O/8: All Gravy for Grady!
It was all gravy for Grady Talbot, a largely retired civil practice attorney, who ran roughshod over the final table and scored a resounding win in $100 Omaha Hi-Lo, the eighth Event of Winnin o’ the Green 2004. Talbot, a fighter pilot in Vietnam, arrived with an enormous lead, holding 51,000 of the 173,000 chips in play. From then on there was no heading him. The fight was stopped when he got heads-up with Mike Ohashi with a nearly 7-1 chip lead, and the two made a deal.
There was 9:48 left in a $1,500-$3,000 limit round when the nine finalists sat down. It would be another fast final table, taking only 38 hands to complete. Poker player Rocky Enciso was lowest with 5k in chips. He went all in on the third hand, split the pot with a nut low, and hung in to outlast three other opponents.
After limits went to $2,000-$4,000, Herbert Thomas put in his last 2k. Talbot and Lulu Cabot limped and Don Loncaric checked from the big blind. The flop was A-K-4. Talbot bet and Loncaric called all in. After an 8 and 6 were dealt, Talbot took low with 2-3. Thomas, whose A-2 was counterfeited, took high with his paired ace. Loncaric, a Valencia accountant with a few tournament wins, had only a weak low and was first out.
Thomas didn’t last much longer. He raised all in for 4k with A-2-4-8 double-suited. Ohashi had just K-6-6-2, but called from the small blind and made a full house when the board came J-9-6-K-J. Then Cabot had 1k left in the small blind. She was hoping for a miracle low holding 3-5-5-9. Instead the board came K-J-3-A-9 and Grady blew her away with a Broadway straight.
Enciso went all in for the last time in a three-bet pot against Talbot. He had A-Q-10-7 and Talbot had K-K-4-2 with diamonds. A board of A-Q-6-10-3 and three diamonds gave Talbot another win with a nut-nut scoop as he extended his lead to about 75k.
Limits now moved up a notch to $3,000-$6,000. On hand 23, Jim Bokhari was all in with A-A-Q-8. He was up against Jack Tejwani who had A-4h-5-6h. The board came 10s-9h-5h-9c3h, and Tejwani’s baby flush left Bokhari, a software engineer, in fifth place.
Talbot, meanwhile, was kept busy picking up more chips. First he quartered Ricardo Abraham. Both made the same A-2 nut low, and Talbot took the high end with a paired jack. Then he scooped Tejwani with a heart flush and better low. A couple of hands later, Talbot scooped yet again in dramatic three-way action that pretty much nailed down the win for him. He raised with A-A-4-K. Abraham called all in with A-2-5-7, and Tejwani also called with A-3-Q-Q. A flop of Q-2-5 gave Tejwani a set of queens. He bet and Talbot raised with his aces and number two low draw. When a jack turned, Tejwani, still in the lead, bet. A trey hit the river to give Grady yet another scoop with a wheel. He now had about 100k in chips while Abraham cashed out fourth.
As if that wasn’t enough, Grady delivered yet another body blow on hand 35. With a board of Ah-As-6s-10s, Tejwani was leading with a flush until a river queen gave Grady queens-full and a lead of about 140k. Tejwani survived with a chop on the next hand, but two hands after that it was all over. Tejwani went all in pre-flop with 2-3-4-9 when the pot was capped. Grady had A-2-Q-K and made aces full when the board came A-A-J-7-K. He now had 150,500 chips to Ohashi’s 22,500, and Ohashi surrendered with a deal.
Max Shapiro
BIOGRAPHY
Grady Talbot first learnt poker when he was an Air Force captain flying F-100 fighter planes in Vietnam in 1965 and getting shot at. Now mostly retired as a civil attorney, he splits his poker time between tournaments and mid-limit hold’em and Omaha cash games. He’s had numerous tournament cash-outs, including a win in the seniors event at Legends of Poker, and a best all-around at the Bicycle Casino’s America’s Poker Classic this past January. To quote from an earlier post by Bicycle Casino poker host Marc Gilutin, Talbot won a Mustang in the Poker Classic points playoff and a few weeks earlier won the Harley they were giving for the no-limit hold’em event. “All this guy needs is a trailer!”
Tonight, Talbot said, he got knocked down to about four or five thousand with two tables left, but then the cards started to come and he was able to make it to the final table with a substantial chip lead.
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