Event
#15
"Rocky Mountain High"
Coloradoan Frankie O'Dell crushed the
final table of the $1,000 buy-in Omaha
High-Low Split event. In fact, it wasn't
so much a competition as a massacre. He
arrived on the second day with a sizable
chip advantage, and over the next three
hours proceeded to steamroll over each
of his opponents with his big stack. In
the end, O'Dell won his first gold and
diamond bracelet at the World Poker Open
and received $31,816 for first place.
At
the other end of the spectrum, Toto Leonidas'
stay at the final table was exceedingly
short. Down to just a single chip, Leonidas
moved all-in under the gun with A-2-4-J.
The flop came K-8-6-K-6. Leslie Smith
showed A-2-4-8, giving him a pair of 8s.
The hand put the talented California-based
tournament pro out in 9th place. Leonidas
collected $2,386.
Leslie
Smith took the chip lead momentarily when
he eliminated the next player. British-born
Smith, who now lives and plays poker in
Amsterdam (Holland), called when Steve
"Notso" Brite moved all-in before the
flop. Smith flipped over K-K-9-5 against
Brite's A-Q-9-6. The final board showed
J-2-2-4-10, which meant Smith's pair of
kings scooped the big pot. Steve "Notso"
Brite actually proved that when it comes
to poker, he's very bright, indeed. The
Virginian outlasted 110 opponents in the
tournament and received $2,270 for 8th
place.
"Little
Richard" Collinsowrth is a living legend
around gambling circles back in his hometown
of Dallas. In his colorful life, Collinsorth
has been robbed by hijackers, shot in
the stomach (twice), and played in more
than a few underground poker games. Collinsworth
now plays in California mostly, where
he routinely tears up the pot-limit side
games up and down the West Coast. But
today wasn't Collinsworth's day. His final
hand was dealt about 45 minutes into the
tournament when he took K-K-J-8 up against
A-5-6-9. The flop showed J-9-6-4-2 which
turned Collinsworth's kings into dust.
At least leaving the final table wasn't
quite as bad as getting robbed and shot,
but you couldn�t tell that by the look
on �Little Richard�s� face when he left
his seat. Collinsworth took 7th-place
prize money of $2,837 and immediately
jumped into a nearby pot-limit cash game.
Former
World Series of Poker bracelet winner,
Harry Thomas, was the next player to go
out. Cheered on by his lovely wife Jerri
(the Thomas' are one of only tow husband
and wife duos in history to both capture
World Series of Poker titles), Thomas
made his final stand with K-K-10-10. Leslie
Smith was delighted to call with A-3-4-5.
All of Thomas' money went into the pot
after the flop came A-10-4 giving him
a set of 10s, but another ace came on
the turn which made Smith a higher full
house -- aces over fours. Thomas, who
has made several final tables in previous
events at the World Poker Open, took $3,972
for 6th place.
Frankie
O'Dell went on a tear over the next hour
that effectively wiped-out any chance
of a comeback. When eliminated Leslie
Smith, O'Dell had essentially destroyed
his closest rival (in chips) and left
the other players short-stacked. Smith,
a pro on the European tournament circuit
who plays regularly at Holland Casinos
Amsterdam, was all-in with A-8-10-10 when
the board showed 9-9-6-A in the turn,
with two diamonds. Smith's pair of 10s
was still the best hand against O'Dell's
2-7-10-K (two diamonds). However, O'Dell
caught a diamond on the river, which made
a flush. Smith exited in 5th place with
$5,107.
Minh
Nguyen was never able to generate any
momentum at the final table. He survived
for a while, but was gradually worn down
until he was dangerously low in chips.
Nguyen's last chip went into the pot when
the flop came K-3-3. Holding J-J-5-3 in
his hand, Nguyen had a set of 3s. But
O'Dell had a virtual sledgehammer. He
called Nguyen's final bet and tabled A-K-K-8
for a full house. The kings full of threes
beat Nguyen, who finished 4th. Nguyen,
who lives in the Los Angeles area and
plays regularly in major poker tournaments,
collected $6,809.
It
was a wild ride for Mark Wilds, from Mississippi's
Gold Coast. After Nguyen was knocked out,
Wilds tripled-up and won a big hand. But
that would be the high point for Wilds.
He was eventually busted when he took
A-K-6-6 up against O'Dell's 10-9-4-3.
O'Dell flopped a straight when the board
showed Q-J-8. Wilds was unable to improve
and took 3rd place. To date, this was
Wild's biggest tournament payoff. He received
$11,349.
The
heads-up match between Frankie O'Dell
and Glenn Kiersky lasted 45 minutes. Kiersky
managed to stay at the final table, despite
playing relatively few hands. He patiently
waited for good cards and got involved
only when he thought he had the best of
it. His strategy was to get heads-up with
the chip leader and then open up with
more aggression. The strategy almost worked.
Kiersky
got close to even in chips at one point
when O'Dell missed a monster draw on the
river, which let Kiersky take the big
pot with a pair of 9s. Such a pair normally
isn't much of an Omaha hand, but in this
case it could have been the turning point
of the tournament.
But
on the very next hand, O'Dell immediately
regained a 2-1 chip advantage when he
scooped a $30K pot with a club flush and
a nut low. That set off run of big hands
for O'Dell where just about everything
seemed to go right in the closing minutes.
O'Dell seized an 8-1 chip lead as limits
increased to $3K-6K.
The final hand of the night was as follows:
Kiersky: 10-9-6-2
O'Dell: 10-8-5-3
The two hands were remarkably similar.
The flop came A-A-10 and put Kiersky firmly
in the lead (with the better kicker).
Next, the king of clubs fell on the turn.
Kiersky still had the best hand, but O'Dell
(with two clubs in his hand) had picked
up a club draw. The river card was a club,
which flushed away any chances of Kiersky
making a comeback.
This
marked only the third poker tournament
Glenn Kiersky has ever played. A financial
specialist from the nearly Memphis area,
Kiersky picked up $22,698 to invest for
his second-place finish. Afterward, Kiersky
was highly complimentary of the winner
and said of O'Dell: "I simply ran into
a better player tonight."
The
better player on this evening was clearly
Frankie O'Dell. According to his own testimony,
the Denver native has been through many
trials and tribulations in his private
life and now plays poker professionally
in the Los Angeles area. As he collected
his first World Poker Open title, good
for $45,397 in prize money, O'Dell pointed
to spiritual reasons for his success.
"I want to glorify Jesus Christ, my Lord
and Savior, for blessing me with this
victory tonight," he said. Amen, to that.
-- by Nolan Dalla
|
