'Bridesmaid'
Halpern Finally Gets
The Bouquet in Omaha Hi/Lo Split
With
lots of seconds, thirds and fourths to
his credit, Don Halpern ached to finally
have a victory on his resume. So when
the last three players discussed a deal,
with Halpern holding nearly half the chips
on the table, he offered to take less
than his fair share so long as he got
the title and the sharply pointed Plexiglas
trophy, affectionately known as "The Impaler,"
minus the usual formality of one deciding
showdown hand. His wish was granted and
Halpern, whose prior cash-outs include
a couple of seconds at LAPC and a third
in a Commerce Casino lowball championship,
was the winner of the 11th event of Hustler
Casino's Challenge Cup, $300 Omaha hi/lo.
Halpern's game of choice is lowball, but
he also likes any split games. Tonight,
he said, he "flew under the radar," with
average stacks until late in the session.
"I just stayed out of trouble. I didn't
have great hands, but I got cards when
I needed to."
The final table of nine got there after
Albert Umel didn't. A flop of A-K-4 gave
physician Dan Kim a set of aces and poker
player Amir Vahedi, with 2-3, a nut low
draw. They chopped up Albert when Dan
filled and Amir completed his low draw.
The official payout only included five
spots, and the first four players to leave
the final table would have won, in the
colorful words of tournament coordinator
Warren Kim, "Rice-A-Roni." But then Vahedi
proposed to take money out to pay $300
to each of those four, and his amendment
was voted in.
Limits at the final table began at $300-$600,
with 32:34 left. Amir, who would be hard-pressed
to find a hand he didn't like in Omaha,
played and lost the first two hands and
immediately blew off a big chunk of his
chips. But it was Marsha Waggoner, the
celebrated poker player from down under
was first to go under. On hand five, she
button-called with 2-2-3-6 and made a
set of deuces with draws to an an inside
straight and a number two low on a flop
of A-2-4. The Hollywood Park executive
host got into a raising war and went all
in against Kim, who turned over 3-4-5-6
for a winning wheel.
Amir lasted only five more deals. In four-way
action, he called all in for $325 on a
board of 10-8-4-8 after Kim bet out. Shirley
Rosario, a cocktail waitress at Commerce
Casino and a protégé of Omaha guru Steve
Badger, bet the river 7. Holding A-Q-8-4,
she had a full house. Kim's A-3 gave him
the second-best low and Amir mucked his
hand without showing.
A hand earlier, Vince Burgio had bet into
a scary board of J-J-9-8-2 and three hearts
holding just two kings. Dennis Waterman,
who arrived with only $2,800, thought
a long time and managed to stay in action
by finally making a good call with just
A-A.
As
play continued, with limits now at $400-$800,
Rosario showed she wasn't afraid to mix
it up with the boys and put in more than
her share of raises. This led to some
chip swings and she finally went all in
and survived for the first of three times
on hand 24, splitting with an A-2 nut
low.
A few hands later, Dennis Waterman jumped
up in frustration when Sam Sanusi, winner
of the first Challenge Cup event, caught
a river 9 to make a bigger aces-full than
Dennis held. "You suck out on me every
time," he complained.
"Don't get a heart attack, the easy-going
Sanusi said, trying to calm him down.
It was finally closing time for the cocktail
waitress when Rosario posted her last
$500 in the big blind with $500-$1,000
limits. Holding 2-3-5-8, she was drawing
dead to Burgio's pocket aces when the
board showed K-J-4-10.
Waterman,
the Oregon logger, was chopped down on
hand 44 when Burgio's A-2 made a nut low
while Frenchy Leroux, holding 5-6-7-K
in the small blind, made a full house
when the board came 7-7-5. Dennis did
not show his hand.
Five-handed, Dr. Kim had a slight chip
lead with about $15,000, while Frenchy
Leroux was low man with $2,700. "I just
want to go home," said Frenchy, and he
soon got his wish. With limits now at
$1,000 and $2,000, he held Q-Q-A-K and
raised all in when a flop of J-10-5 gave
him a 12-way straight draw. He missed
and lost to Kim's 10s full. Frenchy, retired
now, in the early days of Vegas owned
two double-knit stores and later pieces
of two small casinos.
Halpern
got into trouble for about the only time
at the final table when he went all in
for $1,900 and scooped with a set of queens
after Burgio missed his low draw. The
bracelet holder and Card Player columnist
went out on hand 71 and got very riled
up in the process. When the board showed
10-10-8-7-8, Sanusi made a bluff bet.
Vince called all in. "You've got me, no
pair," Sanusi said.
"Not
necessarily," Vince replied. It turned
out that Sanusi's hand, A-K-9-5, was better
than Burgio's A-Q-J-3. Vince keep repeating
that Sanusi had no right to say "You've
got me" with the best hand, while Sanusi,
who obviously thought he had lost, kept
apologizing. Had he analyzed the cards
more closely, Sanusi might have realized
that, unless Vince had a straight or a
pair, the A-K couldn't be beaten.
The
three finalists played five more hands
until limits went to $800- $1,600. Finally,
having accumulated 47 percent of the chips,
Halpern made his offer, insisting that
he had to get the trophy. Kim and Sanusi,
nearly tied in chips, soon agreed, and
Halpern at last had his first coveted
title.
Max Shapiro
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