8-Way
Finish for Omaha/8
Tonight's Omaha hi-lo tournament ended
without a shot being fired at the final
table. The eight players who made it there
did an immediate deal to abruptly end
the $300 buy-in event, the third in the
Bicycle Casino's 2004 Legends of Poker,
thus sorely testing the ingenuity of this
writer.
The
winner was Lee Duncan, a former poker
dealer turned truck driver who scored
his first tournament victory after starting
to play poker seriously fairly recently.
OK,
what else can I write about? How about
some mood music?
It's
a quarter to three, there's no one in
the room but my computer and me.
I'd like to tell you a lot, but there's
not a single pot to be hoed.
So make it...
No, I guess lyrics won't do it.
I
could tell you that I was one of the original
"Legends" when they had hosts for each
event at the inaugural Legends of Poker
in 1995, or that I'm now one of the "experts"
at RoyalVegasPoker.com and you could win
a cash bounty, tee shirt and copy of my
book by knocking me out in their weekly
"Expert" tournament online, but I'd probably
get fired if I tried, so I won't. All
right, enough horsing around. Let's see
if I can fill space legitimately.
Only
eight players made it to the final table
when two players got bumped at the same
time. At one second table, Alan Steinberg
had a straight, but James Columbo made
a nut flush on the river to leave Steinberg
in ninth place, which paid $885. At the
other table, Joe deNicola finished 10th
and took home $750. He had aces up and
a low draw, but missed his low and lost
to a set of jacks to a player who wishes
to remain anonymous as "Player X." Well,
it could have been worse. If "Player X"
had won the tournament, there really would
have been nothing to write about.
When
the eight finalists arrived at the last
table, they would have been playing with
$1,000-$2,000 limits and 40 seconds left
in the round had they chosen to play.
Duncan, with $27,600 in chips, was the
leader and took home an official $20,040.
The key pot for him came with five or
six tables left. He held K-K-9-9 and there
were four callers. The flop brought a
9, giving him set over set. Two spades
also flopped, but no flush came and when
action ended, Duncan hauled in a huge
pot he estimated at between $12,000 and
$15,000.
Close
behind Duncan were "Player X" with $24,100
in chips, who won an official $9,520;
and pro player Don Halpern, who won $4,760
with $22,300 in chips. Halpern came in
third in last year's OE (1/2 Omaha hi-lo,
1/2 7-card stud hi-lo) Legends event.
James Colombo, who has wins at Foxwoods
in 7-card stud and Omaha hi-lo, won $3,005
for fourth. Phillip Penn Sr., who also
finished fifth in yesterday's limit hold'em
event, got $2,255 for fifth tonight and
took the lead in the points race. Kirk
Oshiro got $12,900 for sixth; "Captain"
won $1,255 for seventh; and Dr. Barry
Marfleet, lowest-chipped with $7,100,
got $1,000 for eighth. At Legends 2003,
Marfleet won the first open event, limit
hold'em.
Tomorrow's
rebuy event, $300 no-limit hold'em, is
the first of two $150,000 guaranteed events.
Also,
tournament director Denny Williams would
like to remind players that the best all-around
points champion will win a $5,150 seat
in the no-limit hold'em championship event,
which will be televised by the World Poker
Tour. All players who have accumulated
10 points or more will also be invited
to the $75,000 points play-off. First
prize is a 2004 Cadillac Escalade plus
$500 cash. The 2nd-4th finishers get a
seat in the championship event plus cash,
and 5th-18th get cash prizes. The top
16 players in all Legends events receive
points based on the number of entrants
in each tournament.
Finally,
there's the $10,000 super satellite pay-off
paying three prizes: $5,000, $3,000 and
$2,000.
BIOGRAPHY
Lee
Duncan, 42, is from San Diego and is a
driver for a trucking company hauling
construction materials. Before that he
worked for a year as a poker dealer in
the Lake Elsinore and San Diego areas.
Although he's played poker since the mid
90s, he's only gotten serious about his
game for the past year or two. Because
of his work hours, most of his poker time
is spent online, where he's trying to
develop his skills as a tournament player.
His first online win came recently in
a $50 pot-limit Omaha contest. In live
games his preferences are pot-limit and
no-limit hold'em, though he's trying to
develop his pot-limit Omaha game.
He
describes himself as an aggressive player,
almost as aggressive as Gus Hansen. He
says he's never read a poker instruction
book and lost a lot of money learning
the game. Now he's dedicating himself
to becoming a better player and is aiming
for a seat in the World Poker Tour event.
Max Shapiro
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