MIAMI JOHN WINS OMAHA HI-LO
AFTER ROLLER-COASTER RIDE
"Miami John" Cernuto has won some 20 Omaha tournaments in his sterling career, but never before encountered the dizzying ups and downs he endured before finally winning the 20th event of LAPC XIII, $1,500 Omaha hi-lo.
Midway through the final table, he was all in a series of times before going on a huge rush that brought him a big chip lead. But after locking horns with poker pro Fred Koubi in an exciting 58-hand final match-up that saw several chip-lead changes, he again had one foot in the grave. He went all in repeatedly (13 times in all), before finally ending up on top.
The final table started with only eight players after "Super Mario" Esquerra and Brett Jungblatt were knocked out in the same hand by Cernuto. He had A-K-Q-3. The flop was Q-7-7. No low came and his paired queen won everything.
That got him to the final table with a chip lead of 36.5k, 2k ahead of Ken Flaton. At the other end were Andrew Bloch and Peggy Stein, near the cloth with 4k and 5k respectively. The table began with limits of $1,500-$3,000, with 26 minutes left.
In early going, Bloch and Can Hua went all in and got out with diamond flush scoops. Stein, a housewife, then gave a seminar in tight play. Some 22 hands passed before she played anything, committing her last $1,000 and beating Param Gill with pocket queens. Then she folded her blinds, and didn't do anything until she posted her last chips in the big blind.
But during this round, with limits at 2-4k, she moved up a notch after Massimiliano Pescatori, an Italian pro, bowed out. He had As-2s-Kh-8h when Koubi put him in with Ah-Ac-4h-7c. A board of Q-8-6-5-2 gave Koubi a straight and a better low. Back to Stein. In the big blind, she had A-2-3-8 to Bloch's K-J-10-9 and lost to his jack-high straight.
Flaton, with A-2-6-6 and Bloch, with A-2-5-7 tangled, both looking for a low. They both missed, and Sykhawk's two 6s left the Maryland pro in sixth place.
Limits were now 3-6k. The count:
Koubi, 54.5k
Gill, 33.5k
Cernuto, 24.5k
Flaton, 20.5k
Hua, 19k
Two hands into this level, Flaton took a big pot from Koubi with a miracle river card. Koubi was leading with aces-up and a better low when a river 5h counterfeited him, giving Flaton the low and a flush.
Hua went out on hand 50 when he missed an incredible draw. Holding A-K-10-9 with a flop of Q-J-7, he needed either an 8, 9, 10, king or ace for a straight. None came and Gill beat him with just pocket 8s. Gill, meanwhile, was putting in most of the raises. "I've never picked up so many good hands," he marveled.
Soon after, Cernuto found himself in survival mode, staying alive by scooping or splitting with first a straight, then a full house, then a flush. With limits at 4-8k, he still had only 15k and continued his perilous existence.
His closest call came when he and Koubi both had trip 5s on the flop. Koubi had an ace kicker, but Cernuto paired his queen on the river for a full house. That gave him a slight lead, and he kept moving up until he had close to 100,000 of the 152,000 chips in play.
He then knocked out Gill, holding A-K-K-5 to A-K-7-9. "You win this it's a miracle," he said when the hands were turned up. No miracle. A few hands later, Flaton, who had already gone all in a few times himself, made his last stand by raising all in with A-Q-9-5 double suited. Koubi called blind. He had only 9-8-3-2, but made a straight when the board came J-7-7-10-9.
After they got heads-up, Koubi had a tremendous flop. Holding 4d-5d-2-6, he had trip sixes and a straight flush draw on a board of 7d-6d-6. Miami John had only Q-7-4-2, but a 7 turned to give him bigger trips, and then a queen on the river filled him.
By the time limits went to 6-12k, Miami John had a commanding lead of 127-25k. But the game was far from over. Ten hands later, after Cernuto had folded several hands and then missed a flush draw, Koubi had marched into the lead. After Cernuto blundered and misread his hand for a straight, Koubi took a very big lead.
By hand 125, Miami John was very low on chips, but warned, "I've been lower than this, baby." True to his word, he began going all in time and time again, each time managing to stay in the action. Then, after limits went to 10-20k, he scooped two consecutive hands, first with aces and a 6-4 low, the next time with a better straight than Koubi's, and once again had the chip lead. He lost it a few hands later when he folded on the flop, then got it back for good after he raised on a board of K-Q-5-10 and Koubi folded.
On the final hand, No. 150 to be precise, Miami John held As-Qs-6c-3d, while Koubi held 7h-6h-6d-2d. A flop of Ah-9s-2h gave Koubi a flush draw and Miami John aces and a better low draw. Koubi took the lead when a 2s gave him trip deuces. But then a king of spades on the river made a nut flush for Miami John, giving him his hardest-ever Omaha win.
Max Shapiro
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