Toto
Leonidas, Professional Poker Player from
Arleta, CA Wins $1,500 Seven-Card Stud
Event at 2003 World Series of Poker
Fame
and fortune is not really important to
me. Winning a poker tournament,
even the World Series of Poker, does not
change who I am.
-- Toto Leonidas (after winning the
$1,500 buy-in Seven-Card Stud event at
Binion's Horseshoe)
April
18th was Good Friday. Since Good Friday
traditionally marks an occasion to give
thanks, the first thing professional poker
player Toto Leonidas did on this day was
attend mass at a local church in Las Vegas.
He stayed at the church until well past
noon. Leonidas was almost late for the
start of the final table of the $1,500
buy-in Seven-Card Stud event, where he
held an impressive chip advantage against
seven very talented opponents. For Leonidas,
once the cards were dealt, "Good Friday,
turned into "Great Friday."
Leonidas
was born 42 years ago in Bacolod City,
Philippines. "I wanted to be a basketball
player," joked Leonidas -- who stands
no more than 5' 7". He started playing
poker following his arrival in United
States, mostly in the Los Angeles area
where he continues to reside. Over the
years, Leonidas improved his poker skills
and progressively built up a bigger bankroll.
Finally, his hard work and dedication
to poker paid off when he burst upon the
tournament scene a few years ago and quickly
became one of game's most respected, yet
reserved players.
During
the entire final table, which lasted about
six hours, Leonidas never once said a
word to his opponents, preferring instead
to let his cards do all the talking. The
final table provided an interesting mix
of poker personalities and backgrounds,
including players with no final table
experience to seasoned poker pros like
Jennifer Harman (winner of two World Series
of Poker gold bracelets)
After
the six players were eliminated, the two
finalists traded the chip lead back and
forth in a grueling battle for the world
title. Leonidas went "all in" on at least
two occasions and managed to survive both.
It looked as though Peter Rallis, from
Monroe, CT might win the tournament that
point, but he was never quite able to
close the victory. Leonidas would get
on a rush by The heads-up match lasted
three full hours until Leonidas clobbered
Rallis on one key hand:
RALLIS
-- (K-J) 10-9-2-2 (9)
LEONIDAS -- (A-4) 3-2-5-Q (10)
Leonidas won with two pair -- 9s and 2s,
By this time, the blinds and antes had
escalated so high to $10K-20K that a winning
big hand could devastate an opponent and
perhaps even alter the winner of the final
table. That's precisely what happened
when Rallis was forced to go "all in"
short stacked . The final hand of the
tournament was held 19 hours after the
start of the two-day event. Leonidas'
two pair -- kings and fives topped Rallis'
no pair.
When
asked about his thoughts while in the
church just before playing at the final
table of the World Series of Poker in
what was one of the biggest moments of
his pro career, Leonidas was quite introspective
about the experience. "I only thought
a little bit about the final table," Leonidas
said. "I was mostly thinking about my
family and myself, not the fame and fortune
of being here (at the final table)."
Remarkably,
Leonidas' first World Series of Poker
victory took place nearly a year to the
day he finished second in this same event
at last year's tournament. But this time
there was a different ending. In the end,
Leonidas was blessed with his first gold
bracelet and $98,760 in prize money.
-- by Nolan Dalla
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