EVENT #8 The Orleans Open
Limit Hold'em ($230 buy-in)
July 18, 1998
The Final Table
Official Results
The Evening Tournament

Nutcracker Sweet

By Mike Paulle

She had the nine male players at the final table just where she wanted them--in the palm of her hand.

For the first time at this year's Orleans Open the entries were down significantly from last year. There were 422 players today, 463 last year. The total prize pool was $84,400.

When Bob Skundberg saw Stacy Robinson's hand, he was stunned for the second day in a row. Skundberg had A K when an Ace flopped. Robinson only had A A. There were now thirty players left, all of whom were in the money.

To set up the final table, Peter Steiner's Jacks were cracked when Mike Davis caught a King on the flop to go with the one he had in his hand. Steiner petered out in 11th.

The Final Table

Seat 1Mike DavisHouston, TX$21,000
Seat 2Robert JordanLas Vegas, NV$33,000
Seat 3Bill JohnsonKlamath Falls, OR$54,800
Seat 4Dall LukePhoenix, AZ$33,600
Seat 5Wayne RotsteinPittsburgh, PA$22,200
Seat 6Nancy NevitsLas Vegas, NV$37,100
Seat 7Ken HeydonToronto, ONT$21,900
Seat 8Chris GrigorianHollywood, CA$10,000
Seat 9Stacy RichardsonBaton Rouge, LA$26,500
Seat 10Mike LevineSaskatoon, ALB$3,300

Chris Grigorian liked his pocket Kings and went all-in. Dall Luke liked his pocket Aces even better and called. End of the Grigorian Chant in 10th.

Mike Levine was short-stacked. He went all-in with A 3, Stacy Robinson called with A J. Levine lead for a minute on the flop with a pair of 3's. As quick as you can say Stacy Robinson, however, the board came perfect for the nut straight. Levine did well to move up a place into 9th.

Mike Davis was the next Mike to go silent. Robert Jordan called Davis' A J raise with 9 8 and flopped a 9 8. All guys named Mike where now gone from the final table.

Ken Heydon may have been noticing how hot Dall Luke was running, but he had to make a move. His K Q was called by Luke “Skywalker's” K 8. They both got a King on the flop. Luke got an 8 on the river. Heydon was done in 7th.

Wayne Rotstein was Luke's next victim. In another river special, Luke in the big blind called Rotstein's raise with a 9 7. Wayne had K J and went all- in when the flop came J 9 6. Luke called and caught 6 9 to make Wayne feel rotten in 6th place.

Bill Johnson came to the final table with the chip lead. He lost everything on three hands when flushes came on the river. All-in with A J, he was called by Robert Jordan with K J. The nightmare final table was over for Johnson when a King came send the Bill out 5th.

Stacy Richardson couldn't win a hand and went all-in for his blind with 6 2. Dall Luke would call a red hat. Luke's Q 2 high carded Stacy out in 4th.

Robert Jordan tried to hang on against the chip leaders, but they wouldn't let him see a flop. Raising all-in with Ace 10, he was called in the big blind by (who else?) Dall Luke with J 6. The board came 3 4 5/7 to ground error Jordan.

With two players left, the chip count was almost dead even. So Nancy Nevits thought of a number. "Let's save $21,000 and play for the rest," she said. Dall Luke agreed. They were to play for the remaining $6,475 and the TOC entry.

The decision to agree to the deal made Luke $5,087 that he wouldn't have got any other way, because he was systematically taken apart by Nevits from then on. In a classic heads up performance, Nancy raised, re-raised, bet out and check raised Dall until he felt the felt. He was totally dominated. The Nevits squeeze was complete. The guys all left singing an octave higher.

Official Prize Money

1stNancy Nevits$32,558
2ndDall Luke$15,917
3rdRobert Jordan$7,959
4thStacy Robinson$3,978
5thBill Johnson$2,894
6thWayne Rotstein$2,532
7thKen Heydon$2,171
8thMike Davis$1,809
9thMike Levine$1,447
10th Chris Grigorian$1,085

11th-20th received $633

Peter Steiner, Peter Silverstein, Pat Wardlaw, Joe DeFranza, Barbar Maeker, Luis Jaikel, Steve Stacker, David Dobrofsky, Fred Evans and Craig DiSalvo.

21st-30th received $422

Tijerina, Lawrence Cox, Andre Boyer, Lou Wa, Charlie Hoch, Ed Gerth, Trevor East, Ron Salzano, Phil Baron and Scott Irwin.

The Evening Tournament

In the evening Limit Hold'em tournament, there were 168 entries and 104 rebuys for a total prize pool of $27,200.

Randy Cushing took 1st place in a heads up duel with Jay Reisler. The final four players agreed to a $4,000 save for the 2nd to 4th place finishers. Then the last two players saved $4,796. Cushing got $6,996 for winning and the Tournament of Champions entry.

Official Prize Money

1stRandy CushingSalt Lake City, UT$9,080
2ndJay ReislerBuena Park, CA$4,540
3rdAmanda CommandaNorth Bay, ONT$2,270
4thBert LaReuxAlpine, CA$1,702
5thIrv WarsawSan Bernadino, CA$1,134
6thKen SahekiPortland, OR$1,022
7thBob PerryBrockton, MA$908
8thKen SuttonLas Vegas, NV$795
9thMike LaingLas Vegas, NV$681
10thTom LynchLas Vegas, NV$568

11th-20th received $300

Susie Trusley (WA), Manfred Priff Germany), Cris Warner (WA), Dale Green (UT), Mikhail Shadkin (FL), Rad Vucichevich (AZ), Kurt Hanneman (OR), J Mitch Miller (OH), Exxon Feyznia (LV), JD Pierce (TX)


Internet Coverage of the 1998 Orleans Open is brought to you by Mike Paulle and ConJelCo.
©1998, Mike Paulle. All Rights Reserved.
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