| Parisian Ladies Clothes Vendor is
Winner of $300 No-Limit Hold’em
It was the classic match-up in the biggest pot of the night: Q-Q for David Atlan, a Parisian vendor of ladies clothing, and big slick for Marcel Sabag, a cellular phone store owner. Atlan, all in, won and doubled through to more than $150,000. He held onto his big chip lead until the tournament got three-handed. A chip-count deal was then made and Atlan became the winner of the ninth event of Hustler Casino’s Grand Slam of Poker Tournament III, $300 no-limit hold.em.
Atlan has been playing poker for three years, exclusively pot-limit and no-limit. He has one prior tournament win at a Paris casino, and had a second at Hollywood Park two weeks ago, both in no-limit hold’em.
This was far and away the most colorful and diverse final table seen thus far. Besides the Parisian merchant, we had one actor/celebrity blackjack TV co-host; one recording artist; an ex-nightclub owner now running a film production company, a recently turned pro from Ireland, and, last but not least, an online pro dressed as Spiderman whose nickname is...Spiderman! That plus one gentleman who asked to be identified only as “NA”
Final table action got underway with $300 antes and blinds of $1,000-$2,000, 19:15 remaining. Dave Stann is the actor who co-hosted a celebrity blackjack TV show, came in second in a World Series of Blackjack event, won the “Vegas Challenge” on the Travel Channel and has numerous poker cash-ins. He started shortest-chipped but doubled through against film producer Cliff Cantor on the second hand and got to stick around a while.
Less fortunate was the Spiderman, aka Partha Datta. Datta is an online pro who made 26 Internet final tables last month. He is a student of Mickey “Mouse” Mills, who pointed out that super-aggressive play that works well online isn’t as suitable for land-based casinos. “When you get knocked out online, you can just press a button and play in another tournament,” Mills pointed out. This was borne out when Datta raised to $22,000 on the fourth hand with A-K, then moved in for about $18,000 even when he completely missed the flop of 9-2-5. Sabag squashed Spidey with pocket 10s and took the lead with about $110,000.
Stann went out soon after blinds went to $1,200-$2,400 with $400 antes. He went all in for $9,000 with A-J and lost to New Jersey pro Chris Ackerman’s pocket deuces.
Ackerman made it two kills in a row when he went against recording artist Darius Campo, who has had numerous tournament cash-ins. Campo opened for $8,000 with Ah-3h and Ackerman put him in for another $7,000 with As-Ks. Nobody improved and Campo finished eighth as Ackerman ran his chip count to about $90,000.
Ernell Castro, a salesman, made a very bad choice when he moved in with pocket treys after an ace flopped. Atlan had Ad-6d and easily put him away in seventh place.
Cantor, who had been dropping down, bounced back up to more than $50,000 after Ackerman opened for $8,000 with K-J. Cantor moved in with pocket 10s and flopped a set.
Just before blinds went up, Rory McHugh, the Dublin investor banker who just turned pro, went out. McHugh, making his second consecutive final table, moved in for about $13,000 with Jh-10h and couldn’t catch up to Sabag’s Ah-10h. He finished sixth.
Blinds were now $1,500-$3,000 with $500 antes. A rough count showed Sabag in the lead with about $115,000, followed by Atlan, $85,000; Ackerman, $65,000; NA, $60,000; and Cantor, $50,000.
The turning point of the tournament came a couple of hands into the new round. Sabag, with Ad-Kd, opened for $12,000, Atlan moved in for about $75,000 with pocket queens and Sabag called. The board came 8-8-7-10-3, and suddenly Atlan vaulted into the lead with over $150,000. “There was nothing you could do,” Cantor assured Sabag, who was now down to about $38,000.
As play continued, NA, who had been playing fairly conservatively, moved in after Cantor had opened for $10,000. Cantor, a semi-pro, quickly mucked his K-Q suited.
NA left the scene on hand 32. Sabag raised to $12,000 with A-Q and NA moved in with Kc-10c. Sabag improved when a queen flopped, and the anonymous one finished fifth.
“I’m back in business,” Sabag exulted. Alta still led with about $150,000 while Cantor now had $115,000 and Sabag $73,000, while Ackerman trailed with $38,000.
Blinds now moved up to $2,000-$4,000 with $500 antes as the tournament neared a conclusion. Ackerman dropped further down when he bet $5,000 into a flop of Kh-Qh-9d, then folded when a 2h turned and Atlan bet out.
Two hands later Ackerman made his last stand. He moved in holding Ks-9s and Sabag called with pocket jacks. The board came Q-9-8-7-6 and now three were left.
The chips were counted. Atlan had $155,000 to about $115,000 for Cantor and $102,000 for Sabag. The deal was made and the man from Paris locked up his win. —Max Shapiro
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