Event
#17
"A Super Win"
It was a super victory on Super Bowl Sunday
for Bruce Yamron, who won the $2,000 buy-in
Limit Texas Hold'em event at the 2003
World Poker Open. Yamron came to the final
table in second chip position, then carefully
maneuvered his way into a heads-up confrontation
with the chip leader, Peter Costa. Once
the tournament was down to two finalists,
Yamron made the most of an exceptional
run of favorable cards to destroy Costa,
and claim his first major tournament victory.
Yamron has cashed many times on the poker
tour, but today's $76,824 payday marked
his largest win ever.
Interestingly,
the chip lead changed four times in the
first 20 minutes at the final table. Peter
Costa arrived with the biggest stack.
But Frankie O'Dell seized the lead when
his pocket kings cracked Jon Brody's pocket
jacks. Then, a few hands later Bruce Yarmon
became chip leader after taking a pots.
Costa
regained the chip advantage when he eliminated
the first player from the final table,
David White. Costa was dealt A-K and went
up against White's 10-10. White's last
chip rolled into the pot with the pocket
pair, but Costa caught a king on the flop
to splatter White's hopes. David White,
a remodeling contractor from Midland,
Texas, received $3,841 for 9th place.
Limits
increased to $1,500-$3,000. Steve Zolotow
came into the finale with a mixed reputation.
On the positive side, Zolotow won this
event last year. In fact, the defending
champ is one of only a handful of players
to hold titles at both the World Poker
Open and World Series of Poker. Unfortunately
for Zolotow, he arrived at the final table
desperately low on chips and needed some
serious help from the deck to survive.
It didn't happen. Zolotow was blinded
down and eventually called all-in with
K-10. It was a case of terrible timing
for the Brooklyn native, now living in
Las Vegas. His opponent, Nick Frangos
had A-A. The final board gave Frangos
trip aces, which put Zolotow out in 8th
place with $4,802.
Next,
Costa Rican Jose Rosenkrantz dealt a serious
blow to Peter Costa. Rosenkrantz (with
K-J) was all-in as the board showed J-9-8-3
on the turn. Costa (with 9-3) had two
pair. An 8 fell on the river, pairing
the board. That gave Rosenkrantz (with
Ks and 8s) a $25K pot and initiated a
series of ups and downs for Costa that
would last until the end of the tournament.
On
the very next hand, Costa nearly doubled
his stack size when he put a horrible
beat on Frankie O'Dell. On the turn, O'Dell
had a set. But Costa caught a magical
card on the river and made a straight,
which devastated O'Dell.
As
a profession, Richard Cohen is the owner
of a watch store. His time at the final
table ran out when he went all-in with
Q-Q against Nick Frangos' A-J. Frangos
caught an ace on the turn which gave Cohen,
from Philadelphia, 7th-place prize money
of $6,722.
Jon
Brody was down to just a few chips and
became the next player to make an exit.
Brody woke up in the big blind with A-10
but lost to Bruce Yamron's Q-7 when the
final board showed 8-4-4-5-7. Despite
the loss, Brody has been very impressive
at the 2003 World Poker Open. He now has
three final table appearances and has
made the money six times (more than any
other player -- to date). Brody added
$8,643 to his tournament winnings for
6th place.
The
next three hands were an absolute nightmare
for Nick Frangos. First, Frangos lost
a big pot to Bruce Yamron. On the next
hand, Frangos had Jose Rosenkrantz all-in
on the turn when the board showed Q-Q-9-8.
Frangos was a big favorite, since he had
A-Q to Rosenkrantz's J-10. But a king
fell on the river and made Rosenkrantz
a straight. The final blow was dealt when
Peter Costa had Q-6 against Frangos' Q-9.
The board came with four consecutive blanks,
which meant Frangos was in the lead. Then,
a dreaded six fell on the river to make
a pair for Costa. The trifecta of bad
beats put Frangos out in 5th place with
$10,563.
Nick
Frangos wasn't alone. Frankie O'Dell took
more than his fair share of bad beats.
The final blow came when O'Dell (with
J-J) went up against Peter Costa (with
6-2 of hearts). O'Dell's remaining chips
went in after the flop, and Costa called
when he saw two hearts on board. Costa
caught another heart on the river, which
essentially ripped O'Dell's heart out.
Frankie O'Dell, who won the Omaha High-Low
Split event a few nights ago, received
$13,444 for 4th place.
The
last three players illustrated poker's
growing international appeal -- an Englishman,
a Costa Rican, and an American. Jose Rosenkrantz
was the lowest of the three in chips.
He managed to survive two all-ins. But
his good fortune ran out when he made
his final stand with K-8 against Bruce
Yamron's A-9, after the flop came A-J-10.
Rosenkrantz hoped to catch a queen (for
a straight), which did not come. Jose
Rosenkrantz, the winner of a No-Limit
Hold'em event at last year's World Poker
Open, collected $23,047 for 3rd place.
When heads-up play began, the chip counts
were as follows:
Costa: $120K
Yamron: $ 88K
Yamron
knew he needed some help playing heads-up
against the talented Costa, who has won
numerous tournaments, including the Australian
Poker Championship, most recently. At
one point Yamron remarked to the dealer,
"[Costa's] a very good player. You have
to give me a chance. Give me some aces,
kings, and queens."
The
dealer did not disappoint Yamron. Over
the next 25 minutes, Yamron went on a
monster roll that might as well have been
a pick ax, chopping away at Costa's chip
castle one stack at a time. After seizing
the chip lead about halfway into the confrontation,
Yamron made a flush, a straight, and a
full house in rapid succession that put
the victory within grasp. The final hand
of the night came when Costa (with 8-5)
was all-in on the flop, which showed A-2-3.
Yamron had A-K. Costa asked for help.
The request was denied. An ace on the
river, good for trip aces, which was the
fitting exclamation point to Yamron's
victory. Costa took second place and $44,174.
"I
knew I needed some help from the deck
tonight, and I got it at the right time,"
Yamron said afterward. He received $76,824
for the win. Perhaps even more meaningful,
Yamron captured something that has no
price -- his first World Poker Open title.
Yamron, a retailer jeweler based in Forida,
added the gold and diamond bracelet to
his collection. After spending a number
of years playing in tournaments, one can
expect this bracelet will not be for sale.
-- by Nolan Dalla
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