Plastik Outlasts Cunningham!
By Max Shapiro
David Plastik
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David Plastik, a novice pro who says he's still learning his craft, got
locked in an epic heads-up battle with the younger but more experienced Allen
Cunningham in the multi-game event called H.O.S.E. It was a seesaw struggle,
with numerous chip lead changes, but in the end, Plastik prevailed. Although
hold'em is his game of choice, stud was the game where he kept catching cards,
notably trip kings, where he kept piling up chips and where he finally finished
off Cunningham at the ungodly hour of 7:30 a.m. Cunningham is known for not
making deals, so it was played out to the bitter end.
H.O.S.E. is an acronym for four games: hold'em, Omaha hi-lo, 7-card stud and
7-card stud hi-lo (the "E" in H.O.S.E. standing for eight or better). Rounds
for each game were 15 minutes. This is the first time this combo has been used
at Legends, though H.O.R.S.E. (the "R" for razz), was once tried.
When it got down to three tables, Brent Carter and Paul "Eskimo" Clark both
had massive amounts of chips, in the $12,000-$15,000 range. Eskimo managed to
blow his off quickly, and then Carter later managed to do the same. Carter,
still second in the points race, admitted that he played badly and got moved
off his game plan of playing super-solid to get more points when he got sucked
in by hands like A-2-4 in Omaha that didn't pan out. His chief nemesis was Mel
Judah. "I took him on every time and never let him get past me," Judah said.
Mel finally relegated him to tenth place in a stud round when his three sevens
filled on the river to outrun Carter's three eights.
Finishing ninth was Rich Korbin. He lost everything in an Omaha round when
he flopped trip tens only to have Mel Judah hit a straight on the river.
At the final table, Jim Ward, a realtor living in Anchorage, Alaska, arrived
with only $2,600 and went all in with buried queens in a 7-stud round. He
didn't help and lost to Paul Sherr's two pair, but was still happy to have hung
on long enough to make it to the last table. David Halpern, a pro from
Thousand Oaks, California celebrating his birthday, folded a stud hand on sixth
street with only $800 left. He lost those chips shortly after when four
players ganged up on him and checked a hand down until Gary Lent caught a third
deuce and bet out. Halpern departed when he missed his flush.
Playing stud hi-lo, Sherr was down to his last $500 chip when he won a
$17,000 pot from Lent with kings-up. Chris Grigorian bombed out in a hold'em
hand. All in before the flop with A-10 of spades, he lost to Plastik's two
jacks when the board came all rags. "No cards tonight," Chris shrugged.
In an Omaha round, Plastik raised with A-A-3-6 and was called by Cuningham
with A-4-8-K and Lent with A-4-5-9. Lent bet all in on a flop of 8-K-7. An
8-5 then came to give Cunningham a full house, Plastik a winning low and Lent
fifth place. At 5 a.m., Carter wandered in. "I can't sleep," he said.
"Neither can I," replied Judah."
Now it's hold'em, $3,000-$6000 limits, and Sherr's time is limited. The
full-time player quickly goes all in with A-10 after flopping a ten. But
Judah, with A-Q, flopped a queen. Judah, who started the final table with a
substantial chip lead of $38,300, was having a tough time of it overall at the
final table and finally went all in four times in succession during an Omaha
round, chopping each time. In his last hand, holding 3-7-10-K, he faced off
against Cunningham, with a nearly identical 3-7-10-J. The flop came J-10-9,
giving Allen jacks and tens. Mel called for a second-pair king -- and got it.
But the river brought a card he did not call for and could not believe: a jack
that filled Allen.
Heads-up, Cunningham had about an $80,000 to $48,000 chip lead, but chip
leads were to prove about as stable as quicksand … for both players. Showing
8-Q-8-4 in stud, Plastik turned up two queens to pull about even with a full
house, then pulled ahead with three kings and later left Allen with only
$23,000 when he scooped in a 7-stud hi-lo round with a 6-5 and two pair. Then
Allen piled up a huge lead of $100,000 in Omaha, Plastik took the lead back in
stud, etc., etc. At long last, David put Allen on the ropes with kings full in
stud, then finished him off the next hand with trip fives.
Biography - David Plastik
David Plastik, 36, spent 10 years laboring as a textile salesman in the
garment trade, then got tired of that tough business, and decided to try
something easier, like playing professional poker. He's won a limit hold'em
tournament at Commerce and a no-limit at Harrah's, along with a whole bunch of
seconds, but this is his first win this year.
In this tournament, he said he was never in trouble and kept steadily
building his stacks and then went on a rush by picking up a lot of the chips
Carter blew off. "I'm not the greatest stud player and just tried to get
through those rounds by playing tight." But then he started catching
incredible stud cards heads-up while Cunningham would win in flop games.
"Allen is too good," he added. Until it got three-handed, I let him do the
dirty work in knocking out players."
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