Elizabeth, IN -- The chip lead in event 11 of the WSOP Circuit tour at Caesars Indiana, $1,000 no-limit, changed innumerable times, mostly between David Dao and Bernard Lee. Then, on hand 106, a dozen hands before it ended, Dale Robinson suddenly moved way ahead when he took a huge pot from Dao, then sailed to victory and a $73,154 payday. Robinson, 42, is from Otisco, Indiana and in the insurance business. He's been playing five years and has a third in the Denny Crum event, along with cashes in Nassau and the Seneca World Poker Classic in Niagara Falls, along with so many cashes in daily events here that he finished third on the money board last year.
Robinson describes his play as fairly aggressive. He found this final table pretty tight, was able to push players off hands, but could get away if he was re-raised because he knew the tight players had strong hands. But he was wary of a couple of the more aggressive players. In particular, he said, he stayed out of Dao's way because Dao played so many hands, calling with most any two cards, that he found it hard to figure out what he had.
Robinson was introduced to poker from a friend of his wife. The first tournament he played was at an American Legion hall, and he came in third. He's married with two children, and will soon become a grandfather because his 19-year-old daughter is expecting twins in July.
Carlos Uz, winner of the championship Circuit event here last October, missed getting to the final table. He got crippled when his pocket kings lost to Dao's A-8 after an ace flopped, and a few hands later went out in 13th place.
When the last 10 players assembled at one table, Daniel Hicks was chip leader, but managed to go broke in two quick hands, both times holding A-K. The first time, he lost most of his chips to Robinson, who had pocket kings. A couple of hands later he called and couldn't improve after Dao moved in with pocket 6s.
When the official table of nine started play, Robinson had the lead with 373,000 chips. There was just 6:13 left on the clock before the level ended and the 2 a.m. cut-off time arrived, and the players voted to play out the round and return the next day at 2 p.m. This would be only the second event out of the 11 so far that went to a second day.
Here were the starting chip counts:
Seat 1. Ed Koppe 85,500
Seat 2. Matt Sterling 55,000
Seat 3. David Dao 241,500
Seat 4. Caleb Banks 69,200
Seat 5. Bernard Lee 140,500
Seat 6. Dale Robinson 373,000
Seat 7. Jason Benanzer 106,500
Seat 8. Mike Aberle 60,000
Seat 9. William Johnson 43,000
In those six remaining minutes, one player was knocked out. On the first hand, Mike Aberle moved in with Q-5 when a Q-8-7 flopped, losing to Jason Benanzer's two-pair Q-7. On the next deal he raised all in from the cut-off seat with A-3 and went broke when he couldn't beat Ed "Easy Eddie" Koppe's pocket queens after the board came 10-9-8-6-9. Aberle, 62, is a retail clerk from Wonder Lake, Illinois. He's been playing four years, and has two Circuit final tables, a first at Tunica and a third here at Caesars Indiana.
Second-day action started with 3,000-6,000 blinds and 500 antes. On the fifth hand of the final table, Robinson lost the lead. The flop came 10-9-3, he moved in with Q-10 and lost to William Johnson's pocket jacks. Dao, who started second-highest, was now the highest.
The chips began to even up a bit as the two shortest stacks, William Johnson and Matt Sterling, each won a couple of pots. Play was very cautious in this round, with just one all-in raise called, and that was when Sterling's bet was for only 36,000.
Blinds now were 4,000-8,000 with 1,000 antes. On hand 38, Caleb Banks moved in for the third time, holding Ad-7d. This time he was called by Koppe, whose pocket 7s stood up. Banks walked off but was called back when a count showed he still had 3,000 left. He needn't have bothered. On the next hand he was all in from the big blind with 9-4. Sterling, with pocket aces, made a trap bet of 20,000. Dao bit and moved in with pocket 8s. Sterling made aces-full when the board came 10-6-5-5-A, taking the lead with about 270,000, while Banks banked $6,859 for eighth. Banks, nicknamed "ace-high," is a 29-year-old businessman from Charleston, West Virginia who started playing three years ago and has entered a couple of prior Circuit events.
Right after that, Dao recovered the lead. He moved in with A-2, was called by Mitchell with pocket jacks. Dao flopped a full house when the board came A-2-2 and now had more than 300,000.
Blinds went to 6,000-12,000 with 2,000 antes. Lee now doubled through twice in a row, once sucking out with A-4 against A-5, then winning with the best hand, A-K versus A-Q. After winning another pot, he was in a rough tie with with Dao, both in the 300,000 range. A few hands later the flop came Q-J-8. Holding 8-4, Johnson moved in. Lee quickly called with A-Q and took a small lead when Johnson busted out seventh, which paid $9,145.
Johnson, 58, is a janitor from Ray, Ohio who's played poker four years and has entered numerous prior Circuits. He's had six other Circuit cashes, but his biggest payout was $24,699 for 15th in the European Poker Tour Polish Open last month.
Taking down a couple more pots, Lee was now the clear leader with almost 400,000. Then the lead changed yet again on the 87th deal. This time, Sterling pushed in for 243,000 with pocket 9s and was called by Dao, holding K-K. The board came 8-5-3-A-A, and Sterling cashed sixth for $11,431 while Dao jumped way ahead to about 520,000.
Sterling, 26, is a pro from Brownstown, IN. He won a $1,000 Circuit event at Rincon this year and also has a second in a $1,500 event here. His biggest cash was $45,422 for finishing 238th in last year's WSOP.
On the next hand, Koppe went out fifth, paying $13,717. He put in his last 26,000 with Q-J and lost to Lee's A-5 when the board changed nothing. Koppe, 43, is a business owner from Battle Creek, Michigan who learned poker five years ago. This is his second Circuit. Other hobbies are music and golf.
Blinds were now 8,000-16,000. Nine hands into the new level, Benanzer moved in for 64,000 with 9s-8s. Lee called with pocket 5s. Benanzer still had a lot of outs when the flop came A-Q-J, but a fourth street 5 gave Lee a set, and Benanzer cashed fourth for $16,003. Benanzer, 29, is a rental manager and builder from Greenville, Ohio, who learned poker from his father. He's had two Scotty Nguyen Poker Challenge cashes, a win and a 10th.
After a couple more hands, the three finalists asked for a short break. At this point the count was Dao, 488,000; Lee, 450,000; Robinson, 322,000. Returning from break, Robinson moved in for 66,000 with pocket 7s. Lee called with A-J. The board came Q-Q-7-5-9, and suddenly it was Robinson who was in front once more.
The tournament got heads-up on hand 117 when Dao, holding J-5. had an open-ended straight draw on a flop of 8-7-6. He moved in for 340,000. Robinson, with 9-8, had a pair and bigger draw, and hit his straight when a 5 turned. Dao, finishing third, took home $20,576. Dao, 60, nicknamed "AD," is a retired physician originally from Vietnam, now living in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. He learned the game a couple of years ago by playing and watching TV, has played five Circuits, and finished second at Tunica in a $500 event this year. Other hobbies are running and music.
Heads-up, Robinson had a bit over a million chips to 193,000 for Lee. After making a private arrangement, they played the requisite showdown hand. Robinson had 6-5, Lee 10-5. The board came Q-J-4-6-4, and Robinson scored his biggest win ever.
Lee, 27, is a pro from Wayland, Massachusetts who honed his game by studying a poker books and taking lessons from Tom McEvoy. Lee is a busy man. He writes about poker for ESPN and the Boston Herald, where he has a weekly poker column, has his own poker radio show and did the commentary for the 2008 Circuit championship at Atlantic City. He also managed to find the time to rack up $1.3 million in tournament cashes. He's had three six-figure paydays, his biggest being $400,000 for finishing 13th in the WSOP main event last year. He has two WPT wins, at the $5,000 World Poker Finals in 2006, and a $2,000 event there last year, along with a couple of Circuit final tables. --Max Shapiro
Benanzer, 29, is a rental manager and builder from Greenville, Ohio, who learned poker from his father. He's had two Scotty Nguyen Poker Challenge cashes, a win and a 10th.
For more information, please contact:
Max Shapiro -- WSOP Media Director at (323) 356-3303
Or visit our official website: www.worldseriesofpoker.com
World Series of Poker Commissioner – Jeffrey Pollack
Director of Poker Operations for Harrah’s Entertainment – Jack Effel
Caesars Indiana Poker Room Manager – Jimmy Allen