| Heimiller Ends Bad Streak
Aided by a great run of cards, Dan Heimiller finally broke a long drought by winning the 28th event of Legends 2003, ½ 7-stud hi-lo and ½ Omaha hi-lo. It was the first win in 10 months for the journeyman pro.
Meanwhile, it was announced that that no-juice one-table satellites would run now through Sunday at 4 p.m. for the Frank Mariani/Jerry Buss Charity Open on August 31. Buy-in will be $315, with winners receiving a $3,075 seat plus $75. Players may sign up for either hold’em or stud satellites. The charity event, to benefit the Magic Johnson foundation, will be ½ hold’em, ½ 7-card-stud.
Tonight, Mike Sexton just missed the final table. He started with buried aces, couldn’t improve and missed a low draw, losing to Don Halpern’s trip queens. However, the World Poker Tour commentator didn’t leave empty-handed because $2,010 had been voted to the bubble finisher.
Dealing stud, final table play started with 26 minutes left at the $200 ante, $300 low card bring-in and $1,000-$2,000 limit level. On the fifth hand, Tom Brownscombe bluffed with the best hand. He missed his low draw and bet with just two fives. Shaking his head, John Hoang called with unimproved open fours. Very short-chipped, Hoang went all in two hands later with two treys and couldn’t beat Minh Nguyen’s open sevens.
On the next hand, Benny Wan went broke and finished seventh in three-way action. On fifth street, Wan, catching a third queen, re-raised all in. Original raiser Halpern, free-rolling with (A-3)4-5-7, capped it. Nguyen, showing open kings, called. At he end, Nguyen had three kings, Wan hadn’t helped and Halpern took low.
Heimiller, meanwhile, had been catching cards. By the time the game switched to Omaha, with 1.5-3k limits, he had tripled up from his 20k start. Spring Cheong, the only woman gracing this tournament, had not been faring as well, saying she hadn’t seen a hand in two hours. She put her last $200 in on hand 33 with A-J-6-6. Halpern and “Miami John” Cernuto checked the pot down, and Halpern scooped with 10s and fives.
On hand 47 the game became stud, $300 antes, $500 bring-in and 2-4k limits. Cernuto, who holds the Legends record of four wins in one year, had been struggling, all in three times, finally going out in fifth place. He started with low cards and caught bricks while Halpern, with (6-7)6-7, filled. Two hands later, Nguyen followed him out. He couldn’t get away from his starting aces and made two pair. Heimiller, who had split fives, put him away with a third five.
As play proceeded, Hapern and Brownscombe were about even with 25k each. Then Halpern got in trouble when Brownscombe scooped him with a straight and better seven.
On the next hand, Halpern went all in with (23)4, got hit by bricks and lost to Heimiller’s two eights. Heads-up, Heimiller had 88k to Brownscombe’s 46k. “This might take a little while,” Heimiller said. Yes, 65 hands to be precise.
Brownscombe played catch-up for a while in Omaha, then faltered. The final level was stud, $1,000 antes, $1,500 bring-in, 4-8k limits. After going all in a total of five times, Brownscombe, low-chipped, got committed with (A-10)Q. The best he could make was two 10s while Heimiller, missing a flush draw, put him away with two pair. –Max Shapiro
BIOGRAPHY: Dan Heimiller was overjoyed to shake his worst losing streak ever. “Before, when people told me they had been running bad for more than two months, I thought it was impossible.” Heimiller, whose best career cash-out came when he placed third in a World Series ½ hold’em, ½ stud event, splits his time between tournaments and live games. Until now it was the $30-$60 side games paying the rent. He likes to mix up his games, playing “whatever they’re playing that day.”
Tonight he said he had a pretty easy time of it because he “got hit by the deck” the last three hours. He noted that at the second table, Miami John and Spring Cheong were the chip leaders, and he publicly apologized for “displacing” their chips. Another benefit of his win, he added, was that it might cut down the ragging of his friend Frankie O’Dell, “who’s ranked 14th in the world, while I’m like 114th.” |
