4 Queens Poker Classic
Friday, September 27, 2002
BIKE PROP ALVAREZ TOPS T.J.IN WILD 7-CARD STUD FINALE
After dragging on for more than three hours, tonight's $500 7-card stud event suddenly turned into a blazing shootout as chips flowed back and forth between T.J. Cloutier and Leandro Alvarez. In the most dramatic hand that Alvarez said he had ever seen, T.J. grabbed the lead by making jacks full against his set of kings in a $29,000 pot. But Alvarez kept it from becoming an even worse disaster by just calling down T.J.'s bets, then pulled ahead with a straight and ended the match with a flush.
Alvarez, a public relations player at the Bicycle Casino, said that with two 9s up and a jack showing, T.J. was representing a big pair in the hole. If it were queens, kings or aces, he didn't want to let him fold by raising with his set. And if were jacks, he wanted to save bets and still have the chance to fill up his cowboys.
This was Alvarez' first tournament win. He described T.J., the world's leading tournament money winner, as an amazing competitor, and was also struck by how dangerous Men "The Master" Nguyen could be with his aggressive betting, even though he was short-stacked late in the tournament.
The final table got there in bizarre fashion. With nine players remaining, Bonnie McHugh suddenly dashed off after getting a phone call informing her of a family emergency. She had about $1,000 and had been blinded down to $775 when another player with enough chips to let her get blinded and low-carded out, went broke after he got tied to pocket kings and lost to Mike Terell's flush. The unidentified player said he could kick himself after realizing what he had done. He explained that he was new to tournaments and did not grasp the situation, even though David Lamb, to be fair to those who did not know why McHugh had left, made an announcement. Worse, the ninth-place finisher said he couldn't even be here for the bubble event.
Just as unbelievable, Men "The Master" Nguyen, seemingly giving money away, offered to bet anyone $100 that the woman would make it to the final table. James Hoeppner was the only one taking the wager. "What chance do us mere mortals have against him?" an onlooker asked, amazed at Men's seemingly psychic powers.
The final table started with $75 antes, a $150 bring-in and $400-$800 limits, with 10 minutes remaining. Alvarez started as the chip leader with $16,350 and quickly extended it when, with a pair of 10s, he picked off Men, who tried to bluff showing 7-4-6-3. The lady who wasn't there lasted seven hands before her $100 was put in after limits went to $500-$1,000, with a $100 ante and $200 bring-in. Nguyen took her chip, and those of David Green, with three 6s. On hand 12, two players went out. Green was all in on third street, and then Hoeppner, starting with pocket kings and making kings-full, got in a raising war and broke construction consultant Tom Hirata, who made a set of 8s on fifth street.
When limits went to $1,000-$2,000, Leo still held a good-sized lead with $23,000, then pulled even further ahead on hand 50 when Men missed draws to both a straight and flush. A couple of hands later, Terrrell raised all in with pocket 6s and an ace up and lost when T.J. made a flush. Terrell, who is in the restoration business, said he had to cut his trip short and fly home to Cincinnati, which is undergoing severe flooding.
A bit later, Men took a very long time deciding whether call a bet by T.J. and asked T.J himself to call for a clock. "I've never put a clock on anyone in my life," Cloutier answered, then took it back. "I would if it were Brent (the king of strategic stalls) Carter," he said. After going all in and surviving three times, and with limits at $1,500-$3,000, a low-chipped Master finally was eliminated when CPA Hoeppner made three jacks to beat his kings.
Hoeppner was left with about $2,900 after T.J. beat him with aces-up. He finally broke past hand 100 when he started with split kings and couldn't improve when T.J. paired his buried ace on fourth street.
Heads-up, Alvararez led, about $33,000 to $22,000. Then came the hand, capped pre-flop, where Alavarez hit his third king and T.J. filled on fifth street. On the ninth hand heads-up, with $2,000-$4,000 limits, Leo regained the lead when his straight beat T.J.'s two pair. Two hands later Leo took T.J.'s last $16,000 by making a heart flush after T.J. had check-raised with a paired king. --Max Shapiro
Chip Position, Final Table
Seat Player Chip Count
1 John Green $2,875
2. Mike Terrell $7,200
3. Men Nguyen $10,750
4. James Hoeppner $8,850
5. T.J. Cloutier $10,900
6. Tom Hirata $6,650
7. Bonnie McHugh $775
8. Leandro Alvarez $16, |
