MASSACHUSETTS
MAN WINS
FIRST ST. MAARTEN EVENT
Tournament
poker made its debut on this sunny Caribbean
island as the International Poker Federation
launched the inaugural St. Maarten Open
at the Maho Beach Resort-Casino.
The
first buy-in event after a freeroll was
$150 limit hold'em, and Joseph Pitirri,
a 58-year-old entrepreneur from Worchester,
Massachusetts, bulled his way to victory
with super-aggressive play. Raising almost
nonstop, he soon took a commanding lead.
With three left, he still led with more
than $100,000, but Londoner Gary Mills
with $91,000 and Tys Mul of Amsterdam,
with $70,000, were closing in, so he agreed
to a generous three-way split.
This
was truly an international event, with
one Austrian, one Italian, one Finn, two
Brits, two Americans and three Hollanders
at the final table.
The
two-week tournament was kicked off the
night before with a cocktail party and
entertainment by native dancers garbed
in wildly extravagant headdresses. The
dealers then put on a show of their own
as they boogied to their tables to the
beat of a cleverly chosen tune, "Another
One Bites the Dust" by Queen, then
went into a choreographed, synchronized
routine of spreading the deck, shuffling
and high-carding.
The
party was followed by a no-limit hold'em
freeroll open to any players who had registered
for at least five events. Five seats for
the $1,000 no-limit hold'em event were
won by Reza Paywar, Jurgen Paoletti, Xujen
Pham, David Michelson and Marion Flock.
Ten
players started at the final table of
the buy-in event, though only nine spots
were paid. Mul and Gianni Venier were
chip leaders with more than $50,000 each,
followed by Mills and Pitirri with about
$38,000 apiece. Shortest-chipped were
Thomas Brandt with $7,500 and John Mullen
with $3,000, and they were first out.
Blinds
started at $1,000-$2,000, with $2,000-$4,000
limits and a full 30-minute round. On
the second hand, Brandt, a Dutch video
editor, was edited out of the tournament.
He raised and then went all in with A-J
and was called by Venier, with A-6 suited.
Brandt had the lead when an A-10-3 flopped,
but a six on the turn and a river ace
filled Venier. Two hands later, Mullen,
playing his first hold'em tournament,
was in the big blind and in bad shape
with 6-5. Pitirri button-raised with Kh-4h
and blew the New Jersey salesman away
when a board of Q-9-9-9-K also gave him
a full house.
As
play continued, Pitirri kept up his relentless
raising, then called a river bet with
just ace high to pick off a bluff by Venier,
as his chip count kept rising. Finland's
Juha Helppi, a poker player who won the
2002 World Poker Tour event in Aruba,
was left with just $4,000 on hand 16.
The pot was three-bet before the flop
and Pitirri, with a Q-10, beat him with
a full house.
At this point, Pitirri held about $75,000
of the $268,000 in play. Helppi went broke
three hands later after limits went to
$3,000-$6,000 when his A-K couldn't overtake
the pocket nines held by Gary Mills of
London.
Two
hands later, pro player Steve Vladar,
another Londoner, held the nines. Card-dead
at the final table, he had been blinded
down, able to play but one marginal hand.
His luck was no better after he finally
caught the two nines. Mills had Q-9 and
flopped a queen to leave Vlader in seventh
place.
Vienna
real estate business owner Peter Karall
was next out on a bad beat. Holding A-5
to Pitirri's A-J, he made two pair on
a flop of A-Q-5 and called all in when
Pitirri bet. But then a queen turned,
giving both players aces and queens, and
Pitirri's jack kicker played.
Kees
"Raise" De Korte of Holland
went all in for the second time a hand
later, but stuck around when his J-8 made
two pair.
Venier,
who started with the second chip lead,
had been losing a series of pots and was
badly short-chipped by hand 32. He was
a 2.66-1 favorite when he went all in
with A-Q against De Korte's A-3. He was
in good shape when the board showed J-6-2-4,
but then he hit the pay window when a
trey hit the river and paired De Korte.
With
four players left, Pitirri still held
the lead with $123,000. Mills was second
with $83,000, while De Korte and Mul both
had a bit over $30,000.
Limits
now rose to $4,000-$8,000. On hand 49,
Mills took a big hit, losing nearly half
his chips. He raised pre-flop with A-3
from the button and Pitirri called with
Ks-Js. Pitirri bet the flop when the Ah-8s-7s
gave him a flush draw. Pitirri bet the
10d turn and Mills raised with his paired
ace, but then a deuce of spades on the
river gave Pitirri his flush.
On
hand 57, blinds were kicked up to $3,000-$6,000,
with $6,000-$12,000 limits. One hand later
it was nearly all over. De Korte started
with Ad-8d while Mills had Qh-Jh. The
pot was three-bet pre-flop and checked
when the board came K-Q-5. When a six
turned, De Korte bet out and Mills raised
with his paired queen to put De Korte
all in for his last $500. De Korte was
dead to an ace, but a four came off, and
the field was now down to three.
Five
more hands were dealt, the high point
coming when Mul made quad 10s, though
he got no action. Finally, a weary Pitirri,
who seemed to be running out of steam,
agreed to the three-way even-steven chop,
even though he still held a substantial
lead. The players shook hands, and the
first event of an exciting two weeks of
island poker was in the books.
-- by Max Shapiro
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