EVENT #4: SEVEN CARD HIGH-LOW SPLIT (Limit) $500
TOTAL PRIZE MONEY: $86,815
ENTRIES IN THIS EVENT: 179
PRIZE MONEY TO DATE (3/28-31): $476,270
TOTAL ENTRIES TO DATE (3/28-31): 982
Report by Don Larrimore
Helped by back-to-back doses of divine poker intervention which eliminated the chip leader, Rich Ludwick gamely held on to win the WPO's $500 Seven Card Stud High-Low Split event.
It was the first major tournament victory for Ludwick, a commercial representative in construction materials who has played "serious poker" for 15 of his 35 years.
"I'm pretty happy," he said. "In the last year I turned my life over to God and I give Him the blessing for my victory today. This bracelet will be in my possession forever."
After "pretty much breezing through" the first day of the tournament, never having to go all-in, Ludwick said he found the final table "a battle, a real grind. Jo Jo Cutri (the eventual runner-up) is one heck of a player and a gentleman, and there were other definitely good players."
Ludwick claimed the title after a seesaw 75-minute heads-up struggle with Cutri which was punctuated with good-natured banter. The final hand, a high-low split classic, saw Cutri all-in with a made 7-6-3-2-A low which did not improve, against Ludwick's A-3-8-8-7. That pair remained good for high, and Ludwick's last two cards, a 4 and a 2, slipped in for the low and the winning scoop.
Cutri, 53, a former business entrepreneur and 10-year poker professional, said, "I was thrilled to get second. Rich is one of the toughest contenders I've ever played against. I feel I played my A-game. I wanted to win it for my teenage son, and I gave it my best." A frequent finalist on the tournament circuit, Cutri was all-in three times at what he called "one of the toughest final tables I've been at."
With not a little satisfaction, he reported that to win second place money of some $17,000 he had spent just $10 -- "Yesterday I won $530 in middle-limit side-action hold'em, which I used to buy in for this tournament."
The final heads-up pairing was set after two extraordinary hands which spelled sudden doom in the form of a third-place finish for John Lukas, who had just regained the chip lead he'd held for most of the first three and a half hours. Lukas looked down to find rolled-up sixes, while Ludwick had A-5/A. The pot was triple-raised. Nothing changed until sixth street when Ludwick caught a third ace. On the river, Lukas was still hoping for a full house, an exercise in futility since Lucwick was dealt the fourth ace.
Said the champion later: "I was stuck with the pair of aces, then I hit a 3-flush, 3 to a wheel. When he raised I knew he had rolled-up sixes, but I'd already committed most of my stack."
Lukas staggered into the next hand, finding himself with 7-2/7 which became trips on fourth street and he was happily all-in. The trouble with fourth street was that Lucwick's 9-6/9 became 9-6/9-9, all he needed for a second scoop.
"What are you gonna do against ace-ace for four aces?" asked Lukas, 60, a tournament circuit regular for 17 years who has two World Series bracelets. He is a computer consultant and data capture specialist, but had no answer to his rhetorical question.
Fourth place went to Richard Bien, 60, a nuclear facility worker who has played "casual poker since I was 10 years old when we'd get a hundred chips for a dime." This was his biggest tournament win, about which he said "I'm pleased except for two hands I should have laid down much sooner. The later stage of the tournament was like a chess match where everyone thought out their moves, which I enjoyed immensely."
R.W. Miller, a 54 year-old firearms dealer and lifelong poker player, went all-in 13 times during the tournament, finally fading out in fifth place. All-in after his low card became a low draw, he made no low and no pair, losing to Bien's A-K high. "I'm surprised I got this far," he said. "It was lucky -- I was just hanging on by my fingernails." Miller said, "This is the best-run tournament I've ever seen. The people and the food are great."
Sixth place went to Howard Jones, who was all-in with Q-Q-A-10 which didn't improve against a dream hand held by Cutri: a 6-5-4-3 spade straight flush draw which became a straight and then a flush. Jones, 76, a retired civil service employee, began playing poker 58 years ago in the U.S. Navy during World War II. "I just didn't get a hand, not one play where I could gamble," he said. "But early in the tournament I was down to $20 in chips and came all the way to the final table."
After surviving four all-in final table forays in 30 minutes, short-stacked Charles Robacker departed in seventh place when his trip aces were snapped off by Lukas's low straight. "I'm absolutely elated. I hung in there by my nails," enthused Robacker, a 49 year-old automotive designer and poker professional since last summer. "I'm pleased to the utmost with everything here at the tournament," he said. "It's all done with absolute class."
Tournament veteran Earl Kim, 59, was eliminated in 8th place with a busted low draw against Lukas's rivered straight. The retired Olympic International Foundation executive who has several dozen tournament wins in a long poker career, was unusually frank about his performance here: "I'm very disappointed. I never had a bad beat. I just played badly."
The Final Table Chip Standings & Seat Positions:
| Seat Position/Player | Chip Count |
| Seat 1: Jo Jo Cutri (Southampton, PA) | $10,500 |
| Seat 2: Earl Kim (Hawaii) | $9,700 |
| Seat 3: John Lukas (Atlanta, GA) | $24,800 |
| Seat 4: Charlie Robacker (Mt. Pleasant, FL) | $1,000 |
| Seat 5: Rich Ludwick (Las Vegas, NV) | $19,800 |
| Seat 6: Richard Bien (Cincinnati, OH) | $10,500 |
| Seat 7: Howard Jones (Pensacola, FL) | $9,300 |
| Seat 8: R. W. Miller (Jacksonville, FL) | $4,000 |
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