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$1,500
Buy-in Razz
|
|
Seat |
Name |
Chips |
|
1 |
David Rabbi |
$17,900 |
|
2 |
David Levi |
$37,300 |
|
3 |
Stan Goldstein |
$24,600 |
|
4 |
Michael "Chico" Flynn |
$27,300 |
|
5 |
Jon Brody |
$22,200 |
|
6 |
Robert Williamson III |
$14,200 |
|
7 |
Hassan Kamoei |
$5,100 |
|
8 |
Billy Baxter |
$24,000 |
Kamoei had almost no time to make a move, and he made one on hand #5, when starting with A-2 in the hole he made an eight on fifth street and a sixth on sixth street, leaving Stan Goldstein, who'd made a nine on fifth and who was drawing at a smooth seven on sixth drawing dead. It had only taken five hands for the first "frustration" hand to hit, but at least from the crowd's perspective it was better than the first four hands, which were each of the "bet and take it" variety.
Seven hands later, Jon Brody has his 9-6 made on fifth street, but he could never improve it, and could only watch helplessly as Kamoei caught a deuce he didn't need but then squeezed out (for a VERY long time) an eight to take the pot and put Brody in danger.
"As soon as he (Kamoei) looked back at his cards on the squeeze, I knew it was three-across," said Robert Williamson, a reference to pips on the cards that meant the card had to be an eight, nine or ten. Only the eight could have done it, because a nine would have meant a 9-7, but an eight it was, and Kamoei was back in the fight, while Brody gazed at the pitiful pile of chips he had left and probably felt good that he was also entered in Pot-Limit Omaha tournament that had started two hours earlier.
HUNDREDS DON'T PLAY IN THIS GAME
I'd never seen a WSOP final tablist stack a bundle of hundred dollar bills on the table before, but their purpose became clear when Brody handed them to tournament assistant Jody Ivner as add-on money for the PLO event.
Brody lost the final $400 in final table chips two hands later, a hand probably more notable for a Flynn error than the seemingly inevitable Brody departure. Levi had joined battle in the hand early, and the main pot Brody was contesting was rather small compared to the side pot Levi and Flynn had created. Flynn examined his river card and got so excited at having made a 6-5 low ("I made it!" he cried out) that he forgot to bet it against Levi, who almost certainly would have had to call.
We lost Williamson on the very next hand when his (A-6) 5 start turned into an 8-9-Q finish, leaving him drawing dead to Rabbi's made 6-4 on sixth street.
At this point the starting chips had shifted around enough to make a count estimate worthwhile:
Rabbi, $25,000
Levi, $35,000
Goldstein, $22,000
Flynn, $33,000
Kamoei, 20,000
Baxter, $37,000
We then settled into another of those long "bet and take it" stretches that sometimes make Razz a plausible substitute for the Chinese Water Torture (CWT) when Flynn, who goes by "Chico" because he used to be the smallest of the Beach Patrol guys in Miami Beach, won a pot with a bet and claimed he hadn't been bluffing by saying "I wasn't making a move, because I was thinking about sex."
Michael "Chico" Flynn's day of one-liners had only just begun.
The only significant chip movement during the first CWT stretch was a gradual erosion of Goldstein's stack. Goldstein, a successful LA money and tournament player, had been strictly a lowball guy in his early poker days, so it wasn't a shock to see him at a Razz final table. His history in WSOP Razz pointed to success, too: he'd entered the event here three times (including this event) and made three final tables.
WOULD THAT BE 3-3 OR 0-3?
Goldstein didn't win either of those first two final tables and he didn't win this one either, going out sixth on hand #48 when he got his last 4k in before the flop holding (9-2) 10 against Levi, who held (A-10) 3. Stan then hit 9-6-4, giving him a 10-9 low, but Levi hit 7-6-8 for a made eight, leaving Stan drawing dead. It was a—what's that word again?—frustrating day for Goldstein, who so far as I could tell never played a hand in which his opponent caught any bad cards.
We hit the break after hand #62, and some patterns had emerged. Baxter, who held six WSOP bracelets entering play today (five of them in the small field Deuce-to-Seven event, and the other in the Ace-to-Five lowball draw event), was clearly the best player at the table, making early aggressive moves that other player were unwilling to play back at. Indeed, unless you count those few hands when a player who was virtually down to the cloth went ahead and re-raised his remaining chips all-in, I don't think there was a single re-raise in the first three cards on ANY of the 241 hands played at the final table.
I know Razz is a drawing game, and there's a lot of work to be done with only three cards in one's hand, but zero re-raises tends to give a significant edge to the initial aggressor, and Baxter claimed that role. The chip count at the break was:
Rabbi, $12,000
Levi, $49,000
Flynn, $34,000
Kamoei, 14,000
Baxter, $63,000
The new limits called for $300 antes, a $600 high card bring-in, playing $2,000-$4,000. This meant that after the high card brought the hand in, there was $2,100 in dead money available for a raise to $2,000, pretty favorable odds at a table where no one was doing much playing back, and Baxter just built his stack up at a nice, slow, steady pace.
BAXTER PLAYED THE ODDS, AND THE PLAYERS DIDN'T PLAY BACK
That there was so little defense of the high card was also a bit surprising, because once the raise to $2,000 was made, that meant there was $4,100 on the table that one could attempt to claim by calling the remaining $1,400 and hoping for a good catch while the initial bettor caught bad.
Kamoei and Rabbi seemed locked in a battle for fourth place, but Kamoei was the more aggressive player all day long and despite pulling into a slight lead over Rabbi didn't mind going after more in a hand against Levi when it turned out the cards were
Levi, (A-2) Q-J-6-10 (5)
Kamoei, (K-10) A-6-4-8 (?)
Kamoei again took a long time sweating his river card, and he needed it as it turned out Levi's confidence in his own (A-2) and his own good read on Kamoei's bluff start had Levi leading while Kamoei was sweating the card. Kamoei pulled another trick out of his hat, though, catching a trey to turn his trailing 10-8 into a winning 8-6.
And yes, in case you're wondering, because Kamoei had been the final bettor, Levi could have insisted that Kamoei turn over his cards first, but he went ahead and flipped his five up, causing Kamoei to go into the long sweating routine. I've never understood this one myself: taking a long time to check out the final card isn't going to change the number of pips on it, but many players far better than I seem to like the routine. Me, I just flip the card over, and if it's useful, great, and if it isn't, I could have always chosen chess, but that's just a personal preference.
$48,000, $28,000, WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE?
Although Kamoei had indeed been leading going to the river, his trey was an expensive one for Levi. Kamoei had gotten his final chips all-in on the hand, and if he'd missed, he'd have been out, and Levi would have had about 48k. As it was, he trailed Levi only 28k-20k.
When you can't see the hole cards, it's hard to be sure if a player is card dead or just very conservative, but David Rabbi was easily the most conservative player at the table today, and his stack kept anteing away. The few times he caught promising starting hands, he caught bricks faster than someone who'd been promised time and a half for finishing a hut early, and after one hand when he started with a five up, only to catch K-K, he exclaimed "This is unbelievable."
Cernuto, doing a rather amazing job of making a Razz final table seem interesting, explained to the crowd that "This is what makes Razz players grouchy."
BUT WHERE WERE HARPO AND ZEPPO?
Meanwhile, Chico was anything buy grouchy. He was more like Groucho, wearing wet towels on his head and making comments like "I have to win at least $30,000 today, my dog needs an operation."
Rabbi got grouchy again when Chico battled Rabbi's short-stacked nemesis, Kamoei, and check-called on fifth and sixth street when the boards were
Chico, (??) 7-9-8-7
Kamoei, (??) 5-J-2-Q
It turned out that Chico had a nine made on fifth street, and while he could have been forgiven for check-calling into what might have been a strong draw there, once both players bricked on sixth, he failed to raise Kamoei all-in, a bet he almost certainly would have had to call for the size of the pot. Kamoei emerged with $3,000 left, and Rabbi wasn't happy that he'd missed a ladder climb because his cheerful opponent hadn't pressed his advantage.
Rabbi shook his head. "He has a made nine there, he's supposed to raise him," Rabbi sputtered.
"Sorry, but you're going to have to do your own work," Chico replied. "I was afraid of a big draw."
It turned out that the passive or card dead Rabbi didn't have to do his own work, because a while later, on hand #125, Levi made a seven in five cards, finishing off Kamoei, who was drawing dead with (2-8) 5-2-K.
We hit the break one hand later, with the chips now standing at roughly
Rabbi, $9,000
Levi, $31,000
Flynn, $44,000
Baxter, $88,000
The new antes were $500, with a $1,000 high card bring-in, playing $3,000-$6,000.
ALERT THE MEDIA: BAXTER RAISES A HAND
Two hands after the break, Rabbi got the forced bring-in, and Baxter, not surprisingly, raised it to $3,000. Rabbi decided to take a stand and call, and after he caught a reasonable card on fourth street, he and Baxter got the rest of Rabbi's money all-in in a flurry of betting that was equaled in speed only by the flurry of cards that flew from the dealer's hands. It was impossible to see or record everything, especially because Rabbi figured out the series of bricks he then caught left he drawing dead before the river and he just grabbed his cards, bunched them together, and tossed them face down into the muck.
Yes, Miami John, "frustrating" is the right word for this game.
Two hands later, it was Levi's turn to get frustrated. Stuck with the bring-in, he decided to call Baxter's raise to $3,000 showing a jack to Baxter's five (Baxter's raises had been frequent enough that it was reasonable to assume he couldn't possibly have had as many hands as he'd been betting), and then bet out himself when he caught a trey and Baxter paired his five. Levi bet again when he caught a seven to Baxter's eight, and bet again when he caught a six to Baxter's nine.
OLD MAN RIVER FINISHES YOUNG MAN DAVID LEVI
With only $12,000 left in front of him, and apparently convinced he was not going to be able to push Baxter off the hand, Levi checked the river, and Baxter promptly bet out $6,000. Levi looked at his J-3-7-6 board, and then picked up his shuffled (5-6-7) hole cards, showing everyone (not just me: I never reveal hole cards I happen to see, because I don't want players uneasy about my presence behind them) that he was unwilling to call with the jack low that almost certainly had been a draw at a seven going to the river.
With the chips now roughly
Levi, $12,000
Flynn, $51,000
Baxter, $110,000
Chico Flynn started adopting the look of a man who had been serious about needing to win at least $30,000, whether or not a dog operation was involved, because he kept folding baby doorcards, not wanting to engage with Baxter and waiting for Baxter to finish off Levi for him. On hand #138, Baxter did just that, although once again the cards flew so fast, and bricked Levi so obviously, that it was again impossible to record what collection of bricks had Levi drawing dead by sixth street.
The money for first and second place was set down on the table, and Chico picked up the second prize cash bundle.
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, MAYBE
"This could get me killed in Florida," he said, clearly not moonlighting as a member of Florida's Board of Tourism. Flynn inquired about a deal, but Baxter was having none of it: he was going to play this thing out.
One could hardly blame him, because he won, I kid you not, eleven hands in a row as soon as they got heads up. Every time Flynn got the bring-in, I automatically wrote in my notes "B3" (meaning Baxter raises to $3,000) because I knew that's what Baxter would do. I only had to scratch it out once, when Flynn was down to 30k before Baxter finally folded hand #150 after Flynn was the forced bring in.
The pattern grew so predictable it was almost absurd. If Flynn got the bring-in, Baxter raised. If Baxter got the bring-in, Flynn either called or folded. This thing was looking like it was going to rate a mismatch status equal to the two biggest mismatches I'd ever previously seen, Ken Norton vs. Duane Bobick, and me and my first fiancée.
I'll give Chico Flynn this, though, he never got grumpy and he kept the one liners coming. "The problem," he said, down to only $10,000, "is that too many of those young boys gave you too many chips."
WHY DID THE WALKING CATFISH CROSS THE ROAD?
Down to 5.5k, Flynn caught a nine on the river to give him a 10-9-7-5, edging out Baxter's 10-9-7-6, and then when he won another all-in pot, he gave us one I'm still trying to figure out: "I'm like a walking catfish, walking from one puddle to the next."
Flynn doubled up again, and now going after Don Rickles, he told the new dealer (who sported a bit of a pot belly) "You've got a bad posture, but your shirt fits you well." I would have said that Flynn was merely enjoying his day in the sun, but it was starting to sound like he'd been out in the sun too long.
Creeping further back into the match, he even pulled me into it, although David Sklansky was the real star. "Pundit (I hadn't known he'd known my sobriquet), you tell everyone reading this that the reason I was able to get this far in this tournament was that I read David Sklansky's new book on tournament poker. It's good for the poker industry, and I recommend it to everyone." I'm only about halfway through it myself, but seeing as how I've never read a bad David Sklansky poker book, I figure Flynn was probably right.
On hand #214, Flynn said the only thing out of his whole line of funny running patter that I thought might have gone a bit far. On a pot that got all the way to the river, with each side taking turns leading out, each side checked the river, and Baxter said, "Well, nine."
CHICO FINALLY STEPS A BIT OVER THE LINE
Flynn replied, "Well, that's only going to be good for second place, sir." It wasn't exactly outrageous, coming from the trailer (it would have been, coming from the leader), but it was a little out of step with comments that had mainly been funny in general and not pointed at the other guy. The question was double-edged: was Flynn's effort going to be good only for second place?
Whether there was a causal connection or not I can't say, but Baxter called what seemed like a few too many bets on the very next hand, starting off trailing K-Q-9 to 8-K-4, and this hand drew Flynn to within 126k-47k as the round ended, and the players decided to take an hour dinner break.
When they returned, the antes remained at $500, but the high card bring-in moved to $1,500, playing $4,000-$8,000. Flynn immediately asked Co-Tournament Director Steve Morrow if he could eat a hamburger at the final table (food has not been permitted at final tables throughout the tournament). Morrow kept consistent, and reminded Flynn he'd just had an hour dinner break. Binion's official reporter Mike Paulle asked Flynn what he'd done during the dinner break.
"I watched TV," came the unsurprising response.
Baxter and Flynn stood to battle on a huge hand soon thereafter, where Baxter showed J-10-3-9, and Flynn J-6-4-4. Baxter bet on third and sixth streets, Flynn on fourth and fifth, and each checked the river. Flynn sighed as he turned over his river card. "Three straight fours he dealt me," Flynn said. "Three straight." He had only $10,000 left; had he won the hand, he'd have been near the $85,000 mark, and back in the match.
NO QUIT IN CHICO FLYNN
Flynn managed to survive two more all-ins and thus doubled up twice more, and here he was back at 40k again. Forget being out in the sun too long, this was one of the most resilient poker players I'd ever seen. The jokes aside, and the tendency to play too passively aside, Flynn had done a remarkable job of staying level headed and not throwing off his final chips. He wasn't going to lose. He was going to make Baxter beat him.
Or so I thought until hand #240. Baxter had the high card, a king and brought it in for $1,500, with Flynn calling showing a jack. Both players caught deuces on fourth street, and Flynn bet, with Baxter calling. Flynn caught an ace on fifth street, with Baxter catching a seven, meaning the boards were
Baxter, K-2-7
Flynn, J-2-A
Flynn bet out for $6,000, and in one of those moves that you usually see a player make just to protect himself in case he catches perfect and his opponent catches a brick, Baxter went ahead and re-raised Flynn's last $5,000.
Flynn folded, and my jaw still hurts from where it hit the floor. Or, as Mary Poppins would have said, "Close our mouth, Michael, we are not a codfish." I have to assume he had something like trips or two pair, but even from that position, he could still catch some kind of low. Leaving himself trailing $168,000-$5,000 seemed hopeless, and it was, as Baxter made a six low on six cards on the final hand.
You might have heard of Billy Baxter before. After all, he did have those six bracelets, and now he has seven, meaning he has tied Phil Hellmuth and is one behind Johnny Moss and Doyle Brunson. The remarkable thing is, he hasn't accumulated bracelets much at all lately. He won the Deuce in 1993, and all the others were a long time ago.
JUST IMAGINE HOW GOOD HE'D BE IF HE PRACTICED
"I pretty much quit playing about 14 years ago," Baxter said. "Not entirely, but for just about that whole time the only time I play all year is when I play during the World Series. I gave it up because I didn't like the smoke." Now, with more and more poker rooms smoke free, Baxter is playing more. In the interim, he has made good money as a professional sports bettor.
Another odd Baxter factor is his game selection. All of his bracelets have come in the low games. He only learned hold'em three years ago. "I'd mostly quit playing, where was the motivation?" he asked rhetorically. "But I finally started learning it, and I guess I've picked it up OK, because I've finished in the top 36 of the Big One two of the last three years."
As for the remarkable Michael "Chico" Flynn, while at many times his nickname seemed more likely borrowed from a Marx brother than from his size as a Beach Patroller, he really accomplished quite a bit today. He kept his sense of humor in a game that frustrates many players, and even if he was out of his league against a low poker specialist who owned six bracelets going in, he held his own quite nicely against the larger table. He acted a little crazy at times, but my sneaking suspicion is that he was more crazy like a fox than any other critter, walking catfish, open-mouthed codfish, and operation-needing dogs included.
Final Official Results, Event #14, $1,500 Buy-in Razz
Total Entries: 115
Total Prize Pool: $162,150
|
Finish |
Name |
Prize Money |
|
1 |
Billy Baxter |
$64,860 |
|
2 |
Michael "Chico" Flynn |
$32,430 |
|
3 |
David Levi |
$16,220 |
|
4 |
David Rabbi |
$9,720 |
|
5 |
Hassan Kamoei |
$8,100 |
|
6 |
Stan Goldstein |
$6,480 |
|
7 |
Robert Williamson III |
$4,860 |
|
8 |
Jon Brody |
$3,240 |
9th-12th, $2,440 each: Peter Brownstein, Paul Darden, Richie Wong, Gene Timberlake.
13th-16th, $1,620 each: Phyllis Meyers, George Shah, George Fisher, Thomas Cage.
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