JOE
THE INVENTOR INVENTS WAY
TO BEAT THE MASTER IN 7-STUD
Joe Baron, an inventor by profession and
occasional tournament player, came from
behind to beat the redoubtable Men "The
Master" Nguyen and win the $50,000-added,
7-card stud championship, the eighth event
of LAPC XIII. First place paid an official
$116,015.
Baron,
who described his playing style as "flexible,"
said his strategy against a "real aggressive"
player like Nguyen was to call a lot,
limp and let his opponent bet and bluff.
It paid off, because The Master bet with
nothing a couple of times heads-up and
got caught. The key hand, though, came
when Baron made a heart flush to take
the lead after starting with a 40-60 chip
disadvantage.
Baron
has one other major win, in a stud event
in Aruba last year. His newest invention
is a programmable card-shuffling device
that can either randomly shuffle decks
or do so in sequence to save time in resetting
decks, and also can scan for markings.
Finishing
in third spot was Matt Grapenthien, a
college student/stud player from Wisconsin
making his first final table. An economics
major, he will need six years to earn
his degree because of time devoted to
poker. He held a big chip lead much of
the time before fading in the late stages,
but said he wasn't disappointed because
he got a lot of lucky breaks. He also
endured a lot of ragging from Men, which
he said didn't bother him because he had
been pre-warned.
This
was the first of the 12 two-day events
at this year's LAPC. The eight finalists
returned at 11 a.m. playing with $300
antes, a $500 low-card bring-in and limits
of $2,000-$4,000, 32:50 remaining. With
75,100 in chips, Grapenthien started as
the clear leader. During this level, Julio
Anicete was the only player to go all
in, surviving with a full house, and the
starting chip count hadn't changed that
much when the next level got underway.
Limits
were now $3,000-$6,000 with $500 antes
and a $1,000 bring-in. Some 20 minutes
into this level, Bruce Erickson, who has
titles from Shooting Stars, the Taj and
Super Bowl of Poker, was first out. He
started with split aces and caught a second
pair, but Grapenthien, with pocket kings,
caught a third cowboy on sixth street.
On
the next hand, Michigan restaurateur Hal
Koch was left with $5,000 after folding
on fourth street.
Two
hands later he was all in with (9-8)10.
He ended up with 10s and lost to Grapenthien's
aces and kings.
Right
after that, a low-chipped Justin Kim went
out in sixth place, unable to beat Nguyen's
split queens.
Two
hands later, Nguyen took a big pot from
Anicete, who has wins in hold'em and 7-stud
hi-lo at Hollywood Park, along with two
final tables at the World Series. The
pot was raised and re-raised on third
street. Anicete made aces and jacks, only
to see The Master, with a board of 2-5-Q-K,
turn up two more deuces. "I caught a deuce
on the river," Men said. Grapenthien didn't
buy it. "You three-bet it with a pair
of deuces?" he asked incredulously. OK,
let's give Men rolled up 2s.
As
play continued, Grapenthien racked up
chips by beating Baron's flush. Showing
K-7-7-5 to Baron's K-10-8-7, he turned
up a K-7 for a full house. "How many sevens
and kings are in the deck?" Baron asked.
By
the next break, Nguyen had taken a slight
lead, 116k to 109k for Grapenthien, while
Vegas pro Richard Dunberg had 39k and
Anicete and Baron were tied at 33k each.
After very long negotiations, a deal was
reached and play resumed.
With
$5,000-$10,000 limits, $1,000 antes and
a $2,000 bring-in, Dunberg only lasted
a few hands. He started with split sevens
and couldn't improve, while Grapenthien,
starting with (A-3)3, caught another ace
to take the pot and the chip lead. Anicete
was next out. All in on third street with
a pair of threes, he lost to Baron's starting
jacks.
A
rough chip count now showed Grapenthien
with 150k; Nguyen with 100k and Baron
with 80k. By the next level, Nguyen had
dipped down to 40k while Baron had about
115k and Grapenthien 165k. Limits became
$8,000-$16,000. Nguyen now started his
climb, playing and chattering as only
he can. When he was all in and won with
a river inside straight, he lectured the
college kid for calling with just a pair
of treys. When Grapenthien took some time
on a hand, Nguyen accused him of acting,
and kept referring to him as "Hollywood."
Going steadily downhill, Grapenthien finally
bowed out when he raised all in with a
flush draw and two 4s, missed and lost
to Nguyen's two 10s.
Heads-up,
Nguyen had about 200k, Baron 130k. Baron
won the first two hands, the second time
with a flush, to grab and keep the lead.
The Master dropped down to 30k after a
failed bluff. On the last hand, he went
all against Baron's split jacks. He needed
either a king, queen or ace on the river
to win, but caught a 10 and rushed off
to play the evening's pot-limit Omaha
tournament already underway as Baron picked
up his Remington trophy.
-- by Max Shapiro
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