| SOMAIYA WINS POT-LIMIT
IN DRAMATIC COMEBACK FEAT
Rumit Somaiya, a British property developer who plays a lot of poker, staged an unbelievable comeback to capture the third event of the St. Maarten Open, $200 pot-limit hold'em. He started the final table slightly above average in chips, but halfway through was down to just $1,900. He then proceeded to go all in and double up four times, the last time when he hit a set of fours on the river to outrun a bigger pair, and in nine hands leaped from $1,900 to $30,000.
He went on to grab the chip lead in the late stages. With three players left, he had $81,000 in chips and agreed to a chip-count deal that gave him the win. Steve Jelinek, of Manchester, UK, had $63,500 and took second, while David Michelson, a caddy from Madison, Ohio, placed third with $56,000. Somaiya, who prefers pot-limit and no-limit, had his biggest cash-out when he won a pot-limit hold'em tournament at Moscow's first international event about five years ago.
In a bizarre twist, Somaiya and Jelinek found themselves locked out of the casino when they took a break after 4 a.m. and almost couldn't get back in. If they hadn't, then Michelson might have been forced to play with himself!
The final table started with a full round of blinds at $600-$1,200, which meant initial raises could be from $2,400 to $4,200. In contrast to yesterday's event where it took an hour to lose one player, the first casualty came on the second hand. Bob Cochran, a California realtor, raised to $2,800, then called for the rest of his $9,100 when Jelinek re-raised. Cochran had pocket eights, Jelinek had pocket rockets, and nine were left when the board came Q-7-2-10-J.
Finland's Ilari Sahamies came to the final table with a big chip lead of $48,700, more than twice that of his closest competitor. On hand number 10 he built it by knocking out fellow Finn Juha Helppi, who was making his third straight appearance at the final table. After Carol Everton raised to $2,600, Sahamies popped it another 10k with Ah-4h, and Helppi moved in for $22,100 with pocket jacks. Everton got out of their way, and a flopped ace left Helppi in ninth place.
Sahamies went on to pick up blinds numerous times with repeated raises of $4,000. But whenever anyone played back at him, he would fold, evidence that he was doing a lot of stealing.
Fari Radimansour, who hails from Birmingham, UK, finished eighth. He re-raised all in for about 12k with A-7 and ran into Jelinek's pocket cowboys.
On hand 29 the blinds went to $800-$1,600, allowing raises of $3,200 to $5,600. The players seemed to catching on to Sahamies' strategy now, because he raised or bet three times in the first six hands, and folded the two times he was raised.
Steve Vladar, also making his third final table, raised all in under the gun for $5,500 with A-8 and became a 13-1 dog when Gilbert de Bouvere turned up two aces. The board changed nothing, and now six were left.
On the next hand, Sahamies folded again when he raised to $5,100 and Jelinek made it $20,100 to go. It was a reluctant fold, because this time he had a hand. "I'll call next time," he vowed, showing J-J.
On hand 46, Somaiya hit his low point. He raised to $5,600 with pocket 10s, Michelson moved in for 17k with A-Q, and Somaiya was down to $1,900 when a queen flopped. Somaiya now did his magic act, doubling up once with Q-8 against de Bouvere's J-9; twice with K-4 against Jelinek's 7-5; a third time with J-3 against Sahamies' 10-8; and finally, a fourth time, on hand 56, when he caught a third four on the river to beat Sahamies' pocket queens as he hit the 30k mark.
Two hands earlier the blinds had gone to $1,000-$2,000. At that point the chip count was: Jelinek, 67k; Michelson, 41k; Sahamies, 40k; de Bouvere, 30k; Everton, 14.5k; and Somaiya, 7.5k.
Everton, a British interior designer from Worcester, UK, finished sixth after moving in for $6,000 with Qh-9h. She flopped a nine and picked up a flush draw, but missed and couldn't beat Jelinek's pocket jacks.
Sahamies was left very short-chipped when his A-7 lost to de Bouvere's A-10. On the next hand he was in the small blind and bowed out in fifth place when his Q-2 fell to Jelinek's Ks-4s.
On hand 92, blinds went up to $1,500-$3,000, allowing initial raises of $6,000-$10,500. Jelinek still held the chip lead at this point with about $78,000. But a few hands later, Somaiya began closing in after Jelinek raised to $10,500 and then had to forfeit his bet when Somaiya re-raised to $33,000.
On the 104th hand, the field got down to three players. After de Bouvere made it $10,500 to go with A-Q, Somaiya came over the top for $33,000 with A-K. "Can't lay it down, de Bouvere sighed, losing when the board came A-7-2-6-A.
Somaiya now had more than $70,000. Three hands later he moved into the lead when Jelinek tried a bluff, betting into a board of Q-7-5-4-K with just J-6, and Michelson picked him off holding K-5.
The race had now tightened up. Another nine hands were played, with Somaiya increasing his lead slightly. Finally, the three called for a chip count and settled on a split. Rumit Somaiya, the comeback kid, had his improbable victory. --Max Shapiro
|
