Russian Builder Sergei Shishov
Wins PLO After Two-Way Chop
Tonight’s pot-limit Omaha event ended in an even money split between Sergei Shishov, a Russian builder, and Cy Jassinowsky, a South African pro. But since Shishov had slightly more chips, $300,000 to $288,000, he was declared the winner of event #6 of the 2004 St. Maarten Open.
Shishov has been playing poker for about four years and says he does it strictly for relaxation. Jassinowsky has several money finishes, his best being thirds in a pot-limit Omaha event at the Gaming Club’s World Poker Championship in Dublin and in pot-limit hold’em at the Australasian Poker Championship, along with a sixth in $2,000 pot-limit hold’em at the World Series.
But the real drama was provided by Henrik Olander, who won last year’s $150 pot-limit Omaha event here while an 18-year-old high school senior in Helsinki, Finland. Tonight he seemed unbeatable. With four players left, he had nearly half the chips and appeared to be surging to a win, but faded in the final stages and settled for third. Since last year he has spent six months on the tournament trail, picking up a third and a 16th at events in Barcelona and a third at the Rendez vous a Paris, all in pot-limit. However, he says he plans to return to school next year to study real estate.
The final table started with a full 25 minutes left at the $1,500-$3,000 blind level, which allowed opening raises of between $6,000 and $10,500. Vince Biddle, a British retiree with a Northern Lights championship to his credit, was chip leader with $106,500, while Shishov was low man with $20,500.
Morten Tvergaard, a pro from Denmark, got in trouble on the first hand when Sargon Ruya of Sweden beat him with aces-up. Three hands later he was out when Emile Elias, a Paris designer, made a flush on the turn.
Four hands later, Ruya re-raised all in for $35,000 with poket aces. Biddle, with A-10-6-6, flopped a set and Ruya finished ninth.
Lothar Landauer of Germany has impressive credentials. He was the 1994 European stud champion and runner-up in the same event in ‘96 and ‘97. Tonight the best he could manage was eighth. Right after limits went to $2,000-$4,000, he was all in when he held Q-Q-3-4 and flopped a set on a flop of Q-10-8. But Jacky Zhang, with K-J-10-9, flopped a straight which held up.
Shishov, meanwhile, had been carefully nursing his short stack. He finally found a hand he could go with —10-9-8-7. He had a huge straight draw when the flop came 10-6-3, went all in with his draw against Olander, then hit the straight on the turn.
At the opposite end, starting chip-leader Biddle had been playing a lot of pots, not winning his share, and his lead had evaporated. Right after limits went to $3,000-$6,000, he took another hit when he missed a flush draw, losing to Jassinowsky’s kings and 9s. By hand 37 he was all in, but won when his $49,000 flop bet wasn’t called.
Olander, meanwhile, had been building his stacks by picking up pots with frequent raises. By the time blinds had gone to $4,000-$8,000, he had moved into the chip lead with about $210,000. Just before blinds went to $6,000-$12,000, Zhang, who is from Vienna, bet $24,000 when he flopped a set of 4s. Olander, who had flopped a set of 9s, put Zhang in, busted him in seventh place and now had about $246,000.
Olander finally lost some chips when Shishov beat him with pocket aces, but he rebounded by knocking out Marcello Delgrosso, a poker player fom Canada. Delgrosso went all in when a flop of Kd-4d-2s gave him kings and deuces. Olander had Ad-7d-7-9 and made a nut flush when an 8d turned.
Jassinowsky stayed in action on hand 56 when he raised all in with pocket aces and beat Olander by making aces full.
Olander hit his peak of about $270,000 on the next hand by knocking out Biddle. The retiree had A-J-8-6 and couldn’t make anything. Olander, with 8-7-6-4, put Biddle in for his last chips when a flop of K-5-3 gave him an open-end straight draw, which he completed on the next card.
Jassinowsky then climbed to about $220,000 when he knocked Elias out in fourth place on the next hand. The Frenchman started with A-Q-Q-2 with a suited ace while Jassinowsky had A-9-6-2 with two spades. He put Elias all in before the flop and proceeded to catch two more 9s.
After picking up a couple more pots, Jassinowsky had the lead with about $285,000, while Shishov and Olander were close to a tie with around $150,000 each.
Then came hand 57, the final hand, when everything turned around on the final card. Olander started with Q-Q-Q-K, Shishov with K-8-7-6. The flop came 8-4-3. Olander bet 48k and Shishov check-raised him all in with his paired 8. Olander still led with his pocket queens. A turn-card 10 changed nothing, but then a 7 on the river gave Shishov two pair, the win and the lead as Olander checked out in third place.
The split was agreed to, and the Russian builder had nailed down his first major win.
—Max Shapiro
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