Amazing - truly amazing night of poker
Qualifier #1 - January 14th
Who would have expected a heads-up battle that would last more than an hour, spread over four blind levels? Especially after THAT start?! Everybody who was there knows what I am referring to, but let's begin from the beginning:
The first qualifier of ten leading to the Final Table and the promised land of championship poker took off Sunday evening at Pasatiempo. The warriors were:
Seat 1: Jean Pierre "El Cocodrilo" Coniglio. One of my personal favorites to play a major role in this year's version of the WSOP Challenge - especially after winning 3 out of the last 4 tournaments he has played in (under the 3 Kings wing)
Seat 2: Myself. I always consider myself the favorite!
Seat 3: Matt the Magician. We were lucky Matt was seated far away from the dealer and the cards, otherwise we would have been in REAL trouble!
Seat 4: Dem. After hid overwhelming performance at the first satellite event, Dem was expected to be very active again.
Seat 5: Carlo. Our Italian competitor has improved a lot the last year and was the table winner of the final event of the Pura Vida Poker Team Championship, ready for another exciting 1-able shoot-out
Seat 6: Linda, the defending champion. She said she would win it again, grinning wide. Well if you eventually do, Linda, we expect you to go this time!
Seat 7: Diego Quesada. The ruling Champion of Champions, always a threat.
Seat 8: Federico Bonilla, a new and refreshing face on the local poker scene. Federico is an experienced player with a lot of table hours from San Jose, and earned his seat at Friday night's satellite - welcome to the action!
Seat 9: Chad Gaston. The runner-up from the Tournament of Champions has committed himself to go for the Final Table this year, and we can expect a lot of competition from him.
Seat 10: Jeff Herrman. In my view the one player in Tamarindo who has improved the most throughout 2006 and definitely a Final Table candidate.
Enough babbling, here a short wrap-up: When I increased the starting stack from last year's $300 to $400, I anticipated a lot more cautious play in the first levels of the tournament, but I was wrong. The players came out firing at the pot - both before and after the flop. In the very first hand Dem lost a huge pot to Linda, who showed down the nut flush that she had caught on the river - of course! Before the blinds had moved around full circle, Linda had already doubled her stack - it was still Dutch Christmas and Santa came from all corners of the table.
Just a few hands into the second level we had the first casualty. Chad had raised pre-flop and got a couple of callers. Flop came JQ4 with two hearts (I think). Chad checked, there was a bet and a call, and then Chad check-raised, getting a call from Linda. The turn was an ace, Chad bet and Linda called. The river was a third heart, Chad checked and Linda went all-in having Chad covered. He went into the tank and finally decided to go for it with his set of 4s, probably induced by a read on Linda. But he was wrong, Linda did have the nut flush (again!), and Chad was ready to order food-to-go.
No more exits before the first break, chip stacks: Jean Pierre: 220 Henrik: 480 Matt: 435 Dem: 150 Carlo: 180 Linda: 1,175 Diego: 550 Federico: 230 Jeff: 640
Blinds were up to $5-10, still quite moderate in relation to the average stack of $444. However it wasn't long before Carlo decided to make a move at a 3-way pot with a KK6 flop. He got called by Linda who held a third king, ciao Carlito.
The next big hand will definitely remain in the memory of many a present player: Dem and Linda are both in a pot with a 689 flop. Both check to the turn - a 10. Dem bets big, Linda calls. The river is a queen (feel it coming dear reader?), and Dem holding J7 (turned the straight) bets. Linda goes all-in over the top of him. Dem calls saying " I hope you don't have the KJ", which was exactly the hand Linda turned over - the only card combination that could take Dem out - "The River Queen" had done it again!
The slaughterhouse was still reeking with warm blood and spilled guts, when the second chip leader at the break Jeff was brought down - by Linda (right now I don't recall the hand, pls. help me Jeff (I am sure YOU remember it)) and Linda's apparent pact with Lucifer became even more obvious when she called Diego's all-in with 98, against his pocket queens. Nothing came on the flop, but then the turn came - 8 - and then the river - another 8!!
After 2 hours of play half the field had gone home to rehearse their lullabies. Chip stacks: Jean Pierre: 650 Henrik: 225 Matt: 250 Linda: 2,575 Federico: 300
Linda had take all five victims out on her own, only accompanied by the card devil and a great poker sense. Blinds were now $25-50. Linda finally got a little bit of "hitman competition" from me when I took Federico out in 2 hands. A few minutes later Jean Pierre fired 3 bullets at a pot, but Linda had a really impressive read on him and called with 4th pair on the board to send the French crocodile home to Brasilito in 4th place.
3-handed the blinds went up to $50-100, and Matt was forced all-in on the first hand. I took him down with a 10 high, and we were heads-up! Linda was roughly a 2,500-1,500 chip leader at the beginnig of the session, but a long and epic battle was ahead. Linda's deck ran cold, and I was on a rush, chipping away at the previous humongous stack in front of the flying Dutchman. At the end of the level, I had gained the chip lead!
As the blinds grew to $75-150 I went down a little bit, when the following hand came. Linda had called pre-flop and I had checked with 52. The flop came J53. Linda bet the size of the pot. I took my time to try to get a read on her, and thought I saw a bluff in the making. I went all-in, but was hopelessly behind Linda's 2 pair with 53. A jack on the river saved my behind and chopped the pot - phew!! ...and back to the grind.
I slowly clawed my way up to a substantial chiplead, having more than a 3-1 lead when Linda went all-in. Looking down at AJ it was a no--brainer and I was delighted to see Linda's A7. The flop was dry as a Guanacaste day in January, and I was now more than a 4-1 favorite but a 7 on the turn and another 7 on the river pulled Linda back into the game.
I was still the chip leader, but only by a notch. Another number of hands where we went back and forth with pre-flop calls, folds, raises, folds. Then I look down at a pair of nines. Linda had called from the button, and I raised. Linda went all-in, and I called. The chances of us both holding a pair are about 295:1 and the chances that Linda is holding a pair higher than mine are about 800:1, so I of course called. Things looked pretty gloomy when she flipped over the kings and just to add some Dutch insult to Danish injury she caught another king on the river. Next time I will lay down my 99 against a smoothcall followed by a re-raise (maybe...)
The tide had changed, and Linda was in the lead again. Believe it or not (I have witnesses), but it wasn't over yet. We hit the forth hour of the tournament, and I was basically crippled to only $800, when the blinds grew to $100-200, and I was in the big blind! There really is not a lot of poker left from here, most moves will be either folds or all-in bets. I came back in the lead after a couple of raises and folds, and the battle for the chip lead went on - and on - and on!!
Now the blinds increased again to $200-400 and I regained the chip lead when Linda folded the first hand from the small blind! Another handful of pre-flop raises and folds put Linda back in the lead, then the lead came back to me, and then I decided to raise all-in holding 9-10 offsuit. Unfortunately Linda had A8 of clubs, and they held up. I was down to $200, survived the first hand, then the next hand!! Third hand was my downfall though, and Linda could finally celebrate the victory, after one of the most intense poker battles we have seen in a long time on this latitude.
It ain't over 'til the fat lady sings!
Qualifier #2 – January 28th
Seat 1: Tom Fitzpatrick. Now residing in Santa Ana, Tom will be visiting the beach from time to time – and mainly when there is poker going on. But when is there not?!
Seat 2: Steve Duff. One of the dominating forces in Willy’s friendly tourneys has stepped up to the plate, this his first attempt to go for the big one.
Seat 3: James Barnes. Another student of the game, James qualified through a satellite, ready to test himself in a deeper format.
Seat 4: Chad Gaston. Exiting first in Qualifier #1 did not frighten Chad, and with two satellite qualifications he is ready to rumble again.
Seat 5: Jean Pierre. The crocodile swam into Pasatiempo in the last moment, ready to chew away at other players’ chip stacks.
Seat 6: Myself.
Seat 7: Carlo Beltramo. Cool, calm and collected in his Marlboro Man outfit.
Seat 8: Diego Quesada. Champ of the Champs
Seat 9: Larry Daigle. Capitalizing on his amazing suck-out against Chad in a recent satellite, Larry was ready as ever, now with shades!
Seat 10: Dave Ellis. The Potrerorican has been waiting anxiously for this second chance to prove it was unfair that he was the first to exit last year’s Qualifier that was held in Flamingo.
The game started at 7 p.m. “en punto” (one of the blessings of having a fully registered crowd before tourney kick-off), blinds relatively low and stacks still deep. Nonetheless, we had an all-in move in the very first hand with AKJ10 on the board. Larry did not want to see Tom’s queen, so he didn’t get any business on it. One of the bigger chip movements came in a hand between Jean Pierre and Carlo, when Jean Pierre caught the nut flush on the turn. He was betting both on the flop, on the turn and on the river, with Carlo paying him off with his lower flush. Carlo became severely crippled, but doubled up again before the first break. Chad also built a nice stack, and he was the chip leader after one hour: Stacks: Tom 175 – Steve 435 - James 220 – Chad 750 – Jean Pierre 725 - Henrik 335 – Carlo 105 – Diego 570 – Larry 410 – Dave 275.
Blinds grew to $5/10, then $10/20. I was now small stack after losing an all-in against James. We both had trip 6’s on the turn, but James’ outkicked my queen with a king. Carlo had tripled up again, going all-in on a flush draw on the flop, and getting two customers in the shop. The flush came on the turn, back in the saddle cowboy! Blinds were about to go $15/30 when I pushed all-in under the gun with $110. Carlo called (ooops) and Jean Pierre. Trash flop, trash turn, trash river, and Jean Pierre’s pair of sixes in the hole trashed both Carlo and me.
Tom was next to go all-in, Chad re-raising with pocket queens to isolate the action. Tom’s pocket nines found a third on the turn to double up. Still he was next player out, losing his last chip to Steve Duff, when the over-pair (tens) this time held up (against 88). Jean Pierre took a huge dent in Duff’s stack and built a mountain of green chips. Steve survived one all-in but eventually could not hold up. Next players out were Dave and Larry, a bloody second hour was over.
Stacks: James 725 – Chad 800 – Jean Pierre 1,975 – Diego 525
Despite Jean Pierre’s dominating force, the remaining stacks still had more than 10 times the big blind as a minimum, and the tourney still open. Fourhanded the chips got a little more evenly distributed, when the Frenchman apparently ran out of steam. Diego and James grew, Chad defended his stack. Lots of good plays and interesting hands, one of them involving James and Jean Pierre. Chad on the button, James raised preflop, JP called. Flop came 4QK rainbow, JP checked, James bet $400, and JP went all-in. A call from James would mean all of his chips. After minutes in the tank he folded showing AQ, JP was kind enough to show his dominating AK before stacking the chips. Near the end of the third hour Jean Pierre took James out of the equation. Diego had become more active, and both he and Chad were chewing away on the crocodile stack evening the odds.
Three-handed into the forth hour the stacks were Chad 1,400 – Jean Pierre 1,000 – Diego 1,700, we had a new chipleader! The first hand however was won after the flop by JP, and the stacks were practically even. But with blinds at $100/200 things were bound to develop faster, and Diego ran out of luck when his bluff was called down by Chad, giving him a 3-to-1 chip lead against JP going heads-up. The Frenchman never recovered and after just a few hands Chad was announced the winner of the second WSOP Challenge Qualifier!
The Potreroricans are coming!
- Qualifier #3, February 11th
Unfortunately my records from this event have been lost. While I am trying to recover them I will have to give the shortest possible version:
Jude Everson and Ralph Knauer - my fellow players from Potrero - ended up battling it out between them, after Ralph had made an amazing comeback surviving a number of all-ins. In the end Ralp came out on top, becoming the first German at the Final Table.
Truly becoming a “World” event
Qualifier #4 - February 25th
Seat 1: Mike Fonseca
Seat 2: Giovanni Pilurzo
Seat 3: Dem
Seat 4: Chad Gaston
Seat 5: Carlo Beltramo
Seat 6: Emanuele Territo
Seat 7: Henrik
Seat 8: James Barnes
Seat 9: Vincent
Seat 10: Larry Daigle
For the first time we had three Italians at a WSOP Qualifier table, and combined with one Dane and a Brit, the gringo/rest-of-the-world balance was even. The balance became a little skewed at the end of the first hour, when Vincent had re-raised James pre-flop and got a call. The flop came 10-8-2, two spades. James checked, Vincent moved all-in. James was pondering “Kings or Queens? I call anyway!”. James was right, Vince had the kings, and James was way behind with his A 10, and things could have looked a lot different that night had it not been for the ace on the river. Back to Playa Grande, Don Diego.
At the break the stacks were: Mike 270, Giovanni 470, Dem 380, Chad 310, Carlo 365, Emanuele 510, Henrik 360, James 870, Larry 465. The second hour was extraordinary in the sense that nobody was eliminated. James did take a 10 minute break (guess why!), but apart from Emanuele moving into the chip lead, it was quite undramatic: Mike 325, Giovanni 325, Dem 200, Chad 400, Carlo 275, Emanuele 1,100, Henrik 550, James 575, Larry 250.
Due to a computer breakdown I have not been able to retrieve the order in which the players left the arena, and my memory is messed up after too many poker tournaments. What I do recall is that when we went into the third hour we were down to three players: Giovanni at 1,600, Henrik at 1,500 and James at 900. James had been the big stack just prior to that, but I had doubled up through him all-in with 98 against his AK (that holding was losing all night, 4 times in a row in coin-flip situations!).
Blinds at 100-200 and time for some moves! Well, I had my share of them but after just 2 hands I was out of the picture leaving it to the new big stack James and Giovanni. James held the chip lead the rest of the way to be the first British player to hit the Final Table.
For Once in my LIFE!!
Qualifier #5 - March 4th
Seat 1: Jeff Herrman
Seat 2: John Lahoud Jr.
Seat 3: Federico Bonilla
Seat 4: Carlo Beltramo
Seat 5: Tom Fitzpatrick
Seat 6: Vincent “Don Diego de la Vega”
Seat 7: Big Blind Ben
Seat 8: Larry Daigle
Seat 9: Dem
Seat 10: Steve Duff
I had the brilliant idea to promise one seat too many, so I had to take myself off the table, which actually was not as boring as it may sound like: I was in for an interesting night of poker and powerful expressions. The first hour was pretty mellow as is usually the case with the small blinds, but Jeff did manage to lose a big pot, but then make up for it – and some! – when he made the ace high flush over Federico’s smaller flush. Dem also went on a rollercoaster ride, being active the way we know and love him for. Carlo’s stack grew in the wrong direction, especially after he paid Dem all the way to the river after Dem had hit 3 kings (signature hand! – caps are for sale at just 8,000 colones a piece!) on the flop.
At the break the stacks were: Jeff 660, John 430, Federico 150, Carlo 100, Tom 265, Vincent 400, Ben 760, Larry 495, Dem 380, Steve 360. The forbidden f-word rule was in effect again, this time Vincent first got 10 minutes to cool off. Soon after Jeff followed suit and being a gentleman about it when he called it upon himself. Things started to move faster now, and Carlo was the first to exit, leaving his last chip to Larry, who had him outkicked. Next player down was Federico, Duff took him out. The short stacks were being eliminated in a fast pace now, Tom was third out, but the next elimination was the most painful to watch: John Lahoud Jr. managed to get all of his chips into the middle, and Ben Called. Ben flipped over AJ of diamonds, but John turned over AA! Before the flop John is more than a 6:1 favorite. When the flop came rags with just one diamond, his chances of winning the hand grew to 15:1, and then what happened? Two jacks fell on the turn and the river to give Ben the chip lead and John a ride back to Playa Grande.
After 2 hours the stacks were: Jeff 750, Vincent 200, Ben 1,225, Larry 525, Dem 1,125 and Steve 175. Duff was next to go home when his queens lost to Ben’s AJ. Then a crucial mistake by Vincent: He used the no-no-word again and had to leave. Being short stack, blinds at 25 and 50, and playing short-handed it had a huge impact on his chances, and shortly after he came back, he lost his last chips to Dem. Threehanded you would think the penalties were history, but no! Big stack Ben had a slip of the tongue which meant Dem and Jeff could chew away at his stack. Eventually Jeff lost his last chips to Ben, and we were heads-up. Dem had a huge chiplead, but then HE (!!!!) caught a 10-minute penalty!
I need to say something now about the f-word rule: It is not a rule that I have invented for sadistic purposes. The rule we apply at the WSOP events here in town are a mild version of the rules of the WSOP, which also penalize other things at the table related to etiquette. The reasons why I have decided to use the rule are two: First of all, a couple of incidents with players going way out of line at the table and in front of the innocent dealer, secondly to discipline our WSOP candidates: You need to focus on the game and know how to behave at a WSOP table to stand a chance. The main purpose of the rule is actually not to create ridiculous situations like the ones that arose here, it is meant as a PREVENTIVE measure to keep focus on the game and help players discipline themselves when facing unlucky cards.
When Ben and Dem went heads-up Dem had a 3,300-700 lead, but when he came back from his penalty it was only 2,300-1,700 in his favor. However, it did hold up and Dem became the winner when Ben could not spike an ace in the last hand of the night.
Can you be on a roll if you are Danish?!
Qualifier #6 - March 18th Seat 1: Mike Fonseca. Fresh back from Las Vegas and armed with home baked poker cookies (try them - Mike’s wife Carrie is a master!) Mike gave it a second chance, earned through the satellites
Seat 2: James Barnes. Going for his second seat with his feared aggressive style, luckily James was seated to my right this time.
Seat 3: Myself
Seat 4: Tom Fitzpatrick. We would see if Saturday’s St. Patrick’s Day would have any positive side effect on the gentleman of Irish decent.
Seat 5: Carlo Beltramo. Carlo has been missing good cards lately, not a luck of “Che Culo”, but surely it must come soon.
Seat 6: “Don Giovanni” Pilurzo. The super solid grey eminence always places in the money, and finished runner-up to James in his first attempt.
Seat 7: Diego Quesada. Another recent Las Vegas visitor, Diego came back with extra poker cash after a successful run at the MGM poker room.
Seat 8: Federico Bonilla. This subtle and accurate player has nt had his fair share of success yet. He is due for a win soon.
Seat 9: Larry Daigle. Always entertaining with his “last action speeches” (before he eventually folds), Larry is very observant and is another player who should have won a Final Table seat by now.
Seat 10: The winner from Qualifier #5, the third player at the table looking to double his chip stack on April 28th.
First hand saw James firing at it from the small blind with a couple of callers, after betting on the trash flop and getting no customers, James kindly showed the bullets – a good start! Larry was one of the more active players in the first hour, and a quite successful one too. Chips kept flowing his way, Mike and James were losing chunks. Toward the end of the hour however, James recovered (after returning from his standard penalty round) on the account of Mike, and in the last hand Mike decided to go all-in with AQ. Diego called him with pocket queens, a horrible beat on Mike. However, the flop delivered an ace! Unfortunately there were three spades, and with Diego holding the corresponding queen, it was obvious that he would flush out Fonseca on the river, right?
Chip counts after 1 hour: James 305 – Henrik 615 – Tom 455 – Carlo 155 – Giovanni 340 – Diego 525 – Federico 420 – Larry 905 – Dem 280
Carlo had lost a good chunk of chips to me in the first hour, and Larry managed to take the last ones from him with a straight on the river. Third out was James whose K7d ran into my AKs, but other than that the second hour was without huge dramas:
Chip counts: Henrik 825 – Tom 225 – Giovanni 450 – Diego 700 – Federico 500 – Larry 950 – Dem 350
With the blinds going up to 25 and 50, things were bound to develop quicker now. Dem went on a rollercoaster ride and managed to come back from virtually nothing. Tom eventually had to leave when I took him out, and Federico started building a stack when he took Dem out. I was getting short stacked but got lucky against a shorter stacked Diego when we both went all-in and I drew out on him. Fourhanded Larry got a little frustrated when he several times felt it necessary to fold to my all-in bets. He actually promised to call me next time I did it no matter what he held (“enough of your 98 all-in bluffs!”), good to know if I should pick up a monster. I didn’t have to though. With Larry in the small blind and the others folding he called, and I checked with J8 (TJ Cloutier’s favorite hand btw). The flop came QJ9. Larry bet half the pot and I went all-in. Larry immediately called and showed down: 98! My better pair held up and Larry was crippled.
When we hit the forth hour, he had recovered a bit: Henrik 2,000 – Giovanni 300 – Federico 1,000 – Larry 700
Big swings in stack sizes followed and Federico was next player out when he lost to Larry, who now got almost even with me, while Giovanni was struggling. A few hands later though, I move all-in with 9-10, Giovanni calls with 66 and Larry too with AK. When Giovanni hit his set on the flop he became instant chipleader, and soon I sucked out on Larry to go heads-up against Giovanni. He held 2,100 against my 1,900 – even money! He kept the lead for half a dozen hands, when I managed to double up and take a 34:6 lead. But Giovanni was still in there, in the very next hand he doubled back up with his pocket aces! Another and final suckout came when I went all-in with K2h and Giovanni called with KJ. A single deuce on the flop decided the matter, and Giovanni faced another second place in as many attempts.
The Wild Wild West
Qualifier #7 - March 25th
Until half an hour before start we were still only 9 players after Ben had had to cancel, but before I knew it I had two alternates making their appearance. Chad was first and Rick could take the night off to prepare for his appearance next Sunday!
Seat 1: Dem has had a revelation and is determined to win a second (cheap!) seat.
Seat 2: Jeff. Fresh from a victory at Willy's friendly Thirsday game, the captain was ready to throw out a line and catch some big fish.
Seat 3: James has been skillful and cunning enough to get in for cheap every time, and tonight was no exception.
Seat 4: Dustin. Probably the best player in Guanacaste taking his first chance at a seat at the WSOP Challenge Final Table.
Seat 5: Larry Daigle. Why hasn't this guy won a seat yet, I keep asking myself. Bad luck could be a part of the answer.
Seat 6: Chad Gaston. Ready to rumble
Seat 7: Diego Quesada, The Champion of Champions
Seat 8: Joey won her seat to secure a first appearance at a qualifier.
Seat 9: Carlo como siempre!
Seat 10: El Cocodrilo, aka "Le General" aka Jean Pierre was back in contention after a small break from the qualifiers.
If you had expected a calm start you were wrong. The second hand of the night had a huge impact on the rest of the evening. Chad opened the pot in early position with a raise to 6 times the BB, and got 4 callers(!!). The flop came 789 rainbow, and Chad bet $125. Diego called, Jeap Pierre called, the others folded. The turn was a 10, Chad checked, Diego checked, JP checked. The river brought a 4, and Chad checked again. Diego bet $100, Jean Pierre called and Chad went into the tank. After a while he finally mucked. Diego showed pocket 8s for a set, Jean Pierre pocket kings (!), while Chad was sick to his stomach for having mucked the best hand (pocket nines) out of fear of a straight. Diego continued building his stack, JP got frustrated and gave away his last chips to Dem. James was second player out, Diego was the hitman.
2 players out before the first break, that's a new record. Chip stacks after one hour: Jeff 590 - Carlo 80 - Dem 455 - Dustin 390 - Diego 1,175 - Larry 725 - Joey 345 - Chad 240.
Carlo was severely shortstacked and soon he went all-in. This became the beginning of a rush for Joey, when she first took Carlo out followed by a huge hand: Dustin had been very quiet all night, but after a pre-flop raise from Joey and a call from himself, he looked at this flop: 6h5h6c. Pretty happy about his 67s in the pocket he raised Joeys bet on the flop, and she called. the deuce of hearts came on the turn giving a possible flush. Joey went all-in, and Dustin called. Joey held QQ (one heart) and she was way behind, but a third queen came on the river to criplle Dustin's stack and double her up to Diego size. Soon after Dustin was out of the tournament.
Joey moved up to become outright chipleader, when she had raised preflop and Chad moved all-in. No hard decision this time for Joey and her pocket rockets held up against Chad's fishhooks, and the field had been halfed.
Joey lost a big pot against Diego (A-10 vs. 10-10) and after 2 hours the stacks were: Jeff 800 - Dem 225 - Diego 1,250 - Larry 850 - Joey 875.
The third hour was the beginning of an intense battle for position, and some amazing hands and plays. Dem managed to double up a couple of times, but still got short in the end. In one hand he was all-in with KK and Larry had called with J9. Dem mumbled "How I am going to lose this one?" The flop came J9x, three diamonds giving Larry two pairs, then came Qd on the turn giving Dem an inside straight draw, however the only 10 he could not win with outright was the diamond 10 that came on the river to chop the pot! To make a long story shorter, Dem and Joey soon went out. Jeff was sitting quiet while Larry and Diego were leading a constant battle. A big hand happened when a flop of 975 made Diego go all-in and Larry called with AK. Another nine came on the turn, and an ace on the river saved Larry's life and crippled Diego to $275! Then Diego doubled up again couple of times and managed to steal anough blinds to come back in the lead, truly a dramatic turn of events after Larry literally had the tournament win in sight.
When the green chips were raced off Jeff had 300, Larry had 1,700 and Diego had 2,000 in chips. Jeff did not last much longer, and it was heads-up between Larry and Diego, the two chipleaders from the first hour of play were back on top! The chip lead changed back and forth and at one point they were exactly even. A big shift in chip weight when Larry called with 84 on a 652 flop but missed his double gutshot, but in the final hand of the night Larry showed down 99 against 65. The board came J74, and the 3 on the turn sealed Larry's fate and gave Diego the victory.
Blood Dripping Action!
Qualifier #8 - April 1st
There was a nasty stench of something either dead or rotten in the poker dome of Pasatiempo. Poker players will put up with a lot of stuff, but when it started dripping dark blood from the ceiling even gamblers can have enough. A quick break and the table was moved away and reinstalled, so the game could continue.
Before all that happened it had been fun watching and listening to the players' reaction to the story of Pasatiempo being turned into a full scale casino with a large poker room. It went from exclamations of excitement and enthusiasm to the cynical (and lamentablemente correct) "April's Fools Day story!!".
Seat 1: Big Blind Ben. Finally back from a big family event in California. Ben missed last weeks qualifier, so he was eager to play.
Seat 2: Larry Daigle. Our runner-up from last week. When is it your turn, Larry?
Seat 3: Diego Quesada. Last week's winner, going for his second seat.
Seat 4: Rick Nicastro. A long day for the succesful TPT player - first 18 holes in Pinilla, then this!
Seat 5: Jean Pierre. The Crocodile was still at his house in Brasilito when I called him at 7 p.m. Half an hour later he was seated, but what did he have in his key ring? A TURTLE!
Seat 6: Dave Ellis. Just returned from a long trip to Guatemala and lots of Chinese underground poker.
Seat 7: Federico Bonilla. Has not been very lucky in the qualifiers so far, maybe today?
Seat 8: Carlo Beltramo. Fresh from third place at Thursday's TPT and in high spirits.
Seat 9: Vincent Asquith aka Playa Grande "Good Laydown!" Diego. Has been studying a lot about both the game and how to run a tournament
Seat 10: Giovanni Pilurzo. Won the TPT Thursday (second victory of the year), and has been runner-up twice at the qualifiers - truly a worthy candidate.
There were several amazing things happening - or rather NOT happening. First of all, nobody got penalized for the dropping the F-bomb. It was not because the rule was not applied, but nobody violated it(!!!). Secondly I think it was the tightest qualifier we have seen yet, especially into the second hour. Before we reached that however, there was one very significant hand at the 52nd minute. A couple of limpers (BB $6)including Larry in the cutoff seat. Rick in the small blind raised to $25, Jean Pierre called, so did Carlo and Larry. The flop came QJ10. Eeverybody checked. The turn came a 5, everybody checked to Larry, who bet $50. Rick folded, Jean Pierre raised to $150, fold from Carlo, Larry called after some hesitation. The river card was a 3. Jean Pierre went all-in and Larry called flipping his pocket 5's for a set, but JP was holding 89c and had flopped the straight. Larry was crippled to just $21.
Chip stacks after 1 hour (nobody busted yet): Ben 335 - Larry 70 - Diego 340 - Rick 410 - Jean Pierre 835 - Dave 315 - Federico 360 - Carlo 535 - Vincent 435 - Giovanni 365.
Ben had been sitting tight waiting for good hands, when one finally came his way: Holding J10 he had bet on a flop of QJ10, but Federico had raised him all-in. Ben was comitted to the pot but was way behind Federio's QJ. A queen on the river sealed Ben's fate and he was first to exit. Second player to leave the table was Larry who had been fighting courageously with his small stack, but in the end Carlo got the best of him. Dave was stacking his last $25 chip and was all-in in the big blind when the level was $15-30. He had to live acrds against Giovanni's overcards but got no help from the board and was out in 8th place.
Chip stacks after 2 hours: Diego 600 - Rick 150 - Jean Pierre 725 - Federico 800 - Carlo 400 - Vincent 625 - Giovanni 700.
I think it is the first time we have seen seven players into the third hour, but now things started to take another pace. Rick was the short stack and soon went all-in. He doubled up spiking an ace on the river, and later he doubled up again. Stil he was next to leave the game, and soon to follow was Diego who had gone all-in UTG at the $50-100 level for his remaining $600. Federico called him with a pair of jacks, a third jack on the turn sealed Diego's fate.and elevated Federico to Huge Stack Status. carlo had lasted for a long time, but after losing a big pot to Giovanni earlier on he was handicapped. Jean Pierre chew him up in the end.with a straight. Giovanni was next to go, then followed Vincent leaving Federico and Jean Pierre to fight it out. When we started the heads-up action Federico had a 3-to-2 chip lead. Only a few hands later, Jean Pierre raised to $450 (blinds now 75-150), and Federico went all-in. Jean Pierre called with AK, but they never improved against Federico's walking sticks (77). Congratulations to federico, who will be our second Costa Rican at the Final Table!
Flush Frenzy and a Fast Frenchman
WSOP Qualifier #9 – April 15th
A promising night with a table full of action seeking players was ahead of us, the line-up looked delicious:
Seat 1: Donatus van Akkeren. The Dutchman’s only stab at it this year.
Seat 2: Steven Rosales, who won his seat at one of the last satellites
Seat 3: Dem, going for his second seat at the Final Table
Seat 4: Carlo. Still sizzling from his victory at Thursday’s TPT
Seat 5: Dustin, who squeezed in at the last minute when Fonseca dropped out
Seat 6: Giovanni Pilurzo who had lost twice heads-up
Seat 7: Larry Daigle. Always to be reckoned with, hasn’t had the last bit of luck that counts.
Seat 8: Diego Quesada. Current GPOY leader, and multi-champion going for his second seat
Seat 9: Big Blind Ben. The Last Mohican look-alike ready to (punk) rock
Seat 10: Jean Pierre Coniglio. “El Cocodrilo” next to the proprietor of the restaurant by the same name.
Action was fast and furious from the get-go. The first three pots we saw were at an average above $200 with the blinds of $1/2! The trend continued and before the first hour we had the first all-in move: Steven had re-raised a pre-flop raise and gotten a couple of callers. Flop came with three clubs and Diego stayed with him. Two red cards on the turn and the river before Steven pushed all his chips to the middle. Diego stood up and finally mad the call with his jack high flush, but Steven had the nut flush and doubled up through Diego.
Despite the fast action, nobody was out of the picture at the break: Don 345 – Steven 525 – Dem 735 – Carlo 420 – Dustin 470 – Giovanni 340 – Larry 485 – Diego 245 – Ben 220 – Jean Pierre 215.
Just a few hands into the next level we had the first casualty. This time Diego went all-in when he caught his flush, but Ben had the nut flush and Diego was out. Next player out was Don who just mucked when his saw Carlo’s King of spades together with the four spades on the board. Later he said he held the Queen. How many flush over flush would we see tonight?! Steven’s tear on the other chip stacks ended when he bluffed himself all-in against Carlo and Jean Pierre. Carlo had top two pair, but JP had Three Kings and sent Steven home while piling up a lot of chips. The Frenchman was the shortest stack but was now building himself up to become the chip leader.
Stacks after 2 hours (average 571): Dem 525 – Carlo 375 – Dustin 575 – Giovanni 500 – Larry 350 – Ben 425 – Jean Pierre 1,250.
Larry lost a pot early to leave him with the shortest stack, and he finally went all-in with two callers. The flop came with an ace, and he stood up from his seat ready to leave. Another ace came and some rags, Dem showed 99, Carlo 55 but they could not hurt Larry’s QQ and he tripled up. Giovanni was next to go all-in under the gun. Ben went all-in over the top of that, and then Jean Pierre went all-in!! Giovanni held A2s, Ben had the queens but Jean Pierre had the kings! The flop came J-10-9 giving Ben an open-ended straight draw. The turn was a rag, but a king hit on the river and Ben won the biggest pot of the night so far. Dustin was next to go all-in with KQ, but was dominated by Jean Pierre’s AK. The action dealer Rasta was ready and able to entertain: Flop came xxJ, then a 9 and then a 10 to fill up Dustin’s straight!
Carlo had raised preflop and Dem called him. The board showed two clubs when Carlo pushed it all to the middle with top pair and top kicker, but Dem’s 10-5 of clubs caught the flush and sent Carlo home to La Garita. The miracle’s seemed to dry up from here. Dem committed himself all the way from pre-flop to the river with a Kd10s. His last chips went in when Jean Pierre went all-in on the 3-spade flop. Jean Pierre had trip queens, and Dem never caught the flush. He survived with one chip, and managed to stay alive for a round of hands before the harsh realities caught up with him. Next out was Dustin when his AK failed to pair up against Ben’s pair of tens, but both Ben and Dem went out in the same hand against Jean Pierre who went into the heads-up battle against Larry with a more than 3-2 chip lead. The theme of the night was once again thrown in our faces about ten hands into the duel, when Larry went all-in after catching his 10-high flush on the turn. What did Jean Pierre hold? A Jack-high flush!! Congratulations to the Frenchman, who was heads-up second time in a row, and for the second time in a row speeded up the game to end it in less than three hours.
The Veteran’s Victory
Qualifier #10 – April 22nd
This was the last chance to win a seat at the Final Table – and it showed! Days before the game began players would be calling me to check if there would be any seats available, and when we got ready to play, everybody was in their seat before 7 p.m.!
Seat 1: Diego Quesada. Going for a double stack
Seat 2: Larry Daigle. Going for a stack
Seat 3: Dem. Another double stack candidate
Seat 4: Mike Fonseca. Showed up with a towel over the shoulder and his new Marcel Luske style double set of glasses. No cookies, though!
Seat 5: Giovanni Pilurzo. Stepped up when Christi had to cancel in the last hour before the game.
Seat 6: Vincent Asquith aka Don Diego de la Vega.
Seat 7: Dave Ellis, the experienced player from Playa Potrero
Seat 8: Tom Fitzpatrick. Visiting from Santa Ana to give it one last chance.
Seat 9: Ralph Nellis. A seasoned poker player with experience from big events in the states.
Seat 10: Carlo Beltramo. For the tenth time this season Carlo was playing a qualifier.
There were fireworks right from the start. The first two hands created huge pots, and both were won by Ralph with no showdown. The next half hour Ralph would be giving lessons in aggressive tournament poker and how to take control of a table. Just 40 minutes into the tournament Ralph had already more than doubled his initial chip stack and only had to show a hand once. However, just a few hands later he bluffed away half his stack and doubled up Dave when he was called down to the river with nothing but an ace-high against Dave’s two pairs. Larry got to take out the first player when Tom went all-in when he hit a set of 3’s. Larry had both an open-ended straight and a flush draw, and he hit the flush on the river to send Tom back to Santa Ana just before the break:
Diego 200 – Larry 770 – Dem 10 – Fonseca 905 – Giovanni 295 – Vincent 335 – Dave 885 – Nellis 425 – Carlo 175
Big stack Fonseca continued his run of good cards and flops and built his stack even larger. Dave maintained his stack, while Larry got in trouble. He had raised preflop and got a call from Carlo. Flop came A83. Both players ended up with their stacks in the middle, but Larry’s AK did not improve against Carlo’s A8. The rest of this hour was a bit quiet – perhaps because Ralph Nellis could not puch players around with his smaller stack.
Chip count after 2 hours: Diego 425 – Larry 200 – Fonseca 1,075 – Giovanni 175 – Vincent 225 – Dave 725 – Nellis 250 – Carlo 875.
Not long into the third hour it looked like Ralph was finally getting into real trouble. He didn’t believe Dave had anything on a A95 flop, so he pushed all-in with a pair of 3’s. Dave called with AK and was way ahead. The turn brought a 2 and the river a 4! Runner-runner straight for Ralph to double him up and stay in the competition. Ralph doubled up once more through Dave to take him out just a few hands later, and now it turned into a blood bath. By the time we went heads-up the blinds were only just 75/150, but now Ralph had a 2-to-1 chip lead over Mike Fonseca, who had maintained his cool and stayed in there. The first few hands of the heads-up game gave Mike a lot of Nellis chips, but not enough to take the lead. In the last hand of the night Mike raised pre-flop, Nellis went all-in and Mike called. He was in bad shape with his A6 vs. Ralph’s AK, and he did not improve.
Tomight Ralph demonstrated his willingness to be aggressive and his ability to jump out of the grave just as you think it is time to hammer on the lid of the coffin. The Final Table is set with a guarantee to deliver some exciting poker!
Revisiting WSOP
Final Table – April 28th
Eventually it had to happen – it was time to find out who would go to Las Vegas and compete with thousands of other hopefuls for the World Championship title 2007. The culmination after 14 satellites and 10 qualifiers was designed to be the best test of skill and endurance so far seen in Tamarindo. A mix of deep stacks and a structure with slowly rising blinds was to ensure that whoever would stand tall at the end of the day, he would probably be in good shape in Vegas too. In the last minutes before the game began, Jean Pierre sold his seat to Giuseppe Russo, so the line-up was:
Seat 1: Giuseppe Russo
Seat 2: Ralph Knauer
Seat 3: Diego Quesada
Seat 4: Ralph Nellis
Seat 5: Jeff Herrman
Seat 6: Federico Bonilla
Seat 7: Chad Gaston
Seat 8: Dem
Seat 9: Henrik
Seat 10: Carlo Beltramo
Nellis started the fireworks in the same style he had applied one week earlier when he won the tenth qualifier: Raising and re-raising!! With starting stacks of $3,000 and the blinds at $5/10, he was first to go all-in in the second hand of the day!? He made another all-in move a little later, followed by a punishment move all-in by Diego which could not be called. The two Ralphs were dominating the table, and Diego had won a nice share as well. Giuseppe lost a big chunk of change when he had to lay down his pocket aces on a KK10 flop after Chad re-raised his bet. It was a good lay-down, Chad had AK. Before the first break, Nellis got into real trouble, thinking he could outbluff the other Ralph, and in the end he felt pot committed with his top pair weak kicker. Knauer took all his chips with the top kicker (he caught AK three hands in a row), and we were down to 9 after two levels:
Giuseppe 3,235 – Ralph 4,725 – Diego 4,420 – Jeff 2,815 – Federico 2,735 – Chad 3,220 – Dem 3,615 – Henrik 2,535 – Carlo 2,700
Carlo lost a couple of expensive pots at the third level, but managed to double up through Ralph when he hit Ace high flush versus Ralph’s King high flush. Unfortunately It did not last for more than a round of hands, when he decided to call all the way with trip deuces against a board with four hearts – Ralph took it all back with his lonely ace of hearts in the hole. Henrik and Federico were struggling as well after 4 levels (average 3,333):
Giuseppe 3,575 – Ralph 8,850 – Diego 3,200 Jeff 3,525 – Federico 1,525 – Chad 4,450 – Dem 2,750 – Henrik 800 – Carlo 1,325
In severe danger of getting annihilated I was looking for hands to make a move and double up. I did not get any callers on my first couple of all-ins, but the third time Federico did: He was in front with his AJ against my KQ, and the flop came 567 with two diamonds giving me a backdoor flush draw to the king. Turn was 8 and the river was a 9 for a straight on the board, but hey: There were both diamonds!! The “Diamond King” had showed its strength and doubled me up. Later Giuseppe was all-in and Federico called with KQ, but this time it didn’t work against Giuseppe’s A9. Next player to leave the table was Carlo – again with KQ – who decided to go all-in on a board of low cards, but Ralph had paired up and sent Carlo home early.
One dramatic hand occurred when short stacked Federico went all-in on a board showing 5Q10, two spades. I had him covered holding QJ, I called as did Jeff, creating a side pot. Now another jack came on the turn and I went all-in, Jeff called reluctantly with Q10, and Federico flipped over K10 of spades for the flush draw, I was in the lead. However, a 9 came on the river to triple up Federico with a straight to the king, while I took the side pot and Jeff was crippled.
Dem had been struggling for a while too, after giving away too many chips to me with a mere bottom pair. He finally went all the way but lost his last chip to me. Soon followed Jeff who also contributed to a still humble (but growing) stack in front of me.
After 6 levels and 4 hours of play the chip counts were (average 5,000): Giuseppe 2,800 – Ralph 8,875 – Diego 8,350 – Federico 4,275 - Chad 3,700 – Henrik 2,000
Giuseppe was on the verge of becoming extinct when he went all-in for $625 with K9. Chad called him with pocket sevens, and it looked like a done deal when a seven came on the flop, but Giuseppe caught his inside straight on the turn, and the river brought no further help for Chad. In the very next hand Giuseppe doubled up through Ralph, and he was back in the race.
Diego and I had a couple of clashes, and he claims he laid down the kings when I re-raised him big pre-flop. I have promised to say what I was holding, and it was not a good lay-down Diego: I had QQ. A lot of chips shifted owners at this stage. The previous chip leader Ralph had lost most of his stack now and both Federico and Giuseppe were short too. Federico finally lost his chips to Giuseppe and had to leave this year’s version of the WSOP Challenge, we hope to see this great player again next time.
Chad was getting a little short. In a hand he limped in (so did I on the button), Giuseppe called, and the Ralph raised big in the big blind. Chad re-raised, Ralph went all-in and Chad was delighted to flip over AA. They held up and elevated him to new chip leader. Later Ralph looked dead when he made a move all-in with KJ against Chad’s AK, but a lonely jack on the board was enough to survive and double up.
Chad was still chip leader at the last hand of the 8th level, when he raised in position. I decided to defend my blind with a mere 10-7. Flop came 10-7-4, two hearts. Chad bet 1,000. I made a miscalculation of my stack, thinking I would be pot committed with any decent raise when I in fact had 2,000 more than I thought, so I did not get Chad to call my all-in, but I did take over a small advantage in the chip count (average 6,000):
Giuseppe 2,000 – Ralph 2,675 – Diego 8,625 – Chad 8,000 - Henrik 8,700
The players went on dinner break, time to relax and get ready for the next rounds – tension was mounting, but in a relaxed way, everybody anxious to see the outcome. The free beer in Pasatiempo’s cooler helped keep the railbirds around – a very nice atmosphere. Thank you to Pasatiempo, Ron, Janet and the entire staff for hosting these events.
Back at the the felt it wasn’t long before Diego decided to move. Blinds were $200/400 with a $25 ante, but Diego moved all-in. I was in the big blind and looked down on pocket rockets – nice!! They held up against Diego’s 44, exit Diego and I was a monster leader with more than half the chips on the table. The very next hand gave me pocket jacks and Giuseppe called when I put him all-in. I don’t remember what he had, but I remember the 55J on the flop, ciao regazzo.
A few hands later Ralph and I were in a pot together with a Q9x flop. I had top pair and decided to slow play expecting a move by Ralph. He went all-in with K9 and I called, but a 9 on the river doubled him up. Soon after we repeated the showdown, now Ralph had the lead with KJ on a king high flop, dominating my K6. The 6 on the turn evened the suck-outs and Ralph was out in third place.
Going into the heads-up session, blinds were $300/600 with a $50 ante. I had the chip lead to begin with, but ahead of us was a long and wearing battle between two players who just did not want to lose this one. We were heads-up for more than 90 minutes, each taking turns in being chip leader. I thought I had won it when Chad went all-in on a A45 flop, and I was holding 43. I had a 3-to-1 lead at the time, and decided to call. Chad had 36 for the open ended straight draw, and he filled it to the 6 with a deuce on the turn. Back to even stacks.
At 10:45 Chad raised me on the button, and I decided to defend my blind with 65d. The flop came 556 (hold my breath!!). I checked and I could hardly believe my luck when I heard Chad say “all-in”! It became way too interesting when a 9 came on the turn to match Chad’s Q9, but no nine came to save him on the river, and it was over!
I would like to thank all 42 players who made this event a spectacular celebration of poker. Special thanks to Alfredo (Rasta) who proved to be an excellent dealer and a buddy - not only to me but to everybody. Hope to see you all at next year's WSOP Challenge!
|
|
