| Hummer Man Wins Omaha
James Mena, who drove off with a new Hummer at this year’s Legends of Poker all-around points play-off, had a fairly easy win in the third event of 2003 Big Poker Oktober, Omaha hi-lo. He arrived at the final table with an enormous chip lead, holding $71,000 of the $230,000 in play, and maintained his big advantage until the end when a deal was made.
There were many similarities with yesterday’s opening event. The final table both days started at exactly the same time: 12:30 a.m. The limits at the end were the same $10,000-$20,000. Both events ended abruptly when the final five players chopped it. And since the tournaments were structured with 20-minute rounds yesterday and today, it was no surprise that both were both over in an eyeblink: 40 minutes yesterday, 30 minutes today.
The final table started with limits of $4,000-$8,000, with 8:31 remaining. One of the players, Mark Demarais, was playing only his second tournament, and another, Gary Vick, a programmer, was competing in his first Omaha event. There also were two “officers” at the table: Major Polk and “Captain.”
Four players were knocked out in just the first eight hands. On hand three, Demarais raised all in, Mena re-raised, and then Alex DeDoussis called, also all in. The hands were turned up. Mena had A-3-5-5, Demarais had A-2-8-Q and DeDoussis had K-J-5-2. The board came Q-10-7-5-K. There was no low and Mena scooped with a set of fives. With the same number of chips, Demarais and DeDoussis tied for ninth place, which paid $220.
Four hands later, another player was gone. Limits were now $6,000-$12,000. “I’m gonna gamble,” declared Captain, posting his last $4,000 in the big blind. He had 10-10-K-9. Vick called with 3s-5h-6c-7s. The board came A-6-3-A-4 with three spades, and Vick’s flush cut the field to eight as Captain was discharged with $285 severance pay for eighth place.
On the next hand, Matt McGown left town. Vicks had A-K-J-4 and raised pre-flop. On a flop of Q-7-3 he bet and McGown called all in with K-6-6-2. A jack turned to pair Vicks, and McGown cashed in for $360 in seventh place.
Two hands later Mike Young went all in. He ended up splitting with Mena, becoming the first all-in player to survive. As play continued, players posted all their chips four more times, and each time got part of the pot. The first time, it was Young again with all his chips against Polk. He took high with 9-9-4-4 and Polk made a low with 2-4-8-Q when the board came A-A-2-3-K. Next, it was salesman Larry Jensen who was all in but got three-fourths of the pot when he held A-2-7-10 and made a nut low and two pair with a board of 10-7-3-4-4. Then Jensen split a second time on hand 15, and there were just two more hands to go.
Left with a single $1,000 chip, Young committed himself holding 2-3-4-9. Then Mena, in the big blind, raised with a very strong A-A-2-8. Jensen, who had already called under the gun with A-5-6-10, called the raise and went all in. The board came K-Q-5-10-3. There was no low, Jensen scooped with 10s and fives, and Young finished in sixth place, collecting $500.
One more hand was played, and then a chip-count deal was examined. Mena led with $76,000; Vick was second with $58,000; Fred Dak third with $53,000; Polk fourth with $30,000; and Jensen fifth with $13,000. After some minor quibbling, the deal was set, the tournament ended at the early hour of 1 a.m. and James Mena was the official winner of this Omaha hi-lo event. --Max Shapiro
BIOGRAPHY: James Mena, who has lived in this area pretty much all his life, describes himself as a part-time player who has been playing the game for about 15 years. Basically, he is a tournament rather than a side game player. He picked up the Hummer at 2003 Legends in a complicated, multi-way swap deal even though he was not the chip leader at the time. His other poker accomplishments include a couple of tournament wins at the Commerce Casino, along with a no-limit event at the Hustler Casino. His favorite game is lowball.
Tonight, he said, he won some big hands toward the middle of the tournament, although the key hand for him came at the second table. There was four-way action in a pot that was capped pre-flopped and he scooped when his two pair held up. When he came to the final table, he just “cruised” and let the other players, facing such big limits, knock each other out.
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