Event
#10
Humberto Brenes -- Campeon Mundial
Anyone questioning poker's enormous growth
internationally is advised to check out
results from the $1,000 buy-in Seven Card
Stud event at the 2003 World Poker Open.
Two longtime friends from Central and
South America -- Humberto Brenes from
Costa Rica and Jaime Ateneloff from Uruguay
-- met heads-up in the finale. Ateneloff
started with a 3-2 chip advantage. But
Senor Brenes, the 2002 World Poker Open
champion, gradually wore down his opponent
and went on to capture his second gold
and diamond bracelet of the annual Jack
Binion classic.
Things
started off poorly for poker superstar
Brenes. He came into the final table in
third chip position, but was on the losing
end of the first two big pots of the day.
First, he lost a hand to Stevie DelBorrell
who spiked an ace on the last card to
survive an all-in. Then, he lost another
large pot to Scott Brooks, who was also
all-in and made a straight. From the outset,
it appeared as though Brenes might be
the player to make an early exit. But
looks can be deceiving.
With
antes of $200 and limits at $1K-$2K, Craig
DiSalvo became the first player to be
eliminated. DiSalvo started-off with a
monster-draw -- A-J-7-4 all spades --
after four cards. He was all-in and hoped
for another spade. No such luck. DiSalvo
caught three consecutive red bricks and
was strangled by Paul Darden's pair of
kings, resulting in an 8th-place finish.
DiSalvo, making his second final table
of this year's tournament, collected $2,328.
A
short time later, Atlantic City's John
Rosanelli won a big hand when he made
a flush in five cards. Dr. Mark Burtman
started with split aces, but failed to
improve and lost the pot. But that hand
would be Rosanelli's lone victory of the
night. He became the second player at
the final table to hit the rail when he
missed a flush draw and was defeated by
Jaime Ateneloff, who made a straight.
Rosanelli, a semi-pro player on the East
Coast, received $3,104 for 7th-place.
Stevie
DelBorrell has already made it into the
money three times this year. However,
thus far he hasn't been able to break
through and cash at the final table. In
his final hand, DelBorrell had a good
chance to accumulate some chips when he
was dealt split aces on third-street.
But he watched with disappointment as
the next four cards failed to improve
his hand. Meanwhile, his opponent Paul
Darden completed a straight, and DelBorrell
was out. DelBorrell, who works as a building
contractor when he's not traveling on
the poker tournament circuit, picked up
$3,880 for 6th-place.
It's
a wonder how Dr. Mark Burtman even made
it to this final table. Burtman is a very
talented poker player, no doubt. In fact,
he writes frequently about his tournament
ups and downs on the Internet website,
Pokerpages.com. At one point on the previous
day, Burtman was down to just $125 in
chips. He somehow managed to survive and
ultimately took a seat at the final table
on day two. But his good fortune ultimately
ran bad when he bet all-in with (7-4)
7. He then caught 4-10-A (5) on successive
rounds for two pair, 7s and 4s. However,
Humberto Brenes' hand showed (J-8) 9-8-Q-2
(2) -- good for a higher two pair, 8s
and 2s. Dr. Burtman collected $4,656 for
5th-place.
Limits
increased to $1500-$3000. Scott Brooks,
from Chicago, made the biggest climb up
the money ladder at the final table. He
began with just $3,600 in chips and waited
patiently for premium hands, betting and
raising aggressively when he thought he
had the best of it. It looked as if Brooks
might pick up some momentum at one point
after he won a big pot from Paul Darden.
But Brooks failed to accumulate enough
chips to ever pose a serious threat. His
final hand came when he started with a
pair of 7s and a straight draw. However,
he might as well have been drawing dead.
Chip-leader Jaime Ateneloff called Brook's
raise with pocket aces and ended up with
a diamond flush, making the straight-draw
pointless. Second-place is the worst possible
place to be in a poker hand, but at least
4th place paid $5,432 to Mr. Brooks for
his impressive finish in the tournament.
The
epicenter of seven-card stud remains on
the East Coast of the United States. It's
the most popular game played in the Northeast,
by far. Connecticut's Paul Darden proved
why he's one of poker's best stud players
by arriving at the final table second
in chips. It looked as if Darden might
threaten Ateneloff early in the finale,
but as close as he came a few times, he
was unable to seize the chip lead at any
stage of the tournament. After Darden
lost a few key pots to Brenes and Ateneloff,
his final hand of the night came when
he was the forced bet, and then called
a raise with his last stack of chips.
Ateneloff raised Darden with (6-6) 10
and caught K-Q-K (10) on the last four
rounds to make two pair, Ks and 10s. Darden
made a pair but lost, ending up as the
3rd place finisher, good for $9,312 in
prize money.
The
Spanish-speaking finale pitted two longtime
friends in a heads-up battle for the championship.
Ateneloff began with a chip lead of $47K
to Brenes' $30K. The two players battled
back and forth for more than an hour,
before Brenes eventually took a small
chip lead. With the limits up to $3K-$6K,
the key hand of the night came:
Brenes: (10-5) 10-7-5-3 (x)
Ateneloff: (A-8) 8-6-3-3 (x)
After the two finalists built up a $45K
pot, Ateneloff made two-pair, 8s and 3s.
However, Brenes showed a higher two pair,
10s and 5s (note: some cards were not
shown). That gave Brenes a 2-1 chip lead.
A
short time later, Ateneloff took another
tough beat. He started with pocket aces,
but failed to improve, ultimately losing
to Brenes' two-pair:
Brenes: (5-6) 2-5-Q-6 (x)
Ateneloff: (A-A) 6-J-3-7 (x)
That hand crippled Ateneloff and put Brenes
on the verge of winning another major
event at the World Poker Open.
The
final hand of the night took place as
follows:
Brenes: (6-6) J-Q-7-3 (10)
Ateneloff: (Q-8) 10-5-7-9 (A)
For Brenes, the little pair of 6s held
up. Ateneloff missed everything on the
final card which meant Humberto Brenes
was Campeon Mundial (World Champion).
Second-place finisher, Jaime Ateneloff
is an investor in a casino in Guayaquil,
Ecuador. He lives in Uruguay's capital,
Montevideo, and is a regular visitor at
the casinos in Costa Rica where he frequently
plays with Brenes and the famed "Costa
Rican Connection." Ateneloff received
$17,848 in prize money.
The
winner, Humberto Brenes, is becoming a
legend at the World Poker Open. Already
the all-time leading money winner in the
tournament's four-year history, Brenes
now has his second world championship
-- one for seven-card stud, and the other
for no-limit Texas hold'em (last year's
main event). With nine more open events
to go in this year's tournament, Brenes
will be competing for an unprecendented
third world title in the week ahead. A
few words of advice: Don't bet against
him.
-- by Nolan Dalla
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