London
Pro Chris Bjorin Wins His
Second Event at the Four Queens Poker
Classic
Chris Bjorin, the winner of numerous
major poker tournaments in both the United
States and Europe, added a second Four
Queens title to his resume, with a win
the $1,000 buy-in holdem event. Bjorin
arrived at the final table with a sizable
chip lead, lost it at one point, then
stormed back to seize the victory. The
win gave Bjorin another $40,350 in prize
money to add to his previous first-prize
win of $31,420 in the pot-limit Omaha
event.
From
the instant the cards were dealt to the
final nine players -- and with the antes
set at $75, with blinds at $300-600 --
Bjorin showed absolutely no fear, constantly
raising and re-raising to keep his opponents
off balance. Early on, it looked like
it might be a runaway for Bjorin, but
things were just about to get interesting.
Mark Seif arrived at the final table short
stacked with only $6,975 in chips and
couldn't catch a hand during his short
stay. After a few rounds, he was blinded
down and decided to move all-in with Ad-Qd.
Hon Le, picked up pocket Jacks which held
up and Seif was the first player to exit.
Seif, who is a Los Angeles-based criminal
attorney, lost his case and accepted the
$1,610 verdict for 9th place.
That
would be the lone bright spot for Hon
Le, who was next in line to fall. Le arrived
with a respectable amount of chips ($18,325)
and played aggressively, involving himself
in many pots within the first hour. Unfortunately,
Le couldn't connect with a big hand and
slowly saw this stack dwindle down. He
decided to take his final stand with 9-9.
Germany's Norbert Hoelting (appearing
at his second-consecutive final table)
made a move and tried to steal the blinds
and antes with Q-J, and Le moved over
the top with his pocket nines. Hoetling,
with more than enough chips to cover Le,
was pretty much pot-commited at this point
and called. The flop brought Hoetling
a much-needed face card -- a magical queen
which put Le out in 8th place with $2,020.
Joe
Belofsky has been a regular on the tournament
trail for about a year. He has made three
final tables at the Four Queens and came
to the final table in a tough spot with
just $5,600. Belofsky moved his last chips
into the pot with A-J and was called by
Las Vegan Paul Kroh with K-Q suited. A
king flopped and Belofsky was out in 7th
place with $2,420 in prize money.
One interesting development at this final
table was the effectiveness of the pre-flop
"all-in" re-raise. Time and time again,
Eskimo Clark was its victim. Clark tried
to make a move at the pot on at least
four occasions, but was forced to lay
down his hand when either Dan McGuire
or Chris Bjorin (in the blinds) came over
the top of the Eskimo-man with an all-in
re-raise. Eskimo -- known for being a
very aggressive player -- appeared flustered
at not being able to call, and to the
surprise of many was not much of a factor
at the final table.
Paul Kroh, the self-described "king of
bad beats," remained short-stacked throughout
the final table and took a stand with
2-2, hoping to double through. He made
a raise from the small blind, and Erick
Lindgren in the big blind woke up with
A-A. Surprise! The aces held up, sending
Kroh back to Battle Mountain, NV with
6th place prize money of $3,430.
On the very next hand, pocket rockets
struck again. This time, Lindgren was
the victim. Lindgren picked up A-Q and
made a standard three-unit raise and was
re-raised by Dan McGuire with A-A. Again,
the aces held up (it happens sometimes)
and $15,000 was cut out of Lindgren's
stack and placed into McGuire's. Suddenly,
McGuire -- who came into the final table
with a paltry $1,400 -- was now a serious
threat with over $30,000 in chips. The
moral of the story -- never give up.
With Bjorin still enjoying nearly a 3-2
chip advantage over Lindgren, Eskimo Clark
got fed up with being knocked out of the
pot with re-raises. He was dealt K-Q suited
and raised, which predicatably was popped
by Bjorin. Sick of the situation, the
Eskimo-man quickly called, hoping the
move by Bjorin was a bluff. It wasn't.
"He has a hand, this time!" Eskimo shouted
with disgust as he stared down at Bjorin's
A-K. Eskimo's hand was totally dominated
and when an ace flopped it was all over
for Clark, who backed away from the table
in 5th place with $4,440.
Lindgren then went card-cold for the next
half-hour and gradually saw his tall towers
of chips skrink. With the antes now up
to $300 and blinds at $1000-$2000, finally
found a playable hand with A-J and made
a raise. Bjorin again woke up with a hand
(A-K) and moved over the top. Lindgren
called and was disappointed to see a king
come on board -- which meant a 4th place
finish ($5,450). Lindgren, who lives in
Folsom, CA and who was cheered on by a
loyal group a freinds in attendance, was
disappointed he didn't win, but still
made a gallant effort with the 4th place
showing.
Perhaps
the most impressive performance of the
night belonged to Las Vegas tax attorney,
Dan McGuire -- who sat quietly in the
one-seat most of the evening. He came
in with only one round of blinds, but
managed to survive over four hours and
came to within $10,000 of the chip lead.
However, his momentum ran out when he
ran cold just as the game became short-handed
and he was forced to post his last blind
of the evening and commit himself with
K-9 on the final hand. Norbert Hoelting
faded the "all-in" bet with K-J and neither
player improved -- which put McGuire out
in 3rd place with $10,090.
With
all the American-based players bounced
out of the tournament, it was now down
to the two very talented Europeans --
Bjorin from England and Hoelting from
Germany. When head-up play started, Bjorin
enjoyed a 5-1 chip lead. However, Hoetling
would make this into an epic battle which
lasted over an hour. Bjorin had a chance
to end it early when he called an "all-in"
raise with 4-4 against Hoelting's K-Q.
The first four cards on board came 2-6-7-2
and it appeared Bjorin would win. Then,
a king fell on the river and stunned the
crowd, doubling Hoelting up to $69,600,
just slightly behind Bjorin. It was now
anyone's tournament to win.
The
next critical hand occurred just a few
minutes later. When the flop came K-5-2
(all diamonds), Bjorin bet $8,000. Hoelting
called. A blank 3 came on the turn and
Bjorin bet $20,000. Hoelting called again.
A five fell on the river (board K-5-2-3-5
with three diamonds) and Bjorin bet $15,000.
Hoelting moved over the top with an "all-in"
raise and Bjorin for the first time all
night was left to ponder a tough call.
Bjorin folded, which now meant Hoelting
had the chip lead -- nearly a 2-1 advantage.
It was an incredible turn of events.
But
that would be the high point for Hoelting.
Bjorin continued to play just as aggressively,
then caught a big hand when he took K-K
up against Hoetling's A-3. All the chips
went into the pot when the flop came 9-4-3,
but Hoetling couldn't catch an ace or
another three, which would have won the
tournament. Another big hand had survived.
Now, it was Bjorin with the 2-1 chip lead.
Bjorin
gradually wore Hoelting down and the final
hand of the evening came when the German
made his last stand with A-7. Englishman
Bjorin, with K-6 was delighted to see
the final board -- which came Q-9-6-3-5.
A pair of sixes was the winner. Norbert
(a.k.a. Karl-Heinz) Hoelting took 2nd
prize and $20,180. Bjorin is the winner
of two previous titles at the World Series
of Poker (in pot-limit Omaha and no-limit
holdem). His two wins (and three final
tables, thus far) at the Four Queens now
gives him nearly $75,000 in winnings.
Nolan Dalla
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