At
last year's Omaha 8 or better tournament,
Daniel Negreanu was down to two chips
and still managed to beat Asher Derei,
who had all the rest. Back again, the
Israeli pro this time around was able
to vindicate himself by claiming victory
in the same event, the third in this year's
4 Queens Poker Classic.
Actually,
he, Joseph Kim and a well-known Vegas
pro who goes by the nom de guerre of "The
Grey Ghost" agreed to a three-way chop
when they were fairly even. Now playing
for a mere$440, they seemed more interested
in topping each other with quips rather
than with chips. Two-handed, Kim finally
asked, "why are we wasting time?" and
they ended it at the civilized hour of
9 p.m. with Derei holding a $52,000-$43,000
lead.
Scott Hunter finished 10th. He went all
in with all big cards, but little cards
came and the Grey Ghost scooped with a
wheel. At the final table, the clock showed
16:32 remaining, the limits were $1,000-$2,000
and Derei owned $24,500 of the $95,000
in play.
Final Table Chip
Count
Mallory
Smith $1,700
David
Velke $2,000
Asher
Derei $24,500
Vince
Burgio $9,900
Barry
Shulman $5,200
Joseph
Kim $16,400
Steve
Kaufman $14,9000
Bobby
Kirkwood $3,800
"Grey Ghost" $16,600
Mallory Smith, a Colorado CPA, lasted
two hands. In the small blind with Q-Q-A-6,
he raised all in for his $1,700. Kim,
who is in the close-out business in Texas,
closed him out with A-A-J-4 when the board
came 10-3-2-K-K.
Two hands later, David Velke, retired
from the signage and exhibition business,
also was in the small blind, also had
queens, also went all in and also went
broke when the ghost man, starting with
A-2-6-J, made aces and jacks.
And two hands after that, Bobby Kirkwood,
a flooring contractor, got waxed. He raised
with 2-3-6-7 and got a terrible flop of
K-K-A. But with only $2,300 left, he later
said "I had to do something," and futilely
chased back-door draws to a low and a
flush, losing to Vince Burgio's paired
ace. Thus far, Mallory, Velke and Kirkwood
had all busted out in direct relation
to their starting chip count. Card Player
publisher Barry Shulman, fourth lowest
to start, now obediently followed in order.
He was in the small blind when Derei,
holding A-4-7-8, put him in for his last
$700. When 9-4-2 came, Shulman was in
the lead with 4s and 2s. But a second
9 on the river killed his hand. They both
now had 9s and 4s, and Derei's ace kicker
was the decider.
Limits were now $1,600 and $3,200. On
hand 19, Steve Kaufman, a professor of
literature and ancient languages, was
stuck in the big blind with a junk hand
of Q-8-5-2 when Vince Burgio raised him
all in for $200 more. Burgio had a low
starter of 2-2-4-7, but flopped a set
to cut the field to four.
By the next break Asher, who had taken
a big pot from Burgio by flopping a set
of kings, now had increased his lead to
a commanding $52,400. Burgio had $18,800,
the ghost, $12,800 and Kim, $11,000. But
then Kim and the ghost took turns nibbling
on Derei's stacks. Asher suffered a setback
when he was drawing to a nut low and nut
flush on a board of J-4-3-J. The ghost,
with nothing much more than A-K, was trying
to represent a third jack, but instead
hit a winning king on the river as Derei
missed everything. Then Kim hit a straight
to cut Derei's stacks to half what he
had pre-break. "I'm the designated enemy
now?" Asher asked. "Let us win one time,"
Kim replied.
The one thing that Burgio could not do
was win one time after the break. He finally
went out on hand 24 when, for the second
time, he flopped two pair, only to see
that Derei had flopped a set. He had A-8-9-10
to Derei's 10-10-9-4 and the board came
10-9-2.
With
limits raised to $2,000-$4,000, Derei
had $38,000 while Kim had $32,000 and
the Grey Ghost had $25,0000. After several
hands, they all were in the $30,000 range,
and agreed to take $7,000 apiece and play
for the remaining few hundred and the
trophy. Derei built his stacks to about
$50,000 when he turned a set of kings,
then Kim briefly took the lead after scooping
a couple of pots, lost it, then took it
a second time after making a straight
on hand 46. This made up somewhat for
the embarrassment he felt when he overlooked
his nut flush on one hand and, last to
act, checked on the river.
But
the three were just having a lot of fun.
"I don't care about the trophy, I just
want to break both of you," the ghost
said. The phantom was finally exorcised
after Derei, with 2-3-4-7, bet dark before
the flop and the ghost, with A-2-6-K,
raised all in on a flop of Q-9-2. Derei
scooped with a flush and a better low.
The two finalists played a few hands,
with Kim arguing that the few hundred
dollars was not worth wasting time over.
"It's money; I used to work for a living,"
Derei replied. But two hands later he
agreed to take the win and end it.
Max Shapiro
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