| Sharbel Kormi, who retired 15 years ago as the owner of a restaurant and snooker club to pursue the more satisfying pursuit of full-time poker, finished first in the seventh event of the 2003 St. Maarten Open, $500 pot-limit Omaha. He started as chip leader and was never in trouble as he coasted to a win. Kormi has a victory in pot-limit hold'em at the Reno-Hilton and has also won some small events in his native England.
With three players left, Sharbel held $65,000 of the $146,000 in play. Michel Leibgorin had $45,000 and took second, while Bernie Rygol, with $36,000, finished third. Leibgorin, who was also in strong position throughout the tournament, lives in Paris and described his occupation as the "shmatte business" (that's the apparel trade for the rest of you). Rygol is a poker player who was vice world champion in pot-limit hold'em this year.
The final table got underway playing with blinds of $200-$400. Three players were making their second final table of the day. Marcel Luske, Fari Badimansour and Graeme "Kiwi" Putt were also at the final table of the two-day no-limit event which got underway at 3 p.m. and conveniently ended at 6 p.m., just in time for pot-limit Omaha.
There was a double knockout on the first hand. Two players were seriously short-chipped. "Kiwi," the retired Australian dairy farmer, had $2,100, while France's Robert Kojfer had $4,200, and both busted out Kojfer raised all in from the button. Kiwi and Badimansour both called. The board was dealt: J-10-8-9-9. Kojfer had A-A-8-4 and didn't help. Kiwi had A-Q-J-10 and made a queen-high straight. But Badimansour,. with K-Q-7-7, had the king-high nut straight and took all the marbles.
Marcel Luske, the genial host for this tournament series, wasn't too rich himself with $5,600, but he managed to hang on for a while, going all in and escaping three times. The first time he started with Q-J-10-5 and made a straight to beat Kormi's two aces. The second time he started with aces and caught a third one to beat Badimansour. The third time, with blinds now at $300-$600, he beat Rygol. Finally, on hand 19, Kormi cut him off by starting with A-7-6-4 and making trip fours when two fours hit the board.
As play continued, two players went all in on consecutive hands, each time making a wheel to survive. The first time, David Alimi made the wheel. The next time it was Rygol. Blinds moved up to $400-$800 on hand 40, and one hand later Alimi, a Parisian artist, got the brush. Rygol started with K-K-7-2 and flopped four kings. He checked the flop and called Alimi's $3,000 bet. He checked the turn and then bet $5,000 on the river to put Alimi all in and all out.
By hand 49, Leibgorin had taken the lead. Then, with a flop of 7-4-3, he bet $11,200 holding A-K-10-4. Kormi moved in for $19,500 with a set of fours and moved back into the lead when Leibgorin called.
When the blinds were kicked up to $600-$1,200 13 hands later, the chip count was: Kormi, $53,000; Leibgorin, $45,000; Rygol, $23,200; John Burberry, $18,400; Benjamin Hannuna, $3,700; and Badimansour, $3,000.
Badimansour, a pro from Britain, immediately lost his small stack. On the first hand, he moved in from the small blind with A-A-10-2. Kormi called with 9-7-6-4 and two hearts and made a flush when the flop came A-9-8 with one heart, followed by two more hearts on fourth and fifth street.
Another six hands went by, and then Burberry, a former dealer living in Bracknell, UK, ended up in fifth place. With the flop showing K-9-5, Leibgorin bet $3,000, and Burberry raised all in for $11,100. He held 9-8-7-5 and had made two pair. Leibgorin, with Q-J-10-7, had a wraparound straight draw. A jack on the river gave him the winning straight, and now four players were left.
Rygol found himself in peril several times. On hand 84, Leibgorin made it$10,000 to go from the small blind with A-K-Q-Q and Rygol called with J-10-10-9. He bet all in for $1,800 when the flop came J-7-7-, then caught an eight for a straight to build his chip count back to about $25,000.
Three hands later, Hannuna, a Paris journalist, was badly short-chipped in the big blind and went all in for $5,200 holding 9-8-8-5 and two spades. A third spade hit the turn, but his flush was no good because Kormi, holding A-A-K-6 with a suited ace, had made the nut flush.
The blinds now crept up to $800-$1,600, and the three remaining players began talking deal. Rygol made a request for a certain amount which Kormi felt excessive.
"Maybe you're tired," Rygol suggested.
"I'm a veteran. I've been through a lot of battles," Kormi replied. "Let's play."
Play they did, but only for only three more hands. After back-and-forth offers, they finally reached an agreement, made a deal and the tournament was over. Max Shapiro |
