Reynolds Liquidates Field!
By Max Shapiro
Larry Reynolds, a merchandise liquidator, liquidated the field in a $100 Omaha Hi-Lo to capture the fifth event of Winnin' O' The Green and pocket $8,960. His final opponent was Albert Umel, baby brother of Florencio "General Poy" Umel, who won the $100 Limit Hold'em event three days earlier.
Setting the final table, Lisa Bilinsky put her last few chips in with 2-3-6-9, paired everything and lost to a flush. With $3,000-$6,000 limits, Paran Gill got into trouble on the first hand. With a board of 7-6-10-J-5, he bet with what seemed like a good hand: an A-3 and eight-high flush. But Reynolds scooped with A-2 and a nine-high flush, leaving Gill with $1000. Shortly after, in the small blind, Gill was all-in with Q-9-5-3 and diamonds against Eddie Ngo with A-2-4-5. The board was dealt and everyone got something back, Ngo with a nut low, Major Polk, with the same low and an eight-high straight and Gill with a flush. But three hands later, Gill again put his last chips in, against Russ Salzer this time. Both had counterfeited A-2 and Salzer took it all with aces-up for high.
Brent Carter, with A-3-6-7, then lost a $63,000 pot to Ngo. He bet a flop of A-10-Q and got raised by Ngo, who had A-2-3-10, and ended up with a nut low to go with his aces and tens. A few hands later, Ralph Morton went all-in for his last $4,200 in three-way action with Salzer and Carter and left the table when Carter made a wheel. Randy Barrett, very low chipped, managed to squeak by with a couple of splits before posting his last $900 in the small blind with a meager 7-7-K-10. Salzer had A-4-5-K and Ngo had 2-3-4-8, and Russ won it all by making fives full of kinds.
With limits at $5,000 and $10,000, Carter, whose sharp eye can tell when a bet is a chip short, bet on fourth street and asked, "$10,000?" This prompted Polk to crack, "You know what everybody else puts in, but you don't know what you put in. That's amazing."
Polk, going all-in against Salzer, won going away with two pair on the flop, a full house on the turn and quads on the river. Ngo was less fortunate when he called Salzer's flop bet all-in and then got wheeled out by a bicycle. And Major Polk then got demoted out of the tournament after Carter put him in with A-2-4-10 and scooped with a better low and aces-up for high.
Four-handed, Carter, Reynolds and Umel all have a little over $50,000 while Salzer has about $34,000. With limits at $15,000 and $30,000, Salzer was knocked out on a bad beat. A flop of J-K-2 gave him three kinds. Umel had K-10-Q-4, and a river nine completed his straight. Later, Carter took a big hit the same way when he flopped a set but lost to Reynold's straight. A couple of hands later all of the Brent's chips went in with Q-J-6-2. Reynolds had A-5-7-10 and finished him off when a 10-10-9-5-3 board filled him.
Umel and Reynolds then traded chips for a few hands until Albert, perhaps getting impatient, raised with queens in his hand into a board of K-5-3 and then bet all-in when a seven turned. But Reynolds had a king in his hand, and the pair was good enough to end the festivities.
Biography - Larry Reynolds
Larry Reynolds, 58, is in the business of liquidating all kinds of merchandise in high volume. He hails from the Sheepshead Bay section of Brooklyn and now lives with his wife of 30 years in the Hollywood Hills area. A poker player all his life, he plays side action at almost any limit, with stud high-low and Omaha high-low being his games of choice. For the past 20 years he has also played at the Friar's Club a couple of nights a week, in games that used to include such noted celebrity-gamblers as the late Harry Karl and Phil Silvers.
Reynolds' major tournament victory was in the Seniors stud event at Crystal Park last year. In tonight's event, he was disastrously low on chips at the third table with only $200 before surging ahead. He felt that Albert Umel was his toughest opponent. "He's alert and very steady," Reynolds said in tribute.
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