Cool Man Colman Wins No. 3!
Colman Roy, a 32-year-old Vegas pro who says his greatest strength as a player is his ability in trying circumstances to stay calm, cool and collected, collected $13,800 for winning the third event in Big Poker Oktober, no-limit hold'em. He took a huge lead after winning a $100,000-plus pot and eliminating Big John Hartzell with aces versus queens, then three hands later finished off runner-up Stephane Borrero, kings against sixes.
Borrero, a native of France who's lived here for 15 years and owns a construction company, stranded Taz Kampf in tenth place. Kamph posted his last $400 in the big blind with A-Q and lost to Borrero's pocket nines.
Final table blinds started at $1,000 and $2,000 with $300 antes. On the eighth hand, two players were blown out. Guido Deleye, a French teacher, was down to $300 at the second table and survived three all-in scares, had managed to stagger to the last table with $2,700. Now his last chips were posted in the big blind. He was dealt A-3. On a flop of Q-10-3, Borrero, holding Q-8, announced all in. Poker player Derek Bukowski also went all in with his much smaller stacks holding J-9, then missed his open-end straight draw.
Two hands later, Pam Aguirre, who is in medical marketing, picked up pocket nines and decided to push in her remaining $6,000. Holding pocket cowboys, Roy called with joy and then six were left. On the next hand, it was the turn of structural engineer Abraham Yomtob, who went all in with K-Q. "You got me," he said, as Roy called and turned up A-K. The board came A-K-9-6-3, and indeed he had been "got."
After losing four players in four hands, things quieted down for a while. Then, on hand 19, with limits at $2,000-$4,000 and $500 antes, property manager Beverley Kruskol moved in for $4,800. Hartzell, a retired land developer with a 1998 no-limit win in BPO, called. Both players turned up a king, reluctant to display their other weak card. Finally, Beverley revealed a six, John a five. But the five won when a five flopped, and Beverley cashed out number five.
Mitchell Krupa, another property manager, got perilously low on chips after calling Hartzell's all-in bet of $14,500. Mitch had K-10, but John had K-Q and then flopped a straight. A couple of hands later Mitch raised all in for $5,400 with K-7. Colman called with K-J of clubs and won on a board of 10-9-2-J-3.
The three finalists weren't that far apart in chips. Colman had the lead with about $65,000, but his opponents each had over $50,000. Hartzell, who had already been the most aggressive player at the table, now began to build his stacks with a series of all-in uncalled bets. Finally, on hand 34, Colman put on the brakes. When John made a raise to $8,000 with pocket queens, Roy made a small trap raise of $10,000 with two aces, and John moved all in. The board came J-7-2-10-4, and Colman, with about $122,000, was now heads-up with Stephane, with about $51,000. Two hands later he employed the same strategy to end the match. After Stephane made a small raise with sixes, Colman made it $12,000 to go with two kings and the Frenchman then moved in. When the board came Q-8-J-4-K, Colman Roy's final opponent said "Au revoir," and the third event was over. - Max Shapiro
BIOGRAPHY
Colman Roy, originally from Shreveport, Louisiana, has been playing professionally for eight years. He describes himself as a solid player with good self-control and a sense of knowing where he's at during a hand. His biggest win came at the Commerce's L.A. Poker Classic this year, when he won a limit hold'em event paying $48,000. Other wins include limit hold'em at Legends 996, and the Rod Peate no-limit event at Hollywood Park this past Sunday. He plays mostly side games in Vegas, generally limit hold'em ranging from $40-$80 to $75-$150.
Tonight, he said, he played his "A" game throughout and was very confident. He was tested early on when he suffered a bad beat. Holding A-K, he flopped an ace, but lost when two running spades gave his opponent a flush. "But I didn't lose my composure, and players at the table congratulated me and said they couldn't have handled such a beat," he said proudly.
CHIP POSITION · FINAL TABLE
Derek Bukowski $15,300
Colman Roy $35,600
John Hartzell $11,400
Guido Deleye $2,700
Mitchell Krupa $31,400
Beverley Kruskol $9,500
Abraham Yomtob $13,700
Stephane Borrero $42,600
Pam Aguirre $11,400
ALL AROUND PLAY-OFF POINTS
Name / Total
1. Kelly Behunin 67
2. Phi Nguyen 59
3. Colman Roy 57
4. Don Larrimore 53
5. Makram Merhom 51
6. Stephane Borrero 49
7. Sean Evans 47
8. Todd Berman 45
9. John Hartzell 43
10.Mai Hung 42
11.Ngoc "Jimmy" Tran 40
12.Mitchell Krupa 38
13.Chuck Williams 38
14.Guy Spano 36
15.Beverley Kruskol 34
16.Michael Sandor 34
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