AND
THE 7-STUD AWARD GOES
TO THE ACTOR CHAD BROWN
The award for best performance in a $1,500
7-card stud contest went to Chad Brown,
an actor with film (Maximum Bob) and TV
(game show co-host) credits. It was a
well-deserved award, as Brown turned in
a competent body of work. His final opponent
was Ken "Skyhawk" Flaton. Brown had about
a 2.5-1 chip advantage when they got heads-up,
and he finished the job in workmanlike
fashion in 18 hands.
No
slouch as a player, Brown has a win in
a stud hi-lo event at the Bellagio to
his credit. Asked if acting experience
aided his game, he said definitely. "Acting
is the study of human behavior. Such experience
elevates you to the next level, so you're
not just playing your cards, but playing
your opponents."
He
said his key play came with two tables
left. In four-way action the pot was raised
twice. He had 8c-9c-10c and knew he'd
be committed if he called. So he laid
down a hand he would have lost and been
knocked out with. He was also lucky in
winning pretty much every time that he
went in with the best hand, he added.
Brown
starts work in June in a "heist" film
to be directed by Joe Montegna and produced
by another poker player (and former writer
for Poker Digest), Raymond "Iceberg" Sitra.
When
the final eight sat down, they were looking
at $1,500-$3,000 limits with $200 antes
and a $500 low-card bring-in. Half the
field would be gone in the first 45 minutes.
Vegas
CPA James Hoeppner barely made it to the
last table with just $3,700 and was soon
out. He started with (7-7)A, went all
in on fourth street and finished with
kings-up. Matt Keikoan, a pro for the
past year after being in the cleaning
business, had split jacks and made a set.
One
of those "what would you do?" hands then
came up. On sixth street, Jeff Cohen showed
four hearts while Flaton had jacks and
nines up. Flaton bet out and Cohen, after
agonizing for a long time, finally gave
his opponent credit for a full house and
folded, saving his last few chips. Now,
Flaton had to assume Cohen made a flush,
because he had raised on fifth street
with three hearts up.
So,
did Flaton have a filly or was he making
a world-class bluff? The answer is...neither!
He later disclosed that he had Ac-Kc in
the hole, also giving him a draw to a
better flush, and with all those outs,
he was actually semi-bluffing. But don't
tell that to Cohen, who lost his saved
chips and busted out on the next hand.
He started with split jacks and Hasan
Habib, with (A-3)A, made aces-full.
Renee
Wexler, who had been playing cautiously,
finally made her move and raised all in
on fourth street with split kings. She
couldn't improve and finished sixth after
Keikoan made two pair.
Chad
then broke logger Dennis Waterman. Holding
split aces, Waterman re-raised all in
on fourth street, but Brown had a set
of 10s, and made a flush for good measure.
Waterman, who teaches poker, also is currently
writing a series of poker books, two on
big-bet hold'em (with and without antes),
one for beginners and a fourth on Omaha
hi-lo. "There are no good Omaha books
out there," Waterman contends.
When
limits went to $2,000-$4,000, the scorecards
read: Brown, 52k; Flaton, 39k; Habib,
37k; and Keikoan, 24k. Close to the end
of that level, Habib got in trouble when
Flaton, showing 8-6-Q-K, turned up an
A-J-10 for a straight. Down to 9k, Habib
gambled with junk cards on the next hand,
trying to make something. He did, sort
of, when he paired his jack on fifth street.
He bet and Keikoan, with buried aces,
raised, put him in and busted him. That
ended Habib's bid to win his second event
in LAPC XIII (he won No. 11, Omaha hi-lo),
though he did climb to second in the points
race.
Keikoan
gave up a lot of chips after folding a
couple of hands against Flaton. By the
time the next level arrived, with $5,000-$10,000
limits, $1,000 blinds and a $2,000 bring-in,
he was down to $25,000. Flaton had taken
the lead with $69,000, while Brown was
not far behind with $58,000.
Keikoan
finally went all in for the first and
last time drawing to a straight with (Q-9)10-J.
He made it, but to no avail. In a strange
hand, Brown had 6s and 4s on fourth street,
then caught a king on fifth, on sixth
and on seventh street for a full house.
The
heads-up count now showed Brown with a
substantial lead, $110,000 to $42,000
for the veteran "Skyhawk. Giving nothing
away, Brown slowly worked on Flaton's
chips. On the last hand, Flaton started
with (5-6)7. He raised and Brown, with
(9-9)4 re-raised. On fifth street, Flaton
re-raised all in with draws to both a
straight and a flush. He missed both and
graciously shook Brown's hand after his
opponent turned up two pair.
The
question now before the house: Is Chad
Brown an actor who is an accomplished
poker player, or a poker player who's
an accomplished actor? The answer is probably
a little of both.
-- by Max Shapiro
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