Betor
Blitzes Short Game
Mark Betor likes short-handed games.
When tonight's $300 no-limit hold'em contest
got down to three players, he faced two
very tough pros, David "The Dragon" Pham
and Phi Nguyen. Paying no heed, the retired
businessman turned suddenly ferocious,
moving all in six times in the 13 remaining
hands as he bulled his way into the chip
lead. He then proposed an even three-way
chop, so long as he got the win. "I don't
care about the money, I just look poor,"
he said, as he registered his first tournament
win. All three finalists held the chip
lead at one point or another, though Pham
enjoyed a commanding lead and looked like
an easy winner through most of the final
table.
Final-table
action in this fourth event of 2004 Legends
of Poker started with blinds of $1,500-$3,000
and $500 antes, 30:31 remaining. Kim Lim
was first to leave when he moved in under
the gun for $8,500 on hand nine. He had
pocket jacks and was called by Nguyen
with Qs-10s. A flop of J-8-4 gave Lim
top set, but Nguyen hit his inside straight
draw with a river 9.
One
hand later, Aitan Hillel followed. After
Pham had made his standard raise of three
times the big blind, his fourth in 10
hands, Hillel moved in for $45,500 with
pocket sixes. Pham called the raise with
Ac-Kc. Hillel was still alive until the
river, then exclaimed "Ow!" when an ace
left him in ninth place. On the next hand
Pham again opened with a raise to $9,000,
took the pot when he bet the flop and
now had close to $150,000 of the $378,000
in play.
Soon
after blinds went to $2,000-$4,000 with
$500 antes, there was three-way action
with another pot of close to $100,000.
Poker dealer Ghirayr Otuzbiryan moved
in for $16,500 with A-10. Pham, with pocket
queens, slow-played and just called. This
prompted Gary Jacobi to also move in for
$22,000 more holding K-Q. Nothing changed
when the board came 6-2-3-4-J. Jacobi
finished seventh, Otuzbiryan eighth, and
the Dragon was breathing fire with close
to $200,000, more than half the chips
on the table.
"Houston
Harry" Fitzpatrick is a businessman living
in Canada. Houston had a problem on the
next hand when he had $1,000 left and
went all in with K-10. Seton, in the big
blind, had only 5-4, but then caught a
5 on the river to eliminate Fitzpatrick.
Dan Alspach is a retired chairman and
CEO of an information and technology company.
He has numerous tournament cash-outs which
this year included a second place in a
World Poker Open hold'em event and a win
in the Hard Rock Celebrity Pro-Am tournament.
He's a man in pretty good all-around shape,
but after he moved in for $37,500 on the
button with K-J and got called by Betor
with K-K, he exclaimed, "I'm in bad shape."
He was, and a junk board of 7-5-3-8-9
didn't help as he departed in fifth place.
An
approximate count now showed Pham with
about $180,000; Betor, $95,000, Nguyen,
$75,000; and Kenneth Wagner, $28,000.
Three hands after blinds went to $3,000-$6,000
with $1,000 antes, Wagner moved in on
the button for $16,000 with Kc-4c. "I
hope it's not an ace," he said when Pham
called. It was: A-7, and the bullet played
when the board came 9-9-5-7-2. Wagner
described himself as a "hobbiest" who
quit work to move around and enjoy the
hobbies of playing poker, fishing, and
just leading the good life. The $13,555
he collected for finishing fourth will
help.
Now Betor moved into high gear, quickly
making several uncalled all-in moves.
Finally, on hand 53, Pham made a reluctant
call with pocket 10s after Betor moved
in with 8s-7s. A third spade hit the river,
and Betor had taken the lead. He lost
it to Nguyen when he moved in on a flop
of J-10-8 holding a two-pair J-8 while
Nguyen, with J-10, had top two. Two more
all-in raises with no calls on the next
two hands got Betor the lead back, and
his three-way chop proposal was accepted.
BIOGRAPHY
Mark
Betor, 48, is retired from family business
ownership of markets and liquor stores
and now spends a lot of his time playing
poker. In side games he likes $80-$160
hold'em. Betor has played poker "ever
since I was a kid," but recently has his
interest turned increasingly to tournaments.
He took a shot at the WSOP championship
event this year, buying his way in but
only lasting until 20 seconds before the
first break. Though he's had some small
out-of-town cash-outs, this is his first
tournament win.
In
tonight's tournament he said he was never
in any trouble and really got into his
element after the field was cut way down.
"I've always like short-handed better
than ring games," he explained, "because
it gives me a better opportunity to read
players and run over the game." He said
that even though he faced two top players
at the end, he didn't have to adjust but
just played his normally aggressive game.
Max Shapiro
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