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Jim Pechac
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Arizona Jim, Down 9-1, Wins!
When he got heads-up, Jim Pechac, a pro who works mostly small tournaments in Arizona, had only about $18,000 in chips to Mark Sief’s $167,000. But he nibbled away for 22 hands and then turned everything around after he outran the Lake Tahoe attorney’s pocket queens and hauled a $146,000 pot. Five hands later it was over. In the process Pechac, second in the 7-stud hi-lo event, took the points lead in the race for the Mercedes SUV. His final opponent was no pushover. Sief, a former prosecutor in the district attorney’s office and now general counsel for a leasing company, won 11 no-limit and pot-limit tournaments in the last three years.
Daniel Negreanu finished 10th. He moved in for $16,000 with K-Q and was beaten by Seif's A-Q when blanks hit the board. Final-table blinds began at $1,000-$2,000. Marsha Waggoner made her second appearance, and once again she was first out. On the first hand, Mel Wiener moved in with A-8. Binh Do of Vancouver called for his $7,600 with J-8 of diamonds and Waggoner, with only $1,600, also called. An ace flopped, and two were out.
The second hand was also a double-header, with a flopped ace again the decider. Mike Barton, former a car salesman, moved in for his $14,000 with K-K. Seif covered him holding A-K, and Phi Nguyen pushed in his $11,000 with Q-8 suited. The board came A-8-7-4-5, and suddenly only five players were left. It seemed like a short night, but no-limit can drag on indefinitely. The final table began at 1 a.m. and ended after 3, making it the longest event thus far.
When blinds went to $2,000-$4,000 with $500 antes, Sief, with about $80,000 and Wiener, with $60,000, had the bulk of the chips. But Pechac was doing most of the moving in. “That’s all he knows,” remarked Frank Rite as Jim bet everything for the 10th or 12th time. Rite himself finally moved in for $8,000 with pocket sixes. Pechac called with two deuces and made a set on fourth street to anesthetize the holistic doctor. (Too bad that Rite wasn’t playing in yesterday’s tournament. Getting heads-up with winner Rong Lam would have made for a dandy “Rite and Rong” headline.)
Mel took a big hit, losing a $46,000 pot when Jim’s A-Q beat his Q-9. Then, on the second hand after blinds went to $3,000-$6,000, he raised on the button for his last $21,000 with A-5 of clubs. Seif foreclosed the real estate man by winning with pocket sevens. David Cai “kind of” a full-time player, had been playing carefully and solidly, surviving all-in encounters a couple of times. Down to about $10,000, he finally moved in at the wrong time. He had pocket tens and Mark blew him away with A-A.
Heads-up, the overwhelmingly out-chipped Pechac began moving up after Seif bet with 8-7-3-5-J showing. “Will a king-high win?” Jim asked. Mark assured him it would, and for once an attorney told the truth. “I talked him into it,” Mark berated himself after Jim called. Later, when Jim asked if he’s a lawyer, Mark wouldn’t answer. “I’m giving you no more information,” he said. The big turnaround hand came when Jim put in the rest of his $73,000 with A-7 of clubs. Mark called with Q-Q, and it was a whole new ballgame after the board came A-5-3-10-9. The next hand, Sief took the blinds and antes by moving in and showing 5-2. “Go ahead and have fun,” Pechac assures him. “ I’m in no hurry.” The fun ended when Mark raised all in for the last time with A-6, losing his case and the tournament when Jim called with A-Q. –Max Shapiro
BIOGRAPHY
Jim Pechac, 38, a lifelong Arizona resident, lives in Phoenix and has been playing poker seriously for about ten years. Most of his poker revolves around tournaments at the Gila River casinos in Chandler, Arizona, though he does some traveling to other events. This year he finished tenth in the Tournament of Champions main event, and the year before finished in the money at the World Series championship. Omaha is his favorite game. He describes himself as a solid player. He said he seemed aggressive with his constant all-in raises, but that was because he was picking up good hands. Tonight, he was the chip leader with about seven tables left, then got “real low” and had to fight his way back. When the tournament ended, Mark Seif said he knew that Pechac was the player he had to watch out for. In turn, Jim praised Seif’s ability and also said that David Cai was very tough, even though he didn’t get his fair share of hands.
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