| Jack Binion World Poker Open
Event #12
($1,000 buy-in) Omaha High-Low Split
Entries: 78
Total Prize Money: $75,660
Bar none, no player is hotter in Omaha high-low tournaments right now than Jim Miller. Miller, who when he’s not playing poker on the road is a manager at the Hustler Casino in Los Angeles, just won his fourth major Omaha event in as many months with a first-place finish in the $1,000 buy-in event at the World Poker Open. Since November, Miller has won Omaha events in Tunica, Los Angeles, Laughlin, and Foxwoods. From the moment the first hand was dealt, Miller played with just the right balance of patience and aggression and walked away with the gold bracelet.
Play began at the $600-$1,200 level. Chip-leader Dr. Mark Burtman ran into trouble early. In fact, the first 30-minutes was an absolute nightmare for Burtman. He lost half of his stack on three successive missed draws, then found himself down to just $3K before he was able to manage a split a pot with another player (essentially just getting his money back). Burtman went from chip leader into survival mode.
Jeff Madden, a human resource manager from Buffalo, came in short-stacked with $3,300. He went all-in with his remaining chips on A-2-9-Q and faced-off against T.J. Cloutier’s favored A-A-5-10. A perfect flop of 2-3-4 gave Cloutier a wheel. Two blanks fell on the turn and river. That put Madden out on the rail in 9th place with $1,513 in prize money.
Gene Timberlake, a Houston accountant and high-stakes player, grabbed the early chip lead by taking precious chips away from Mark Burtman and Tom McCormick. Timberlake continuously flopped the nut hand or a draw to the high/low but which enhanced his position of power. Just as quickly, Jim Miller seized the lead for himself when he knocked-out Rick Abrell, of Terre Haute, IN. Abrell went all-in with his last $5K on A-4-9-10. Miller was thrilled to call with A-2-10-Q (and two diamonds). The final board showed K-6-4-6-2 (with three diamonds), giving Miller the flush and the scoop. Abrell, who owns a vending business back home, later said “I never had a hand.” Nevertheless, Abrell took home $1,892 for 8th place.
The next player to make an unwelcome departure from the final table was 1986 world champion, Berry Johnston. The genteel, white-haired Johnston took a stand with his last $6K, but his chips were cut in half by Miller and Cloutier, who feasted on the chips like hungry wolves. Always a gentleman, Johnston folded his hand calmly (hand not shown), excused himself from the table, and walked away quietly with $2,648 for 7th place.
After getting pulverized the first hour or so, Dr. Mark Burtman made a remarkable comeback. He survived five all-ins and gradually built his stack size up to over $10K. Kip Williams was not so fortunate. From the small blind, Williams committed his final chips with A-4-J-K. Burtman, to his immediate right, had an even better hand – A-A-3-5 (clubs). The final board showed J-5-2-10-6 with three clubs, kicking Kip out in 6th place. Williams, who plays in home games back in Georgia and made the final table at the United States Poker Championship last year, collected $3,405.
Tom “the Shamrock Kid” McCormick came to the final table second in chips, but failed to be much of a factor. The all-time leading money winner at the World Series of Poker -- from North Dakota, that is (perhaps in all of poker history from that frigid state) made trip aces with his A-A-8-Q, but lost to Cloutier’s ace-high straight when the final card was dealt. Although no four-leaf clover was in store for the Shamrock Kid, he added $4,161 to his tournament winnings.
Down to the last four players, the chip counts stood at $25K for Cloutier, $20K for Timberlake, $20K for Miller, and about $12K for Burtman. Playing at $1K-2K limits, Timberlake went on a roll and increased his stack size up to $35K. Cloutier then took $10K off Miller’s stack with a wheel, and it appeared that Miller and Burtman would struggle to stay in the game. Cloutier continued to bet aggressively when he thought he had the best of it, and traded chips with Timberlake as the lead went back and forth. Then, Cloutier and Miller went on a roll when they both hit quads against Timberlake within just a couple of minutes leading the good-natured Houstonian to joke, “They’re quadding me to death!” Tournament Coordinator Jack McClelland quipped back, “Yeah Gene, but they way you’ve been running – it takes quads to beat you!”
Cloutier and Miller then started hammering their two adversaries. First, Cloutier took a pot from Timberlake with a full house – and suddenly, the former chip-leader was down to $12K. Burtman was in even deeper trouble. Down to his few remaining chips, Burtman took his final stand with 10-10-J-Q hoping for high cards on the flop. Miller faded the all-in bet with A-2-4-4. The board came A-3-4-3-K, giving Miller a full-house. Interestingly, after the hand was over, each player stood up and congratulated the feisty Burtman for his comeback. Despite running horribly at the start of the final table, Dr. Burtman hung in tough and proved he can play with the best. The good doctor from Kentucky took home $5,296 for 4th place. It was his second final table and third time in the money at this year’s World Poker Open.
After Cloutier hit quads again – this time against Miller – Timberlake went down to the felt four times in a row and survived each time. After flopping a king-high straight on the fifth all-in, Gene Timberlake was back up to $10K – well behind Miller and Cloutier, but still alive on life support. Then, Gene went “tim-berrrrrrrrr.” He was crippled when Cloutier made a flush and scooped a large pot, and then put his last chips into the pot with A-5-8-K. Cloutier didn’t even bother to look at his cards and called as Timberlake’s last chip rolled into the pot. The flop came J-Q-K-3-3, giving Timberlake top pair with top kicker. But Cloutier had another ugly monster – 2-3-6-J, normally not much of a Omaha hand, but pretty good considering it made a full-house and knocked-out one of the bet players at the table. Timberlake, who won the Senior’s World Championship two years ago received $9,079 for 3rd place.
The final two, Miller and Cloutier, faced-off with Miller as the chip-leader. Up to that point -- Cloutier had played in a number of pots, winning many, but losing some also – while Miller seemed to be the more cautious player. That suddenly changed when head-up play began and Miller became the aggressor. Twenty minutes after trading-off blinds and seeing a few flops, Miller had a 3 to 1 chip lead. Miller consistently flopped better hands, and Cloutier continued to fold afterwards – presumably missing the board cards completely with his hand. 25 minutes after head-up play began, the final hand of the night was dealt. Cloutier started with 4-4-5-K against Miller’s 3-6-7-10. The flop came 3-4-10, which gave Cloutier a set of fours, while Miller had two-pair, a straight draw, and a low-draw. Miller was in much better position. A 7 on the turn gave Miller three-pair, and now Cloutier had the advantage as his final chips went into the pot. A 10 on the river paired the board. Cloutier announced, “I’ve got a full-house,” as he showed 4’s over 10’s. Miller was ecstatic. “I’ve got a bigger one,” Miller announced proudly, as he turned over 10’s full of 7’s. Spike-haired Miller, took off his glasses and pumped his fist high into the air. Miller had defeated a living legend, and made an indelible impression on everyone who witnessed the victory.
“I wanted to play against the best player in the world,” Miller said afterward -- as he was presented with $30,264 in prize money and his first World Poker Open gold bracelet. The man who has won more Omaha tournaments than anyone in the last year is sure to be someone to watch in the coming months and years ahead. This man knows how to play Omaha. Meanwhile, for Cloutier the second place finish was bittersweet. He collected $17,402 for the day as he joined his supporting wife in the crowd. Tomorrow’s another day.
-- Nolan Dalla
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