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The tournament began on Monday and resumed on Tuesday with 22 players remaining. John Lukas from Las Vegas, NV, a two time WSOP bracelet winner, was the chip leader entering the Day 2 with $141K. By the time the final table began, John Lukas had slipped to second place but still looked strong. Darrell Dicken became the new chipleader. Also making an appearance at the final table were Minneapolis Jim Meehan, Minh Nguyen, Pascal Perralt, John Lukas, Jeff Duvall, Darrell Dicken, Boris Shats, Jim Meehan, Dan Heimiller, Bahram Kianfar, and Pat Poels.
By the dinner break, Minneapolis Jim Meehan moved into the chip lead with $191K. Minneapolis Jim Meehan looks like an old time poker player. His facial expressions are priceless and you can often find an unlit cigarette dangling from his mouth. He had been swigging down several Heinekens for the duration of the tournament. At one point he said to the other players at the final table "I'm so good, I send chills up and down my own spine."
When the players returned from the break, Nolan Dalla spoke for a few minutes about Curtis Bibb, the 2004 WSOP Omaha Hi/Lo champion. Curtis was unable to defend his title because passed a way a few months ago. Nolan asked the crowd and players for a moment of silence to pay tribute to Curtis.
With seven players remaining, Pat Poels took over the chip lead with $229K. John Lukas was not far behind. Pat relinquished the lead for about half of an hour to Jeff Duvall of Surrey, England.
At the next break, Pat Poels increased his stack to $340K. Jim Heimiller was one of the short stacks. He previously won a WSOP bracelet in 2002 and wanted to add a second one to his collection. He had the most railbirds out of everyone else at the final table. I spoke to Jim during the break and the former Minnesota native told me that he had been playing "sem-professionally" for over a decade. His last job was as an industrial engineer. He currently lives in Vegas and is known to back several players. Despite being shortstacked he said, "I played the right hands. Sometimes you win or lose. I don't care about losing (with good hands) because it's going to happen."
Minneapolis Jim Meehan eventually finished in 6th place. A few moments later, Dan Heimiller was knocked out in 5th place. They played four handed for almost an hour before Bahram Kianfar was eliminated. At that point Pat Poels' chip stack grew to over $655K.
During another break, a frustrated John Lukas wandered over and muttered, "I can't seem to hit a hand."
Jeff Duvall finished in third place and won $77,170 for his efforts. He made the final table on the same day as his 41st wedding annivesary. Pat Poels held almost a 2 to 1 chiplead over John Lukas. Yes, it was time for another heads up battle. John Lukas ended up losing his entire stack within five crucial hands. He won $139,870 for his efforts.
Pat Poels picked up his first WSOP championship and took home $270,100. That's a record prize for any Omaha Hi/Lo tournament. He recently quit his job to focus on poker full time. That seems to have been a smart decision. Again, congrats to Pat.
Tournament Report by Paul McGuire |
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