| First Win in '15 Zillion' Tries!
"I must have played 15 zillion of these things, and this is my first win," Phillip Penn Sr. declared after capturing event four of Winnin' o' the Green 2002, $100 7-card stud hi-lo. "And it's about time," the Norwalk resident added. Penn, who started the final table with a sizeable lead of $60,000, had nearly half the checks when three players were left, and the trio then did a chip-count deal.
Harut Dabanjiano was the last player before the final table. He called all in on fourth street with K-K/8-3 and three clubs after David Frost bet out with 4-5/6-7. Harut missed his flush while David caught a trey for a seven-high straight scoop. Finishing 10th was Cee Cee Keo, whose husband, Tony Keo, won the first event, $50 limit hold'em.
Final table limits opened at $5,000-$10,000, with $1,000 antes and a $2,000 bring-in. It almost ended right there. Seven players were agreeable to dividing up the money immediately, but "General Poy," perhaps the most experienced tournament player at the table, wanted to soldier on for a while.
Not that it lasted much longer after that. It only went 16 hands, with three players knocked out in the first three. On hand one, Penn raised with 5-7/A and computer technician Mark Minsky, dealt 4-5/A, called with his last $5,000. Penn caught two more 5s to make mince meat out of Minsky, who missed his low. Phillip then claimed his second victim on hand two when he bet on fourth street with a heart draw and put in Todd Aron, who was going with high cards. Penn made his flush while Aron, a consultant who won the Memorial no-limit hold'em championship at Casino Arizona in 2000, couldn't do better than king-high.
Frost took over on hand three. Starting with a promising 6-8/4 low hand, he raised, and John Fielding, retired after owning a motorcycle dealership, called for $4,500 with split nines. John couldn't improve, and David frosted him by catching two jacks.
Two hands later, the limits jumped to $10,000-$20,000, with $2,000 antes and a $3,000 bring-in. "We're all one hand away from getting knocked out," Frost commented. "I hate to think what's next -- $1,000,000-$2,000,000?" On hand eight, General Poy was all in when he raised with A-5/4 and Penn popped it again with 5-8/2. But the general won the battle when he scooped with a wheel. A hand later, Wayne Schumacher, who has a prior Winnin' o' the Green stud title, had a close call when he was all in on third street, but scooped with a flush. All in again in three-way action on the next hand, Wayne made a second consecutive flush to take the main pot. Frost took the side pot with a straight, while Edgar Linaros missed everything and busted out in fifth place.
On hand 11, Penn vaulted into a big chip lead. On fifth street, he bet all in showing 4-8-9-4. After Frost called, he flipped up pocket nines for a full house, beating Frost's flush and amassing about $120,000 for a big lead which he never relinquished. Right after that, Frost missed his draw to a seven and bowed out in fourth place when Penn made treys and deuces.
The three finalists played a few more hands after that. On the final one, General Poy was under siege. He was all in and the only weapons he had to defend himself with were a pair of 7s. But that proved sufficient for the general, who has a couple of prior WOG wins in lowball and hold'em, because all that Schumaker had was A-K.
After that close call, General Poy agreed to a cease-fire and the chips were counted up. Penn had $105,000, Schumaker had $67,000, and Poy had $45,000. The three agreed to a deal, and then marched to the pay window. -Max Shapiro
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