$1,500 Limit Omaha

It's Never Too Late
By Max Shapiro

Jack Duncan is a 74 year-old grandfather. His business endeavors have included farming, ranching, cruise ships, casinos and banking. He goes way back in poker, having played pot-limit and no-limit with such legends as Benny Binion and Sam Boyd. A full life and time to hit the rocking chair, right? Heck, he's just getting started. He also has a new wife and two new kids, a 4-year-old and one 1-1/2. And, oh, yes, he just won his first WSOP bracelet, for pot-limit Omaha. "I thought I had 'em all outfoxed, he chuckled afterwards."

The tournament, which lasted more than 150 hands, was a tumultous affair, especially when it got three-handed, with the lead changing hands more often than at a square dance. Frequently low-chipped and all in, Duncan just kept pushing in his chips and bouncing back until he was the last man standing.
At the start, this was the seating position and chip count:

Seat # Player Chip Count
1. Humberto Brenes $68,000
2. Sam Farha 77,000
3. Jim Huntley 51,000
4. Ross Boatman 18,500
5. Steve Zolotow 20,500
6. Bob Walker 26,500
7. Barney Boatman 32,000
8. Jack Duncan 69,500
9. Lindy Chambers 108,500
10. Bill Gazes 27,500

LOTS OF BRACELETS HERE
This was no easy table. Among the seven bracelets at the table were four held by prior pot-limit Omaha winners. It was also the first time in WSOP history that two brothers have made the same final table. Ross (Rocky) Boatman, an actor, and "Barmy" Barney Boatman, a writer, are both from London.

BILL HORSES AROUND
Blinds started off at $1,000 and $2,000 with 90-minute levels. Seeking more action, Bill Gazes had also been commuting to the H.O.R.S.E. tournament which was going on simultaneously. This might have affected his concentration, because he only lasted four hands. Holding J-10-9-7, he flopped top two, committed all his chips and was busted out when Sam Farha, holding A-K-Q-6 with A-K of hearts, hit a flush on the turn. Even more unfortunate for him, Bill didn't get very far in the H.O.R.S.E. event either.

FIRE ONE TORPEDO
On the very next hand, one of the Boatman boys sunk to the bottom. Barney brought it in for $11,000 holding A-A-Q-8 and got called by Sam Farha and Jim Huntley, both pot-limit Omaha bracelet holders. When the flop came Q-A-3 of spades, Huntley moved in with a 10-6 of spades in his hand. Barney, with a set of aces, called with his remaining chips and couldn't fill.

Only seven more hands went by before the next player was eliminated. Vegas pro Bob Walker held J-J-9-7 on the button. When the flop came 10-6-3, he bet $8,000 with an inside straight draw as well as the jacks. Chambers called with A-10-5-2. When a 5 turned, Chambers bet $8,500 on his two pair. "Raise!" Walker announced, though all he had to raise with was his last $1,000. A river 9 didn't help, and Bob took a walk. With three players gone in 12 hands, it looked like it might be a short night for this volatile game, but that turned out to be far from the case.

WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE?
Humberto Brenes did, and Walker's departure had special meaning for him. Brenes needed just $12,000 more in WSOP earnings to join the select million-dollar winner club, and that did it for the pride of San Jose, Costa Rica, who now has 27 money finishes at the WSOP.

FIRE TORPEDO TWO
After another seven hands went by, Chambers, who started with the chip lead, still held onto it with about $110,000, while Huntley and Duncan came next with about $80,000 and $72,000 respectively. Ross, the second Boatman boy, trailed with $10,500, and that only lasted two more hands. In middle position, he opened for $7,000 with K-K-7-6 and got called by Duncan and Farha. Boatman made two pair on a flop of 8-7-6 and bet all in for $3,500. Duncan called and then Farha check-raised another 10k. When a jack turned to give him a set, Jack bet $26,000 and Sam folded. Ross was now dead to a king, and when a nine came on the river, there were two Boatmans on the bottom.

Steve Zolotow, who has bracelets in pot-limit hold'em and Chinese poker and has now racked up 21 World Series money finishes, is known far and wide as a truly nice guy. This nice guy didn't finish last tonight, but he didn't get past 6th place, either. After he raised to $7,000 in late position with K-Q-J-8, he had to think long and hard, his hands behind his head, when Duncan came over the top on the button for $16,000 more. With a Q-7-2 flop, he checked, and Duncan said, "Bet all your chips." Zolotow finally called for $21,000 and went broke when Jack showed him two aces.

A NEW LEADER, BRIEFLY
A few hands later, Huntley took over the chip lead when a board of 2-2-5-J-K gave him jacks-full to Duncan's deuces-full. On the river, Huntley bet $67,000 and hauled in a $170,000 pot when Duncan saw him. But after losing a couple of other pots, Huntley headed downhill and Chambers took over the lead.

Blinds now went to $1,500 and $3,000. As chips moved back and forth, more than an hour passed with five players in action. On hand 64, Jack went all in for the first time. After Huntley made it $6,000 to go, Jack came over the top for $18,000 total. When the flop came 4-4-6, he moved in for $9,500 and suddenly was back up to $56,000 when his two queens held up against Huntley's 9s.

DO I HAVE A 4 ANYWHERE?
The field finally got down to four when Jack raised to $10,000 and Jim called. The flop was 4-4-5. "Let's see if I have a 4," Jack said. He didn't, but he did hold two aces and bet the pot, $31,000. A chip-depleted Huntley, holding K-K-8-6, called and put the rest of his chips in when a deuce turned. No king arrived to help, and Duncan suddenly was up to $125,000. He increased that to close to $150,000 when an 8-7 of hearts in his hand gave him a flush to beat Chambers.

When blinds rose to $2,000-$4,000 on hand 77, Chambers still clung to his chip lead. The count read:

Lindy Chambers: $170,000
Jack Duncan 145,000
Sam Farha 110,000
Humberto Brenes 70,000

But then the chips took yet another swing. Sam made a nut club flush on the turn to crush Jack's two pair and now he was the leader.

ACES VERSUS ACES, BUT NO TIE
In contrast to the free-swinging Duncan, Brenes had been playing much more selectively, waiting for premium hands. He finally found one when he looked at A-A-6-3 with a suited ace of hearts. After a couple of raises, he went all in for about $48,000 against Farha. But then Sam turned over an even better hand: A-A-Q-Q with a suited ace of diamonds. Brenes at this point would have settled for a split, but a flop of Q-J-5 gave Sam a set and Humberto no outs, and the WSOP's newest millionaire checked out in fourth place.

The chip count now stood at:

Sam Farha: $270,000
Lindy Chambers 190,000
Jack Duncan 35,000

UP AND DOWN, DOWN AND UP
Things looked grim for Jack Duncan at this point, but the old rancher still had plenty of fight left. Going all in against Sam, he made a straight and bounced back to the $100,000 mark. Cummings paid tribute to his comeback with a chorus of "Back in the Saddle Again."

THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD
As the event neared the marathon stage, approaching 100 hands with no end in sight, tournament co-director Matt Savage noted that the tournament was now in its 17th hour. Finally, it was Duncan's turn to become chip leader. He bet $48,000 into a flop of 4-4-9 and two spades, and another $85,000 when a queen of spades turned. Giving him credit for a flush, Chambers folded, muttering that he would have busted Jack if the spade hadn't turned. Jack now had accumulated about $235,000 while Chambers had around $200,000 and Farha was down to $60,000. But then Sam recovered, picking up a couple of pots, then hauling in a $166,000 pot against Jack when he made kings and aces against queens and aces.

LET'S MAKE A DEAL
As Duncan became the lowest chipped with $90,000, his two opponents tried to talk him into a deal to speed things up, but he stubbornly refused. At the dinner break, he had recovered somewhat, but still trailed with $122,000 to Chambers' $225,000 and Farha's $148,000. At that point, they had finally come to terms.

FOLLOW THE LEADER
Returning from the break, they were playing with blinds of $3,000 and $6,000. As the hands played out, Duncan clawed back to the chip lead, then Farha took over, and then Chambers. Finally, after even more swings, a depleted Farha bet his last $35,000. He held A-Q-5-4, and a board of 3-3-5-A had given him aces and 5s. But Chambers, holding Q-Q-4-2, had made a wheel, and, at long last, the tournament had gotten heads-up.

NEARING THE END
A couple of hands later, a dramatic hand developed that settled the battle for all intents and purposes. Jack raised to $36,000 holding K-K-7-5. When the flop came Q-10-6, Jack bet $105,000. Chambers, with Q-10-8-2, had made two pair and put Duncan in for the rest of his chips. But a king on the turn gave Jack a set, and a river 10 gave him kings-full versus Chambers' queens full. With only $10,000 left, Lindy's chambers were almost bare, and he blind bet the 10k on the next hand in his small blind. The cards were dealt. It was A-9-8-7 for Duncan, 9-8-5-2 for Chambers. The board was dealt: Q-J-9-K-9. Both players made three 9s, but Duncan's ace kicker was the difference, and at age 74, Jack Duncan had his first bracelet.

Final Official Results
$1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha
Entrants: 151
Rebuys: 138
Add-Ons 41
Prize Pool: $481,410

1. Jack Duncan Las Vegas, NV $192,560
2. Lindy Chambers Baton Rouge, LA 96,280
3. Sam Farha Houston, TX 48,140
4. Humberto Brenes San Jose, Costa Rica 28,880
5. Jim Huntley Smyrna, GA 21,660
6. Steve Zolotow Las Vegas, NV 16,840
7. Ross Boatman London, Eng. 12,040
8. Bob Walker Las Vegas, NV 9,620
9. Barney Boatman London, Eng. 7,700
10. Bill Gazes Las Vegas, NV 5,780
11th-12th: Doug Booth, James Meehan 5,780
13th-15th: Dody Roach, Benny Binion Behnen, Gary Jones 5,300
16th-18th: Robin Keston, "Amarillo Slim," William Randels 4,820

SPECIAL NOTE FROM ANDY GLAZER

My thanks to Max Shapiro for filling in the last couple of days. I took one off and then played the $2,000 H.O.R.S.E. event today. If I'd gotten my Razz cards during the stud rounds I'd probably be the chip leader, but as it is, I'll be back at the final table covering Johnny "World" Hennigan's attempt to bring home his more than 2-1 chip lead over his nearest competitor. A very hot and confident Phil Ivey will be there, too.

Meanwhile, there is a new event at this year's WSOP, a special $2,500 buy-in heads-up match play event open only to players who have won a WSOP gold bracelet sometime in their lives. The field was limited to 32 players, and although 301 have won bracelets (no one is sure of the exact number of that total who are still alive, although it is the great majority of them), only 29 took up the challege.

The game is no-limit hold'em, and the field is played out as a single elimination tournament, much like a tennis tournament would be, although there are no seedings. Players are supposed to play their matches as soon as is reasonably practicable, although no finite times have been set.

Here are the first round brackets, with results so far:

Men "the Master" Nguyen def. Mike Carson
Daniel Negreanu def. Scotty Nguyen

Erik Seidel received a bye (random draw)
Johnny Chan def. Amarillo Slim Preston (more on this match in a moment)

Diego Cordovez def. Huberto Brenes
Barry Shulman def. Berry Johnston

Mike Laing def. T.J. Cloutier
Mickey Appleman received a bye
(Laing def. Appleman in second round)

Mel Weiner will oppose Phil Hellmuth, Jr.
Jim Lester will oppose Allen Cunningham

Steve Zolotow def. David Pham
Billy Baxter def. Chris Ferguson

Tom McEvoy def. "Captain" Tom Franklin
Jennifer Harman received a bye

Dave "Devilfish" Ulliott def. Syracuse Chris Tsiprailidis
Phil Ivey def. Jim Bechtel
(Ivey defeated Ulliott in second round)

I had the pleasure, albeit a brief one, of watching the Preston-Chan match. Preston is one of poker's all-time great talkers and players, and of course Chan is one of poker's all-time great players.

Someone in the crowd it was a meeting of "East Meets West," and Slim, poker's ultimate Texan, asked Johnny "are you from the West?" After five minutes or so of sparring for small amounts, Preston bet $300 at a pot with all five community cards exposed and a pair of fives on the board.

Chan thought for a while and re-raised Preston $600 more. Slim, who has a terrific match play record (he came in second last year in the first annual World Heads-Up Championships in Vienna, Austria), tried some information gathering and verbal artistry on Chan.

"I think you may be runnin' without the ball," Slim said, his classic expression for someone he believes is bluffing.

"Ain't nothing you can do about it," replied Chan, one of poker's coolest customers.

"Shucks, he was taking advantage of my good nature," said Slim. "I guess all I can do is raise here the rest of these chips." Slim pushed the rest of his stack in, a raise of about $600.

Chan thought for a while, and Slim continued to coffeehouse him. "Oh, don't call, ah don't think ah could take the embarrassment," Slim said. Chan didn't reply, but kept thinking for a while. Slim kept up a running line of patter, and finally Chan called.

Slim turned over 6-5, for trip fives, a hand Slim had to believe was the winner, looking at the raggy board. He'd been trying to induce a call.

Chan turned over 10-5, trip fives with a better kicker, and the match was over, a shame not for its result, but just for the poker treat is it watching both of these great champions play.

We get a pretty nice consolation prize, though. Chan's win means that his second round match will be against Erik Seidel. Yep, the same Erik Seidel that Chan beat in 1988, and the same Erik Seidel who gained a significant measure of revenge over in last years $3,000 no-limit hold'em event (for details, see the poker.casino.com archived story, "A Chance for Redemption."

I can hardly wait. "Chan vs. Seidel III: This Time, It's Personal."

Andy Glazer

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