| Jack Binion World Poker Open
Event #8
($1000 buy-in) Limit Texas Hold’em
Entries: 199
Total Prize Money
Nicky DiLeo, a professional poker player from New York City, won first-place and $77,212 in the $1,000 buy-in Limit Texas Hold’em event. DiLeo seized the chip lead about midway through the final table, which featured an all-star lineup of former world champions. No less than three World Series of Poker bracelet winners sat in at the finale. But it was DiLeo who won the respect of his opponents and his first gold bracelet.
The first champion to hit the rail went bust on the very first hand. Huck Seed, the 1996 World Champion, came in short-stacked with only $4K. His last chip went into the pot when he was dealt A-2 of hearts. Charlie Brahmi, the 1999 Limit Hold’em world champion, re-raised pre-flop with pocket jacks – which stood up to win the first pot of the day. Seed went out in 9th place and collected $3,088.
Just two hands later, Carl Sharp, who owns a tree-trimming company in the Knoxville area, went out on a limb -- posting his final $1,500 in the big blind. Sharp was dealt 5-6 of spades. Brahmi quickly faded Sharp’s final chips with an A-5 off-suit. A final board of 10-4-2-10-4 gave Charlie another small pot, as his ace played as a higher kicker to the board’s two-pair. Sharp, and plays regularly in home games back in Tennessee, took 8th place for $3,861.
With Brahmi still chip leader, Nicky DiLeo made his fist major move of the day. He picked up pocket aces, then pocket kings within just a few hands. Both times, the powerhouse cards held up, and DiLeo was staring Brahmi square in the face with about $45K in chips.
Dick Davis came to the final table with $6K and managed to survive a couple of rounds before the blinds finally caught up with him. Davis went all-in with Q-4 suited and ran into Vince Calvino with pocket 10s. Davis needed a miracle queen to survive, which didn’t come. That meant Davis – who is a retired judge who now lives in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia – was sentenced to 7th place and $4,826 in prize money. Davis later added that this is his third consecutive appearance at the World Poker Open, and he intends to return every year.
The next hour or so belonged to Scotty Nguyen. The 1998 world champion made a brilliant play that illustrates why he’s one of the top players in the game today. On the button, Nguyen raised pre-flop with A-6, but was re-raised by Don Atkins with K-K in the small blind. The flop came J-10-6 (all diamonds). Atkins bet out and was raised by Nguyen (holding no diamond). Atkins called. The turn was a harmless black 5 and Atkins checked. Nguyen took his free card, then spiked an ace on the river. After another bet, Nguyen gathered a nice-sized pot – winning the chips by virtue of his aggressive play, a good read on his opponent, and buying a free look at the river.
With Nguyen up to 60K in chips and three players at around $30K each, Charlie Brahmi’s troubles began. First Brahami missed two successive draws, then tried to push a couple of bluffs, which were snapped-off by opponents who paired the board. A devastating hand came when Brahmi became aggressive with several bets into a board of 10-10-Q-5-7, and lost a $30K pot to DiLeo – who held A-10 (for trip 10s). Brahmi’s last gasp came when he took pocket jacks up against K-Q and lost when a king came out on the flop. The early chip-leader, Brahmi, a semi-professional poker player who plays regularly in Atlantic City, received $6,756 for 6th place.
At the $2K-4K limit, Don Atkins and Vince Calvino got into a pre-flop raising war – when Atkins held A-A against Calvino’s Q-Q. Incredibly, by the turn both players had managed to hit a set, and Atkins ended up taking the huge pot with trip aces. His chip lead would last only about ten minutes. Shortly thereafter, DiLeo grabbed back the chip lead with pocket 10s against Benjamin Jones’ pocket’s 6’s. The final board of 2-3-2-2-4 gave Atkins a higher full-house. More was to come.
The most exciting hand of the final table came about three hours into play when Nguyen, Calvino, and DiLeo got into a three-way pot – with two players all-in. Nguyen made his final stand with A-K, which was immediately called by Calvino holding A-2. DiLeo decided to play his pocket pair (5-5) in an attempt to eliminate two players. The board helped absolutely no one – J-Q-J-8-7 – which delighted DiLeo, who won the pot with his small pair. Calvino went out 5th and collected $8,686. Meanwhile Nguyen, dressed with his trademark gold medallion hanging around his neck, failed to add another poker bracelet to his jewelry collection. However, he did receive $11,582 for 4th place.
DiLeo’s run of good fortune continued. Benjamin Jones, a professional poker player from Biloxi, went all-in with his remaining chips holding pocket 8’s. Jones and the large crowd were stunned to see DiLeo holding the goods yet again – this time pocket aces. An 8 failed to fall for Jones, and the talented Mississippian went out in third place with $19,303 reasons to be happy with his tournament performance. Incredibly, the elimination of two players just minutes earlier enabled Jones to leap-frog into third place – picking up an extra $11 thousand in prize money.
Head-up play began four hours into the final table with chips counts at $130K for DiLeo versus Atkins’ $62K. Immediately, DiLeo took charge as he flopped two pair (6’ and 9’s) and cut deeply into Atkins stack. With the diamond and gold bracelet sparkling under the lights, both players went back and forth for the next 30 minutes, DiLeo adding to his stack with his aggressive style. Then, disaster struck.
Proving that even the best poker players are human, DiLeo got involved in a huge pot with Atkins. With an enormous pile of orange $1,000 chips scattered in the pot, DiLeo check-raised Atkins on the river as the final board showed Q-7-2-K-2 (with three clubs). DiLeo rose up in his seat, and plastered two black cards (A-6) onto the felt, proudly announcing “nut flush!” There was only one problem. The ace was not a club. It was a spade. As DiLeo cried “oh no!” and the crowd watched in disbelief, a beaming happy Atkins dragged the monster pot with K-Q for two pair.
With DiLeo still shaking his head, it was time to get serious. First, DiLeo won a large pot with a queen-high, when Atkins failed to complete a straight. After a brief rally by Atkins that took his chip-count back up to $80K at one point, DiLeo launched a series of torpedoes into Atkins’ stack that forecasted the end was soon to come. DiLeo seemed to pick-away at Atkins -- $12K to $18K at a time. One player would raise pre-flop, but DiLeo would consistently be the aggressor post-flop, causing Atkins to fold when he presumably missed everything. DiLeo took a pot with pocket 9’s, then was dealt pocket kings and won another. The final hand of the night came when Atkins was down to his last $16K and put his remaining chips into the pot with Ad-6s. DiLeo was weak, holding an 8-2 of diamonds. However, the weak hand turned into a monster when the flop came J-9-4 (all diamonds). Atkins still had an out if another diamond fell, since his ace of diamonds would make the nut flush. But two harmless black blanks fell on the final two cards, and the New Yorker won the top prize.
Afterward, Don Atkins congratulated DiLeo and spoke highly of all his opponents. Atkins, who is a distributor for Interstate Batteries in Lafayette, LA plays poker weekly and took home $38,606 for 2nd. Amazingly, it was only the third tournament Atkins has ever played. For Atkins, the third time really was a charm. “It was like a dream,” he said.
But for DiLeo, the win was even sweeter. DiLeo, who is a successful artist (oil painter) in New York City, takes $77,212 back to the Big Apple. DiLeo plays regularly in local games around the city, and has also enjoyed tournament success at Foxwoods in Connecticut. “I learned a tremendous amount playing in this tournament,” DiLeo said. “I had some big hands, but I also stayed patient and kept most of my stack at the final table.” For DiLeo, even DaVinci could not have painted a more beautiful finish.
-- by Nolan Dalla
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