Ernie
Scherer Wins No. 2
Ernest "Ernie" Scherer, a Salt Lake
City pro who won pot-limit hold'em five
nights ago, collected his second title
in Legends of Poker 2004 by winning the
15th event, $500 Omaha hi-lo. Scherer
did it even though Omaha is not his game
of choice because it doesn't allow him
to play his normal aggressive style.
Through
most of the final table, he and Gerald
"Mr. All In" Cheatham, a musical engineer
with a stud win at Foxwoods, were the
big stacks fighting each other for the
lead. They, along with Jack Tejwani, all
started at the same first table, and finished
1-2-3 tonight. Coming in fourth was Michael
Lemkin, who won event #13, $500 stud hi-lo.
Amir
Vahedi had a wild ride. At the third table
he was down to one chip after folding
a hand. He then tripled up, quadrupled
up and soon had a sizeable stack before
getting low again. He finally busted out
in 11th place against Hoang Ta's trip
10s and Massimiliano "Max" Pescatori's
nut low. The final table was set after
Ta raised all in with A-2-J-J. Cheatham
called with 3-4-5-9 and scooped with trip
treys.
Scott
Fischman, the 23-year-old who won two
World Series bracelets this year in no-limit
hold'em and H.O.R.S.E., arrived with only
$1,500. He waited seven hands until he
was finally all in from the big blind
with Kc-Ks-Qd-5d. There was three-way
action. The board came 8d-7s-2c-2d-9d.
Fischman made a flush, but Ken Wagner,
with A-2-4-7, scooped with a full house
and second-nut low and Fischman cashed
out ninth. Two hands later, "Miami" John
Cernuto, who had been hanging on since
the second table, went out eighth when
he missed his flush draw and lost to Cheatham's
set of jacks.
On
hand 18, Scherer took the lead with $47,000
when he started with 2-3-7-K against Ken
Wagner and scooped with two pair and a
nut low. Then Cheatham took over again
when he made a nut-nut flush and low against
Bruce Lee.
Hand
25 offered a textbook example of the frustration
of Omaha. Lemkin, with A-A-3-J, was set
to scoop with a wheel when the board showed
7-5-4-2, but instead got quartered. Pescatori
("fisherman" in Italian), had A-4-6-Q
and was fishing for a card. A trey on
the river gave him a wheel and a 6-high
straight.
Three players were on the brink at the
break. Cheatham had about $56,000; Scherer,
$49,000; Lemkin, $17,000; and Tejwani,
$15,000. But Bruce Lee, Wagner and Pescatori
were down to $4,000, $2,000 and $1,000
respectively. With limits at $2,000-$4,000,
Pescatori, a pro from Italy, was all in
from the small blind on the first hand
with a dismal J-10-7-3. Scherer had Q-Q-6-5.
A flop of Q-7-5 gave Scherer a set and
counterfeited Pescatori's low, and the
fisherman was deep-sixed in seventh place.
The
other two short stacks, though, kept hanging
on. Finally, Wagner, making his third
final table, posted his last $2,000 in
the small blind with 2-5-6-7. Scherer
had A-2-3-K. A board of J-J-Q-10-J gave
him a straight, and Wagner cashed out
sixth. Scherer finished Lee two hands
later. Lee had pocket kings and Scherer,
with A-4-8-J, made aces-up when the board
came 10-3-2-8-A.
By
now Scherer was in front again with $64,500.
Cheatham pulled even, and then the decisive
hand came on the 41st deal. Scherer and
Cheatham got heads-up, and when Cheatham
folded on the river, the board showing
K-Q-7-Q-7, Scherer took over for the final
time with about $78,000.
After
numerous all-ins by both short-stacks,
Lemkin finally went out on hand 57. He
posted his last $1,000 in the small blind
with Q-Q-9-8. Scherer had Q-Q-10-6. It
was a tie on fourth street with a board
of K-K-6-8, until a river 6 gave Scherer
trips. He won a couple more pots and moved
up to $94,000. Seven hands later things
had tightened with $68,500 for Scherer;
$53,000 for Cheatham and $26,000 for Tejwani.
They then agreed to a deal and event 15
was in the books.
BIOGRAPHY
Ernie
Scherer is familiar with Omaha hi-lo but
doesn't like it because it doesn't fit
his aggressive style. "I like to gamble,"
he says, "but Omaha is a hand-driven game.
I had to grind and play tighter than I
like, and that makes it tough for me to
keep my focus and discipline. You can't
really make moves until you're down to
six or seven players."
Tonight
he got off to a bad start at the first
table and was down to $400. "Kathy Liebert
and I kept agonizing with each other over
our bad luck." The key hand for him came
with three tables left. Amir Vahedi had
a set of 9s and Scherer had a gut-shot
straight draw. He hit it, and that gave
him the chips he needed. Scherer's prior
poker accomplishments include a win at
Lucky Chances and a chop with Ellix Powers
at Winnin' o' The Green.
Max Shapiro
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