| Brahmi Wins…by $500!
When the 14th event of Winnin’ o’ the Green 2004 got down to four players, it was as close – to quote one of the finalists – as a shave with a short razor. David Kelly had 15,500 in chips, Charlie Brahmi had 15,200, Anthony Nguyen had 15,000 and Patrick Schulze had 11,500. A chip count deal was in the works and the headline had already been written: “Kelly Wins…by $300.” But then Schulze, a retired contractor, backed off. One more hand was played, Brahmi won a small pot, the players then agreed to give Schulze a little extra, the deal was set, Brahmi now had 15,800 to Kelly’s 15,300 and the headline was revised. With only 57,000 in play and limits at 1-2k, any player could have gone broke in two hands, so everyone was happy with the chop.
Brahmi, a full-time player, was sporting the 1999 World Series bracelet that he got for winning the limit hold’em opening event worth $399,000. He was also sporting a less desirable trophy, a cane, the result of a freak accident in January. He had just come in 10th in a tournament in Tunica and was seated at a slot machine at the Gold Strike casino when a motorized money cart struck and dragged him, damaging his toe and requiring surgery. Maybe worse, he said, it kept him from entering the main event there and made him miss the entire L.A. Poker Classic at Commerce.
Tonight’s event was $300 7-card stud. Limits started at $500-$1,000, with $75 antes and a $150 low-card bring-in. Claudia Gutwirth, who lives in Brooklyn, is a charity drive writer looking to do more creative writing. She was out on the first hand. She started with (A-2)2 and made aces up on fifth street, but lost lost when Brahmi hit his spade flush.
Limits now went to $800-$1,600 with $100 antes and a $200 bring-in. Robert Najera, a public insurance adjuster, was left with about $1,600 when he folded on sixth street. He had open jacks but knew he couldn’t beat Brahmi, who raised when he caught a king on fifth street, then bet out on the next card. Jaime Perez, starting lowest-chipped was next to go all in, but he made jacks-up to overcome Brahmi’s buried aces. Najera then finished seventh. He started with (K-Q)2, made kings-up and was edged by Perez’s aces-up. Arash Ghaneian wasn’t happy because he had folded his pocket aces when Perez bet with open bullets, and would have won with aces-up had he called.
Ghaneian was the designated chatterer at the table. At one point he announced, “May the person who needs it most win.” Kelly’s hand immediately shot up.
Limits went to 1-2k with $200 antes and a $300 bring-in. Players now began discussing deals because the limits had become so high in relation to the chips they had.
Some 22 minutes into that level Ghaneian busted out. He went all in with (8-2)8-6. Brahmi had (J-10)J-3. Then Brahmi caught a third jack on fifth street. “I’m drawing dead, Ghaneian said,” and cashed out in sixth place.
Five minutes later, the next and last player to break played his final hand. Perez raised with split aces and was re-raised all in by Schulze, who had split queens. Schulze then hit a third queen while Perez picked up a flush draw on sixth street, but couldn’t get there.
The tournament appeared to be over with a chip-count chop until Schulze backed out and the one additional deal enabled Brahmi to snatch the title from Kelly and be crowned the winner. It was a stroke of luck, and he didn’t get hit by a cart again either. – Max Shapiro
BIOGRAPHY
Charlie Brahmi operated retail stores on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City for 20 years before turning to poker 11 years ago. He was an amateur for a couple of years until John Bonetti came into his life and began coaching him. “He was always sneaking up behind me and advising me on my play, and he was always right,” Brahmi says gratefully of his mentor.
In addition to the big WSOP win, Brahmi also has a couple of $1,000 Omaha victories and one in $1,000 hold’em at the Taj and a best all-around at Foxwoods where he entered six events and made four final tables which included a first, a second and a third. In side game action, he plays $20-$40 or $30-$60, “which is plenty big enough for me.” From here he’s off to play on the Party Poker Million III cruise because it’s the only World Poker Tour event playing limit hold’em. |
