EVENT #2 OMAHA HI-LO
Sunday, July 9, 2000
$130 BUY-IN
$600 in chips
GAMBLING IN OMAHA
By Mike Paulle
In sharp contrast to yesterday's first event, the players at the Final Table
in Event #2 came to gamble. Even though the blinds were just as high as the
day before, today there was no serious discussion of a deal until the last
two players were head up. Maybe it's the nature of Omaha players to prefer
risk. Maybe it's a function of a split game where miracle cards seem to
appear on every board to keep a player alive for half the pot. Whatever the
reason for the increase in gambling, this Final Table was an entertaining
show.
There were 551 entrants in the $130 Buy-In Omaha Hi-Lo for a total prize pool
of $71,630. 4 tables were paid, a total of 40 players.
All right you math geniuses out there, what are the odds that the only three
players in the event with last names ending with the letters tt would all
finish tied for the 40th place just making it into the money? It boggles the
mind! Merrill Lovett, Bob Levitt and Blake Fawcett all were eliminated on the
same hand and split 40th place money. Can you believe it?
The Final Table was set up when a second multi-way split occurred. Ricardo
Saborido and Lou Machhiaverna each went out on the same hand and split 10th
and 11th place money leaving us with one empty chair.
THE FINAL TABLE:
5 mins left of 45. The blind are $1,000 and $3,000
| Player/Hometown | Chip Count |
| Seat 1: Russ Salzer (Commerce, CA) | $11,400 |
| Seat 2: Rusty George (Noblesville, IN) | $37,000 |
| Seat 3: Neal Lorsbach (Tacoma, WA) | $42,800 |
| Seat 4: Dan Heimiller (St. Charles, MO) | $46,400 |
| Seat 5: Lee Grove (Omaha, NE) | $26,400 |
| Seat 6: Vince Burgio (West Hills, CA) | $11,900 |
| Seat 7: Gene Bowden (Yuma, AZ) | $89,100 |
| Seat 8: Ambroise Ng (Regina, Canada) | $51,400 |
| Seat 9: Mike Sexton (Las Vegas, NV) | $9,400 |
| Seat 10: (empty) | |
Any jokes about Mike Sexton not playing as well as the empty chair next to
him wouldn't be appreciated, so I won't make them. Seriously, everyone knows
what a great player Mike is. Why he has the perfect split personality for
Omaha, he doesn't get too Hi or too Lo. In fact, Mike didn't get either a Hi
or a Lo and was the first to leave in 9th when his pocket Kings were "drawing
dead" on the flop to Ambroise Ng's flopped trip Aces. It's a good thing for
TOC entrants, though, that Mike had an early night. He's scheduled to plead
with another 22 car dealerships in the morning.
They must play a mean game of Omaha Hi-Lo in Tacoma WA because everyone else
at the table was eliminated by one player--Neal Lorsbach. Neal's first victim
was Russ Salzer. Russ had no chips and went all-in with A 2. With an A 2 on
the board, any hope of part of the pot was gone for Russ when Lorsbach and
Dan Heimiller kept raising each other. Dan led until the river with Aces up,
but Neal caught his wheel card with a 4 3 to cart Russ out in 8th.
"You're the best there ever was," Vince Burgio said sarcastically to Dan
Heimiller as the board came running clubs to destroy Vince's stack. Dan had
the 4 2 of Clubs. Which shows that even the nicest guys in poker can get a
little frustrated sometimes. Now all-in with one chip, the other Card Player
columnist besides Mike Sexton to make this Final Table, Vince Burgio was
helpless to stop Neal Lorsbach from putting him out in 7th with a flopped
pair of Aces and a live deuce for low.
"I like THAT hand," Gene Bowden said. Everyone agreed the hand had to be a
monster. Lee Grove had just made his first bet in two hours. The man from
Omaha NB couldn't find any hands in his namesake game. Lee went all-in with A
A 9 9. Neal Lorsbach was having NO trouble finding hands. Neal caught a
second pair on the river for 4's and 2's to crack the Aces.
Everyday in poker you see a new angle. In an Orleans Open tournament anyone
can ask for the one allowable deck change during a dealer's down. Dan
Heimiller, who notices these things, felt that he caught the new big blind
level because someone had asked for a deck change that took a few minutes.
"Now I'm going to finish 5th," Dan predicted because he had to put up $20k
for his big blind instead of $10k. It was a valid point, and Dan was correct
about his finish. Heimiller made Q's and 10's. The unstoppable Neal Lorsbach
made Q's and J's.
The definitive chip leader at the start, Gene Bowden had every hand cracked
in one way or another. Gene, who can talk a handle off a chamber pot, only
briefly lost his good nature though. Going all-in for the last time with his
case $22,500 under the gun, Bowden watched the incredibly hot Neal Lorsbach
turn Quad Kings.
On the same hand that got Gene Bowden, Ambroise Ng left in 3rd because he
started the hand with more chips than Bowden. No one was going to beat Neal
Lorsbach today. Ng, who his friends on the rail said was in his first
tournament ever, played beautifully. The first year medical student should be
too busy for the next few years to torture tournament players. Ng's low draw
had no chance because the board was full of Neal Lorsbach's Kings.
Head up, Lorsbach had about a 3-1 chip lead over a player with the unlikely
real name of Rusty George. Rusty asked for and received $16,000 in a deal
leaving Lorsbach with $22,995. They played for the TOC entry and the trophy.
The cards just kept coming for Lorsbach, who put George away for the title,
proving you can gamble in Omaha but you probably shouldn't with someone named
Neal Lorsbach.
Official Money Winners
| 1. Neal Lorsbach | $25,765 |
| 2. Rusty George | $13,230 |
| 3. Ambroise Ng | $6,615 |
| 4. Gene Bowden | $4,545 |
| 5. Dan Heimiller | $3,135 |
| 6. Lee Grove | $2,090 |
| 7. Vince Burgio | $1,740 |
| 8. Russ Salzer | $1,395 |
| 9. Mike Sexton | $1,045 |
Tie 10th received $570 each
Ricardo Saborido and Lou Macchiaverna
12th-15th received $450
Mark Biggs, Harry Cohen, Bill Fain and Bob Kirkwood
16th-20th received $380
Judith Green, Mike Fetter, Terry Faris, Joe Taylor
and Mike Levine
21st-25th received $310
Diane Wentling, Pete Fricano, Tom La Fountain, Alan
Mirabelle and Elliott Schecter
26th-30th received $280
Tom Noyes, Bud Paulson, Scott Veitzer, Hal
Kirkpatrick and Ken Robinson
31st-35th received $245
Rip Poulos, Jim Weatherby, Sandy Cohen, Noel Edwards
and Larry Eubanks
36th-39th received $210
Mike Fishman, Bud Calabrese, Brent Carter and Bob
Manfuso
Tie 40th received $70 each
Merrill Lovett, Bob Levitt and Blake Fawcett
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