| Betor Blitzes Short Game
Mark Betor likes short-handed games. When tonight’s $300 no-limit hold’em contest got down to three players, he faced two very tough pros, David “The Dragon” Pham and Phi Nguyen. Paying no heed, the retired businessman turned suddenly ferocious, moving all in six times in the 13 remaining hands as he bulled his way into the chip lead. He then proposed an even three-way chop, so long as he got the win. “I don’t care about the money, I just look poor,” he said, as he registered his first tournament win. All three finalists held the chip lead at one point or another, though Pham enjoyed a commanding lead and looked like an easy winner through most of the final table.
Final-table action in this fourth event of 2004 Legends of Poker started with blinds of $1,500-$3,000 and $500 antes, 30:31 remaining. Kim Lim was first to leave when he moved in under the gun for $8,500 on hand nine. He had pocket jacks and was called by Nguyen with Qs-10s. A flop of J-8-4 gave Lim top set, but Nguyen hit his inside straight draw with a river 9.
One hand later, Aitan Hillel followed. After Pham had made his standard raise of three times the big blind, his fourth in 10 hands, Hillel moved in for $45,500 with pocket sixes. Pham called the raise with Ac-Kc. Hillel was still alive until the river, then exclaimed “Ow!” when an ace left him in ninth place. On the next hand Pham again opened with a raise to $9,000, took the pot when he bet the flop and now had close to $150,000 of the $378,000 in play.
Soon after blinds went to $2,000-$4,000 with $500 antes, there was three-way action with another pot of close to $100,000. Poker dealer Ghirayr Otuzbiryan moved in for $16,500 with A-10. Pham, with pocket queens, slow-played and just called. This prompted Gary Jacobi to also move in for $22,000 more holding K-Q. Nothing changed when the board came 6-2-3-4-J. Jacobi finished seventh, Otuzbiryan eighth, and the Dragon was breathing fire with close to $200,000, more than half the chips on the table.
“Houston Harry” Fitzpatrick is a businessman living in Canada. Houston had a problem on the next hand when he had $1,000 left and went all in with K-10. Seton, in the big blind, had only 5-4, but then caught a 5 on the river to eliminate Fitzpatrick..
Dan Alspach is a retired chairman and CEO of an information and technology company. He has numerous tournament cash-outs which this year included a second place in a World Poker Open hold’em event and a win in the Hard Rock Celebrity Pro-Am tournament. He’s a man in pretty good all-around shape, but after he moved in for $37,500 on the button with K-J and got called by Betor with K-K, he exclaimed, “I’m in bad shape.” He was, and a junk board of 7-5-3-8-9 didn’t help as he departed in fifth place.
An approximate count now showed Pham with about $180,000; Betor, $95,000, Nguyen, $75,000; and Kenneth Wagner, $28,000. Three hands after blinds went to $3,000-$6,000 with $1,000 antes, Wagner moved in on the button for $16,000 with Kc-4c. “I hope it’s not an ace,” he said when Pham called. It was: A-7, and the bullet played when the board came 9-9-5-7-2. Wagner described himself as a “hobbiest” who quit work to move around and enjoy the hobbies of playing poker, fishing, and just leading the good life. The $13,555 he collected for finishing fourth will help.
Now Betor moved into high gear, quickly making several uncalled all-in moves. Finally, on hand 53, Pham made a reluctant call with pocket 10s after Betor moved in with 8s-7s. A third spade hit the river, and Betor had taken the lead. He lost it to Nguyen when he moved in on a flop of J-10-8 holding a two-pair J-8 while Nguyen, with J-10, had top two. Two more all-in raises with no calls on the next two hands got Betor the lead back, and his three-way chop proposal was accepted. –Max Shapiro
BIOGRAPHY
Mark Betor, 48, is retired from family business ownership of markets and liquor stores and now spends a lot of his time playing poker. In side games he likes $80-$160 hold’em. Betor has played poker “ever since I was a kid,” but recently has his interest turned increasingly to tournaments. He took a shot at the WSOP championship event this year, buying his way in but only lasting until 20 seconds before the first break. Though he’s had some small out-of-town cash-outs, this is his first tournament win.
In tonight’s tournament he said he was never in any trouble and really got into his element after the field was cut way down. “I’ve always like short-handed better than ring games,” he explained, “because it gives me a better opportunity to read players and run over the game.” He said that even though he faced two top players at the end, he didn’t have to adjust but just played his normally aggressive game.
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