| Master Classics of Poker Tournament Report
(By Card Player columnist and Poker School Online teacher, Rolf “Ace” Slotboom)
EUR 320 Pot-limit Omaha (unlimited rebuys)
November 8, 2003: Smiley puts end to super-bully’s one-man show in true poker promotion
The Master Classics of Poker 2003 are over – and what an event it has been! All tournaments have been full or almost full, with at least 200 out of the maximum 220 players for every event. We had a record field of 205 runners for the Main Event, a young star who has set his mark on the poker scene in the person of Johan Storakers, and a total prize pool for the entire week of almost 1.5 million Euros. Also, today’s Omaha tournament was the best poker promotion anyone could have wished for, with a superb atmosphere and no less than three Dutch players at the final table – including the eventual winner. But it didn’t always look like that at all, because it was Iranian Englishman Nazari Pour who started out by making today’s final table a true one-man show. He bullied his way into a large chip lead by literally raising every hand – and if someone else raised, he would simply come over the top. With blinds of 3,000-6,000, a total of only slightly more than 500,000 chips in play and with quite a few players waiting for others to bust out, this highly aggressive strategy proved to be extremely effective. And he was not just a bully, he was a bully in an excellent mood, laughing and joking with his opponents, giving hi-fives to the persons who would beat him, and in general helping this table become the most exciting one I have ever witnessed. It may not have been the most outstanding poker ever played, but it was most certainly a highly interesting spectacle. The spectators were enjoying every single minute of it – with as eventual winner the person they had hoped, wished and cheered for.
Final table line-up / chip counts:
Seat # 1: Ali Sarkeshik, England, 45,000
Seat # 2: Charles Riesner, England, 26,000
Seat # 3: Marcel Kluft, Netherlands, 19,000
Seat # 4: Albert Berta, France, 52,000
Seat # 5: Alexander Tarasenko, Russia, 127,000
Seat # 6: Arno Weber, Netherlands, 78,000
Seat # 7: Kirill Gerasimov, Russia, 50,000
Seat # 8: Jos Hu, Netherlands, 9,000
Seat # 9: Nazari Pour, Iran / England, 125,000
Total chips in play: 521,000 (approx.)
One-man show by Nazari paralyzes all others
It was from the very first hand that Nazari made his intentions clear: he had not come to the final table to throw away many hands. Quite the contrary, in fact: about the only hand he folded was when he had gone to the bathroom for a toilet break, and couldn’t get back to the table in time. And it was not just that he played every hand, more than that he was raising and re-raising whenever he got the chance. So, he basically forced everyone to wait for premium hands in order to play back at him.
But this being Omaha, even then he would win a fairly large percentage of the time, as four random cards are usually not that much of a dog even against aces or kings. While everybody seemed to wait for someone else to get involved, there was one guy who wasn’t afraid of battling heads with the raising machine; it was hometown favorite Arno Weber. Arno, also called “Smiley” because he always finds a reason to smile even in very tight pressure situations, played back at the bully with AKJ3 double-suited to double up his 70,000 stack, and to take away some chips from the man who previously had so many of them. But Nazari didn’t seem bothered at all, saying: “Son, as a student, you probably need the money; well, I don’t”, and giving the young man a smile and a big hug. But this didn’t stop him from winning back all his chips on the very next hand. Once again, Arno moved in (with AKQ8 double-suited), but he lost against Nazari’s AKJ3 who immediately regained the chip lead again. With all this firework going on, all others were basically just sitting there watching, waiting for premium hands to take up against Iran’s Super Bully, in the hope that they could have them hold up.
Raising machine makes many victims
But they didn’t always hold up against the Iranian – in fact, they almost never held up. First, Jos Hu’s AQ98 single-suited stood no chance against Nazari’s JT43. And then Ali’s AKT5 double-suited was an easy prey for the little guy’s AJ97. The only one who refused to be bullied was Smiley, who raised and won with A532 double-suited when Nazari was having his toilet break. With the young Dutchman slowly but surely catching up with him, the Iranian decided that no one would win a pot anymore from now. He finished off the excellent Kirill Gerasimov, who thought he had a good hand with KJTT, only to see the little guy waking up with aces. And when Nazari also sent home Charles Riesner (who had raised all-in after having seen two queens, to discover at the showdown that he also held a third queen in his hand), the short-stacked Marcel Kluft (with AQ62 versus the Dutchman’s QJTT) and the dangerous Alexander (with AJ97ss against A774ds), he had busted out everyone except for Arno. And he was probably a big favorite by now, having his young opponent outchipped by 380,000 to 140,000. But the crowd obviously didn’t think so. They thought the young Dutchman still had a chance, and encouraged him to stand tall, and to fight fire with fire.
Smiley turns things around – or does he?
And this he did. First, he came over the top of the Iranian’s 30,000 raise to make him lay down his hand (!). And then, he had the guts to raise his opponent’s 60,000 flop bet to 140,000 with the flop Jd 9d 9c, holding two aces only with no back-up. His opponent called with T87x for a wraparound straight draw, but the crowd roared when an ace came on the turn to give the young man aces full. Arno jumped out of his chair, screaming “Yes!”, and also all the people behind him who were supporting him went berserk. Having gotten the chip lead now, he went for the kill by putting his opponent all-in on the very next hand, with A654 double-suited. Nazari had the same type of hand, though (A765), and when both of them couldn’t manage to make even a single pair, it was Nazari who won a 386,000 pot with an ace-seven high!
Young man refuses to give up
While giving each other yet another hi-five, they prepared for the very next clash – and of course, for this we didn’t need to wait very long. On a flop Ah 9h Kc, Arno check-raised all-in with king-queen of hearts for the best hand and the best draw (Nazari having JJ54, no suits), and he was in there again with about 230,000 in chips now. And then he doubled through again. Going all-in with AKJT against the Iranian’s 9965, he won by catching a king, and with finally a big chip lead the young Dutchman went for the gold. Nazari was able to stop him once (winning with kings against queens by making a flush), but on the second attempt we had a decision. Once again going all-in before the flop with AJJ3 against his opponent’s AKT6, Smiley’s jacks held up, and the people had the winner they had wished for. But all credit to Nazari Pour, who took his wins and his losses graciously - and who helped creating a fantastic gambling atmosphere in this true poker promotion. Young Arno Weber fought fire with fire to come out on top, in a more than spectacular final event of the 2003 Master Classics. Congratulations for his first ever big tournament win – let’s hope there will be many more ahead of him.
Final results:
1. Arno Weber, Netherlands, EUR 61,895
2. Nazari Pour, Iran / England, EUR 30,947
3. Alexander Tarasenko, Russia, EUR 15,474
4. Marcel Kluft, Netherlands, EUR 10,058
5. Charles Riesner, England, EUR 7,737
6. Kirill Gerasimov, Russia, EUR 5,416
7. Albert Berta, France, EUR 3,868
8. Ali Sarkeshik, England, EUR 3,095
9. Jos Hu, Netherlands, EUR 2,321
Entrants : 220
Rebuys: 301
Prize money: EUR 156,300
Added prize money: EUR 3,600
Total prize pool: EUR 159,000
Some final words
What a great week this has been! Without a doubt, the 2003 Master Classics of Poker will be remembered as a fantastic happening, with fast and furious action, an excellent atmosphere and some great poker as well. Most of all, it will probably be remembered for the outstanding performance by young Swede Johan Storakers, who managed to win two tournaments in a row – including the Main Event. A big thanks to the Holland Casinos, its management, the brushes, the dealers and last but not least the players for the excellent sportsmanship they have shown over the entire week. It has been my pleasure to help this year’s Master Classics become even bigger and better than last year, and I hope we will all meet again last year – to once again break all the records we have just set. See you all then - in the meantime: take care, and good luck,
Rolf. |
