VEGAS
PRO PRESSLY SCORES HIS
FIRST TOURNAMENT WIN
North
Las Vegas pro Knox Pressly, who has played
poker full time for 35 years but tournaments
for only four, came to the final table
tonight with a slight chip lead and was
never in trouble as he scored his first-ever
tournament win in the fourth event of
4 Queens Poker Classic 2002, pot-limit
hold'em. Previously, he had made final
tables at Binion's, the Rio and 4 Queens.
Juan
Holub finished 10th. All in with 9-8,
he flopped an open-end straight draw but
missed and lost when Mike O'Hare, with
A-K suited, paired his ace.
Chip Position, Final Table
Seat
Player Chip Count
1.
Randall Holland $13,400
2. David Velke $13,300
3. Paul Pirrone $18,700
4. Mike O'Hare $11,300
5. Richard Carpenter $8,500
6. Paul Milk $7,400
7. Dan Williams $7,200
8. Alan Betson $4,100
9. Knox Pressly $22,500
The final table started with 31:09 remaining
and blinds at $500-$1,000, meaning that
initial raises could be anywhere from
$2,000 to $3,500. This being pot limit,
it was not surprising to find two Europeans
at the final table, but they ended up
being the first two players eliminated.
Until the 27th hand, only five flops had
been seen. Then, right after blinds went
to $800-$1,600, Richard Carpenter, a fitness
instructor from Birmingham, England, opened
with a $4,000 raise holding pocket queens.
David Velke, holding pocket kings, re-raised
and put him all in, then flopped a set
and filled on the river. Paul Milk then
went all in a couple of times, but stayed
around, the first time when his pocket
6s held up, the second time when he flopped
an ace to his A-K to beat Paul Pirrone's
pocket 9s. Alan Betson of Dublin, Ireland,
with victories in the Irish Open, the
British Open and the European Championship,
was next out.
He arrived with the fewest chips, $4,100,
but had built up his stacks by being the
most aggressive raiser at the table. Earlier,
the Texas-born Pressly had warned him
that "You keep raising my blind, then
you and me are gonna play a real big pot."
That's what happened. When Betson, in
the small blind, moved in with K-10, Pressly
made a good call from the big blindwith
A-7 to cover him and win when the board
came J-3-2-Q-5.
Right after that, railroad worker Mike
O'Hare went off the tracks. He raised
to $5,000 with pocket 9s, and Milk, holding
K-K, promptly put him in for $1,000 more
and broke him. And only a couple of hands
later, electronics salesman Dan Williams
had his circuits blown. He re-raised all
in with pocket 7s after Velke had raised
with A-Q. A queen flopped, and now five
players were left.
By hand 60, Randy Holland, retired attorney
and personal assistant to wife Laurene,
who finished third in the no-limit event
two days earlier, had pulled into the
lead with about $45,000. With that much
ammunition, he was able to make a dubious
call and break the next player five hands
later. When Milk button-raised all in
for $4,000 holding J-10 of diamonds, Knox
didn't like his hand and told Holland,
"I'll let you have him." Randy, in the
big blind, didn't much like his own hand
either, though he finally made a reluctant
call with 10-5 offsuit. But then a 5 came
on the river and he got Milk.
Five hands later, at 11 p.m., blinds went
to $1,000-$2,000, allowing raises between
$4,000 and $7,000, and the rounds were
increased to an hour. At this point, Holland
was still chip leader with $48,000. Knox
had $32,000, poker player Pirrone had
$18,000 and retiree Velke, making his
second final table, trailed with $7,500.
On the first hand after the break, Velke
raised with A-7 and Pirrone came over
the top with A-J to put him in and break
him when the board came A-10-3-2-9. Fifteen
hands later, the tournament became a heads-up
match. On hand 86, Pirrone raised to $6,000
pre-flop with pocket 8s. Pressly called
with K-J. Now down to $13,500, Pirrone
had little choice but to press on, and
bet $12,000 into a flop of J-5-3. Knox
put him for his last $1,500 with his paired
jack and won when a 3 and a 9 came.
Pressly
now had the chip lead and needed only
three hands to claim victory. On the first
hand heads-up, he moved into a bigger
lead by picking off a bluff by Randy with
a paired 10. He won the second hand as
well to pull into a 2-1 chip lead.
The
final hand saw a flop of K-Q-2, all hearts.
Randy bet and Knox raised to put him all
in. "I may have the worst hand," Pressly
said, turning over a K-J. He found he
had the best hand when Holland turned
over a K-10. A queen and then a 3 were
dealt, and the transplanted Texan had
his first tournament win and a $15,240
payday, his largest ever.
Max Shapiro
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