ALADDIN SUPERVISOR BEATS 2 REDHEADS IN FIRST EVENT
Redheaded women may have a dangerous reputation, but Robert Tyburski, a table games supervisor at the Aladdin, faced down not one but two flame-haired pro players at the final table to win the first event of 4 Queens Poker Classic 2002, $100 limit hold’em. Even more amazing, Tyburski, who’s only been heads-up on the Internet, had a $30,000 to $160,000 disadvantage against Martine Oules, winner of a no-limit event here last year. When he finally pulled into a tiny lead, the two split the prize money evenly, but his extra $4,000 in chips gave him the title.
The opener drew a tremendous turnout of 319 players, and the 40-minute rounds offered plenty of play. The final table started at 9:30 with $1,000-$2,000 limits, 29:37 remaining, with Martine and Melissa Hayden the chip leaders.
An hour went by before a player even went all in. Hayden, who had been having no luck at all, finally put in her last $2,500 but stayed around when her pocket 8s held up. By the time limits had jumped up twice, to $2,000-$4,000, she had recovered to an above average $23,000, while Bob Kenworthy, who builds trucks for GM, had the lead with $54,000. Finally, after 67 hands and 90 minutes, Canadian software developer Charles Mousseau made a $500 all-in raise with Q-10 and was crushed by Oules’ pocket aces.
Ten hands later, Hayden showed her stuff with a tremendous call. She had tried a bluff raise with a mere 5-2 and called when Ash “The Cash” Pervaiz re-raised with A-K. On the river, she bet into a board of 10-8-2-3-3, then called with her paired deuce when Pervaize raised. The British sports adviser busted on hand 82. With K-9 suited, he check-raised Oules on a board of K-10-5-3, then bet his last $3,000 on the river. But the French-born Martine once again held two aces.
With limits at $3,000-$6,000, Hayden took the lead with about $65,000 when she flopped a set of 7s to outrun Kenworthy’s pocket 8s. Edward Newton, retired as a stockbroker and mortgage broker, was next out. On the button, he went all in with J-10. Kenworthy called for the extra $1,000 with 6-5 and flopped a winning 6. Dennis Spencer followed a few hands later. He called all in with As, 9s after Tyburski raised with Ad, 10d. Dennis, who is in the scrap business, had a flush draw on the turn but missed and got scrapped.
Oules took the lead on hand 95 in a multi-way, multi-raised pot when she flopped a set of 9s. Hayden, with A-7, considered calling for the 7-1 pot odds, but folded. She would have won with a straight when the board came 10-9-2-8-6, but realistically could not have gone past the flop. Kenworthy next finished fifth. He had A-10 to Tyburski’s A-4, but Robert flopped a 4.
“I’m in deep trouble, they’re both coming after me,” Robert moaned on the next hand when both red-haired ladies called his raise. Martine won the pot and moved into a big lead with about $105,000 of the $192,000 in play. When limits went to $4,000-$8,000, she still had $102,500 while Hayden had $36,500. Tyburski and Chuck Sturm, a vehicle transporter, each had $26,500.
After surviving her third all in when her Kd, Jd flushed on the river, Hayden, a poker player/photographer, finally ran out of film on hand 121. The pocket 8s that saved her the first time didn’t work this time. Tyburski called her all-in raise with Ac, 7c and turned an ace. Martine, meanwhile, ran her count to $130,000 when she picked off Robert’s bluff on the river. He bet after he missed his club flush draw, and she called with just ace-high.
The tournament finally got two-handed on hand 134 when Chuck busted out on a bad beat. He raised with K-8, Martine re-raised with 10-8 and he made it $16,000 to go. He was in great shape when the flop came 8-7-2, but a 10 on the turn gave her two pair and she put him all in and all out when a deuce came on the river.
Heads-up, Tyburski had only $46,000 to Oules’ $146,000, and as play commenced with limits of $6,000-$12,000, he dipped down to about $30,000. But he began a comeback on hand 151 when he checked, with pocket kings, to a board of 6-6-3-2, then got an extra all-in bet of $11,000 on the river. A hand later he moved up to $72,000 when Martine folded on the turn. A few hands later he again had pocket kings and pulled nearly even while Oules became increasingly frustrated as her huge lead evaporated. She had repeatedly refused a deal, but finally caved in after folding on the turn on the final hand, and falling behind, $94,000-$98,000. They chopped, and Tyburski had a very dramatic victory. —Max Shapiro
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