| "A Super Win"
It was a super victory on Super Bowl Sunday for Bruce Yamron, who won the $2,000 buy-in Limit Texas Hold'em event at the 2003 World Poker Open. Yamron came to the final table in second chip position, then carefully maneuvered his way into a heads-up confrontation with the chip leader, Peter Costa. Once the tournament was down to two finalists, Yamron made the most of an exceptional run of favorable cards to destroy Costa, and claim his first major tournament victory. Yamron has cashed many times on the poker tour, but today's $76,824 payday marked his largest win ever.
Interestingly, the chip lead changed four times in the first 20 minutes at the final table. Peter Costa arrived with the biggest stack. But Frankie O'Dell seized the lead when his pocket kings cracked Jon Brody's pocket jacks. Then, a few hands later Bruce Yarmon became chip leader after taking a pots.
Costa regained the chip advantage when he eliminated the first player from the final table, David White. Costa was dealt A-K and went up against White's 10-10. White's last chip rolled into the pot with the pocket pair, but Costa caught a king on the flop to splatter White's hopes. David White, a remodeling contractor from Midland, Texas, received $3,841 for 9th place.
Limits increased to $1,500-$3,000. Steve Zolotow came into the finale with a mixed reputation. On the positive side, Zolotow won this event last year. In fact, the defending champ is one of only a handful of players to hold titles at both the World Poker Open and World Series of Poker. Unfortunately for Zolotow, he arrived at the final table desperately low on chips and needed some serious help from the deck to survive. It didn't happen. Zolotow was blinded down and eventually called all-in with K-10. It was a case of terrible timing for the Brooklyn native, now living in Las Vegas. His opponent, Nick Frangos had A-A. The final board gave Frangos trip aces, which put Zolotow out in 8th place with $4,802.
Next, Costa Rican Jose Rosenkrantz dealt a serious blow to Peter Costa. Rosenkrantz (with K-J) was all-in as the board showed J-9-8-3 on the turn. Costa (with 9-3) had two pair. An 8 fell on the river, pairing the board. That gave Rosenkrantz (with Ks and 8s) a $25K pot and initiated a series of ups and downs for Costa that would last until the end of the tournament.
On the very next hand, Costa nearly doubled his stack size when he put a horrible beat on Frankie O'Dell. On the turn, O'Dell had a set. But Costa caught a magical card on the river and made a straight, which devastated O'Dell.
As a profession, Richard Cohen is the owner of a watch store. His time at the final table ran out when he went all-in with Q-Q against Nick Frangos' A-J. Frangos caught an ace on the turn which gave Cohen, from Philadelphia, 7th-place prize money of $6,722.
Jon Brody was down to just a few chips and became the next player to make an exit. Brody woke up in the big blind with A-10 but lost to Bruce Yamron's Q-7 when the final board showed 8-4-4-5-7. Despite the loss, Brody has been very impressive at the 2003 World Poker Open. He now has three final table appearances and has made the money six times (more than any other player -- to date). Brody added $8,643 to his tournament winnings for 6th place.
The next three hands were an absolute nightmare for Nick Frangos. First, Frangos lost a big pot to Bruce Yamron. On the next hand, Frangos had Jose Rosenkrantz all-in on the turn when the board showed Q-Q-9-8. Frangos was a big favorite, since he had A-Q to Rosenkrantz's J-10. But a king fell on the river and made Rosenkrantz a straight. The final blow was dealt when Peter Costa had Q-6 against Frangos' Q-9. The board came with four consecutive blanks, which meant Frangos was in the lead. Then, a dreaded six fell on the river to make a pair for Costa. The trifecta of bad beats put Frangos out in 5th place with $10,563.
Nick Frangos wasn't alone. Frankie O'Dell took more than his fair share of bad beats. The final blow came when O'Dell (with J-J) went up against Peter Costa (with 6-2 of hearts). O'Dell's remaining chips went in after the flop, and Costa called when he saw two hearts on board. Costa caught another heart on the river, which essentially ripped O'Dell's heart out. Frankie O'Dell, who won the Omaha High-Low Split event a few nights ago, received $13,444 for 4th place.
The last three players illustrated poker's growing international appeal -- an Englishman, a Costa Rican, and an American. Jose Rosenkrantz was the lowest of the three in chips. He managed to survive two all-ins. But his good fortune ran out when he made his final stand with K-8 against Bruce Yamron's A-9, after the flop came A-J-10. Rosenkrantz hoped to catch a queen (for a straight), which did not come. Jose Rosenkrantz, the winner of a No-Limit Hold'em event at last year's World Poker Open, collected $23,047 for 3rd place.
When heads-up play began, the chip counts were as follows:
Costa: $120K
Yamron: $ 88K
Yamron knew he needed some help playing heads-up against the talented Costa, who has won numerous tournaments, including the Australian Poker Championship, most recently. At one point Yamron remarked to the dealer, "[Costa's] a very good player. You have to give me a chance. Give me some aces, kings, and queens."
The dealer did not disappoint Yamron. Over the next 25 minutes, Yamron went on a monster roll that might as well have been a pick ax, chopping away at Costa's chip castle one stack at a time. After seizing the chip lead about halfway into the confrontation, Yamron made a flush, a straight, and a full house in rapid succession that put the victory within grasp. The final hand of the night came when Costa (with 8-5) was all-in on the flop, which showed A-2-3. Yamron had A-K. Costa asked for help. The request was denied. An ace on the river, good for trip aces, which was the fitting exclamation point to Yamron's victory. Costa took second place and $44,174.
"I knew I needed some help from the deck tonight, and I got it at the right time," Yamron said afterward. He received $76,824 for the win. Perhaps even more meaningful, Yamron captured something that has no price -- his first World Poker Open title. Yamron, a retailer jeweler based in Forida, added the gold and diamond bracelet to his collection. After spending a number of years playing in tournaments, one can expect this bracelet will not be for sale.
-- by Nolan Dalla
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