| Family Lifts Skyhawk to Win!
Ken Flaton, not doing well after the first six Legends of Poker tournaments, was ready to go home. But after his wife Crystal and young son showed up, “Skyhawk” felt “rejuvenated” and was able to soar to victory in the seventh event, 7-card stud, ringing up his third victory in Legends competition. The tough final table also included “Miami” John Cernuto, Toto Leonidas and Tony Brenner, a financial analyst who won this event last year.
Finishing tenth was realtor George Rechnitzer. He went all in with pocket tens and was easily beaten by Brenner, who made aces and deuces. Final table limits started at $500-$1,000, with $200 antes and a $300 bring-in. After posting $1,200 in antes, Ahmad Mubar finally called on the sixth hand with his last $400 and queens in the pocket. He ended up with two pair, but Russ Salzer, with buried jacks, caught a third jack on sixth street.
After limits went to $2,000-$4,000, Flaton went all in with buried nines and stayed around after he made two pair. Miami John, whose resume includes numerous Legends titles and two Word Series bracelets, went out in seventh place. He also began with buried nines and made two pair, but this time Toto made kings and sevens. Brenner was next to go all in on two consecutive hands, pulling out winners each time. At 3 a.m. on the first hand after limits went to $3,000 and $6,000 with $500 antes and a $1,000 bring-in, Harold Kaufler, runner up in Omaha the night before, pushed in his final $2,500 with 2-6/5-2 before Brenner, with 3-J showing, could bet. "Gutsy call," Kaufler joked, when Tony matched the chips and turned up K-J. The cowboys were enough to leave Harold in sixth place.
Vegas pro Russ Salzer finished fifth. After Leonidas completed the opening bet with a door-card queen, Salzer raised with buried eights and Paul McGee, who owns a Los Angeles real estate brokerage, three-bet it with hidden kings. After long hesitation, Russ called, then went all in on fourth street. The cards were dealt and McGee’s kings-up beat Salzer’s eights-up.
Skyhawk, who had been playing selectively, jumped into action a few hands later, suddenly pouncing on a short-chipped Leonidas and raising with buried fours. Toto called all in with just A-high. Ken didn’t improve, but the best that Leonidas could make was a pair of threes.
A couple of hands after the cost of playing went to $1,000 antes, a $2,000 bring-in and $5,000-$10,000 limits, the three finalists were roughly even and everyone agreed to Flaton’s suggestion of a three-way chop for the bulk of the money, with the winner taking the remainder. Kenny might have been a bit hasty because a hand later, he started with buried kings and Brenner, missing his draw to a heart flush, lost all but $5,000 of his chips. “Timing is everything,“ Tony smiles. On the next hand, the defending champ went out with nines and fives after Paul made an ace-high straight.
McGee, though a recreational player, has played a lot of stud and last month won a hi-lo event at Hollywood Park. (“I like it because you can take your time and read players,” he said.) In any event, he held off the far more experienced Flaton for eight hands. Finally, he made kings and deuces on fourth street, but Skyhawk completed an open-end straight by catching a seven on the river, and the former accountant closed the books.
--Max Shapiro
BIOGRAPHY
Ken “Skyhawk” Flaton is an unassuming pro from Henderson, Nevada, whose many victories include a 7-card stud World Series bracelet and the championship event of the inaugural United States Poker Championship. His bread and butter games are 7-stud and stud hi-lo. Flaton first began playing poker in the Army in France in 1964, and turned pro about 30 years ago after failing to make a living playing blackjack.
He said he got a lot of breaks in this event, catching river cards when he needed to, or having opponents fail to catch when they needed to. With a lot of chips and more experience than his opponents at the final table, he picked his spots and tried not to gamble. He paid tribute to his final two opponents. Paul McGee handled his chips well and did not play automatically, he said, and he rated Tony Brenner a “good, solid player.”
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