Council Bluffs, IA—Adam Clayman is a futures trader and people in that trade tend to be superstitious, he says.
For example, if something fortuitous happens on a given day, they will risk more on that same day in the future. So, after he booked a hotel room here for two nights, but then won two H.O.R.S.E. tournaments playing online at home, he was inspired to extend his stay one night and enter the H.O.R.S.E. event.
His intuition paid off as he ended up winning this sixth event in the WSOP Circuit tour at Horseshoe Council Bluffs. The win paid $5,843, coming on top of his sixth-place finish in an earlier limit hold’em event. He also has a 14th place finish in a Party Poker Million 5 event.
Clayman is 49 and lives in Ogallala, Nebraska. He began playing poker in San Jose, California back in 1995. He likes all games, though he hasn’t played that much stud. He also prefers tournaments to cash games because the payout for the investment can be so much greater.
He tries to be patient, saying that bulls can win and bears can win, but pigs get slaughtered. At the beginning of tonight’s tournament he ran into quads and a straight flush, but still had enough chips to keep him going.
When the final table started, we were playing stud hi-lo, with antes of 700, a bring-in of 1,000, blinds of 1,500-3,000 and limits of 3,000-6,000. Dennis Larimer, with 58,000, and Ed Tonnellier, with 57,800, were racing neck and neck for the chip lead, while Peter Clark Jr. was many lengths behind with 7,000.
Here were the starting chip counts:
|
Seat |
Name |
Chip Count |
|
1 |
Adam Clayman |
77,000 |
|
2 |
Ed Tonnellier |
57,000 |
|
3 |
Fred Walker |
31,000 |
|
4 |
Shaun Burnett |
46,000 |
|
5 |
Peter Clark Jr. |
7,000 |
|
6 |
Michelle Freeman |
19,500 |
|
7 |
Tom Wentzel |
38,200 |
|
8 |
Dennis Larimer |
58,000 |
8th place: On the first hand, Clark started with three good low cards, A-5-6, and decided to go for it.. He couldn’t make a low and lost to Tom Wentzel’s trip 10s, collecting $528 for eighth place. Clark, 45, is a computer programmer from Colorado Springs, Colorado.
7th place: The next game was hold’em with 4,000-8,000 limits and 1,000 antes. Shaun Burnett put his last chips in with As-10s and was called by Michelle Freeman, the first lady to grace a final table here thus far. She had pocket 8s, and they held up when the board missed both players. For seventh, Shaun got $720. Burnett, a truck driver from Lacona, Iowa, finished second in the first $300 event here.
6th place: Larimer was next out, in a razz round. He and Tonnellier both made 8-lows, but Tonnellier’s 8 was a perfect 8-4-3-2-1, while Larimer showed 8-5-4-3-A. He was paid $928 for sixth. Larimer, 34, is a radio station manager from Columbia, Missouri. This is his third final table.
5th place: We were now playing stud, 6,000-12,000 limits. Low on chips, Tom Wentzel went all in on third street, up against three opponents. He thought he might quadruple up when he made a 9-high straight, but then Tonnellier turned up an ace-high flush. Fifth was worth $1,168. Wentzel, 41, is in sales for a consulting firm in Plymouth, Minnesota. This is his fourth Circuit final table. He won the second event here, limit hold’em.
4th place: An Omaha hi-lo round was the last for Freeman. Holding A-2-4-9, she had a pretty good flop of 10-4-3, and bet out. A king turned and she called for her last chips. Then a 9 hit the river. She missed her low while Adam Clayman, holding a J-Q, showed a straight. Fourth paid $1.520. Freeman, 44, is a customer service/at-home professional from Spencer, Iowa. This is her first try at a Circuit tournament.
3rd place: We were now playing razz. Showing a door card king, Tonnellier decided to chase with two low cards in the hole and went all in.. The best that he could make was a king-low, while Walker edged him with a queen-low. Tonnellier, a 53-year-old retiree from Alberta, Canada, left with $2,145 for third, just a little less than the $118,000 he won for coming in second in a WSOP half Omaha, half hi-lo stud event in 2007.
2nd place: The final hand dealt was in a stud round. Clayman started with split 6s, paired a trey on the river, and his two pair outran Walker’s queens. Walker is a 73-year-old retiree from Omaha. His five WSOP cashes include thirds in stud and.razz in 1994 and 1995. His runner-up finish was worth $3,153. –Max Shapiro