| Ernie Sebastian Stays Awake Long
Enough to Win Seniors Tournament
"Wake up, no sleeping at the table," tournament coordinator Warren Karp had to keep admonishing the old folks who played in the 17th event of Grand Slam of Poker, the Seniors no-limit hold'em. Ernie Sebastian, a relatively young local pro, did manage to stay awake long enough to run off with the win after making a lucky catch in late going.
After he had lost the lead to "Super Mario" Esquerra, he was all in with A-7 against Esquerra's A-Q with three players left. He spiked a seven on the river to take a big lead again, and could not be stopped after that.
All the entrants in this event, incidentally, were men. Not surprising, one of the players explained. After all, what woman would admit to being 50 years old?
The final table started with $50 antes and $150-$300 blinds, 8:37 remaining at that level. Despite numerous all-in moves, there were still 10 players left when antes increased at the next level to $75 with $200-$400 blinds. Stan Schwartz, an investor, invested his last chips on hand 13 with K-Q. He finished 10th when he couldn't catch Sebastian's A-J.
Not long after, art dealer Schulman got dealt a bad beat and ended up ninth. Schulman, with a title in 7-stud hi-lo at the L.A. Poker Classic, called with pocket kings after Esquerra moved in with pocket sixes. He had a winner until Mario hit a two-outer on the river by spiking a six.
George Rechnitzer, meanwhile, had done an admirable job of sticking around after arriving with only $1,000. A few hands later, the same pairing as the Schulman-Esquerra match-up occurred. This time, Rechnitzer had the sixes in the big blind and Sebastian the pocket kings in the small blind. A set came on the flop, but this time it was the kings, not the sixes, and Rechnitzer bowed out in eighth place.
Also at the final table was Ralph Shroyer, better known as "Ralph the Rattler." The Rattler, a retired school teacher who also ran for Congress three times on the Peace and Freedom Party, had Greg Dunn, a writer, all in. He had A-Q to Dunn's Q-10 and flopped an ace, but Dunn escaped the fangs by making a straight.
By the time the blinds were increased to $300-$600 with $100 antes, Sebastian had taken the chip lead with about 22k. Dunn was done on hand 33. All in with A-7, he was no match for the pocket aces held by Jack Schwartz, a semi-retired owner of two
Baskin-Robbins franchises. "Thank you, gentleman, I admire your expertise," was Dunn's farewell speech.
The Rattler got stepped on shortly afterwards. He opened for $3,000 with 10c-9c. When the flop came Q-7-3 and three hearts, the Rattler tried an all-in bluff for another 3k. Schwartz, with Ac-7c, had paired his seven. He called and the Rattler, one out of the money, slithered away.
Esquerra, who has best-all arounds at the Bicycle Casino, Normandie, Hollywood Park, Commerce, Crystal Park and Viejas ("Except the Hustler -- why?" he asked on his bio sheet) got lucky on hand 40. Goetz, who had A-10, flopped two more aces. Esquerra, who was all in with Qc-7c, snagged a club flush on the turn to take the lead with about $30,000.
After blinds went to $500-$1,000 with $200 antes, Sebastian flopped a set of fours. He slow-played it and allowed Florida airline employee Ali Foroughi to move in with J-9 on the turn on a stone-cold bluff, representing a straight, when the board showed 7-4-3-5-10, busting himself.
With four players left, a low-chipped Goetz decided to raise all in for 5k on hand 68 holding Ah-3h. "Whatever it is, I call," supplement distributor Ron Faltinsky said immediately. Faltinsky had A-K. The board came J-9-8-K-Q, and now the field was down to three.
The players now were playing with blinds of $800-$1,600 with $300 antes. Hand 78 was the big one for Sebastian where he missed a flush draw but managed to pair his seven on the river to double up against Esquerra and take a big lead with about 60k.
Faltinsky, meanwhile, had managed to survive countless all-in threats. Finally, on hand 91, he ran out of luck. He had 8s-7s and made a pair when the flop came K-J-8. But Sebastian, with J-2, was way ahead of him with a bigger pair.
Heads-up, Sebastian had all but $9,500 of the $86,000 in chips on the table. Surrendering, Super Mario agreed to a deal, and Sebastian was the most senior of the Seniors at Grand Slam 2003. --Max Shapiro
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