$1,500
Seven-Card Stud Hi-Lo Split
No
Substitute for Experience
By Max Shapiro
Not long into the final table, it seemed likely that the two
big chip leaders would be staging a race for the stud hi-lo bracelet.
The difference was that one of them was a well-known veteran who
had been playing stud for 30 years and who had won more than 100
tournaments of all types, including three World Series events, while
his opponent was a young man playing his first WSOP event ever.
It was a horse-race for a while, but in the end, the cagey and confident
Eskimo Clark got all the chips, beating Andrew Prock. The Oakland,
California resident played extremely well, but his prior experience
was limited to playing on the Internet and at the Oaks Club, where
he got into the WSOP by winning a free-roll.
There were still nine players left when they got to the 12th level
the first day, so those finalists assembled at 2 p.m. the following
day to play down to eight. Limits were $3,000-$6,000, with $500
antes and a $1,000 low-card bring-in. Chip counts were:
Andrew Prock $90,000
George Shah 53,000
Frankie Hendrickson 48,000
Paul "Eskimo" Clark 43,500
Vince Oliver 35,500
Matt Lefkowitz 30,000
David Levi 28,000
Thor Hansen 25,500
Randall Skaggs 6,500
It took 35 minutes to lose the ninth player. Just before that, Frankie
Hendrickson, a sweet and unaffected houswife, left Vince Oliver
with only $3,000 when she scooped with a set of 5s after going all
in for the third time. The lady, who rarely plays WSOP events, has
only one prior final table credit, in the ladies event.
QUEENS AREN'T THAT GREAT IN HI-LO
But it was Randall Skaggs, starting with only $6,500, who missed
the cut. He made a dubious play, raising with pocket queens against
David Levi's low upcard and went all in for his last $1,000 on the
next betting round. Levi just won the Bellagio's initial $3,000
no-limit tournament. (This made him, he noted on his bio sheet,
the all-around money leader at that casino.) He was free-rolling
when he completed a low on fifth street and then paired his ace,
while Skaggs couldn't improve his queens.
As the players prepared to consolidate to one table, drawings were
begun for the match-play event which pitted bracelet holders in
heads-up play. This produced the biggest laugh of the tournament
to date. Someone remarked that a perfect match-up would be Mel Weiner
(pronounced "Wine-er") against Phil Hellmuth, which would
produce the Weiner versus the Whiner. Sure enough, those names were
drawn, and that's how what tournament co-director Matt Savage announced
it.
Final-table player position and chip count was:
Seat
# Player Chip Count
1. David Levi $52,000
2. Thor Hansen 31,500
3. Frankie Hendrickson 9,500
4. Eskimo Clark 77,500
5. George Shah 38,000
6. Andrew Prock 127,500
7. Vince Oliver 2,500
8. Matt Lefkowitz 21,500
Asked how he got so many chips, Prock said he just treated the chips
"like buttons."
He also got very lucky, he added: "Flush on the river ... flush
on the river ..."
SWING HIGH, SWING LOW
Earlier, there were some big chip swings. At the 4th and 5th-table
levels, Eskimo had about $50,000, then dipped down to about $20,000
before recovering. Both David Chiu and Spring Cheong had around
$30,000 at that stage, but neither could make it past the third
table. "The cards just died on me," Spring said. At the
other end, Poker Digest columnist Matt Lessinger had been in survival
mode at that point with about $2,000 left. Then, dealt pocket aces,
he won a big pot with aces and 8s and began to surge ahead, arriving
the next day with a respectable $30,000.
Final-table limits were still $3,000 and $6,000, with 47:21 remaining.
It took less than four minutes to lose two players. On the second
hand, Lefkowitz, showing 6-6-K-3, called down
realtor George Shah, who started with pocket 8s and made a set on
fourth street along with an 8-low. Matt, who has three prior WSOP
final table finishes (2nd, 3rd and 4th) mucked his hand without
showing his down cards and departed.
On the next hand, Oliver started with Q-J/A of spades and went all
in for $1,000. He caught a fourth spade, missed his flush but made
a 7-5 low with no pair. Eskimo, starting with 3-6/4, made a 6-4
low and paired his 4, and the field was quickly down to six.
SOCCER
PRO MISSES THE NET
Going all in again on hand 9, Hendrickson survived again when her
pocket 8s held up against Levi. The former pro soccer player from
Israel lasted one more hand. He started with a splendid low hand
of 3-4/6 and called called when Prock, with pocket jacks and an
ace door-card, raised. Levi proceeded to pair his 6, then his 3.
Prock, who caught two running 7s, continued to bet all the way.
Levi reluctantly called on the river with his last $2,000 and lost
to Prock's bigger two-pair.
THE
LADY SURVIVES ... FOR A WHILE
Hendrickson, a careful player who waits for strong starting hands,
continued to play the survival game, going all in and winning with
trip 9s on the 12th hand, then splitting with Eskimo on hand 16.
"Hang in there, girl," Carolyn Gardner shouted encouragingly
from the bleachers.
She didn't hang on for long. On hand 19 she decided to go with 5-6/5
and completed the bet to $3,000. On fourth street, Eskimo had four
spades and three babies. Hendrickson, despite catching bricks on
fourth and fifth streets, went all in for $3,000. Her two fives
were still good until the river when Eskimo nailed an ace of spades
to end the Indiana lady's dream of glory.
THE
BIG STACKS COLLIDE
On the next hand, the two big stacks collided when Eskimo and Prock
went at it. Clark folded on fifth street when Prock showed 3-5-A,
and Andy had increased his chip lead to about $150,000. Five hands
later, Andy's 6s and 3s were enough to scoop George Shah, and his
stacks hit the $170,000 mark. But two hands later, he made a face
and abandoned a pot when Eskimo, showing A-Q-3-6 and three diamonds,
bet the river. The players now took a short break with this chip
count:
Prock:
$158,000
Eskimo: 119,000
Shah: 63,000
Hansen: 20,000
Rounds were increased to 90 minutes, with the same $500 antes, $1,500
low-card forced bet and limits of $4,000-$8,000. A long stretch
of early folds and split pots now ensued without major chip movement.
Then, on hand 42, Hansen apparently missed a low draw and was left
with just $4,000 with Prock made 10s and 9s. Still, the one-bracelet
pro from Oslo, Norway, who has several European championships to
his credit, stubbornly hung on for another 25 hands before leaving
the table. He got some breathing room on the 43rd hand when he went
all in with rolled-up 7s and made a full house bigger than Prock's,
and then again two hands later when he made straight on the river
to again beat Prock.
THE
WILD MAN HAS SETTLED DOWN
Meanwhile on hand 56, the big stacks collided again. Eskimo still
plays a lot of hands and is not afraid to mix it up, but these days
he has tempered his style of play, which once approached lunatic-aggressive.
Starting with 4-5/5, he made two pair to scoop Prock and take the
chip lead, $160,000-$150,000. Six hands later he was up to $170,000
when he bet his heart draw on fifth street and Prock folded with
a board of A-9-Q.
On hand 67, Thor started with 2-4/3 and called when Eskimo made
the obligatory completion raise to $4,000 with an ace showing. Eskimo
paired his ace on fourth street and bet out. Thor, catching a fourth
low card, was committed and called all in. "Not much,"
said Eskimo, turning up a Q-9. "I know," Hansen replied.
Thor picked up a spade flush draw on sixth street, but missed everything
and Eskimo froze him out in fourth place.
THE
INEVITABLE SHOWDOWN
Shah left the arena to let the two chip leaders fight it out on
hand 74. On sixth street, he went all in for $5,000 with draws to
a straight flush and an 8-low. The best he could do was to pair
his 3 on the river, and Eskimo's measly split 6s held up.
The two finalists withdrew to talk deal, with Eskimo holding a $189,000-$171,000
chip advantage. The colorful player from New Orleans was sure he'd
win, but had enough respect for his opponent's play to generously
agree to a save for second place.
BUT
IT'S NOT OVER YET
It was far from a sure thing. On hand 78, Eskimo started with 4-4/5
and made 4s full on the river. He bet and Prock check-raised him.
"Hmm," said Eskimo, making an uncertain call. Prock turned
up pocket queens for queens-full, and now had over $200,000. But
a few hands later, Eskimo took the lead again with $190,000 when
Prock folded on sixth against Eskimo's3-3-J-5. On hand 91 Eskimo
hauled in a $65,000 pot with two pair and surged into a lead of
$250,000.
Vince Burgio had been pressed into service as a guest play-by-play
announcer, and a very good one, too. Strolling by, the irrepressible
John Bonetti said he'd take the job, but only if they paid him.
THE
FINAL CURTAIN
On hand 94, limits were stepped up to $6,000-$12,000 with $1,000
antes and a $2,000 bring-in. On the first hand at those limits,
Eskimo, going for a 6-low, tried a bet on sixth street, only to
be raised to $24,000. With a shrug, he called, then folded and abandoned
a $98,000 pot on the river, showing a pair of 6s. "I might
have had the best hand," he said wistfully. P:rock had now
closed the gap, $175,000-$185,000, but it was downhill from there
on.
On hand 98, Prock released on sixth street against Eskimo's 4-A-8-A,
leaving him with only $80,000. Hand 102 was the crusher. Prock raised
with a 10 door-card and Eskimo, with A-5/3, re-raised. On sixth
street, Eskimo had an 8-5 made, then caught a deuce on the river
for a wheel, leaving Prock with only $3,500. It lasted four hands.
On the final hand, Eskimo had J-7/A-2-J-A and four diamonds on sixth
street. Prock had A-8/A-Q-2-9. His only out was another queen (unless
Eskimo also made his flush), but he caught an 8 to end the match.
Aferwards, Eskimo complimented his young opponent, but thought he
had made a mistake betting his third queen when Eskimo's board was
all low, showing a possible wheel draw, even though that was the
hand when Prock made queens full to Eskimo's 4s full. As for his
own play, Eskimo felt he had made no mistakes in the entire tournament.
This is Eskimo Clark's fourth bracelet, the others being in razz,
$5,000 stud and limit Omaha. He's especially proud of his stud win,
because the final table included Doyle Brunson, Ray Rumler, Artie
Cobb and other top players.
FINAL
OFFICIAL RESULTS
$1,500 Seven-Card Stud Hi-Lo
Entrants: 240
Prize Pool: $338,400
1. Eskimo Clark $125,200
2. Andrew Prock 64,300
3. George Shah 32,120
4. Thor Hansen 20,300
5. Frankie Hendrickson 16,900
6. David Levi 13,520
7. Vince Oliver 10,160
8. Matt Lefkowitz 7,100
9th-12th: $4,740 Randall Skaggs, Lonnie Heimowitz, Jeff Han, Mike
Krescanco.
14th-16th: $3,380 Danny Allgood, Robert Mangino,Larry Eubanks, Ray
Rumler.
17th-24th: $2,040 David Silverberg, Steve Schulman, David Chiu,
Joe Schulman,
Bill Cole, Chae To Shin, Andreas Krause, Spring Cheong.
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