2006 Grand Casino Tunica World Series of Poker Circuit Events Event #3 $300 No Limit Hold'em Tournament Report
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Dealer Turned Pro L. Brett Thomas Wins $300 No-Limit after Long Heads-Up Match
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L. Brett Thomas, a 41-year-old one-time used car manager who later became
a poker dealer at the Buffalo Run Casino in Oklahoma, decided to turn pro
after earning $50,000 for finishing fourth at the Oklahoma State
Championship early this year. Tonight he topped that figure, winning $51,902
by finishing first in event #3 of the WSOP Circuit series at Grand Casino
Tunica.
Thomas, who is from Overland Parks, Kansas, claimed victory after a 41-hand
heads-up match with Richard “Stoney” Jentoch, a painter from Knoxville,
Tenessee. Thomas had been playing draw poker at home over 20 years, and
only took up hold’em four years ago.
Here was the final table chip count:
Play commenced with 1,000 antes, blinds of 4,000-8,000 and 22 minutes
remaining. In early action, Roger Ballard lost most of his chips in a classic
match-up when his A-K lost to Thomas’ two queens. This was a key hand for
Thomas, who would never go below 160,000 after that.
Soon after, Michael Ciarauino was left with just 9,000 when he moved in for
82,000 with A-K and was run over by Thomas, who had pocket rockets in the
big blind. But Ciarauino quickly recovered, quadrupling up on the next hand
when he moved in with A-6, got three callers and flopped an ace.
On the next hand, Roger Ballard went out quietly. He was all in from the big
blind with K-7 and couldn’t catch Thomas’ K-Q after a nothing board. Ballard,
a retired truck driver, has been playing poker for 40 years, and this is his first
final table. He collected $3,595 for finishing ninth.
Starting chip-leader Neil Stone, meanwhile, hadn’t been able to do anything
and was down to 54,000. He decided to move in with A-8 and was called by
Orion Fliessbach, a 21-year-old finance student who held pocket 10s. A board
of K-4-4-J-3 didn’t change anything, and Stone, who is semi-retired, was fully
retired for the night, collecting $5,394 for his eighth-place finish.
The Atlanta, Georgia native learned poker in family home games. His most
exciting moment, he wrote in his bio sheet, was “watching Daniel Negreanu
rebuy 48 times” at a WSOP event this year.
A few deals later, a hand came down that gave Ciarauino something to talk
about. He moved in with As-9s and was called by Jentoch with pocket jacks
and Jim “Freight Train” Harris, who was all in with pocket 7s. Two 9s flopped,
and Ciarauino, with trips, tripled up. “Don’t mess with the short stack,” he
exulted. “I may write a book on how to play short stacks.” Harris, a resident
of West Melbourne, Florida who is self-employed, was a trifle less jubilant as
he cashed in seventh for $7,192.
At the
next break, the chip leaders were Thomas with about 275,000 and Jentoch
with 250,000. Blinds were now 8,000-16,000. Larry “Tomahawk”
Tomaszewski then got very lucky. He moved in for 25,000 with the best hand,
pocket 6s against Fliessbach’s Ks-Js. But a flop of Qc-10s-4s gave the young
student an amazing 21 outs, with two overcards and draws to a flush and an
open-end straight. None of his cards came, and Harris doubled up.
But Tomaszewski’s luck didn’t continue. A few hands later, he raised with
pocket 10s and faced an all-in re-raise by Jentoch. He was getting a good
price for his remaining chips and called, losing to Jentoch’s A-K when the
board came A-9-4-9-6. The Tomahawk, a 52-year-old auctioneer from Selma,
Tenessee, has two prior final tables on the WSOP Circuit. Sixth place was
worth $8,989
Fliessbach quickly followed him out. He pushed in all his 70,000 with A-K.
“Jacks have held up every time,” Thomas said as he called with that hand.
They did this time. The board showed Q-10-4-7-9, and Fliessbach exited fifth,
worth $10,788. The young student learned poker playing online two years
ago.
One hand later, the table got down to three with the departure of David
Tanner, who is from Memphis and is a VP in financial services. Down to
30,000, he moved in with K-Q and seemed in good shape when “Stoney”
called with K-J, until a river jack ended the night for him. He picked up
$14,384 for fourth.
Ciarauino, by far the shortest-chipped, now requested $2,500 each from the
other two players “to go away,” but they weren’t interested. “You’re gonna
be sorry,” he warned them. “Remember I came from the bottom to third.”
His warning fell on deaf ears, and they sent him away on the next hand
without any extra money. After Ciarauino moved in with Q-J, both Stoney and
Thomas called, with an identical A-6. A board of K-7-4-5-8 gave each a
straight, and they chopped the pot and Ciarauino as well.
Ciarauino, whose nickname is “Big Dog,” is a cash game player whose poker
highlight was taking out Phil Hellmuth in a WSOP Omaha event (and living to
tell about it). Despite not getting any extra cash, he still won $14,384 for
third place. Before turning to poker full time, he owned a construction
company.
Heads-up, Thomas had a modest lead, about 500,000 to 450,000. As play
got underway, he increased his lead with a number of uncalled raises. On the
ninth hand, he lost the lead when he opened for 53,000 and Jentoch moved
in for 291,000. Jentoch held A-Q to As-10s, and the bigger kicker held up.
When blinds increased to 10,000-20,000, the chip count was close to back to
when they started. Play continued cautiously, with Thomas slowly increasing
his lead, until the final hand. With the board showing K-8-3-Q-A, Jentoch,
who had aces and threes, bet 70,000, and Thomas, who made aces and
queens, check-raised for another 100,000.
Two hands later it was all over. Holding 9-8, Thomas bet 45,000 into a flop of
A-9-3 and Jentoch moved in for 160,000 with K-3. Thomas called, made two
pair when an 8 turned, and that ended the match.
Stoney, who wrote that he learned poker playing tong in prison, wanted to
win the event to pay off his mortgage, but the second-place payout of
$26,071 will certainly pay it down.
Thomas, who is married and has three children, was playing for the first time
at Grand Casino Tunica. He described himself as a tight/aggressive player
who plays hard when he has cards, “You can’t play suited connectors in this
game,” he said.
– Max Shapiro
Max Shapiro -- WSOP Media Director
World Series of Poker Commissioner – Jeffrey Pollack
Director of Poker Operations for Harrah’s Entertainment – Jack Effel
Harrah’s Grand Tunica Poker Room Manager – Karen Kaegin
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Jim Harris
Larry Tomaszewski
Orion Fliessbach
Neil Stone
L. Brett Thomas
David Tanner
Roger Ballard
Michael Ciarauino
Richard Jentoch
81,000
118,000
149,000
172,000
111,500
139,000
108,000
35,000
49,000
Seat Name Chip Count
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