David Sprinkle Registers Solid Win in Shooting Star No-Limit
David Sprinkle, a software developer who just moved to Arizona from San Jose, totally dominated the final table as he staged a resounding victory in Bay 101 Shooting Star's main event, $1,500 no-limit hold'em. He was chip leader wire-to-wire, knocked out six of his eight opponents and even collected three bounties.
"I was lucky," he said. "I even sucked out on all three of my bounties." It was true that he had an astonishing string of draw-outs, reaching a climax when he won the final hand with 7-2. But he also played extremely well against a table full of pros, using his big chip lead as a bludgeon, moving in and forcing his opponents to fold time after time. Chuck Thompson, while announcing the tournament, said he wished this was a World Poker Tour event so he could see Sprinkle's "mystery cards" occasionally.
Generating her own excitement was Maureen Feduniak, a retired hotel administrator who has attended all seven Shooting Star events along with her husband Bob. Starting lowest-chipped with only $53,000 of the $1.5 million on the table, she played fearlessly, moved in and won five times and ran her stacks to more than $300,000 before hitting a roadblock and finishing fourth.
The final table started with limits of $3,000-$6,000 and $1,000 antes, a full hour remaining. On hand one, Nhut Tran opened for 25k from the small blind. "MC" moved in for 161k from the big blind with Qs, Js, and Tran called with Kc, Jh. The first four cards off were hearts and Tran's flush left MC with 66k.
On hand 5, after Men "The Master" Nguyen made it 20k to go, Maureen moved in for the first time, re-raising from the small blind. Men waved his hand bye-bye and mucked. "It would be no fun without you," he said, hardly convincing anyone that his fold was motivated by chivalry.
But it was Men who was first to say goodbye as Sprinkle claimed his first final-table victim and third bounty on hand 24. Nguyen opened for 21k. On a flop of 9h, 8h, 7d, David bet 40k with 2h, 2x and Men moved in for $124,000 more with As, 8s. David called, a 5.4-1 dog against Men's paired 8s, and proceeded to catch two running hearts to flush the Master away. A few hands later, Danny Qutami was stranded in the big blind with 10-6. Sprinkle moved him in for 6k more with K-4 and broke him with his king-high.
Shortly after, Nhut Tran raised to 18k, insurance business owner Gerson Mosbacher re-raised to 80k with A-J and popular local player Andy Gamboa went all in for 86k with K-K. Andy had the pot until a river ace busted him.
On hand 43, with $4,000-$8,000 limits and $1,000 antes, a short-chipped MC went all in from the small blind with 8-6. He flopped an 8, but Sprinkle had A-8 and the ace kicker kicked MC out in sixth place. At this point Sprinkle led with about 500k, closely followed by Vinh with roughly 450k. Feduniak and Mosbacher each had about 180k, while Tran trailed with around 140k.
On hand 69 the two big stacks squared off. With a pot of $230,000 and a board of A-A-6-6-4 and three clubs, David moved in for more than 300k. Vinnie pondered for a good three minutes, finally shook his head and mucked. Maureen, who finished fourth in this year's Poker Million II, had her streak broken on hand 90. She moved in with pocket 8s, ran into Tran's pocket jacks and lost roughly half her chips, more than 150k. Sprinkle's remarkable lucky streak continued as he knocked out Mosbacher on hand 104. He tried to steal the blinds from the button by raising to $45k with just 7-4. Instead, Gerson re-raised 31k all in from the big blind with pocket 6s. David shrugged and called, flopped a 4 and then caught a 7 on the turn for a winning two pair.
Down to $60,000, Feduniak moved in a hand later with A-7. Vinh saw her with K-3. The board came K-Q-4-8-7, and the table was now down to three. All three finalists had now won seats into the WSOP $10,000 event. An eyeball count showed David with about 600k, Vinnie around 450k and Nhut about 480k. A deal was struck for the bulk of the prize pool, and the action resumed.
Tran was very happy about the deal, because he was almost immediately knocked out as David made yet another remarkable catch. Tran went all in with pocket kings. Sprinkle had only pocket 6s, but to hardly anyone's surprise, a 6 hit the flop. Tran was dead to another king, which never came, and now the tournament was heads-up.
David enjoyed slightly better than a 3-1chip advantage against his final opponent: $1,127,000 to $373,000. As Shooting Stars got down to the final stages, blinds went to $8,000-$16,000 with $2,000 antes. After two uncalled all-in moves by David, Vinnie was left with $220,000. He doubled up when his A-5 made two pair, but then dropped back to $270 on the ninth hand heads-up. On a flop of J-3-3, Vinnie checked. Dave bet 60k, Vinnie check-raised another 100k, then folded when Dave came back with another all-in bet.
The final outcome never appeared in doubt. On the 15th hand heads-up, Sprinkle had the button and made it 32k to go with 7-2. After Vinnie checked, David made a small bet on a flop of 7-6-4 and Vinnie moved in with Q-8. A 10 and king changed nothing and Sprinkle's paired 7 made him the Shooting Star champion for 2003. Along with the title went a magnificent trophy and an official first-place prize of $70,000.
As Shooting Star 2003 wound down, John Bonetti offered his personal assessment: "From top to bottom," he raved, "this is the best-run tournament I've ever seen." --Max Shapiro
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