VETERAN
PRO BILLY DUARTE
DUELS GREENSTEIN, WINS PLO
Two master poker players dueled for 64
hands in the 15th event of LAPC XIII,
$1,000 pot-limit Omaha. Billy Duarte,
a 50-year poker veteran, had a 3-2 chip
lead over Barry Greenstein when they got
heads-up, then gradually wore him down
and earned$53,200 first-place prize money
and an impressive Remington trophy.
"He
outplayed me earlier," Duarte said. "But
then I got a little better cards than
he did. Against someone like him, you
need better cards."
Duarte,
65, is a Colorado retiree who for years
had been a fixture at Oceanside casinos.
The only flop games he plays are pot-limit
and no-limit, as opposed to Greenstein,
who plays all games. A smoker, Duarte
had largely given up tournaments after
the rooms went nonsmoking. But he recently
returned after kicking the habit. At Tunica
this year he played six events, made four
final tables and won a $1,000 pot-limit
hold'em event.
Greenstein
won the championship event at Tunica this
year, is currently ranked number one in
Card Player's Player of the Year race
and will be the subject of an upcoming
cover story. He is equally well-known
for his charitable endeavors, donating
all his tournament winnings to benevolent
groups, primarily Children, Inc.
The
final table got underway with blinds of
$500-$1,000, permitting an initial raiser
to come in for $2,000 to $3,500. After
15 minutes the blinds went to $800-$1,600.
The first hand was the first to go past
the flop. Van Pham, winner of the earlier
stud hi-lo event, raised to 4k, Ace deHolland
re-raised and Pham moved in with K-J-J-9.
DeHollan's two aces held up and Pham had
800 chips left. Two hands later he flopped
a wraparound straight draw, missed and
went broke, again against aces, this time
held by Jay Abujawdeh.
Angel
Largay, another pro, wasn't as lucky with
aces. Holding A-A-9-5, he raised pre-flop
and then moved in on a flop of Qc-8c-2c.
Greenstein called with a J-J-6-6 and two
clubs, flushed on the river and we had
a fallen angel at the table.
On
hand 38, Julien Studley, who owns a real
estate service company, made it three
bets and went all in with K-K-J-6 against
Abujawdeh's A-Q-Q-7. Studley led with
a set of kings when the board came 10-4-10-K,
until a river jack gave Abujawdeh a straight,
cutting the field to six.
Two
hands later Duarte was all in but picked
up a lot of chips in three-way action.
Holding A-4-6-8, he put in his last chips
when Abujawdeh bet the 8-3-2 flop, then
caught a 5 for a wheel. He made kings-full
three hands later and was back in contention.
Kathy Liebert was next out. All in with
Ah-2h-Q-9, she lost when Greenstein, playing
5-6-7-J from the small blind, hit a straight.
With
blinds now at 1-2k, starting chip leader
Abujawdeh was still in front with 64k.
Next was Greenstein, 53k; Duarte, 47.5k;
Tim Karambinis, 21k; and DeHolland, 11k.
DeHolland,
a surfer, quickly got wiped out. He was
in the small blind with Q-J-9-6. Karambulis,
in the big blind, had a very weak J-10-7-6
but managed to flop a 7-high straight.
At
this point, Abujawdeh who had started
with the chip lead, still held it with
64k. Behind him were Greenstein, 55k;
Duarte, 47.5; Karambinis, 21k; and DeHollan,
11k. DeHollan, a surfer, suffered a wipeout
on the second hand of the new limits.
He was all in from the small blind with
Q-J-9-6. Tim Karambinis, in the big blind,
had an unpromising J-10-7-6 but managed
to flop a 7-high straight.
Six
hands later Greenstein took the lead.
He went all in against Abujawdeh when
the pot was three-bet pre-flop. He had
Ac-6c-Q-Q to A-K-5-7 for Abujawdeh. Greenstein
liked the flop: Qc-10d-8d. Then he improved
his set of queens when two running clubs
gave him a flush. He now had 112k while
Abujawdeh was down to 10k. Greenstein
took those chips four hands later when
he went in with Q-Q-6-3 and the ladies
won it. "Queens have been lucky for me,"
Greenstein remarked.
But
the queens turned on him a few hands later.
This time Karambinis, a retired plumber,
had them, made queens-full, and Greenstein
dropped a few thousand behind Duarte.
Soon after, he had slid further, down
to about 70k.
Duarte
then dramatically disposed of Karambinis.
He had A-A-9-6 to 10c-6c-8-5 for his opponent.
On a flop of Ac-Qc-3c, Duarte bet his
set, Karambinis went all in with his flush,
and got axed when a fourth ace hit.
The
heads-up chip count was 122,500 for Duarte,
77,000 for Greenstein. Greenstein dipped
down to 55k early on, but after 34 hands
heads-up, with limits at $1,500-$3,000,
the count was about the same as at the
start. The two pros continued to play
each other cautiously, with Greenstein
slowly going downhill. On the final hand,
Greenstein, with A-A-K-6, went all in
for 32k. Duarte, with 10-8-9-2, missed
a flush draw, but settled for 8s and 2s,
sufficient to get him the pot and the
title.
-- by Max Shapiro
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