Ex-Print Shop Owner Takes #6!
Hauling in a huge pot when his pocket aces crushed golf pro Danny Tobacco's A-K, Jim Bates took over the chip lead that had been held since the start of the final table by Susan Schake. Bates, a semi-retired former print shop owner, was still in front four hands later when the five finalists agreed to a chip-count deal, and he was declared the winner of event number six of Winnin' o' the Green, $200 limit hold'em. The tournament drew 260 entrants, and official first-place prize money was $19,500.
With 10 players left, Eskimo Clark thought he had cleared the way to the final table when he flopped a Broadway straight with a flush re-draw against Vinny Landrum, who was almost all in with just pocket 7s. "I want to make the final table," Vinny said, and he did when miracle runner-runner cards gave him a full house. A frustrated Eskimo then made matters worse for himself when he let slip the no-no word and was awarded, despite his protests, an automatic 10-minute penalty which ended up costing him $3,000 in chips. After Stewart Richardson and then George Marlowe had gone all in and survived, "Rocky" ended up in 10th place. He mucked his hand without showing it, losing to Tom Connors' two pair.
Limits at the final table started at $2,000-$4,000. Eskimo, who brought $10,000 with him, lost it on the second hand. Heads-up against Connors, he raised before the flop with K-J, then was raised when he bet the flop of 10-7-3, and finally bet all in when a 9 turned. Tom had Q-7 and his paired 7 was enough to leave Eskimo out in the cold.
George Marlowe, making his second consecutive final-table appearance, arrived with the fewest chips, $4,000, but went into survival mode, escaped a couple of all-in encounters, and was still around at the end. On the third hand, he was an underdog, K-Q versus A-10, but pulled out when a queen flopped. Then Susan, a chef for private parties who started out with a substantial lead of $53,000, got even more in a big pot against Tobacco when his A-3 couldn't catch her A-Q.
Meanwhile, retired gift shop owner Richardson, who started with just $6,000, was trying to hold onto his chips. With limits raised to $3,000-$6,000, he had only $1,500 left after folding in the big blind against Tobacco's raise. All in on the next hand, he had 10-9 against Connors' K-10 of hearts, and busted out in eighth place when the board came 7-5-3-3-2.
On hand 17, Landrum had pocket aces and Jimmy Uyloan had pocket kings, and they got into a raising war. The pot was capped before the flop, then bet, raised and re-raised on a flop of 9-4-2. Vinny, a pro, finally went all in but his aces held up. War broke out again the next hand. This time Bates had the pocket rockets, and Tobacco an A-K. This pot was also capped pre-flop. Then Bates check-raised on a flop 4-3-3. Danny bet when a king turned, but he was drawing dead to another king. When a 9 came on the river, Bates bet to put Tobacco all in, and then snuffed him out in seventh place.
Two hands later, Marlowe was all in again, but his A-J held up against Landrum's K-10. On the next hand, which turned out to be the last one, Uyloan posted his last chips in the small blind with J-10. Connors, a poker dealer with several tournament titles, had Q-3 in the big blind. When the board came A-8-2-4-9, Uyloan cashed out in sixth place, and the finalists decided to take a chip count. Bates had $62,500; Schake $57,500; Landrum $38,500; Connors $34,000; and Marlowe $13,500. After some discussion, a deal was made, and Jim Bates was the winner. -Max Shapiro
BIOGRAPHY
Jim Bates, 50, who once owned a print shop in Santa Ana, now lives in Riverside. He works as a messenger driver by day and plays poker by night.
He's been playing the game since he was 21, but took an 18-year hiatus because he wasn't interested in the draw and lowball games that local casinos were restricted to in those days. When hold'em, his favorite game, was declared legal, he returned with a vengeance, playing as many as 300 tournaments, mostly daily ones, in a year. Primarily a tournament player, he holds three hold'em titles from Ocean's Eleven and a couple at Elsinore.
He describes himself as a selectively aggressive player, adding that most people would think he was tight. Tonight, he said, he started off slowly, but got a big boost when he held kings versus aces and flopped a king when there were about 10-tables left. But the key hand, he added, came when he held aces against Danny Tobacco's A-K.
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