BJ
Dealer Wins All-Casino
David Salcedo, who recently gave up
dealing poker to deal blackjack at Hawaiian
Gardens, took down the opener of the Bicycle
Casino's Legends of Poker 2004, the All-Casino
Employees event, $100 no-limit hold'em.
He arrived at the final table second-highest
in chips with $27,900, gradually moved
up until he took the lead about two-thirds
of the way through, and coasted home from
there for an official cash-out of $7,440
plus a seat in the championship/WPT event
worth $5,150.
The
starting leader was Commerce poker dealer
Phan "Tony" Sok with $40,700. In early
going he built up a commanding lead, then
hit a wall and went out in fourth place.
This tournament set some kind of record
when it took nearly two hours to play
the first nine hands. Most of that time
was taken up debating chip count deals.
There was one calculation and go-round
without a deal when the final table assembled,
another when the first player was knocked
out, another when the second player departed,
and then, with the tournament staff's
patience wearing thin, a fourth one after
the third player was eliminated. The remaining
seven finally agreed on a save, and play
continued.
After the first long negotiating debate,
final-table play started with $200 antes,
blinds of $500-$1,000 and 16:27 left.
On hand four, Hawaiian Gardens poker dealer
Herrick Kang, starting with just $1,000
and now blinded down to $200, called all
in with 8h-7h. Salcedo raised with J-J,
got heads-up and won when the board showed
Q-9-5-7-9. Kang's departure in 10th place
led to more calculations and more talk,
but no agreement.
On
hand six, Sok opened for $4,000 and Clark
called with pocket jacks. A flop of 10-9-8
gave her a straight draw along with her
overpair, and she moved in for $10,000.
But Sok had a set of 9s which held up,
and Clark, a poker dealer at Commerce
Casino, cashed out in ninth place.
The
chip count now was: Sok, $55,800; Salcedo,
$33,100; Orville "O.J." Alcaraz, $15,000;
Ba Tran, $14,700; Alan Cheung, $11,200;
Eugene Krank, $9,300; Tom Hammers, $7,500;
and Stephen Vitalich, $6,100; Another
chip count, more discussion, still nothing
doing.
Blinds now went to $800-$1,600 with $200
antes. On the ninth hand, Sok raised to
$10,000 with pocket 7s and Vitalich, a
floor supervisor at the Spa Resort Casino
in Palm Springs, called for his last $5,000
with A-K. He couldn't catch and finished
eighth.
Sok
had increased his lead to $63,800. Behind
him were Salcedo, $35,600; Alcaraz, $14,400;
Tran, $12,100; Hammers, $9,500; Cheung,
$9,100; and Krank, $7,200. Finally, a
deal was done.
A few hands later the field was cut to
six when Cheung, a blackjack dealer at
Chumash, was one away from the big blind
with $8,100 left and tried an all-in move
with just 7-6 offsuit. Salcedo called
from the small blind with Ac-7c. Cheung
was a 2.5-1 underdog going in. A flop
of A-J-8 cut his chances to little more
than 4 percent, and he finished seventh.
Salcedo
started playing catch-up to Sok when he
raised with A-10 and then, with a board
of K-J-7-8, caught a queen on the river
for an inside straight. After Sok bet
$4,000, Salcedo raised a modest $4,000,
and relieved Sok of $13,000 on the hand.
Krank
is a floorman at Hollywood Park, but he
is perhaps better known as the "Spinner
Man." He is the inventor and distributor
of those personalized metal disks that
spin merrily on its nub to distract and
aggravate other players at the table.
On hand 20, after Hammers moved in for
$2,500 with pocket 7s, Krank, in the big
blind, said "Gotta go for it," and added
another $900 with J-8. Salcedo also called
with A-J. Both made a queen-high straight
when the board showed Q-10-2-9-8, and
Hammers finished sixth. Hammers, a blackjack
dealer at Casino Arizona, finished fifth
in a $500 no-limit event at Commerce Casino's
Cal State Poker Championship earlier this
year.
Hand
36 put Salcedo in the lead. With $300
antes and $1,000-$2,000 blinds, Sok opened
for $15,000, then folded when Salcedo
moved in for $25,000 more. Salcedo now
had close to $60,000. Krank, meanwhile,
was repeatedly going all in and repeatedly
surviving, often with the worst starting
hand. With blinds at $1,500-$3,000, he
called a raise and went all in from the
big blind without looking. All he had
was 5-4 against Alcaraz's A-K but he made
a wheel, leaving the Hollywood Park poker
dealer with only $5,500. A hand later
Alcarez busted out with Q-2 when Salcedo
flopped a set of 4s. Five hands after
that, Tran went up against Sok, who now
was very low chipped. Tran had 9s-3s to
Sok's 9-6 and made a flush when the board
came 8s-6s-5s. He bet $3,000, Sok moved
in for $8,000 and finished fourth.
The
spinner man finally spun out after moving
in for $4,100 with 9h-6h. Salcedo called
with 5c-4c and made two pair on a board
of 6-4-3-5-8.
Heads-up,
Salcedo had roughly $90,000 to about $62,000
for Tran. They made a final deal and played
one hand of showdown for the title. Salcedo
was dealt Q-7 which held up against Tran's
9h-3h when the board came Q-9-4-K-8.
BIOGRAPHY
David
Salcedo is 33 and has worked in casinos
all his adult life. He was a poker dealer
at Commerce casino for a couple of years,
then dealt poker another five at Hawaiian
Gardens. A month ago he wanted a change
of pace and switched over to dealing 21.
He lays mostly side games, and his game
of choice now is $100 no-limit hold'em,
which he likes because it allows him to
do more. "You're not handcuffed as you
are in a limit game," he explains.
Salcedo
has only been playing two or three tournaments
a year, though he may try more now after
this win. It is his first victory, and
he can only recall one other cash-out
when he had a seventh-place finish. He
describes himself as a solid player who
tries to mix up his play. Tonight, he
said, he was never in difficulty and gradually
increased his chip count throughout the
tournament.
Max Shapiro
|
