"Rocky Mountain High"
Coloradoan Frankie O'Dell crushed the final table of the $1,000 buy-in Omaha High-Low Split event. In fact, it wasn't so much a competition as a massacre. He arrived on the second day with a sizable chip advantage, and over the next three hours proceeded to steamroll over each of his opponents with his big stack. In the end, O'Dell won his first gold and diamond bracelet at the World Poker Open and received $31,816 for first place.
At the other end of the spectrum, Toto Leonidas' stay at the final table was exceedingly short. Down to just a single chip, Leonidas moved all-in under the gun with A-2-4-J. The flop came K-8-6-K-6. Leslie Smith showed A-2-4-8, giving him a pair of 8s. The hand put the talented California-based tournament pro out in 9th place. Leonidas collected $2,386.
Leslie Smith took the chip lead momentarily when he eliminated the next player. British-born Smith, who now lives and plays poker in Amsterdam (Holland), called when Steve "Notso" Brite moved all-in before the flop. Smith flipped over K-K-9-5 against Brite's A-Q-9-6. The final board showed J-2-2-4-10, which meant Smith's pair of kings scooped the big pot. Steve "Notso" Brite actually proved that when it comes to poker, he's very bright, indeed. The Virginian outlasted 110 opponents in the tournament and received $2,270 for 8th place.
"Little Richard" Collinsowrth is a living legend around gambling circles back in his hometown of Dallas. In his colorful life, Collinsorth has been robbed by hijackers, shot in the stomach (twice), and played in more than a few underground poker games. Collinsworth now plays in California mostly, where he routinely tears up the pot-limit side games up and down the West Coast. But today wasn't Collinsworth's day. His final hand was dealt about 45 minutes into the tournament when he took K-K-J-8 up against A-5-6-9. The flop showed J-9-6-4-2 which turned Collinsworth's kings into dust. At least leaving the final table wasn't quite as bad as getting robbed and shot, but you couldn’t tell that by the look on "Little Richard's face when he left his seat. Collinsworth took 7th-place prize money of $2,837 and immediately jumped into a nearby pot-limit cash game.
Former World Series of Poker bracelet winner, Harry Thomas, was the next player to go out. Cheered on by his lovely wife Jerri (the Thomas' are one of only tow husband and wife duos in history to both capture World Series of Poker titles), Thomas made his final stand with K-K-10-10. Leslie Smith was delighted to call with A-3-4-5. All of Thomas' money went into the pot after the flop came A-10-4 giving him a set of 10s, but another ace came on the turn which made Smith a higher full house -- aces over fours. Thomas, who has made several final tables in previous events at the World Poker Open, took $3,972 for 6th place.
Frankie O'Dell went on a tear over the next hour that effectively wiped-out any chance of a comeback. When eliminated Leslie Smith, O'Dell had essentially destroyed his closest rival (in chips) and left the other players short-stacked. Smith, a pro on the European tournament circuit who plays regularly at Holland Casinos Amsterdam, was all-in with A-8-10-10 when the board showed 9-9-6-A in the turn, with two diamonds. Smith's pair of 10s was still the best hand against O'Dell's 2-7-10-K (two diamonds). However, O'Dell caught a diamond on the river, which made a flush. Smith exited in 5th place with $5,107.
Minh Nguyen was never able to generate any momentum at the final table. He survived for a while, but was gradually worn down until he was dangerously low in chips. Nguyen's last chip went into the pot when the flop came K-3-3. Holding J-J-5-3 in his hand, Nguyen had a set of 3s. But O'Dell had a virtual sledgehammer. He called Nguyen's final bet and tabled A-K-K-8 for a full house. The kings full of threes beat Nguyen, who finished 4th. Nguyen, who lives in the Los Angeles area and plays regularly in major poker tournaments, collected $6,809.
It was a wild ride for Mark Wilds, from Mississippi's Gold Coast. After Nguyen was knocked out, Wilds tripled-up and won a big hand. But that would be the high point for Wilds. He was eventually busted when he took A-K-6-6 up against O'Dell's 10-9-4-3. O'Dell flopped a straight when the board showed Q-J-8. Wilds was unable to improve and took 3rd place. To date, this was Wild's biggest tournament payoff. He received $11,349.
The heads-up match between Frankie O'Dell and Glenn Kiersky lasted 45 minutes. Kiersky managed to stay at the final table, despite playing relatively few hands. He patiently waited for good cards and got involved only when he thought he had the best of it. His strategy was to get heads-up with the chip leader and then open up with more aggression. The strategy almost worked.
Kiersky got close to even in chips at one point when O'Dell missed a monster draw on the river, which let Kiersky take the big pot with a pair of 9s. Such a pair normally isn't much of an Omaha hand, but in this case it could have been the turning point of the tournament.
But on the very next hand, O'Dell immediately regained a 2-1 chip advantage when he scooped a $30K pot with a club flush and a nut low. That set off run of big hands for O'Dell where just about everything seemed to go right in the closing minutes. O'Dell seized an 8-1 chip lead as limits increased to $3K-6K.
The final hand of the night was as follows:
Kiersky: 10-9-6-2
O'Dell: 10-8-5-3
The two hands were remarkably similar. The flop came A-A-10 and put Kiersky firmly in the lead (with the better kicker). Next, the king of clubs fell on the turn. Kiersky still had the best hand, but O'Dell (with two clubs in his hand) had picked up a club draw. The river card was a club, which flushed away any chances of Kiersky making a comeback.
This marked only the third poker tournament Glenn Kiersky has ever played. A financial specialist from the nearly Memphis area, Kiersky picked up $22,698 to invest for his second-place finish. Afterward, Kiersky was highly complimentary of the winner and said of O'Dell: "I simply ran into a better player tonight."
The better player on this evening was clearly Frankie O'Dell. According to his own testimony, the Denver native has been through many trials and tribulations in his private life and now plays poker professionally in the Los Angeles area. As he collected his first World Poker Open title, good for $45,397 in prize money, O'Dell pointed to spiritual reasons for his success. "I want to glorify Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior, for blessing me with this victory tonight," he said. Amen, to that.
-- by Nolan Dalla
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