Truck
Dealer in Long Win
Darwin Smith, a former pro player
who now owns a truck sales dealership
in Idaho Falls, Idaho, won the 22nd event
of Legends 2003, 7-card stud hi-lo, in
a marathon that lasted until 8:30 a.m.,
an hour later than the prior longest event
this year. The final table took more than
four hours, with the heads-up match alone
lasting over 40 hands. Though Smith had
some tournament wins years ago, this is
his first in recent history.
The
final table started with $200 antes, a
$300 low-card bring-in and 1-2k limits.
Brian Goddard, a race car driver, couldn’t
seem to slow down and played all of the
first five hands. The first time he was
all in and made a better eight than Kirk
Conrad (while an also all-in Luis Velador
took high with two pair). Goddard lost
the second hand, chopped the third, folded
the fourth on sixth street, and finally
went all in again on the fifth hand with
a great start of (3-5)6-7. The racer ended
up with an 8-7 and hit the wall when Nobuo
Hamamoto made an 8-6 on the end, along
with aces for high.
Ten
hands later, Hamamoto got involved in
a three-way pot. “My hand has lots
of potential,” he said, showing 5h-7h.
“Lots of potential for going out
the door,” Conrad corrected him.
Hamamoto went all in on fifth street.
He and Conrad both made a 7-6-5, but Darwin’s
hand evolved into a 7-6-4 with a pair
of 10s scoop.
It
took 15 hands to lose another player.
Limits were $1,500-$3,000 with $300 antes
and a $500 bring-in. David Tran started
with low cards, ended up with two kings
and lost to Smith’s aces. Velador,
meanwhile, who had started with by far
the lowest stack, managed to go all in
and survive an amazing nine times, outlasting
another player. Realtor George Rechnitzeer
started with (Q-J)A, raised and was re-raised
all in by Smith. Rechnitzer ended with
two jacks, while Smith made a spade flush.
By
this time, Velador, combining luck with
his skill as a stud player, had survived
ten times. “Who’s next to put
me in?” he asked. Smith was, on hand
53. On fifth street, Velador was drawing
to a 6-5, but ended up with sixes and
threes, while Smith edged him with 10s
and fives. “My wife is gonna kill
me,” were Velador’s parting
words as he sped off at 6:30 a.m.
At
this point, Smith had nearly half the
chips in play with $72,500, while Conrad
had $43k and Dykstra, 31k. The three finalists
made a chip-count save deal and played
on as limits rose to 2-4k, with $300 antes
and a $500 bring-in. After a dozen hands
had gone by, Conrad, who was making his
13th final table this year, had taken
the lead with around 70k, to around 55k
for Smith and 24 for Dykstra. Conrad and
Dykstra seemed to be getting involved
with each other constantly, as they engaged
in good-natured needling. “You guys
ought to take your poker show on the road,”
Smith said.
The
time was now 7 a.m., and everyone ordered
breakfast. At about 7:30, the tournament
finally got heads-up. Dykstra went all
in and made a 10-high flush. Conrad showed
three open deuces but didn’t fill.
Smith, with a queen-high flush, scooped
and took back the chip lead.
When
limits went to 3-6k, with $500 antes and
a $1,000 bring-in, Smith led with about
90k to 56k for Conrad. After losing to
Smith’s aces-up and eight-low, Conrad
dipped to around 25k, but the battle dragged
on and on. And then some more. Finally,
at exactly 8:30 a.m, Conrad went all in,
drawing to (2h-10)4h-kh-Ah. He missed
his flush, caught two paints and lost
to Smith’s set of nines.
BIOGRAPHY
Darwin Smith, who turns 56 in three days,
had a great birthday present tonight.
He’s played poker since he was 13,
and started playing seriously when he
came to Vegas in ’79 to manage a
freight line business. Deciding to play
full time, he picked up several tournament
wins at the Stardust, Bob Stupak’s
America’s Cup, and at an Amarillo
Slim event in Reno. Though he had ups
and downs, he finally accumulated enough
money to buy his dealership in Idaho.
He now makes three or four trips a year
to play tournaments, along with wife,
Janet, who won a couple of satellites
on this, their first poker trip to California.
Smith,
who likes both stud and no-limit, had
no trouble tonight and kept steadily climbing
after the second level. But he also got
very lucky against his tough final opponent,
he said. “Every time I looked down,
I had something.”
Max Shapiro
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