| MASSACHUSETTS MAN WINS
FIRST ST. MAARTEN EVENT
Tournament poker made its debut on this sunny Caribbean island as the International Poker Federation launched the inaugural St. Maarten Open at the Maho Beach Resort-Casino.
The first buy-in event after a freeroll was $150 limit hold'em, and Joseph Pitirri, a 58-year-old entrepreneur from Worchester, Massachusetts, bulled his way to victory with super-aggressive play. Raising almost nonstop, he soon took a commanding lead. With three left, he still led with more than $100,000, but Londoner Gary Mills with $91,000 and Tys Mul of Amsterdam, with $70,000, were closing in, so he agreed to a generous three-way split.
This was truly an international event, with one Austrian, one Italian, one Finn, two Brits, two Americans and three Hollanders at the final table.
The two-week tournament was kicked off the night before with a cocktail party and entertainment by native dancers garbed in wildly extravagant headdresses. The dealers then put on a show of their own as they boogied to their tables to the beat of a cleverly chosen tune, "Another One Bites the Dust" by Queen, then went into a choreographed, synchronized routine of spreading the deck, shuffling and high-carding.
The party was followed by a no-limit hold'em freeroll open to any players who had registered for at least five events. Five seats for the $1,000 no-limit hold'em event were won by Reza Paywar, Jurgen Paoletti, Xujen Pham, David Michelson and Marion Flock.
Ten players started at the final table of the buy-in event, though only nine spots were paid. Mul and Gianni Venier were chip leaders with more than $50,000 each, followed by Mills and Pitirri with about $38,000 apiece. Shortest-chipped were Thomas Brandt with $7,500 and John Mullen with $3,000, and they were first out.
Blinds started at $1,000-$2,000, with $2,000-$4,000 limits and a full 30-minute round. On the second hand, Brandt, a Dutch video editor, was edited out of the tournament. He raised and then went all in with A-J and was called by Venier, with A-6 suited. Brandt had the lead when an A-10-3 flopped, but a six on the turn and a river ace filled Venier. Two hands later, Mullen, playing his first hold'em tournament, was in the big blind and in bad shape with 6-5. Pitirri button-raised with Kh-4h and blew the New Jersey salesman away when a board of Q-9-9-9-K also gave him a full house.
As play continued, Pitirri kept up his relentless raising, then called a river bet with just ace high to pick off a bluff by Venier, as his chip count kept rising. Finland's Juha Helppi, a poker player who won the 2002 World Poker Tour event in Aruba, was left with just $4,000 on hand 16. The pot was three-bet before the flop and Pitirri, with a Q-10, beat him with a full house.
At this point, Pitirri held about $75,000 of the $268,000 in play. Helppi went broke three hands later after limits went to $3,000-$6,000 when his A-K couldn't overtake the pocket nines held by Gary Mills of London.
Two hands later, pro player Steve Vladar, another Londoner, held the nines. Card-dead at the final table, he had been blinded down, able to play but one marginal hand. His luck was no better after he finally caught the two nines. Mills had Q-9 and flopped a queen to leave Vlader in seventh place.
Vienna real estate business owner Peter Karall was next out on a bad beat. Holding A-5 to Pitirri's A-J, he made two pair on a flop of A-Q-5 and called all in when Pitirri bet. But then a queen turned, giving both players aces and queens, and Pitirri's jack kicker played.
Kees "Raise" De Korte of Holland went all in for the second time a hand later, but stuck around when his J-8 made two pair.
Venier, who started with the second chip lead, had been losing a series of pots and was badly short-chipped by hand 32. He was a 2.66-1 favorite when he went all in with A-Q against De Korte's A-3. He was in good shape when the board showed J-6-2-4, but then he hit the pay window when a trey hit the river and paired De Korte.
With four players left, Pitirri still held the lead with $123,000. Mills was second with $83,000, while De Korte and Mul both had a bit over $30,000.
Limits now rose to $4,000-$8,000. On hand 49, Mills took a big hit, losing nearly half his chips. He raised pre-flop with A-3 from the button and Pitirri called with Ks-Js. Pitirri bet the flop when the Ah-8s-7s gave him a flush draw. Pitirri bet the 10d turn and Mills raised with his paired ace, but then a deuce of spades on the river gave Pitirri his flush.
On hand 57, blinds were kicked up to $3,000-$6,000, with $6,000-$12,000 limits. One hand later it was nearly all over. De Korte started with Ad-8d while Mills had Qh-Jh. The pot was three-bet pre-flop and checked when the board came K-Q-5. When a six turned, De Korte bet out and Mills raised with his paired queen to put De Korte all in for his last $500. De Korte was dead to an ace, but a four came off, and the field was now down to three.
Five more hands were dealt, the high point coming when Mul made quad 10s, though he got no action. Finally, a weary Pitirri, who seemed to be running out of steam, agreed to the three-way even-steven chop, even though he still held a substantial lead. The players shook hands, and the first event of an exciting two weeks of island poker was in the books. --Max Shapiro
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