Guru Badger Wins Omaha/8!
Steve Badger, the noted player/writer Omaha guru, though not getting many hands until late in the tournament, skillfully maneuvered his way to one more victory in his specialty, Omaha hi-lo, in the seventh event of Winnin' o' the Green 2003. Official payout for first place was $9,030. Badger, whose varied Omaha victories include a World Series bracelet, had a 4-3 chip lead when he got heads up and agreed to a deal. His final opponent was James "Postman" Belcher, one of two Lake Elsinore dealers at the final table. Second place paid $4,635.
However, the real story of this tournament was how Max Shapiro, poker's most underrated player, performed brilliantly in tonight's event and made the second table, but then was forced to dump his chips off because he had to get ready to do this tournament write-up.
At the second table, after Scotty Nguyen was all in with a straight, Joe DeNicola caught a back-door flush to leave the World Series champ in 11th place. The final table started with blinds of $1,000-$2,000, playing for 2-4k. Alec Garcia arrived with only $2,500 and lasted but one hand. He went the same route that Scotty did: holding A-5-Q-10, he made a straight, but then Nurhan Mayis busted him with a river flush. In early going, full-time players Raymond Davis and Joe DeNicola seemed to be in every hand. Davis, who won a limit hold'em event at the Hustler Casino 10 days ago, got low-chipped when his A-2 low got quartered. On hand 12 he was all in against Fred Wolf and Dino Medina. With a board of 8-8-7-5-7, Wolf had A-2-6-J for the nut low while Medina, holding 2-3-4-8, took high with a third 8. Davis, collecting $475, mucked his hand without showing.
After the blinds went to $1,500-$3,000 with $3,000-$6,000 limits, the second Elsinore dealer was dealt out. In four-way action, Ruben Vera committed all his chips after he made a straight, but lost to Mayis' bigger straight. Eighth place was worth $595. On hand 25, Ted Rone, retired as a computer system developer, ended up seventh, earning $715. Rone, who&'s now made four money finishes in four Omaha tournaments in Winnin' o' the Green, put in his last $500 with a board of Q-J-4-6. He missed his wraparound straight draw, losing to Wolf's two pair. At this point, Mayis had a slight chip lead of $54,000, followed closely by Wolf with $51,000. Mayis later jumped into a big lead when Wolf kept betting his trip 9s while Mayis called him down with a flush.
DeNicola finished sixth for $950 on hand 38. The best he could make was a paired ace and lost to Dino Medina's aces and 9s. Badger, meanwhile, was specializing in stealing blinds. Belcher, annoyed at having his blind constantly raised, threatened to block Badger's raising arm to protect himself. Low-chipped and all in several times already, Wolf, an inventor/investor who's been part of the casino scene for many years, finally broke on hand 42. In the big blind, he had only $2,000 left with a weak 3-6-7-Q. When the board came 7-6-4-10-10, he lost to Belcher's A-2 low and
Medina's pocket aces. Fifth place was worth $1,190.
The key hand for Badger came on the 48th deal. He kept betting every street until the board showed K-2-3-10-9 with three clubs. Steve then turned over Ac, Jc for the nut flush that busted Medina. Dino collected $1,665, and Steve now had close to $90,000 in chips. It took 20 more hands before Mayis ended up third, which was worth $2,375. He held A-A-6-7 and made 7s-full of 6s when the board came 8-7-6-7-4, but lost to Badger's 7s full of 8s, while Belcher took the low with a 2-3. After the two finalists played one hand, Badger led, 124k to 91k, and a deal was struck.
-Max Shapiro
BIOGRAPHY
In addition to his 1999 WSOP win, Steve Badger has Omaha victories at the Commerce, Gold Coast and at three Legends events. His Omaha advice can be found at playwinningpoker.com, where he is the webmaster. One bit of tournament advice he gave tonight: players get into trouble by trying to win lots too early. Tonight, he said, he won just three pots by the time he
made the final table. He said he wasn’t getting many cards, but players were giving him credit for more than he had when he stole. Winning that big pot with an A-J flush was important, not only for the chips, but because he eliminated Dino Medina, the most experienced opponent at the table.
Watching closely from the sidelines was his protégé, Shirley Rosario, a cocktail waitress at Commerce Casino. "She just came in second in an Omaha tournament at Commerce," Steve commented, "so I had to show how to come in first."
EVENT #7 RESULTS
OMAHA HI-LO
$100 + $20
$27,000 PRIZE POOL
270 PLAYERS
1. Steve Badger $9,030
2. James Belcher $4,635
3. Nurhan Mayis $2,375
4. Dino Medina $1,665
5. Fred Wolf $1,190
6. Joseph DeNicola $950
7. Ted Rone $715
8. Ruben Vera $520
9.Raymond Davis $475
1
0.Alec Garcia $415
NEXT
Lowball
$100+$20
$15,000 Guaranteed!
Tuesday, March 18, 7:15 p.m.
CHIP POSITION FINAL TABLE
Raymond Davis
$38,500
Ted Rone
$23,500
Fred Wolf
$16,500
Alec Garcia
$2,500
Dino Medina
$27,000
Joe DeNicola
$43,500
Nurhan Mayis
$7,000
James Belcher
$17,500
Steve Badger
$23,000
Ruben Vera
$16,500
ALL-AROUND
PAY-OFF POINTS
Name Total
1. Joe De Nicola 62
2. Suriyan Bhinestien 61
3. Robert Bakovic 61
4. Joe Boghossian 61
5. Barry Bergida 61
6. Steve Badger 59
7. Nash Rizk 59
8. Kathy Liebert 59
9. Russ Rosen 53
10. "Unavailable" 53
11. Joseph Isagulyan 53
12. B. J. Behboudi 53
13. Robert Landaw 51
14. James Belcher 51
15. Chang Kim 51
16. Daniel Dahan 48
|
