WSOP Circuit Hits Council Bluffs as 22-Year-Old Trucker Hits Pay Dirt

2007 Horseshoe Casino
Council Bluffs
World Series of Poker
(WSOP) Circuit Event
Event #1
$300 No Limit Hold'em
Tournament Report

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2007 Horseshoe Council Bluffs WSOP Circuit Event Report

WSOP Circuit Hits Council Bluffs as
22-Year-Old Trucker Hits Pay Dirt

First Day Attracts 531 Players

“You are part of poker history,” World Series of Poker commissioner Jeffrey
Pollack told the throng of players here at Horseshoe Casino Council Bluffs. It
was opening day of the Harrah’s WSOP Circuit tour, the first ever held at this
casino, and if the impressive first-day attendance of 531 is any indication, it
will not be the last.

This was the sixth stop on the 2006-2007 Circuit tour. It was a bang-bang,
nonstop action event that took only until 12:30 on day one to get down to
nine players, and a relatively brief 77 hands to complete the next day’s final
table.

At the end, Rafal Boduch, a 22-year-old truck driver from Elwood Park, Illinois,
had all the chips. Victory in this premier event brought him $44,805 and a
handsome gold ring trophy. Boduch, who is single, has only been playing
poker for a year. He learned his craft playing small tournaments online, and
this is just his second live event. He plays nothing but tournaments, and
plays aggressively. In fact, he said, playing aggressively was his only
strategy at the final table.

This event got down to three players after just 36 hands. They all had plenty
of chips, and any one of them could have won it. A little extra aggression and
a little extra luck made the difference. On the final hand, for example, runner-
up Lee Gardner pushed all in when he paired a 6 on the flop, only to see that
Boduch had paired a 7.

Final-table action began at 4 p.m. on day two with blinds of 4,000-8,000 and
1,000 antes and a full hour on the clock. Lee Gardner had the most chips,
191,000, followed by Boduch’s 155,000.

Seats and chip counts:

The first 11 deals saw only one flop, in which William Wagner doubled up with
a set of 9s, but then two players exited on the next two hands.

First to go was Cesar Hernandez, a 31-year-old laborer originally from Mexico
now living in Sioux City, Nebraska. He moved in from the cutoff seat for
35,000 with pocket 9s and got a call from Wagner, who had As-Ks. Wagner
won the coin-toss match when a king rivered, and Hernandez cashed out
ninth for $3,090. Hernandez is married with four kids. He’s been playing three
years, and this is his first circuit try.

A short-chipped Larry Christensen followed him out when his Ad-7d couldn’t
catch the pocket 8s held by Boduch after the board showed 6-4-3-Q-7.
Christensen, 51, is a farmer and rancher from Kennebec, South Dakota who
has three children and has played poker for 35 years. He picked up $4,636
for eighth.

Five hands later, Kristopher Meek had all his chips committed in three-way
action holding Q-J. Gardner, with Ad-5d, bet the flop of 10d-8c-7d and got
heads-up. He missed his flush, but ace-high was all he needed. Meek is a 23-
year-old student from Lincoln, Nebraska, and the $6,181 he collected for
seventh is the highlight of his five-year poker career. After a 10-minute break,
play resumed with blinds of 4,000-8,000 and 1,000 antes and a full hour on
the clock.

After a 10-minute break, play resumed with blinds of 6,000-12,000 and 2,000
antes. On the second hand of the new level, Randy Stephenson called a raise
by Gardner and went all in. He had K-Q to Gardner’s A-5, and when the board
came 10-7-3-9-2, once again an ace-high prevailed and we were down to
five. Stephenson is a 57-year-old loan officer from Bellevue, Nebraska who
describes himself as a “friendly old guy.” He’s been playing poker for 20 years
and this is his first Circuit entrant. His payday for finishing sixth was $7,726.

In the big blind with A-6, Fred Walker was down to 1,000 after calling Khan
Nguyen’s pre-flop raise on hand 31. A flop of K-7-2 didn’t help him, but he
had little choice but to toss in his last chip. Nguyen had pocket jacks, and
they did the trick when no ace came to rescue Walker, who is 70, from
Omaha, Nebraska, and is a retired pool hall owner. He learned to play when
he was 7 or 8, and says poker is the main love in his life. Tonight his love
brought him $9,721 for finishing fifth.

On hand 36, we got down to the final three when William Wagner, a 45-year-
old service technician from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, busted out. He opened for
24,000 with As-5s and called all in when Boduch raised with Ah-7d. A flop of
10s-9c-4d gave him a nut flush draw, but offsuit cards on the turn and river
finished him and he settled for $10,816 for fourth. Wagner learned to play
poker in Las Vegas five years ago. His biggest score is $31,000 for an online
win at PartyPoker. Wagner is married with two children, and is a graduate of
the Milwaukee School of Engineering.

Three-handed, Boduch still had the lead with close to 300,000 of the 798,000
chips in play. After a few hands, Nguyen moved in front after picking up a
couple of pots with raises. Then Boduch took over again when Nguyen bet
50,000 after two treys flopped, and then Boduch check-raised all in. Since
Boduch was in the big blind, and the pot wasn’t raised pre-flop, there was a
chance that his opponent had a three. Nguyen wasn’t taking chances and
folded.

Five hands later, Nguyen opened for 45,000. Boduch moved in, and this time
Nguyen called for 220,000. The cards were turned up. Nguyen trailed with
Kh-9c to Boduch’s Ac-5d. The board of J-4-3-2-6 changed nothing and
Nguyen, a programmer originally from Vietnam who now lives in Papillion,
Nebraska, ended third and collected $12,362. Nguyen, 46, is married with
two children, his hobby is photography, and he learned poker from friends
three years ago.

Heads-up, Boduch enjoyed a chip lead of 617,000 to 181,000 for Gardner, a
35-year-old roofing contractor from Topeka, Kansas. The two finalists took a
break and returned playing with blinds of 8,000-16,000 and 2,000 antes.
Gardner closed the gap on the second hand, doubling through when he
moved in with A-10 to beat Boduch’s K-5. But a few hands later it was all
over. The flop came 7-6-2. Gardner moved in with A-6 and fell to Boduch’s A-7
after a 9 and queen came.

Gardner has been playing poker three years when he was “sucked in” by
friends he can’t beat in home games. Tonight, though, he was comforted by
taking home $23,639.
—
Report by Max Shapiro

To view a complete listing of results for Event #1 of the 2007 Horseshoe
Council Bluffs WSOP Circuit Event, click on the link below:

2007 Horseshoe Council Bluffs WSOP Circuit Results - Event #1

World Series of Poker Commissioner – Jeffrey Pollack
Director of Poker Operations for Harrah’s Entertainment – Jack Effel
Horseshoe Casino Council Bluffs Poker Room Manager – Gary Margetson

Seat 1
Seat 2
Seat 3
Seat 4
Seat 5
Seat 6
Seat 7
Seat 8
Seat 9

Randy Stephenson
Lee Gardner
Khanh Nguyen
Cesar Hernandez
Christopher Meek
Larry Christensen
Rafal Boduch
Fred Walker
William Wagner