| Filmmaker Wins Stud/8
Screenwriter/filmmaker/Internet producer Marshall Ragir has many titles. Tonight he added tournament winner to his resume when he took down the 12th event of Legends of Poker 2003, 7-card stud hi-lo, in an epic final-table struggle that lasted 3-1/2 hours.
He held the lead much of the evening and enjoyed about a 5-1 advantage when he got heads up with Martin Corpuz. But then Corpuz started coming on strong, and when he was within 8k of catching up, Ragir agreed to an even-money chop so he could nail down the win. Corpuz, a formidable foe, made five final tables at Hustler Casino’s recent Grand Slam of Poker, along with a win in 7-stud.
With four players left, the tournament became a contest between the haves and the have-nots. While Ragir and Corpuz wrestled for the lead, Tony Nguyen and Scotty Warbucks just tried to stay alive. Warbucks (who switches back and forth between that moniker and Charlie Shoten, depending on the phase of the moon) in particular survived all-in encounters eight times before finishing third.
The final table was set after Brett Jungblut missed his low draw and ended up with deuces while Leo Alvarez made 10s and a low. Jungblut is a member of a young cartel of poker players who room together, bankroll together and call themselves “The Crew.” He and fellow crewman Joe Bartholdi finished one-two in a Grand Slam limit hold’em event last month.
The eight finalists started with $200 antes, a $300 low card bring-in and 1-2k limits. Dr. Frank Rite began with the most anemic chip count and couldn’t find a tonic. On hand six he had four cards to a 6-4, but hit three paints and went broke against poker player Mike Krescanko’s aces-up.
Hand 13 was a lucky one for Ragir. In three-way action, Krescanko turned up what he thought might be a scoop hand: two pair and a 7-6. But Ragir, with a set of sevens and a 7-5 low, took it all along with a chip lead of about 36k. Hon Le finished seventh. The wild and fearless Kamikaze Kid jumped all in with split eights. Chattering away and calling for cards, he missed everything as Krescanko scooped with aces. With $200 antes, a $400 bring-in and $1,500-$3,000 limits, Alvarez, all in, thought he had the high end with aces. “What?” he exclaimed, as Corpuz turned up three babies for a wheel.
As play dragged on, Warbucks kept going all in, picking up a chip here and there. “At this rate I’ll be the leader in three hours,” he cracked. “Don’t you guys ever miss?” Ragir asked as Warbucks escaped a sixth time. It wasn’t until well into the next level, with 2-4k limits, that another player broke. Krescanco had split sevens and a low draw and caught a third seven, but Corpuz, starting with (A-K)A, picked up a third bullet on sixth street. Ragir, meanwhile, had accumulated about $55,000 of the $129,000 in play.
Nguyen, who had been in decent chip position, now lost several hands, the most frustrating when he missed draws to a flush and straight. He went broke when he missed a draw to a straight six and was chopped up by Ragir and Corpuz.
Warbucks himself was now down to about 9k, compared to about 70 for Ragir and 50k for Corpuz. Warbucks announced his strategy: “Let them knock each other out.” It worked for about 15 hands until Warbucks, trying for low, made two kings but bowed out when Ragir hit a third deuce.
Ragir now had 107k to Corpuz’s 22k, but by hand 103, after Corpuz won with two pair, they were close enough to call it even and let Ragir take the title.–Max Shapiro
BIOGRAPHY
Marshall Ragir was a studio screenplay and TV writer years ago and then did film clips for live TV shows such as Bob Hope specials and the Golden Globe awards. A poker player since he was 12, he prefers mixed games, either Omaha or 7-stud/8. Final tables include the World Series, Hall of Fame, Rio and Commerce’s Cal State, along with a no-limit cash-out in Costa Rica. But this is his first tournament win, not counting the Card Player tag-team victory at last year’s Legends. “I give Max Shapiro and his brilliant play all the credit for that win,” he said candidly.
Ragir, who divides his playing time between tournaments and $40-$80 side games, describes his style as “aggressive and unpredictable.” Tonight, he hit some hands early, then had a long dry spell until a turning-point hand when he made a flush and low against Scotty Nguyen to go from average to well above.
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