Poker Pro/DJ Wins Omaha!
Brian Haack, who divides his time between playing poker and disc jockey club gigs, scored his first major win tonight in $500 Omaha hi-lo, the 22nd event of Winnin’ o’ the Green, 2004. He came to the final table with a very big lead, holding 24,000 of the 65,000 chips in play. At the final break, he was in second place with 1,500 less chips than Tim Foley had. Two hands were played, Foley lost some checks and Haack was back on top when a four-way chip-count deal was made.
Omaha guru Steve Badger had won this event the past two years and was hoping for a three-peat. But despite the encouraging presence of his lovely protégé Shirley Rosario (who operates her own poker website, Poker-babes.com), the best that he could manage was sixth place.
There were only eight seats at the final table after Badger broke two players by turning a wheel. Finishing 10th was Mike Crescenko, while Raymond “Iceberg” Sitra, who was the bubble boy three nights ago, had a tad more chips and at least made the money if not the table.
The final table got underway with blinds of $300-$500, limits of $500-$1,000 and 41:56 left. “Miami” John Cernuto arrived second-lowest in chips and was out on the second hand. He picked up a promising A-2-2-5, but only one low card hit the board. “Mickey Mouse” Mills bit him by going in with A-J-10-8 and making a full house on a board of J-10-5-Q-J. Seven hands later the mouse had almost the same hand as Miami John: A-2-5-6. He got triple counterfeited when the board came A-2-Q-5-8, while Gebrehiwet Goitom made a bicycle. “Amazing…nice hand,” the mouse murmured, left with $500.
A new dealer who had earlier wreaked damage on Badger’s stacks sat down. “The cooler comes in,” Badger cracked, referring to the bad-luck movie character who is employed by a casino to stand next to hot players to cool them off. The ill luck instead descended on Mickey Mouse, who was all in from the big blind with 3-4-5-7. The mouse got skinned alive when the board came A-8-3-K-A, giving Badger the nut low and Foley, with aces full of kings, the nut high. Mills cashed out seventh, complaining that he had been unable to make a good hand in 90 minutes.
With limits now at $800-$1,600 Badger got in big trouble on hand 24. He raised pre-flop, then called down as the board came Q-8-5-10-3. Foley took low with A-2,
Goitom had high with two pair and Badger, left with $300, mucked. He later said he went in with an A-4-5 suited. Three hands later Badger’s three chips were posted in the big blind. A board of K-10-A-6-A gave Foley aces full. “Cold deck,” Badger cried out as he turned up his useless cards one by one: 4-6-8-10.
Grady Talbot, an attorney who won the earlier $100 Omaha hi-lo event, was down to $1,000 and raised all in two hands later from the small blind holding K-K-Q-6. McDermott called with a suited J-10-9-5 and left Talbot in fifth place with a third club on the turn gave him a flush.
As play continued, McDermott went all in four times over the next 15 hands, managing to pull out with something each time. At the end of the level, Foley had taken the lead with 20.5k. Close behind were Haack with 19k and Goitom with 18k while McDermott trailed with 8k. Limits went to $1,000-$2,000. After two hands, McDermott had played catch-up and had 15.5k. Haack, with the same 19k, now owned the lead, while Foley had slipped to 16k and Goitom to 15k. The four now made their deal, and Haack was the new Omaha champ.
Max Shapiro
BIOGRAPHY
Brian Haack, who spins records at clubs in the Los Angeles/Hollywood areas and at home parties, has been playing poker for 20 years. He’s had a few small wins at such local Vegas tournaments as the Orleans, but nothing to match tonight’s victory. Most of his poker time is spent in live action. This is his first tournament of the year and might well also be his last, he added, because he has “a terrible habbit” of finishing one out of the money so many times. (Well, maybe he’ll give it another shot, he reconsidered.)
While he plays all games, he prefers Omaha and mixed games in general. In side action, he plays a lot online and at local clubs two or three times a week, at mid-limit stakes, $40-$80. Haack describes himself as a fairly aggressive player. Tonight, he said, he didn’t win any spectacular pots but just had a gradual build-up of chips throughout.
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