DEVELOPER
FROM HAWAII
WINS AFTER LIMITS TRIPLE
After
the three finalists in the $300 7-card
stud eight or better contest battled at
length to a standstill, they finally agreed
to hasten things by jumping the limits
threefold from $1,000-$2,000 to $3,000-$6,000.
That made a difference. After 16 hands,
Pat Enos had his final opponent, Pat Wardlaw,
on the ropes. Wardlaw, a retired civil
servant, then accepted a small bonus to
surrender and end the match.
Enos, a builder/developer who hails from
Kaneohe, Hawaii, won the best overall
at Foxwoods' 1995 World Poker Finals.
The
final table was set after Sirous Baghchehsaraie
finished 10th when his trip 9s were beaten
by Clint Landrum's diamond flush, and
then when Marc Bogart finished ninth after
his two kings lost to Enos' straight.
Chip Position, Final Table
Seat
Player Chip Count
1.
Pat Wardlaw $8,700
2. Scotty Nguyen $14,850
3. James Hoeppner $2,775
4. Rebekah Emmons $4,400
5. Allen Green $13,850
6. Clint Landrum $8,500
7. Hai Tran $19,550
8. Pat Enos $11,375
Limits started at $400-$800 with $75 antes
and a $150 low card bring-in, with seven
minutes left. Nebraska CPA James Hoeppner,
who won the Legends of Poker championship
event in 2001, arrived with only $2,775
and was out of action in three hands.
He was dealt a tremendous A-2/5 starting
hand and got committed, but caught all
blanks while professional player Hai Tran
made a 6-high straight.
Five hands later, with $500-$1,000 limits,
$100 antes and a $200 bring-in, Tran took
over the chip lead with about $33,000
by scooping a big pot against Landrum.
Showing 4-7-6-8, he turned up three hearts
for a flush and 7-low. After that, he
sat on his chips for a long time, allowing
his opponents to beat up on each other.
Meanwhile, Rebekah Emmons, whose credits
include a best all-around at the Bicycle
Casino, narrowly escaped elimination when
two 5s earned her a split against Scotty
Nguyen. A hand later, Landrum wasn't as
fortunate against the WSOP champion. Landrum,
retired from a data processing post with
the University of Texas medical school,
showed Q-3-K-10. Scotty, free-rolling
with an 8-low on sixth street, bet $200
to put Clint all in, shuffled his down
cards and came up with a 9-high straight
against Landrum's two queens.
Two hands later he finished off Rebekah
in exactly the same manner. She had a
great start with 3-5/A but couldn't find
more than two treys. Once again Scotty
was free-rolling with a made 8 and then
produced a paired 10 on the river. He
was chivalrous and apologetic toward the
lady, but didn't offer to give her back
her money.
Tran finally saw action on hand 26, perhaps
because he was the bring-in. In any event,
he built up his stacks again when he ended
up with a flush against Enos' straight.
On the 32nd hand, the stakes rose to $800-$1,600
limits with $100 antes and $300 bring-ins.
During this time, Scotty had been absent
from the table for a number of hands.
It turned out he had been sitting in a
jumping pot-limit hold'em game that included
the likes of Daniel Negreanu and the "Devilfish."
He finally returned after winning a big
pot in the side game. For a while he was
challenging Hai for the lead, but then
his luck turned and he began plummeting
downward.
"Detroit Al" Green got pummeled on hand
55. He had three 6s up, but he lost to
Enos' three bullets. Left with $4,600,
he later recovered when he started with
A-2-5 of clubs and scooped Nguyen. "The
only one I seem able to beat lately,"
he said.
By the next break, Enos had taken the
lead with about $30,000, while Nguyen
was perilously low with $1,800. Shortly
after limits went to $1,000-$2,000 he
busted out with a missed low while Wardlaw
made quad 4s. Two hands after that, Detroit
Al finally lost his last chips. After
Tran bet on sixth street, Al raised all
in for $200 more with an 8. But the California
pro made a 6 and his two 6s were sufficient
for high.
At this point, hand 66, the three finalists
were fairly even. More than 20 hands went
by, and they were back to where they started.
Enos then proposed a big jump to $5,000-$10,000,
and they compromised at $3,000-$6,000
limits. On the first hand at these levels,
Tran was hammered down to $8,000 when
Wardlaw scooped with 10s and deuces. Two
hands later he tossed his cards in the
muck and cashed out when Enos showed him
two 8s and an 8-low.
Heads-up, Enos had much the best of it
for the next dozen hands. He finally built
up a $68,500-$15,500 lead when, with a
board of A-5-6-8, he scooped by catching
a third 6 on the river. Wardlaw conceded
after being offered a small incentive,
and the sixth event of 4 Queens Poker
Classic 2002 was over.
Max Shapiro
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