$5,000 Seven-Card Stud

A Very Unlikely Match-Up
By Max Shapiro

It's hard to imagine a more curious final match-up for a $5,000 seven-card stud event. In one corner, an advertising agency owner who only started playing the game in December because until then he had considered stud "too boring." In the opposite corner, an import-export business owner from Afghanistan living in Hamburg, Germany, who had never won a tournament before in his life.

"Tell him I'm totally lucky. He's much better and deserves to win," adman Steve Banks told Morad Qushqur's wife Margaret, who was sitting nearby and translating for her husband in Russian. Maybe, but the hand that broke the Banks wasn't very lucky for him. The crusher at the end of the three-hour head-up struggle came when Steve had rolled-up aces and lost to Morad's 6-high straight.

Qushqur started playing poker four or five years ago, plays only occasionally "for fun, not to make money," and until now had just a second and a third in stud tournaments in German casinos. He comes to Vegas once a year, largely for vacation. This win, he said, makes up for the money he had lost playing at the Bellagio.

The final table was set the night before. First, Thor Hansen made a flush on the river to knock out a very short-chipped Peter Moore. Moments later, at the other table, Men "The Master" Nguyen, in three-way action, made Ks and 6s to eliminate the ninth player, Ken "Skyhawk" Flaton. Neither of the last two player made it into the money, since only eight slots were paid.

SILENCE IS GOLDEN, PROVIDING YOU WIN THE BET
Earlier in the tournament, a side bet was made that had to be the first of its kind. Patri Friedman (winner of the $1,500 Omaha/8 event) and Perry Friedman (no relation) are class-A talkers. Unfortunately for Erik Seidel, he had one Friedman on each side, and their yakking was driving him crazy. Finally, he shouted "ENOUGH!" The two then decided on a quixotic last-longer "mum" bet. Whoever could go the longest without opening his trap would win $1,000. In the end it was a tie. After two hours of mutual aggravating silence, Patri finally got knocked out, to everyone's relief. The Friedman's could talk and Erik could hear.

Here's what the final table looked like at the start of the 11th level with a full 90 minutes to go, playing $3,000-$6,000 limits, with $400 antes and a $1,000 low-card bring-in:

There were eight bracelets at the final table (four for Nguyen, two for Mel Judah and two for Hanson). Despite this tough line-up, Qushqur would stubbornly hold onto his substantial chip advantage until the final table was well along and the lead would start changing hands.

AND THE ANNOUNCER IS...
The guest play-by-play announcer for this event was Alan Boston, a basketball handicapper who was the key figure written about in a gambling book called "The Odds." He was sharp and entertaining throughout his stint, even interweaving basketball scores with the poker action.

FIVE HANDS FOR CYNDY
Cyndy Violette is a high-stakes Atlantic City stud player pretty enough to be on a poker calendar -- which she once was. At the last table, though, she was a shrinking violette. On the fifth hand, she had been anteed down to $5,900, and then raised with all of it holding pocket 7s. Qushqur called with A-K/J and caught a pair of 8s to edge her out of the tournament.

Initially, Banks' luck wasn't much better. Two hands after Violette departed, he also went all in. He started with A-4/9 against Phil Goatz and got saved by catching two queens. Nguyen, meanwhile, had moved into second chip positon by the seventh hand after playing twice and winning both times. But he hit a roadblock when Mel Judah made a full house to pass him. Then Qushqur beat Nguyen, aces over Ks, to open up a huge lead.

THE MASTER TAKES OVER
But after those two setbacks, Men began to dominate the table, outtalking, outdrinking, outplaying and, last but not least, outcatching everybody else. He was aggressive, he mixed up his play, he read his opponents expertly and he tended to put the other players on edge with his trademark long, long look at his river card.
"An experienced squeezer," as Boston described him.

In the space of just seven hands, he first made a queen-high straight against Qushqur; then forced out postal clerk Phil "The Mailman Goatz with just a flush draw; then missed a straight but caught a winning third 9,again against Goatz; then won against Qushqur with buried aces; and finally beat Qushqur again with a flush.

"It's a dichotomy," announcer Boston analyzed. "When he's so aggressive, sometimes he's brilliant, and sometimes he's out of line." "Nobody can read how I play," Nguyen boasted. Then, when he beat Qushqur with a flush, Men said he didn't even realize he had it. "He can't read himself either," cracked tournament staffer Bonnie Damiano.

GOATZ MOVES OUT AND MEN MOVES UP
Meanwhile, Goatz' loss to Nguyen followed on the heels of other beats, and he now found himself very low chipped. On the following hand, he bet all in with split 7s. But Qushqur was waiting for him with split Ks, caught a third one for good measure, and "The Mailman" was stamped cancelled. With his exit, Nguyen moved up a notch in the WSOP millionaires club, passing Dan Harrington.

Hansen, a very tough player, had been playing extremely conservatively. He didn't play a pot to the river until hand 31, when he beat Nguyen's straight with a flush. After that rare loss, Men began racking up chips again. By the time his second Corona had been delivered at 3:30, he was once again back in second place. When the limits went to $4,000-$8,000, with $600 antes and $1,200 bring-in, the chip count was:

Qushqur, $210,000
Nguyen, $125,000
Hansen, $50,000
Skaggs, $25,000
Judah, $30,000
Banks, $20,000

BANKS MAKES A COUPLE OF DEPOSITS
A few hands later, Banks went all in against Judah, but began his climb upwards when his flush beat Judah's three 4s in a $60,000 pot. Skaggs then finished in sixth place on a bad beat. On fifth street he went all in for $6,600 with three 10s. He ended up instead with a straight but lost to Banks who made a runner-runner flush. At 4:00, Nguyen took delivery of his third Corona. Nothing much happened for a while after that, except that Nguyen started on his fourth Corona at 4:30.

Shortly afterwards, Judah went all in after catching his third ace on fourth street. Nguyen, starting with 10-8/7, had nothing but a belly straight draw on fourth, but hit it, taking the lead and
leaving Judah in fifth place. The approximate chip count now was:

Nguyen, $190,000
Qushqur, $150,000
Hansen, $60,000
Banks, $60,000

LOW MAN ON THE TOTEM POLE
As play continued, Banks was plagued by a swarm of bring-in low cards. At one point, Boston said he had been low man seven times in a row. Banks argued that it was eight times. If Boston was right, the odds would be 4 to the 7th power or 16,383-1. If it was eight times, it would be 65,535-1. Long odds, either way.

At 4:55 Men started on his fifth Corona. Some 20 more hands went by, there was a break and then the boys played a little higher: $6,000-$12,000, with $1,000 antes and $2,000 bring-ins. And Men returned carrying Corona number six.

THOR TRIES TO STEAL
A half-dozen hands into the new limits, Banks was the low card again with a 4 showing. Thor, with a K-7/J, tried to steal the pot with an all-in raise. His timing was off. Banks was rolled up. The cards were dealt. Hansen managed to make a straight on the river, only to see Banks catch his fourth 4! Three-handed now, the count was:

Qushqur, $215,000
Nguyen, $135,000
Banks, $110,000

YOU CAN'T PULL MY DEALER OUT
On the next hand, Nguyen lost $49,000 when Banks made a straight. The Master now proposed a very fair deal: everyone take $100,000 and play for the remaining (whoopie!) $24,300. For some reason Qushqur, with a mere 2-1/2 times as many chips as Men, shook his head. The Master, perhaps hurt by this unfriendly act, went down quickly after that. Finally, when a new dealer sat down, Nguyen went all in but survived with a third jack on the river. That was the only hand the new man dealt. Because he arrived out of uniform, with no badge, no tie and an open shirt, he was yanked and a new dealer was brought in.

"That was the only hand I won," Nguyen protested to no avail. The new guy promptly dealt aces to Qushqur and a busted straight to Nguyen, and the match was finally heads-up. Moran now had $315,000 to Steve's $145,000. After some lengthy negotiations, a deal that was quite generous to Banks was finally struck. $129,000 to him, $145,000 to Qushqur, and play for the small remainder.

ONLY THREE HOURS TO GO
Banks might have been very new to stud, and Qushqur might just play poker for fun, and they might be playing for only $7,420, but you wouldn't know it from the battle that ensued. After winning several hands, Banks jumped into a slight lead, only to see Qushqur grab it back, taking down a $140,000 pot with trip 5s against trip 3s. As play dragged on, Banks was down to $30,000 at one point before winning an $85,000 pot.

They then took an hour break for dinner. On return they played a little higher: $10,000-$20,000, with $1,500 antes and a $3,000 bring-in. At these levels, one would expect a quick ending, but the match improbably went on and on. At one point, Banks made a jesting remark and Qushqur responded. "I didn't know you spoke English," Steve said. "A little," Morad replied. "Now I can't call you names," Steve said.
Later, Banks urged his opponent to play more loosely. "Everyone's going to sleep. You'll ruin the World Series video."

THE END IS NEAR
After many more hands, and a couple more lead changes, limits went to a backbreaking $15,000-$30,000 with $2,000 antes and $5,000 low card. Three hands into the new limits, Steve, showing A-3-6-J had rolled up aces and the pot was three-bet on sixth street. Morad's board showed 3-10-5-3, and at the end he turned up a 4-6 for a winning straight. That left Steve with only a few chips. He went all in on the next hand on fourth street, making nothing but K-high, while Morad's pair of 10s was enough to get him his (and Afghanistan's) first bracelet.

Final Official Results, Event #22, $5,000 Seven-Card Stud
Total Entries: 92
Total Prize Pool: $432,400

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