Blair Rodman Captures Pot-Limit Hold'em
Eric Mann Wins Dealer Tournament
Report by Debbie Burkhead
Today was another fun-filled day of tournaments, starting with the dealer's tournament at 9:00 a.m., followed by the $330 Pot-Limit Hold'em event.
The Dealer's tournament began with 18 dealers and yours truly. Bonnie Damiano and Steve Morgan played the dealers part, both did a great job and everyone had a lot of fun. The prize pool was $150, winner take all. It was a bounty tournament and for every player you eliminated you received a $10 bill.
Dealer, Carol Hoegen collected the first bounty when she eliminated Dave Alizadeh, the winner of the WSOP Dealer's Tournament.
Stan Baker eliminated two players, on one hand, with pocket jacks, and received two $10 bills. I remarked, "They don't call him lucky Stan for nothing". Stan replied, "They don't call me lucky Stan at all." I find that hard to believe because right after we went to one table he did it again and collected two more $10 bills.
We were down to the remaining five players and I was short-stacked with only $225 left. After posting my big blind I was left with $75. Don Kampf called on his small blind and I raised all-in for my remaining $75 and Don made the call. I proudly turned over my pocket rockets with total confidence and Dan showed 9-7. Bonnie was in the box and she crushed me when she turned over 9-9-7 on the flop. The crowd, along with me let out a roar. I got zero help and finished 5th but had a lot of fun.
Shortly after my exit Don Kampf was eliminated in 4th place. Two hands later Stan took 3rd place. Eric Mann and George Smith were heads-up and very close in chips. They split the prize pool and Eric, who had the chip lead, was declared the winner.
Congratulations, Eric!
Now, on to the main event...
Today's main event was Pot-Limit hold'em and drew 24 players creating a prize pool of $6,984.
At 3:15 the final nine players went to one table where five lucky players would make the money. The sixth player would win the opportunity to play in the bubble tournament. There was two minutes remaining with $50-$100 blinds.
At 3:17 the blinds rose to $75-$150 and on the first hand Glenn Abney eliminated Jerry Rieger, leaving eight players.
On the next hand Mike McCoy lost a big pot with A-K against Bob Mauser who was holding A-A. Mike was left with one $25 chip and was all-in, with the small blind, on the next hand. The sad part was Mike was holding A-A this time, he doubled through and now had $50.
On the next hand Mike was all-in for the third time on his big blind. Don Williams called and Mansour Matloubi called. The flop came A-A-A, Don bet $300 and Mansour called. The turn card came a six, Don checked, Mansour bet $400 and Don folded. Mike showed pocket sevens and Mansour turned over pocket eights for the win. Mike took 8th place.
One hand later Blair Rodman raised $400 on Richie Brown's small blind, Richie reraised to $950, Don Williams called and Blair folded. The flop came 9-J-5, Richie bet his remaining $25 and Don called. Don showed A-A and Richie didn't show his cards. The turn was a five and the river was a seven. Richie mucked his cards and finished in 7th place.
At 3:55 the blinds went to $100-$200. No one was eliminated at that limit and at 4:40 the blinds increased again, this time to $150-$300.
Twenty minutes later Glenn was down to his remaining $300 and went all-in against Don. Don showed 9-8 of diamonds and Glenn had A-6 of hearts. Don flopped an eight and the turn card came another eight giving Don a set of eights. Glenn was eliminated on the Bubble in 6th place and now has the opportunity to play in the bubble tournament.
At 5:15 the $25 chips were raced off and the blinds increased to $200-$400.
On the first hand Bob was on the big blind, Todd Bleat raised, Bob reraised and Todd called all-in. Todd had A-J and Bob showed a pair of fours. The board came Q-Q-7-9-6 and Todd had to settle for 5th place and $349.
At 5:58 the blinds went to $300-$600.
Again on the first hand of the new limit another player was lost. Don raised on the button, Mansour reraised and Don called all-in. Don showed J-8 and Mansour turned over A-10. The board brought 7-5-5-2-9 and Mansour won with ace-high. Don was forced to take $698 for 4th place.
On the next hand Blair raised, Mansour reraised, Blair reraised again and Mansour called all-in. Mansour showed 7-2 and Blair turned over A-9 of hearts. The board produced 10-5-2-6-9, Blair won with a pair of nines and Mansour had to settle for 3rd place taking home $1,048.
Blair and Bob were heads-up and Blair had the chip lead. On the third hand of heads-up play Bob called on the small blind and Blair checked from the big blind. The flop came A-9-7, Blair bet and Bob called. The turn card came a five, Blair checked and so did Bob. The river card was a J, Blair checked, Bob bet $3,000, Blair raised all-in and Bob called. Bob turned over A-7 for two pair and Blair showed 8-10 for a jack high straight.
Bob took 2nd place and $1,746. Blair was the winner and added $3,143 to his bankroll.
Congratulations, Blair!
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