Council Bluffs, IA -- After exactly two hours of heads-up play and numerous chip-lead changes, Carl Haney, a 46-year-old computer programmer from Des Moines, Iowa, captured the 12th event of the WSOP Circuit tour at Horseshoe Council Bluffs, $300 No Limit Hold-em. First place officially paid $12,919.
However, when he and Mitch Hinrichs were just about dead even half-way through the match, they agreed to take out $9,000 each and play for the remaining $1,696 and the diamond-and-gold trophy ring. They also agreed to speed things up by playing 10 minute rounds, and by the time they were through, the limits had bounced up five times to 20,000-40,000 with 5,000 antes. It ended when Haney, holding Q-5 to Hinrichs’ Q-J, sucked out by hitting a runner-runner straight.
Haney, who’s played poker for more than 20 years, prefers tournaments over cash games, playing mostly online and averaging one live event a month. He had a cash in a $500 event earlier this week and was the “bubble boy” in another $500 event here last year.
He describes himself as a conservative player (“Even if I’m not I want them to believe it,” he added), and his strategy at this final table was to let the wilder players knock each other out.
This event had 137 players and a $30,867 prize pool.
The final table got going with blinds of 1,500-3,000 and 300 antes, 22 minutes left. We had two big chip leaders. Scott Westphalen had 197,000 of the 822,000 chips in play, and Tucker Stone had 173,600.
Here were the starting chip counts:
|
Seat |
Name |
Chip Count |
|
1 |
Corey Aune |
45,200 |
|
2 |
Joel Merwick |
52,300 |
|
3 |
Scott Westphalen |
197,000 |
|
4 |
Mitch Hinrichs |
61,900 |
|
5 |
Ralph Shannon |
87,500 |
|
6 |
Carl Haney |
103,600 |
|
7 |
Doug Hutchens |
46,100 |
|
8 |
Tucker Stone |
173,600 |
|
9 |
Larry Nichols |
74,100 |
9th place: Five minutes into play a hand came down so spectacular that it wouldn’t even be believable in a James Bond movie. First, Corey Aune moved in holding A-K. Next, Haney looked at pocket aces and he pushed in. Then, Larry Nichols called with all his chips holding pocket kings!
Ready for more?
The flop came K-10-Q, putting Nichols way ahead with a set of cowboys. And then, unbelievably, a jack turned to give both Aune and Nichols Broadway straights! A river 9 failed to fill up Nichols, and Aune and Haney chopped the pot and chopped Nichols.
It took about an hour to figure out the chip distribution. Haney had Nichols covered, so he got the extra side-pot chips, and Nichols, understandably dazed, went out ninth, which paid $797. Nichols, 70, is a retired grain merchandiser from Omaha who’s been playing for 53 years.
“I really enjoy playing,” he wrote. His poker highlight had been winning a $500 entry into last year’s event.
8th place: With blinds now at 2,000-4,000 and 400 antes, Doug Hutcheson, a business owner from Council Bluffs, went out in eighth for $1,196. He was soundly beaten when Hinrichs, holding A-K, flopped trip aces to blow away Hutcheson's Q-J. Hutcheson, making back-to-back final tables, wrote that doing so takes more than a little luck…”It takes a lot of luck.”
7th place: Blinds now were 2,500-5,000. Corey Aune went out next, picking up $1,595 for seventh. He called, with fewer chips, after Carl Haney pushed in with pocket queens and a board of K-J-2-8-5 couldn’t help him. Aune, 27, is a pro (golf, not poker) from Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.
6th place: Joel Merwick finished sixth for $1,993 when his A-J couldn’t beat Mitch Hinrichs’ pocket 9s. Merwick, 29, is a poker player from Omaha. He finished 189th in the 2005 WSOP Main Event.
5th place: Blinds became 3,000-6,000. Ralph Shannon, all in with J-10, went out fifth for $2,392 when his J-10 was crushed by Carl Haney’s set of queens after the board came Q-J-Q-9-8. Shannon, 53, is vice president of an optical company in Atlanta. 4th place: Play resumed after a break with blinds of 4,000-8,000. On the first hand, Stone tried a move, pushing in for more than 100,000 with A-4. “You don’t have to embarrass me,” he said when his hand was announced. Westphalen called with pocket nines and flopped a set, leaving Stone with not many outs other than the door.
Stone, picking up $3,189 for fourth, is a 31-year-old pro from Iowa City, Iowa. His poker highlight was online, chopping turbo take-down on a well-known poker site.
3rd place: This match got heads-up after Hinrichs, holding , flopped a flush when the board showed . He slow-played the flop and turn, then bet enough on the river to put his Scott Westphalen all in. Holding just for a pair of deuces, Westphalen called and went out third, which paid $3,987.
Westphalen, 51, owns a construction company in Brayton, Iowa. His best prior finish was a second-chance final table here.
2nd place: With blinds now 5,000-10,000 and 1,000 antes, Hinrichs had a 2-1 chip advantage over Haney, but after he pulled even they made their deal and began playing their 10-minute rounds. They both played carefully during the long match, with not many all-ins.
On the final deal, Hinrichs committed his chips with to Haney’s , losing when a board of Q-4-A-3-2 gave Haney a wheel. Hinrichs, 27, is a salesman from Grand Rapids, Michigan. – Max Shapiro