Professional
Gambler Mickey Appleman Wins Classic Confrontation
and Earns Fourth Gold Bracelet
in Pot-Limit Hold'em
I've
been around gambling long enough to know
that the euphoria wears off after awhile
-- the honeymoon ends. Initially, when
you are around gambling, there is a honeymoon
effect. As time goes on, and you struggle
to stay in money, you see the painful
side of gambling. It ends. The honeymoon
ends.
--
Mickey Appleman
Don't
let Mickey Appleman's look or disposition
fool you. Behind the hippie appearance
and counterculture attitude lies a man
with profoundly deep thoughts about poker,
life, and his role in both. "What defines
us is not how much money we win or how
many poker victories we achieve, but what
we leave behind afterward," said Appleman
following his win in the $2,000 buy-in
Pot-Limit Hold'em event. "For me the historical
significance and the gold bracelet is
what it's all about. The money comes and
goes. But winning a World Series of Poker
event is special."
Appleman should know. He's now won four
championship titles at the World Series
of Poker -- his first, dating all the
way back to 1980. During his famed career
as a poker player and high-stakes gambler
(Appleman is just as talented in the field
of sports handicapping), the man from
Fort Lee, New Jersey has literally seen
and done it all -- from playing a single
round of golf for six figures, to betting
astronomical sums on sporting events,
to winning poker titles.
Yet
beyond the wide scope of his talents in
the gambling world, Appleman is deeply
spiritual and philosophical about life.
He received an MBA from Rutgers University
and passed on several lucrative job opportunities,
choosing instead to work on behalf of
disadvantaged people living in inner cities
over a generation ago. Appleman stumbled
into gambling by accident, and with a
background in statistics gradually became
successful both as a poker player and
sports bettor. Still, he admits there
have been many ups and downs in the business.
"After I went out ninth (in the $10,000
main championship event) a few years ago,
I felt a lot of negativity. Maybe this
win tonight has broken the flow of negative
energy and will lead to bigger and better
things ahead." For Appleman, there is
but one more mountain still to climb and
conquer -- winning poker's world championship.
This
mountain, which started off with 214 players
climbing to get to the top, was certainly
no pushover. Appleman had to overcome
several scary moments during the tournament
when he was literally down to the felt
and faced elimination. For instance, long
before the final table was within reach,
with 40 players remaining in the tournament,
Appleman was "all-in" holding A-10 against
Q-Q and caught a miracle life-saving ace
on the turn to survive. Little did he
know at the time, that it would turn out
to be a $147,280 card -- the prize money
he received for first place.
Once at the final table, Appleman suffered
several other setbacks. At one point he
was down to his last $20K and was out-chipped
by Mike Carson by almost 10 to 1. Less
experienced players might have given up
in that situation, but Appleman used his
25 (plus) years of experience playing
high-limit poker to overcome adversity
and clawed his way back into contention.
The
final table started out with ten players.
Roger Easterday made a quick exit, followed
Daniel Studer, from Switzerland. Ken Jacobs
took a few beats and went out in 8th place,
and was joined on the rail a short time
later by Great Brit, Ian Dobson. Daniel
Negreanu came into Day Two seeking his
second gold bracelet (he won his first
in 1998) but was never able to generate
any dominance over a tough, very patient
field of players. After Negreanu went
out 6th, Kentucky doctor-turned poker
pro Mark Burtman made an exit in 5th place.
Down to four players, Michael Carson still
enjoyed a sizable chip lead. In fact,
Carson led most of the way, and had his
three opponents down to the point where
he had over half of the chips in play.
Incredibly, disaster then struck for Carson
who made one critical play which may have
cost him the tournament. Before the flop,
Carson made a button raise to $11K with
A-8 of diamonds. Appleman was in the big
blind and re-raised $34K more. Carson
must have figured Appleman for a weak(er)
hand, since he then re-raised Appleman
to the point where we was "all-in." Before
Carson could move his chips, Appleman
literally beat him into the pot with his
stack. The cards were dealt and the kings
held up, giving Appleman the chip lead
for the first time in the tournament.
Carson
self-destructed after the loss (had an
ace come versus Appleman's kings, it's
fair to say he probably would have won
this event given his prospective chip
lead) and went out in fourth place a short
time later. In a stunning reversal of
fortune, Appleman rocketed from $20K at
one point to over $200K. Meanwhile, West
Virginian Paul McKinney hung in contention
with about $50K while Brian "Shaggy" Plona
had about $150K.
Paul McKinney has been playing poker for
66 years (putting him at least into his
70s), but his stay at the final table
was finally cut short when he flopped
a pair of 7s against Appleman's pair of
aces. McKinney had 6-7 of diamonds and
moved "all-in" when a 7 came on the flop
(he also had a diamond draw). Appleman's
A-Q topped the cigar-chomping West Virginian's
smaller pair, when meant a 3rd place finish
for McKinney -- good for $37,820.
It's
hard to imagine topping Mickey Appleman's
poker story. But if such a thing can be
done, consider the flight of Brian "Shaggy"
Plona, who was making his first-ever appearance
at a World Series of Poker. Shaggy, an
air traffic controller at the New York
Center (he routinely routes trans-Atlantic
air traffic) played with as much courage
as any first-timer in history, as he had
Appleman on the ropes several times. Shaggy
did manage to catch a few spade draws
to survive earlier in the tournament,
and when the chips were down, Shaggy rose
to the occasion. He matched Appleman every
step of the way, in a classic "all New
York final" that lasted in excess of 90
minutes. At one point, Appleman later
admitted, he was worried.
"Watch
out for this Shaggy -- he's going to be
someone to watch here. He played terrific,"
Appleman said later. "I took a break and
had to think to myself how I could devise
a counter-strategy to beat him. He was
playing so aggressively."
All
it took was one hand and a single mistake
to destroy what had been a nearly perfect
day for Shaggy. With the two finalists
very close in chips counts, Shaggy overplayed
a key hand and essentially lost the tournament.
After
the flop came J-9-8 (with the 8-9 of hearts
on board), Shaggy got into a raising war
holding A-9 (no hearts). Appleman was
delighted to keep on raising with Q-J
of hearts, good for top pair, a flush
draw, a straight draw, and a straight
flush draw. The board came with a heart
on the turn, which effectively gave Appleman
the huge pot and a 9 to 1 chip advantage.
The hand was a devastating blow to Shaggy
who played flawlessly for nearly seven
hours, then clearly overplayed one critical
hand.
A
short time later, Appleman won the final
pot of the night and Brian "Shaggy" Plona
was out in 2nd place. Incredibly, the
first-time tournament finalist was disappointed
with the outcome, although he has to be
proud of his accomplishment.
For
Appleman, the victory marks gold bracelet
number four and puts him into an elite
class as a World Series of Poker Millionaire
(lifetime winnings in the WSOP in excess
of $1 million). Somehow, that financial
feat doesn't mean as much to Appleman
as preserving his place in poker history
and leaving the world a more positive
place. Indeed, if all poker players had
their priorities straight as does Mickey
Appleman, imagine the possibilities. They
would be endless.
-- by Nolan Dalla
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