Mystery man, Prince of Docness ran wire-to-wire and won $57,426 in the $500 buy-in Omaha High-Low event at the 2003 Wold Poker Open. Prince of Docness, also known as "Doc" for short, came to the final table with a sizable chip advantage. He drew even at one point when the action came down to the final three players, but pulled away at the end to record his first WPO victory. This win comes exactly two months after Doc won an Omaha High-Low event in November at the Foxwoods Casino, which amounted to an Omaha parlay.
Play started with blinds at $1K-$2K and limits at $2K-$4K. Hyechin Murphy was short-stacked and went all-in on the turn when the board showed 10-8-5-4. Holding A-2-7-J, Murphy held a strong hand with the nut low with a wheel draw. Unfortunately, an ugly deuce fell on the river which counterfeited her hand. Murphy, who plays regularly in Tunica's cardrooms, collected $2,483 for 9th-place.
On the next hand, Herbert Owenby made an unwanted exit. Owenby was dealt A-2-5-J but lost to Mike Sexton's flush. Owenby, a former physical education teacher who has made final tables at major tournaments including the United States Poker Championships, Queens Poker Classic, and the World Series of Poker, added $3,104 to his lifetime winnings for 8th-place.
A short-time later, Jim Rye won won a monster-sized pot when he cut down two players, Mike Sexton and Bill Reed. Rye made both the nut flush and nut low to scoop a $40K pot. At that point, he appeared to pose the most serious threat to Doc, the chip leader.
However, Prince of Docness made things darker for everyone at the final table when he scooped a huge four-way pot and knocked out two players on the same hand. Doc held A-5-9-10. Joe DiDonato had A-6-7-8. Jim Rye had A-2-2-4. Jim Bokhari was also involved in the pot, but his hand was never revealed. The final board showed 5-9-7-9-5 giving Doc a full house, 9s over 5s. DiDonato's flopped nut straight was toast, and Rye's low failed to rise from the deck. After the carnage was over, the end result was a 7th-place finish for Jim Bokhari, who plays regularly in Las Vegas cardrooms and specializes mostly in Omaha High-Low cash games. He received $3,880. Joe DiDonato was also ejected from his seat at the final table and took 6th-place. DiDonato, who works for a construction company in Lake Charles, Louisiana, collected $5,432.
With Doc up to $120K in chips, Bill Reed and Mike Sexton eyed each other's stacks like hungry wolves desperately hoping to survive another round. Both players were just one round of blinds from being all-in. The situation was critical. A short time later, Reed had to go all-in when he was dealt 2-7-7-9 in the big blind, but lost when the final board showed A-2-K-10-3. Reed had no low, and his pair of 7s were no good for high -- which meant a trip to the rail for the good man from Georgia. Reed, a retiree, has won several tournaments in the Gulport-Biloxi area. But the best he could do tonight was 5th-place in this event. He collected a nice paycheck of $6,984.
The next three hands were a dream come true for poker's "Mr. Ambassador." Mike Sexton, the television host of the upcoming World Poker Tour and former World Series of Poker bracelet winner, won three enormous pots in a row that put him close to even in chips with Doc. On the first hand, Sexton needed some help when he was dealt A-5-8-9. One the turn, the board showed 3-4-J-4. By this time, Doc had Sexton all-in. When a deuce fell on the river, that gave Sexton a wheel and he won a $25K pot.
On the following hand, Sexton won another huge pot, this time against James Ellis. Sexton made queens full and Ellis quietly mucked his cards. Ellis was now down to a single $500 chip. He went all-in on the following hand, this time against Sexton and Doc. As it turned out, Sexton made a powerhouse hand. He spiked a king-high straight flush (no low was possible) and in just three hands, he not only increased his stack to over $100K, he busted Ellis. James Ellis, who is a retired educator from Texas, was pleased with his performance -- and with good reason. He took $9,312 for 4th-place.
Over the next half-hour, Sexton and Rye dueled chip for chip, most of the time splitting pots. A key hand came when Rye completed the nut high flush against Doc. That big pot put Rye and Sexton into a virtual tie with the Prince of Docness, which meant it was anyone's tournament to win at that point.
But that's as close as either player would come to dethrowning the chip leader. After Doc quartered Rye a few hand later (both players had A-2, and Doc won the high), he was never in serious jeopardy. Meanwhile, Sexton saw his chips deminish a stack at a time, with the blinds racing around the table at $15K per orbit. The deck that had previoulsy been so hot suddenly froze on Sexton, and he was gradually blinded down to $20K. Sexton's final hand of the night came when he committed his final chips with 5-6-9-9 after a flop of A-2-9. The trip 9's did not hold up. Doc made a wheel on the turn, and when the board failed to pair, Sexton was out in 3rd-place with $14,744 to sooth the pain.
On the following hand, Doc scooped a large pot against Rye and enjoyed a 3-1 chip advantage. Ten minutes later, Doc made a diamond flush and scooped another big pot, increasing his lead over Rye to 6-to-1.
The final hand of the tournament came when Rye was dealt 7-8-8-J versus Doc's 2-5-6-7. All of Rye's chips went into the pot when he flopped an 8 -- making three-of-a-kind. But the final board showed 3-6-8-4-2, which made Doc a straight, as well as a low. Jim was the runner-up and Doc was the winner.
The Second-place finisher, Jim Rye is a retired Army colonel. He is the defending 2002 poker champion of the Horseshoe Casino's Tournament of Winners, held every year here in Tunica. Rye, both an officer and a gentleman, received $29,488.
For all of his success in tournaments and side action over the past decade, the champion, Prince of Docness, remains something of a mystery within the poker world. Rumor has it that Doc once worked as a mental health professional. He now says he specializes in "flopology." When asked for clarrification as to what science "flopology" refers to, Doc remained both secretive and intentionally ambiguous. "I still have a client-base," Doc said. "Now, all of my patients are Omahalics." After the bizarre "interview," the Prince of Docness escaped into the darkness, leaving a bewlidered group of bystanders to try and make sense of what just happened.
-- by Nolan Dalla
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