| Robert Serka, a retired construction firm owner from Santa Barbara, playing in the first tournament of his life, beat out 109 competitors to capture the eighth event of Legends of Poker 2001, lowball,
"Basketball Sam" Davis, the first dealer ever hired by the Bicycle Casino and a veteran lowball player, made his usual prediction, laying odds that the winner of this event would be over 56. As usual he was right. Serka will be 62 in November, and the runner-up, retired factory foreman Robert Serka, is 68.
The final eight players assembled after Pattee McGuire, a relief shift manager at Hustler Casino, was eliminated. Limits were $2,000 and $3,000. Justin Westmoreland, who in his mid-30s was the youngster in the group, was the first to get in trouble. He was all in after betting out after the draw, but his pat seven kept him in action. When limits rose to $2,000-$4,000, Tommy Reynoso, a Sacramento resident who props at the Capital Casino, raised all in and stood with a pat eight. Ahmad Mubar tried to break him with a one-card draw to a 7-5, but paired his three.
Westmoreland then got down to $1,000 when he tried a bluff and Serka picked him off with a 7-6. The native of Arkansas then doubled up with a 6-4, but the $2,000 only lasted him one more hand. It was now about a half-hour into the tournament, and suddenly the players began dropping one after the other. Justin drew one and caught a king, and was out of action against Tommy’s pat 10-8. On the next hand, Flanagan, a professional player from Whittier, drew a queen, lost to Norman’s nine, and was down to $1,500.
On the next hand, Reynoso was on the button. Ahmad Mubarak called all in for his last $1,500, and Flanagan did the same. Serka and Norman, in the blinds, also called. Serka drew two, Norman three, Mubarak two and Flanagan one. After betting and being called by Norman, Serka turned up a winning 7-6. Mubarak, who paired a four, and Flanagan, who was dealt a king, were both out and tied for sixth place.
All five remaining players got involved in the next hand. All checked after the draws and Serka, with a 9-8-6, just edged an all-in German Leyva, who made a 9-8-7. Flicker, meanwhile, a well-known side-game pro who plays an occasional lowball tournament, was left with $1,500. Two hands later he flung it in and stood pat with a 10-9. Norman, also pat, had an 8-7-3-2-A, and suddenly five players were gone in just six hands.
The bleachers, for once, were empty except for one person. “Lowball doesn’t get any spectators,” someone commented. “Old people go to bed early,” Norman explained. “And it’s also obvious that nobody here was staked,” someone else added.
Just before 2 a.m., the limits went to $3,000-$6,000. On the first hand, Norman raised. Reynoso, who likes to play $30-$60 lowball side games, called with his last $5,000. Norman stood pat with 7-6-4-3-A. “I need a deuce,” Tommy called, drawing to a 6-4-3-A. That was the only card he could win with, though a seven would have tied. But he caught a ten, and two players were left.
Serka had $53,000 in chips and Norman $35,000 and they immediately agreed to a chip-count deal. Graciously, Serka wanted the older Norman to be awarded first-place honors, but tournament director Denny Williams explained that that would violate the points-race rules, so the retired builder became a reluctant winner in his very first tournament outing. –Max Shapiro
|
