EVENT #14: LIMIT TEXAS HOLD'EM ($1500)
TOTAL PRIZE MONEY: $132,405
ENTRIES IN THIS EVENT: 91
PRIZE MONEY TO DATE (3/28-4/10): $1,697,985
TOTAL ENTRIES TO DATE (3/28-4/10): 2,598
Report by Don Larrimore
In a generational battle within the poker tournament elite, the noted journeyman Sam Grizzle, 47, outfought rising star Layne Flack, 30, to capture the $1,500 Limit Hold'em title at the World Poker Open.
"I'm elated to win this tournament and the bracelet," said Grizzle, whose successes in a 15-year professional career include numerous major tournament wins and final tables and six in-the-money finishes at the World Series.
"I felt confident through the whole final table," he said. "The competition was mixed. The heads-up lasted longer (80 minutes) than I thought it would. I had him down to one stack early on, but he drew out and built back up." There were six lead changes in the heads-up contest, but Flack never had a major advantage.
"In the last 15 minutes or so he showed me pocket aces three times and queens once," Grizzle said. "The only pair I had heads-up were tens, and when I raised with them he folded."
With Flack very short-stacked, his defeat came narrowly when his A-6 lost to Grizzle's A-7 with a board of Q-8-4/2-K. The younger competitor had no comment on the result except to say, "It was a good tournament. Any time you get down to the final table, it's got to be a good tournament for you."
In just three years as a poker pro, Flack has had many good tournaments: his four major wins include a World Series bracelet last year in $3,000 Pot Limit Hold'em, and he had a runner-up finish in 1998. He has also had many smaller tournament wins and scores of final table finishes.
Three days short of his 88th birthday, Keith Yarborough took third place, his best tournament finish in 20 years of what he called "recreational poker." Nonetheless, Yarborough, owner of an Internet shopping mall, said, "I'm disappointed I didn't win it. These are two of the best players in the world, but I felt I should have won it. I just couldn't catch a card after the last break."
Finally close to all-in with 6-3 against Flack's 8-7 of diamonds, Yarborough bet out on the flop of A-A-6 and called a raise. The turn brought a killing seven, followed by an unhelpful King, and he was gone. He had been down to his last $500 earlier in the tournament, coming all the way up to nearly $32,000 when he started at the final table.
Fourth place went to retired TWA captain Don Pittman, 65, his second WPO final table, who suffered a series of painful beats capped by the two-outer which eliminated him: Holding 10-9, he bet a flop of 10-2-2 against Flack, bet again on the turn of a Queen, and was all-in on the river card, a seven. The onlookers gasped when Flack turned over pocket sevens.
"It's better than a sharp stick in the eye, I guess," said Pittman ruefully. "He's been drawing out on me all day and yesterday. But I can't complain. I had a shot at it. I don't feel bad as long as I don't beat myself."
Pittman, who finished 8th in the 1994 World Championship event and has played tournaments regularly for a decade, said of the WPO: "I'm just thrilled with the people running this tournament. If you asked me for a negative about it, I couldn't give you one."
Ken Goldstein, 33, a poker pro for three years and former manager of an art and wine storage company, finished fifth when he was all in with K-9 of spades against Flack's 10-7 of spades, flopped top pair (K-7-8), but lost when Flack turned a 10 for two pair. "There's nothing I could do," remarked Goldstein, who said he plays major tournaments only and has had several final-table finishes. "This table was very restricting. I played only three hands."
In just ten minutes, three players were knocked out. Sixth place went to Pat Heneghan, a 47 year-old Chicago municipal worker who has played poker regularly for ten years. His all-in A-5 was beaten by Yarborough whose 10-8 made two pair. "I'm very pleased with my result considering the quality players at this table," he said. "Being short-stacked, I had to make a double-up move early, but that didn't materialize."
Russ Bouffiou, 40, a former construction worker who describes himself as "a student of life and poker," finished seventh when he took A-7 of diamonds against Heneghan's 5-4 of diamonds, losing with a board of K-8-6/4-K. Bouffiou had a final-table finish at the 1995 World Series and is now in his first year on the tournament circuit. "I was patient even though I was low on chips," he said. "I'm not upset with myself today."
Eighth place went to Danny Cottle, a 27 year-old baseball scholarship student and poker pro for six years, who was playing his first-ever major tournament. "I won a satellite," he said. "I feel pretty good. It's been a great experience." Cottle departed when his all-in fell to Grizzle's 10-8 when the board came 10-10-8/J-6.
Jim Meehan, an "ageless" lawyer and "sometime tournament player," was eliminated early and cruelly when he was all-in with A-Q on a flop of A-9-3 against Yarborough with K-Q of diamonds. The turn and river brought runner-runner diamonds. "I'm disappointed," said Meehan, to no one's surprise. He has had a second and a third-place finish at the World Series.
The Final Table Chip Standings & Seat Positions:
| Seat Position/Player | Chip Count |
| Seat 1: Keith Yarbrough (Canton, TX) | $31,900 |
| Seat 2: Layne Flack (Las Vegas, NV) | $38,700 |
| Seat 3: Russ Bouffiou (McFarland, WI) | $3,400 |
| Seat 4: Jim "Murphy" Meehan (Minneapolis, MN) | $12,400 |
| Seat 5: Sam Grizzle (Las Vegas, NV) | $18,600 |
| Seat 6: Don Pittman (Sapulpa, OK) | $5,800 |
| Seat 7: Danny Cottle (Arlington, TX) | $3,200 |
| Seat 8: Pat Heneghan (Chicago, IL) | $3,800 |
| Seat 9: Kenny Goldstein (Los Angeles, CA) | $18,800 |
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