Keith
Lehr Takes Off, Wins $225K
and First Gold Bracelet
Keith
Lehr plays pot-limit hold'em every Tuesday
and Wednesday night back in his hometown
of Bossier City, Louisiana. The weekly
home poker games proved to be great training
ground for Lehr, who came to the World
Series of Poker for the first time this
year, and promptly came to the final table
with the chip lead, ultimately winning
it all in a 6-hour massacre. Lehr had
the chip lead nearly every step of the
way in the finale, and not only overcame
nine very talented opponents, he beat
2000 world poker champion Chris "Jesus"
Ferguson in heads-up play. For the victory,
Lehr collected $225,040 and his first
gold bracelet.
The final table included two players from
Great Britain, one Frenchman, three New
Yorkers, two Louisianans, a Las Vegan,
and a Californian -- who just so happened
to win poker's world championship in 2000
(Chris "Jesus" Ferguson). The final table
also included last year's winner, Fred
Berger, and the runner-up in that same
event, Ferguson.
The
first critical hand at the final table
took place between Robert Gerstenzang
and the defending champion, Fred Berger.
Gerstenzang raised $15K before the flop,
and was promptly re-raised $31K more (all-in)
by Berger. Gerstenzang called with 10-10
and was up against Berger's A-K. The flop
came 2-4-5, then an ace fell on the turn
which turned things completely upside
down. Just when it looked as though Gerstenzang
would face elimination, he spiked a miracle
10 on the river to make trip tens. It
was an amazing hand that gave Gerstenzang
the co-chip lead with Keith Lehr, and
perhaps more importantly eliminated last
year's pot-limit hold'em champion -- Fred
Berger.
The man called Devil Fish went out a short
time later when he was "all-in" with a
pair of aces (A-x) when an ace came out
on the flop. Keith Lehr called the Devil's
bet with a pair of tens, then he spiked
two running diamonds on the turn and river
to complete a flush. Devil Fish was flushed
out of the tournament in 8th place, good
for $12,160.
Ninety
minutes passed before the next player
was eliminated. In that span, the players
traded chips back and forth with Erick
"E Dog" Lindgren making the greatest headway
-- from $50K up to over $100K. Robert
Gerstenzang lost what chips he had accumulated
early on, and went "all-in" with 5-5 versus
Lindgren's A-9. The flop came A-9-x, which
all but eliminated Gerstenzang, from Jamestown,
NY. 7th place paid $15,200.
Next, the "E Dog" took a horrible beat
when he went "all-in" with Q-Q, which
was topped by Gary Rabin's K-Q, when a
king flopped. Erik Lindgren, the "E Dog"
from Las Vegas, collected 6th-place prize
money of $21,280, and must have been howling
all night long after what was a very tough
beat.
The
next hour might as well have been called
the Chris "Jesus" Ferguson Show, as the
2000 World Champion rolled over the final
table and took his meager $20K chip count
up to well over $200K. After he eliminated
Jeff Rothstein in 5th place, Ferguson
doubled up to over $200K with A-K against
Gary Rabin. Then, Rabin got involved in
another disadvantageous situation when
he got heads-up in a $300K pot with Keith
Lehr. Rabin was hoping his K-Q would catch
some old magic (recall the bad beat against
Lindgren), but was distressed to see Lehr
holding A-K. A queen failed to come and
save Rabin, meaning he was down to just
$30K in chips. Meanwhile, Lehr had jetted
up to over $400K in chips with the big
pot.
Rabin
staged a brief rally and recovered to
the point where he was up to $50K at one
point, but then lost his final hand of
the night with A-K. Chris Ferguson faded
Rabin's "all-in" bet pre-flop with 10-10
and the pocket pair of tens held up, knocking
Rabin out in third place. Rabin took $57,780
back to his home, New York City.
Down to the final two players, the chip
counts stood as follows: Lehr -- $414K
vs. Ferguson -- $240K.
The two finalists traded chips back and
forth for 30 minutes before the first
significant confrontation developed when
Ferguson lost a $100K pot when he was
barely out-kicked. Ferguson was in the
hand with J-8 versus Lehr's Q-8, and when
the flop came 8-x-x (little cards), the
pot grew to over $100K. Both players slowed
down the betting as the board showed a
flush, but it was Lehr who won the pot
with a pair of eights plus the better
kicker. That loss left Ferguson down to
$100K in chips, versus Lehr's $500K.
Then,
Lehr really applied the pressure, raising
and re-raising with great frequency, which
left Ferguson low on chips. Down to only
$25K, Ferguson doubled-up with pocket
aces, then couldn't sustain the momentum
and was back down to $20K on the final
hand of the night. Ferguson's K-6 lost
to Lehr's A-6 (no pair), which meant a
second-consecutive runner-up finish in
this event for Chris Ferguson. He collected
$115,560.
Keith
Lehr is married and has three children.
His family was back home in Louisiana
watching the final table over the Internet
(www.binions.com), and surely inspired
him to play his best poker, as Lehr kept
a picture of his family next to his chips
throughout play at the final table. It's
not often that a "hometown hero" comes
from out of nowhere to capture a gold
bracelet, but as Keith Lehr showed, years
of experience playing in home games can
sometimes pay big dividends.
-- by Nolan Dalla
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