‘Syracuse'
Chris Wins Car
"Syracuse" Chris Tsiprailidis is the
official winner of a Cadillac Escalade
after victory in the Legends 2004 Best
All-Around Points Championship. His win
came after he made a runner-runner straight
to overcome Ernie Scherer's set of 9s.
With
three players left, Tsiprailidis had more
than 80 percent of the chips, and a deal
was made distributing the proceeds from
the car, two of the $5,000 seats in the
Legends Championship/WPT event, and $3,000
cash.
With
five players left, there had been complicated
negotiations: Who would get the Cadillac?
If it were sold and the cash split up,
how much was it worth? Who would be responsible
for registration and taxes? Who wanted
seats and who wanted cash? Etc. Amir Vahedi
got involved, making an offer somewhere
between the Bicycle Casino's buy-back
and its market price. Finally, Scherer
decided he preferred to play, and it wasn't
until he was knocked out that a deal was
made.
(Meanwhile,
the Super Satellite Payoff race was won
by George Marlowe.)
Players started this points play-off event
with 300 chips plus 10 times their all-around
points total. Tsiprailidis had tied for
63rd place with 49 points. Three others
at the final table had more points: Kim
Lim with 156; Scherer with 115; and Khromov
with 62.
The
other big story involved the man who wasn't
there. At the second table around midnight,
David Rosenbloom got an urgent call from
his wife to pick up her and their 2-year-old
son at the airport. She didn't even know
he was in a tournament. At that moment,
Mel Judah moved in with A-J. Figuring
to bust out and leave, Rosenbloom called
with K-7 off, flopped a king, busted Judah,
hauled in a lot of chips, had aces on
the next hand, but dashed off to the airport,
explaining that "My wife is more important."
(Now there's a man with his priorities
mixed up.) When the final table assembled
an hour later, he still had 8,000 chips,
third lowest. He never showed up…and still
finished seventh!
Final
table action started with $200 antes and
$500-$1,000 blinds, 24:38 remaining. First
out was Derek Bukowski. He was in the
small blind with A-8. Arehar Arroyan had
5-4, and caught two more 5s. With blinds
at $800-$1,600. Michael McLaughlin quickly
followed him out when Khromov beat him
with a paired queen.
Blinds
went to $800-$1,600 with $200 antes. Lim
went out in eighth place when his Ah-3h
lost to Arroyan's A-Q. A hand later, Rosenbloom's
last chips were anted away. If he had
just a couple more, he might have moved
up a notch and picked up another $1,140,
because Bernie McPherson immediately went
out. McPherson moved in for $3,100 with
pocket 9s. Khromov called with A-K and
hit both cards.
Blinds
now went to $1,000-$2,000 with $300 antes.
Some 11 hands into this level, negotiations
for a deal began. As this point, Arroyan
led with $41,300, followed by Tsiprailidis
with $36,600 and Qi Liu with $36,600.
Tsiprailidis wanted a seat, Liu didn't,
Arroyan wanted cash, and Khromov jokingly
complained, "Why sell my car in the first
place?" After the lengthy negotiations
broke down, tournament director Denny
Williams issued an edict which he intends
to have incorporated in the Tournament
Directors Association rulebook: No more
than three deal discussions in any tournament.
As
play resumed, a short-chipped Khromov
had a couple of draw-outs against Scherer.
Scherer finally nailed him on hand 50
when his pocket 9s held up against the
pocket 4s for the "Mad Russian." At this
point Scherer was chip leader with $51,500.
Tsiprailids took over after blinds went
to $1,000-$1,500 when he went all in with
6-3 and paired a six after Scherer called
with A-4. On the final hand, the flop
came A-J-9. Tsiprailidis bet with A-7
and Scherer moved in with a set of 9s.
An 8 turned, and then a magic 10 gave
Syracuse Chris a straight. Chris now had
$111,000 to $17,500 for Liu and $7,500
for Arroyan, and the deal was made.
BIOGRAPHY
"Syracuse"
Chris Tsiprailidis (he lives in Liverpool,
New York, which is a suburb of Syracuse)
has a World Series bracelet for $3,000
limit hold'em in 2000, and two prior Legends
victories in hi-lo stud and limit hold'em.
He's been playing poker full time for
12 years. Before that, he was a chef at
a large country club in New York. He got
into poker when he was a soccer player
and bought a club house where small games
were held, generally $5-$10. He kept playing
while he held his chef's job, started
doing well in poker, and one day, when
he found himself playing at 6 a.m, suddenly
said, "You know what, I'm not working
any more."
Limit
hold'em is his best game, and he describes
his style as "in-between," not too tight,
not too aggressive, but "smart." Tonight,
he said he was never in trouble and managed
to keep in control throughout.
Max Shapiro
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