| Jack Binion World Poker Open
Event #18
($300 buy-in) Limit Texas Hold’em
Entries: 212
Re-Buys: 296
Total Prize Money: $147,828
Frank McCool got up early this morning and decided to skip classes. McCool, who is a full-time college student, had something else in mind. He decided to enter the $300 buy-in Limit Hold’em event at the World Poker Open. That turned out to be a very profitable decision on McCool’s part. McCool overcame 212 entries – the largest field of any tournament event thus far – including 296 re-buys, to win first place and his first gold and diamond bracelet. He now has $54,696 in extra tuition money.
The single-day event started at noon and ended well past midnight. After a 10-hour marathon, the final table was set. First out was Derek Tomko, of Haines City, Florida. Tomko tried to make a move at the pot with his A-7, but lost to a bigger ace. Tomko received $2,364 for 9th place.
Tom McCormick checked-out next when he was dealt 8-8 and went up against Norm Ketchum’s A-Q. The board came Q-10-4-9-2, giving Ketchum top pair and putting McCormick out in 8th place with $2,957.
One of the biggest pots of the night took place a half-hour into the final table when Shane Lowe, Scotty Nguyen, and Phil Hellmuth got into a major confrontation. Hellmuth re-raised Nguyen’s initial raise before the flop and nearly put two players all-in. With Lowe down to his last $2K and Nguyen already all-in, the three hands were turned up for the crowd. Hellmuth showed A-Q suited. Lowe showed J-J. Nguyen smiled and turned over K-K. The flop fit Nguyen’s hand perfectly – K-2-2, giving the 1998 World Champion a full-house. Hellmuth caught an ace on the turn, giving him a shot at a higher full house if he could pull another ace out of the deck. But a jack on the river made Lowe a lower full house, and Nguyen scooped the monster pot. He would not hold onto the chips for long.
Ralph Perry was the next player to make an exit from the table when he was dealt A-J versus Shane Lowe’s pocket 8’s. By this time, Lowe had managed an amazing comeback. Down to just two chips, Lowe doubled through again and again until he had nearly $25K and half the table covered. Against Perry, Lowe’s good fortune continued. The flop came Q-7-2-5-8, giving Lowe trip 8’s and the pot. Perry collected $3,696 for 7th place.
After watching Lowe’s rise from the dead – by taking $2K and turning it into $25K -- Nguyen and Lowe started bantering back and forth. “C’mon youngblood,” Nguyen said as he invited Lowe to get involved in a key pot. With a final board of J-J-10-Q-3, Nguyen showed 10-8. Lowe showed A-10 – and won by virtue of having the best kicker. “You talked me into it, bro’,” Lowe joked as he scooped the chips to stay alive.
Norm Ketchum, from Rockford, IL decided to take a stand when he was dealt 8-8. Frank McCool called the final raise with A-8 of hearts. The flop looked favorable for both players, as it came 6-7-9, with two hearts. Ketchum had the best hand at the moment, but both players had a straight draw, and McCool had a flush draw. A heart on the turn (2h) meant Ketchum was drawing dead, and he took home $5,174 for 6th place.
After winning the big pot against Hellmuth and Lowe earlier, Scotty Nguyen ran ice cold. His chips gradually vanished into other players’ stacks. Nguyen was finally down to his last $8K and moved-in with a raise on A-6. Lowe was delighted to call the raise with K-K and the board of 10-5-3-7-9 put the two-time World Poker Open and two-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner out in 5th. Nguyen received $6,652.
With McCool sitting on top with 120K in chips, and Lowe and Hellmuth with about $50K each – Perry Webb was dealt his final hand of the night. He raised with 6-6 and was called by Hellmuth, holding A-Q. The final board, A-Q-2-3-J gave Hellmuth two-pair and Webb was out in 4th place with $8,870 for one long day of work.
Then, Lowe’s troubles started. After a near miraculous comeback where he took $2K up to $50K, Lowe raised with J-J and was re-raised by Hellmuth with Q-Q. Both players put 4 bets into the pot pre-flop. Neither player improved when the board came with all rags, which meant Hellmuth now had lots of chips again, and Lowe was down to the felt. Lowe eventually busted out in 3rd place and collected $14,044.
The head-up duel between Frank McCool and Phil Hellmuth was interesting, to say the least. With McCool enjoying a slight chip lead, one of the biggest hands of the night occurred when Hellmuth hit a set of nines on the flop, and McCool managed to catch runner-runner spades to take down a huge pot with a single spade in his hand. Incredibly, on the very next hand McCool was dealt 9-9 and flopped a set himself. This time, the set held up. McCool clearly had the advantage as Hellmuth could not believe what he was seeing.
Hellmuth battled back a few hands later when he hit a straight against McCool’s top pair and was back within striking distance, down about 5 to 2 in chips. But there was no stopping McCool on this night. He seemed to catch every card he needed and had Hellmuth on the ropes as the last hand of the night was dealt.
25 minutes after head-up play began, Hellmuth moved all-in with 10-x when the flop came 10-3-3 – with one heart. With an overwhelming chip lead, McCool had called the initial bet with 4-2 of hearts. He threw in a few more chips to match Hellmuth’s last-ditch effort to stage a comeback. A king of hearts on the turn gave McCool outs, with the heart draw. Incredibly, a nine of hearts fell to the felt on the river and McCool had won. McCool, the student and former casino shift manager, had collected a very cool $54,696.
-- Nolan Dalla
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