fishing and dancing.
A few hands later it was Chana's turn to depart. The board showed Ac-9c7c-Jh, giving him a straight. He moved in, only to have Milam turn up Ks-Jc-9c-4d for a number three flush. For sixth, Chana took home $3,675. Chana, 34, is a poker player from Elgin, Illinois
At this point, four players were already gone, while the final table for the $500 no-limit event, which started at the same time, still had all 10 players left.
Blinds became 3,000-6,000, and all five players remained when blinds increased to 4,000-8,000. Next out was Terry Harden, who moved in when he held Q-9-10-4 and a flop of J-8-3 gave him several shots at a straight. But neither a needed 7, 9, 10 or queen came and he lost to Casper, who held A-J-8-7 and flopped two pair. For fifth, Harden was paid $4,594. Harden, 62, is from Terre Haute, Indiana and is retired. This is his first Circuit try. He also likes to play golf.
Next out was Karl Sederberg, all in with A-Q-9-5 against Casper's Q-J-9-8. The board came 8-7-2-2-4, and the paired 8 was enough to leave Sederberg in fourth place, worth $5,880. Sederberg, 36, is from Bloomingdale, IL where he is in Web development for AmericanEagle.com. He learned poker from his father at age 4, His poker highlights include Wynn Classic final tables in 2007 and Mirage daily event wins in 2006. He also notes that he is the inventor of a six-card Omaha and hold'em split game (which is not part of this Circuit tour). He also likes golf and skeet trap-shooting.
The tournament got heads-up after blinds went to 5,000-10,000. Vicen Csaba pushed in with the better hand, A-K-J-8 against Milam, who called with Q-10-8-5. Milam jumped in front when the flop of Q-6-2 paired his queen. Sederberg paired his jack on the river, but it was too little too late, and he cashed third for $7,534. Vicen, from South Bend, Indiana, is in sales.
Heads-up, Milam led with roughly 815,000 chips to 490,000 for Casper. Chips went back and forth for a long time, most of them to Casper, and by the time blinds had gone up twice, now at 8,000-16,000, he led with about 740,000.
On the final hand, the flop showed Qh-Jc-4c. Milam bet the pot for 96,000, Casper raised, and Milam went all in. Milam turned up Qd-Jd-9s-4h for top two. Casper, with Kc-Kh-Js-3c, had two kings and a flush draw. A 6d turned, and then a 5c on the river gave Casper his winning flush.
Cashing second, Milam, who is 36 and from Chicago, pocketed $11,760.
--Max Shapiro.
|
