Chris has First Omaha/8 Win!
Until tonight, "Syracuse" Chris Tsiprailidis had won titles in every category except 7-card stud hi-lo and Omaha hi-lo. He now has only one to go after winning event 12, $500 Omaha Hi-lo. His final opponent, Iranian-born Hassan Kamoei, won the event in the 1995 inaugural Legends. Finishing third was the colorfully named “Prince of Docness,” whose wins include Omaha hi-lo at the Reno Hilton and pot-limit Omaha at the 4-Queens.
Only eight made the final table after two players, one at each of the last tables, were knocked out at the same time. A. Steven Banks, with more chips, got ninth place and Harold Kaufler, tenth. Limits started at $2,000-$4,000. Sirous Baghchehsaraie, who broke the Banks by filling on the river to beat his straight, lost his $3,000 stake on the second hand. He had Q-Q-4-4. “Miami” John Cernuto, in the big blind with 8-8-A-J and clubs, beat him with both a flush and a full house.
Marlon Delossantos went south on hand six. Holding K-K-A-5, he bet all in on a flop of A-Q-6. Chris called with A-K-J-8, and two running jacks gave him a winning full house. The next hand was four-bet with three-way action. The flop came Q-10-9. Miami John, with A-J-8-6, had a queen-high straight, with a redraw to a nut straight. He bet out, but Mai Royalty, a housewife originally from Vietnam, had a king-high straight, and Cernuto had two $500 chips left. They went in on the next hand. He had A-K-Q-J, but all little cards came. Chris made a wheel and a six-high straight, knocking out Cernuto and quartering the Prince, who also made a wheel.
Another 21 hands dragged by before the next player exited. With a flop of Q-10-7, Doc, with an open-end straight draw, bet his last three chips. Chris called, also with an open-ender, and Mai Royalty raised and then went all in with a set of queens. A jack on the turn gave Chris a straight, and Royalty was forced to abdicate. The Prince had a bigger straight and survived by taking the main pot. On the next hand, Kamoei missed his wheel draw, but his kings were enough to eliminate Las Vegas salesman Tekeste Aregaye.
Three-handed, Syracuse Chris had half the chips, and Hassan and Doc each had $32,000. Hassan took a lot of them from Chris after re-raising him on a board of K-9-5-4. When a jack came on the river, Chris, holding a tremendous starting hand of A-A-2-3, knew he was beaten and folded before Hassan could bet. After taking a couple more pots, Hassan grabbed the chip lead. When limits went to $5,000-$10,000, Chris reminded everyone that no Legends event had yet gone beyond that stage. “Are we going to set a new record?” Doc asked. Well, he didn’t set any record because two hands later he was gone. Holding 6-6-5-5, he lost his last $2,500 when the board came J-7-2-3-J, and Chris’ two aces were enough turn the lights out for Docness.
The two finalists were fairly even. Dawn was approaching and Hassan, who lives in Indio, wanted to go home. “Lose your chips and I’ll give you a ride,” Chris promised. Chris took some pots and the chip count changed to $85,000-$45,500 in his favor. They made a deal and event number 12 was over. –Max Shapiro
BIOGRAPHY
The Greek-born “Syracuse” Chris, 42, who not surprisingly lives in Syracuse, New York, is a restaurant-owner turned food wholesaler. Among his numerous titles is a World Series win in limit hold’em and a no-limit hold’em win in this year’s World Poker Open. He wasn’t planning on playing the Omaha event because his family flew in this evening to see him. But he wanted to try and make up the $5,000 he lost in a side game, and also decided to go for the points.
It was an “up-and-down” evening for him, he said. He was down to just five chips with two tables left, and barely hung on, then made a couple of full houses and never looked back. It was a tough final table, he said, with “Prince of Docness” playing his best – especially in his hi-lo specialty games – day in and day out.
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