| Arreca Destroys No-Limit!
A big heart in a small body is a very apt description of Eric Arreca, who totally destroyed the final table of event number 20, $500 no-limit hold’em. Six players were knocked out before a chip-count deal was made, and Arreca, with a good run of cards, personally disposed of four of them. He ended up with 137,500 of the 226,000 chips in play as he registered by far his biggest win ever.
The slightly built, unfailingly polite young man has been playing professionally four years, scrambling, observing, studying, learning all he could from top local pros, and his win is very much deserved. He is a poster boy for the virtues of dedication and determination.
Final table play began with blinds of $800-$1,600 and $200 antes. Mack “Houston” Curtis, a producer, produced the most starting chips, 55,100, but they were rapidly bled off and the best he could manage was eighth place.
Oerjan Groenmo, a pro from Norway, was first out, on hand six. He raised all in for 7,600 with A-J and couldn’t overcome Eric Chhor’s pocket 10s.
Houston, who has a Legends $500 no-limit title to his credit, started going downhill on hand 10. He raised pre-flop, bet the J-6-4 flop and then bet 10k on the turn-card jack. After very long thought, Rick Villapondo came over the top and Houston folded. With Villapondo’s long pauses on every betting round, the hand took something like 10 minutes to complete, a compelling argument for some sort of automatic clock.
Sharon Neely, the wife of PokerStars marketing VP Dan Goldman, had her second all-in escape on hand14. After Houston raised to 4k, she moved in for $9,800 with pocket 10s, and then Matt Kimbrough, with pocket queens, came over the top for a total of 32k. Neely was finished until rescued by a 10 on the river.
Houston, meanwhile, lost his fourth straight pot when an all-in Sam Schenker caught an ace to his A-4 to beat his pocket 8s. He finally went all in with A-J against Lawrence Truong’s A-2 and seemed destined to bust out when a deuce flopped, but finally got lucky with a river jack.
Blinds were now 1-2k with $300 antes. On hand 19, Truong tried a steal, moving in with 8-7. Arreca , in the small blind, picked him off. He had A-K and flopped an ace. Four hands later, the flop was A-A-2 and Houston, hoping no more aces were out, moved in for about 18k with K-Q. Houston, you have a problem. Arreca, in the small blind had A-10 and now three were gone.
A few hands later, poker dealer Matt Kimbrough raised to 10k and Chhor called all-in with K-10. “Moneymaker hand,” Kimbrough exclaimed, turning over 5-4, the 2003 World Series winning hand. It became a moneymaker for Kimbrough when it turned into an 8-high straight, and Chhor cashed out seventh.
On hand 32, Arreca continued his dominance of the table by knocking out his third player. Sammy Schenker moved in for about 20k with K-Q. Arreca called with pocket jacks and won when the board came 9-5-2-8-2, giving him a huge lead.
At the break 11 hands later, the count was: Arreca, 114; Villapondo, 40k; Neely, 35; Kimbrough, 20k; and Min Cho, 17k. A chip count deal was discussed but nixed by Kimbrough, who said he never chops.
Play continued, with blinds of 2-4k and antes of $500. It went one hand. Kimbrough moved in with K-9. Once more Arreca had the better cards as he called with K-J, about a 2.7-1 favorite. The board came 9-3-2-Q-10, giving Arreca a straight. With Kimbrough out, there was no objection to a deal, and the remaining four cashed out by chip count.
– Max Shapiro
BIOGRAPHY
Before tonight, the 29-year-old Eric Arreca had wins at the San Francisco Open, Hollywood Park’s Sport of Kings and the Bicycle Casino’s Ho-Ho Hold’em. But his specialty, after leaving a clerical job at the San Manuel casino, he said, was “surviving.” His friends were against his pursuing poker, but he persevered. For years, Arreca has been a familiar face at local tournaments, keenly watching if he wasn’t playing. He gives credit to such players as Raymond Davis, George Rechnitzer and Chris Grigorian for helping him with is game.
Arreca, who regularly plays at the Bike’s nooner events, likes no-limit because you can “play the players” and don’t need a whole lot of cards. Tonight, he said, all his cards seemed to hold up. When he got to the final table, he planned to play tight until the last few players, but he kept catching cards he had to play.
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