GOOD
LAYDOWN IS KEY HAND IN
CARLOS MORTENSEN'S PLH WIN
Carlos Mortensen, the 2001 World Series
champion, scored a late-stage runaway
win in the 22nd event of LAPC XIII, $1,500
pot-limit hold'em. He came to the final
table with a massive chip lead, lost it
in early going, then went on a rush to
regain dominance again. With three players
left, he had 313,000 of the chips, compared
to 67,000 for Ron Rose and 44,000 for
George Marlow, and he had little trouble
demolishing them.
Mortensen,
who also owns a bracelet in $5,000 limit
hold'em, had more than his share of luck.
But his key play, he said, came when he
raised $21,000 pre-flop with pocket queens,
then laid them down when Rose came over
the top. "He had pocket kings. If I had
played the queens I would have lost most
of my chips," he pointed out.
His
overall strategy, the pro from Madrid,
Spain said, was to control the players,
and that he did. One time he took the
blinds with a raise, then showed 7-2.
Three
tables were brought back the second day
because of the large field. The final
table got underway with blinds of $3,000-$6,000,
with a full hour remaining.
Poker
player Matt Lefkowitz lasted two hands.
Patty Gallagher button- raised and he
went all in for $400 more from the big
blind. Patty had the better hand, A-9
to his Ks-4s, and a flopped ace did him
in.
Rose
soon proved to be Mortensen's nemesis.
On hand 17, he took a lot of chips when
he outran Mortensen's A-10 by flopping
a king to his K-J. Five hands later, Mortensen
bet 20k into a flop of K-K-3, then folded
when Rose raised 40k more. Rose, who has
a bracelet in $1,000 no-limit, along with
two World Poker Tour wins in Reno and
the Battle of Champions, now had the lead
with about 118k to 83k for Mortensen.
Wes
Bugiera, a pro from Australia, had a close
call against Patty Gallagher, all in for
$8,500 with Ad-9d against her pocket 9s.
"I can't believe it!" he exclaimed when
he flopped a flush.
When
blinds went to $2,000-$4,000, Rose led
with 71k, while Mortensen, Richard Cohen
and Marlowe were virtually tied in the
60k range. Two hands into the new level,
Ronnie Ebanks, a rookie player who is
an agent for jockeys, raised to 13k with
A-J. Mortensen re-raised. Ebanks bet all
in on a flop of K-J-10 and finished ninth
when Mortensen showed pocket queens.
Up
until hand 40, Susan Trabue, a stuntwoman
performing mostly on TV, had only played
two hands. Now she came to life, going
all in with pocket 7s and tripling up
when she flopped a set in three-way action.
Suddenly becoming aggressive (or getting
better cards), she climbed into contention
with 66k by hand 51. As chips kept changing
hands, Marlowe briefly took charge after
he took a pot from Rose with a re-raise.
Bugiera
went bust with pocket 8s when he got caught
between Rose and Jose Rosenkrantz, both
of whom had pocket kings.
Gallagher,
a pro with a 2nd and a 3rd at the WSOP,
bowed her head on the table in dismay
as she finished seventh. She moved in
for 10k with A-Q and lost to Rosenkrantz's
J-9 when the board came K-J-3-8-6.
Mortensen,
meanwhile, had been coming back as he
repeatedly raised and re-raised, forcing
opponents to lay down their hands. By
the time limits went to 3-6k, he had things
under control with 131k. Marlow, a consultant,
had 81.5; Traube, 74; Rosenkrantz, 71;
Cohen, 39; and Rose, 27.5.
There
were a lot of big chip swings in the next
20 hands, the most dramatic coming when
stuntwoman Susan relieved Marlowe of 21k
when she forced him out on the flop and
climbed to more than 100k.
Then,
two players went south on consecutive
hands. First, Cohen raised with A-6 and
then Mortensen put him for 60k total and
won with A-K. On the next hand, Marlowe
buried a low-chipped Rosenkrantz who was
in the big blind with 9-5. Marlowe raised
him all in with A-J and caught two more
jacks. Trabue, the first woman to win
a seat in the championship event starting
tomorrow, departed on hand 97. Mortensen
put her all in with a board of J-3-3-J.
When he turned over a Q-J full house,
she mucked her hand without showing her
cards or bothering to see the river.
Three-handed,
Mortensen now owned 78 percent of the
chips. Things looked bleak for his two
opponents, especially since blinds now
went to $5,000-$10,000, giving them little
chance to maneuver.
They
tried, to little avail. Three hands into
the level, Marlowe moved in for his last
34k with A-Q. He was a favorite when Mortensen
called with J-9, and a much bigger favorite
when the board showed 8-7-3-3. But then
a 10 gave Mortensen an inside straight,
and it was heads-up time.
The
mismatch lasted only three hands. On a
flop of K-8-7, Rose had a paired 8 and
bet his last 20k. Mortensen called with
K-2, hit a third king on the turn and
a bigger full house when an 8 rivered,
and was now $117,650 richer as he took
down the last event before the championship.
-- by Max Shapiro
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