Mohamed Elkerdawy, a Furniture Maker from Egypt, Wins WSOP-C Event #7

Pocket treys was the key hand tonight for Mohamed Elkerdawy in his victory in event seven of the Harrah’s WSOP Circuit event at Harrah’s Atlantic City, $1,000 no-limit hold’em. With four players left, Mikhail Gurevich bet 100,000 into a flop of 8-8-4. Elkerdawy raised 240,000 with his treys, Gurevich folded, showing an A7, and Elkerdawy took the chip lead which he never surrendered.

Gurevich was critical of his opponent’s play with the small pair, but Elkerdawy said he read Gurevich for an ace and knew the flop didn’t help him. First place in the event brought him $72,000. That matches the $72,310 he got for finishing second in a $500 no-limit event at the Borgata Poker Open this past September.

Elkerdawy, 55, is originally from Egypt and now lives in Brigantine, New Jersey. He owns a wholesale furniture company that replicates imported antiques, which gives him lots of free time to play poker. He also enjoys side game action, $40-$80 and higher limit hold’em.

When play ended on day one, 13 were left, with Gurevich holding the most chips, 267,000. When the final table started, William McMahon was in front with 242,000. Play began with blinds of 4,000-8,000, 1,000 antes and 26:44 left.

Seats and chip counts

SEAT 1 Joe Siegel 105,000

SEAT 2 Bernard Lee 92,000

SEAT 3 William McMahon 242,000

SEAT 4 Mikhail Gurevich 207,000

SEAT 5 Mohamed Elkerdawy 72,100

SEAT 6 Mike Beasley 133,000

SEAT 7 Richard Davidson 197,000

SEAT 8 Manelic Minaya 114,000

SEAT 9 Frank Pellegrini 105,000

There were two all-ins and calls in early action, with Bernard Lee and Manelic “Manny” Minaya, both going in with better hands, surviving and doubling up.

Frank Pellegrini wrote on his bio sheet that he was the underdog, and he proved it by being first out. Soon after blinds went to 6,000-12,000 with 2,000 antes, he moved in for $89,000 with A-J. Lee then pushed in with pocket queens, which held up. Pellegrini is a 42-year-old veterinarian from Streetsboro, Ohio who’s been playing for a year, learning from a friend. He got $4,500 for finishing ninth. On hand 31, pro player Minaya suffered one of the most brutal beats of this tournament to date. After Gurevich raised all in for 154,000 with A-K, Minaya called with pocket aces, a 91 percent favorite. When the board showed J-10-9-8, Gurevich was dead to a queen (or a 7 for a chop). A lady rivered to give Gurevich a straight, and Minaya was down to 13,000, which he had to post in the big blind on the next hand. All he had was 10-9. Richard Davidson raised 50,000 to get heads-up. Ironically, Richardson had just A-5, and proceeded to make aces full. Minaya is from the Dominican Republic and now lives in Tampa, Florida. He had been in billings and collections before turning pro. He’s made six final tables, finished second in the WSOP

Circuit championship at Tunica earlier this year, winning $160,557 and finished 61st in the WSOP main event last year, which paid $145,875. Tonight he got $6,750 for eighth.

Returning from the break, Gurevich was in front with 348,000. Blinds now were 8,000-16,000 with 2,000 antes. William McMahon, a firefighter from Cedar Grove, New Jersey, was left with about 40,000 on hand 59. He raised to 60,000, and Elkerdawy moved in for 89,000 more. After long thought, McMahon had the clock put on him, and finally called. He turned up A-J, and had a straight draw on a flop of K-Q-2, but Elkerdawy, with pocket 10s, had two of his needed cards. McMahon couldn’t hit the straight or either of his overcards. Two hands later was all in with A-7. Gurevich and Beasley called, and Gurevich won with J-10 when the checked-down board showed K-J-4-8-6. McMahon is 45 and started playing poker in pool rooms 25 years ago. His best achievement to date was making back-to-back final tables last week. His payout for finishing seventh was $9,000. As play continued Gurevich still remained in command with 550,000 chips.

Next out was Lee. Down to 43,000, he moved in with Qh-10h and lost to Richard Davidson’s K-9 when the board showed A-K-4-8-5. Lee, who is 36, is from Wayland, Massachusetts, works as a senior marketing manager and has an impressive poker resume. He finished 13th in last year’s WSOP main event, collecting $400,000, and $368,919 for winning a $5,000 event at the World Poker Finals this year. He also writes a poker column for the Boston Herald and ESPN.com. His sixth place finish was worth $11,250.

Joe Siegel followed him out. Siegel is 54, from North Charleroi, Pennsylvania, is in auto sales and has been playing poker for 40 years, learning from his father. In this tournament, the first major one he has ever played, he had aces eight times, twice at the final table, and never got them, or any other pocket pair, cracked. Short-chipped in the latter stages, he lasted until fifth. After Beasley raised with K-9, Siegel re-raised for his last 14,000 with Qc-10c. The board came A-7-2-5-6, and Siegel cashed out for $11,250.

Hand 85 saw everything turn around. Gurevich opened for 60,000. “You have anything?” Elkerdawy asked, calling. Gurevich had A-7, and after Gurvich made Gurevich fold when he bet his treys, he took the lead with more than 500,000.

On the next hand, Elkerdawy opened for 65,000 and Gurevich called. The flop was 10d-6d-Jd. Gurevich, with a 5d-4d flush draw, moved in for 300,000 and Elkerdawy called with Kd-Jh. An offsuit queen turned, and then a river king gave Elkerdawy a winning two pair. Gurevich was out in fourth place, which paid $15,750, while Elkerdawy now had a commanding chip lead with 945,000 to 300,000 for Beasley and 105,000 for Davidson.

Gurevich, 23, is a year out of college, where he was a philosophy major at Rutgers, and hasn’t yet decided what direction to take in his life. Originally from Belarus, a nation in Eastern Europe, he now lives in Manalapan, New Jersey. He’s been playing poker three years, is single, and likes table tennis. Tonight he picked up $15,750 for fourth place.

Three-handed, Elkerdawy now had about 945,000 chips to 300,000 for Mike Beasley, and 105,000 for Davidson. Davidson went broke when he moved in for 85,000 with 8-5 and couldn’t catch Basley’s pocket 10s. Davidson, 37, is from Whippany, New Jersey and owns a heating and air conditioning company. His nickname is “The Slicer,” and he says poker is in his blood because he’s half Hungarian. He’s been playing the game 10 years, and the $20,250 he got for third is his best finish so far. Heads-up, Elkerdawy enjoyed a 916,000 to 434,000 advantage. The match-up would last 29 hands. After blinds went to 15,000-30,000, Beasley had closed the gap to about 750,000-600,000. largely by taking pots with all-in bet and raises. But a couple of hands later it was all over. Elkerdawy raised to 70,000 with Ac-5c and Beasley moved in with pocket 8s. With a board of 9d-4s-3c-Kc, Elkerdawy needed an ace, deuce or club to win. The river was a 10c, and Beasley was out in second place, worth $39,600.Beasley, 43, is a pathologist and adult club owner from Hollywood, Florida, who learned poker at age 12 in a barbershop. Making back-to-back final tables in the two $1,000 events is his best poker feat to date.

When cards are not coming

I have been playing sngs the whole year (my first at poker), beginnning with the (painful) $1.50 + 0.25, and going up to the $6, which I have been playing right now. My current ROI for these $6 is over 50% so I probably shouldn't be complaining, as it used to be 5% for the $1.75 and about 12% for the $3.40.

Everything should be good, but recently I noticed one disturbing thing in my style: I'm never the big stack or the chip leader. I'm almost always in the money, but I'm never the guy terrorizing the whole table, and getting a big enough stack to put pressure on the opponents. This only happens when I have a good run of cards right in the beginning of the SNG, otherwise I'll be stuck to the middle/low stack and having to wait forever for some opportunity to double up.

The question is: what should I do to not to be so card-dependent player? In the $6 tourneys, unlike the $1.75 and $3.40, players are tighter so it is possible, to some extent, to play in a more aggressive way, but I can only play this style when I'm getting cards.

Oddly enough, when I'm sitting there with no cards, and I manage to double up once or twice, and get a reasonable stack, I can put pressure on everybody with a *very* aggressive style, and if that happens when we're down to the last 5, I'm usually going in the money fairly easily.

Summarizing: I'm sick of being of the low/mid stacks. Please help me become one of the big stacks

Information taken from pokertips.org

Fun Home Poker Game Rules - Follow the Queen

There was a poker book that came out a year or so ago. It encouraged all home poker game players used to playing Dealer's Choice games to switch over to "serious" casino-style poker games like hold 'em and stud. The author opined that anything but those games wasn't really worthy of our time.

Unfortunately, this opinion seems to have permeated the poker world. If it ain't hold 'em stud or Omaha, think many today, then it ain't really poker.

I respectfully disagree. For me, poker is a fun game with infinite variations that can be learned, stretched, changed, and altered to cater to the whim, capricious and legitimate interest of those who play it. To those who think 7-card stud and Texas hold 'em are the sine quo non of standard poker games, let me remind you that up until the 1970s these games were considered wild variations of the casino standards of 5-card draw and 5-card stud. What appears conventional today was at one time no more than a wild variation of another game.

Poker is ever evolving. In the interest of that evolution (and some might argue devolution) I'd like to list some of the dealer's choice games that I've grown to enjoy – or at least appreciate. This column is dedicated to the fun side of poker: serious strategy considerations held in abeyance for now. Let the fun begin!

Follow the Queen

I first played this game in high school. We played it with a nickel ante and a maximum $.25 bet. My buddies and I loved it. But today, most of my poker playing buddies avoid it because it has wild cards. In my opinion it was and is a great game. Here's how it goes.

Deal Follow the Queen as you would deal 7-Card Stud. Begin with an ante. You can either have each player ante or have the dealer ante for the table. Anteing for the table saves time, ends up costing everyone the same amount at the end of the night as the deal rotates, and eliminates the confusion about who has missed their ante. But it may annoy some purists who like the idea of having everyone start out each game with some stake in the pot. You decide what to do. But start with an ante.

The dealer then deals each player two down cards and an up card. You can play that the lowest card must start the betting – as they do in a casino – or give the player with the highest exposed card the option of betting or checking. I like the forced bet because it increases action by starting off with a wager. Either way – it's your home game.

Follow the Queen differs from 7-Card Stud when a Queen is dealt as an up card. This is because the card dealt after the face-up Queen is considered a wild card. So too are all other cards of the same rank. So, for example, if the dealer deals out the following hand, all 5s are wild.

Clockwise around the table

Player A: (x – x) Jd
Player B: (x – x) Qh
Player C: (x – x) 5s * this is a wild card
Player D: (x – x) 9c
Player E:YOU (7d8d) 5d
Player F: (x – x) Ts
Player G: (x – x) Ac

As you can see, the card to fall after the Queen is the 5s. This makes all fives wild. So your 5d is also wild giving you three to a straight flush, three to an Ace-high flush, a pair of 8s or a pair of 7s.

There is a betting round following this deal and then another card is dealt face up. The same rules apply. Whenever another Queen is dealt, a new wild card becomes wild and the old wild card ceases to be a wild card. So, for example, if the deal continues as diagramed below, fives would no longer be wild. Instead, sevens would be wild.

Player A: (x – x) Jd 9c
Player B: (x – x) Qh 6c
Player C: (x – x) 5s Ad
Player D: (x – x) 9c Qd
Player É:YOU (7d8d) 5d 7s * This is now wild
Player F: (x – x) Ts Kh
Player G: (x – x) Ac 2c

As you can see, a Queen was dealt face up to Player D. The card that followed it, your card as it turned out, was a 7. That meant that all sevens became wild – including your new upcard and your 7 in the hole. You lucky guy. You got two wild cards!

At the same time, fives stopped being wild cards. You didn't know if this helped other players – because you couldn't see their down cards. But you're certain that it helped you. Instead of having just one wild card you had two – giving you four to an open-ended straight flush, three 5s or three 8s. You already had trips and were well on your way to getting a full house, four of a kind, a flush, a straight or even a straight flush.

The hand continues as in 7-card stud. A third up card is dealt, followed by a round of betting, with the same rules concerning cards dealt after a Queen applying. A fourth up card is dealt, followed by a round of betting, and finally a down card is dealt followed by a round of betting.

The game usually produces a lot of action. Players are excited by the appearance and then disappearance of wild cards in their hand. Hope springs eternal as players wait for a Queen and subsequent wild card to drastically change the value of their hand.

One additional rules must be understood and agreed upon before. In the game I play, if a Queen is dealt on sixth street (the last round with upcards) to the last player as his upcard – so no upcards can follow it -- then, and only then, the Queens themselves are wild – and there are no other wild cards.

Let me show you a fully diagramed deal from the above example to give you a full taste of how this game might develop. Let's assume this is a $.50/1.00 game with a $1.00 dealer ante and that everyone is in the hand until fifth street which plays out as follows:

Player A: (x – x) Jd 9c 3c folds
Player B: (x – x) Qh 6c 3d folds
Player C: (x – x) 5s Ad As bet $1
Player D: (x – x) 9c Qd 8c folds
Player É:YOU (7d8d) 5d 7s 8h call $1
Player F: (x – x) Ts Kh Ks raise $2
Player G: (x – x) Ac 2c 4c call

Sevens are wild, as we've seen, because one followed the last Queen that was dealt. So you have two wild cards, one of which is showing. But even so, you don't have the high hand showing. Betting begins with the pair of Aces held by Player C. He bets $1.00. Player D folds. It is your action. You have four eights.. You could raise. There's good reason to do so. You might knock out a couple of players – which is a good thing when you have a wild card in this game since it means there's less of a chance that someone else will get a Queen on later rounds, preserving your wild card. You'd also build the pot. But you decide to slowplay it to keep other players in the game. So you only call.

Player F, on the other hand, with an exposed pair of Kings raises. You figure he must have at least three Kings or maybe that last card gave him four to a big straight flush. In any event, he's called by Player G who has three cards to a straight flush. Player A and Player B fold. Player C, with the exposed Aces calls. You call as well. Four of you see sixth street which is as follows:

Sixth Street

Player C: (x – x) 5s Ad As Kd
YOU (7d8d) 5d 7s 8h 8c
Player F: (x – x) Ts Kh Ks 7c
Player G: (x – x) Ac 2c 4c Jc

Your first thought is happiness that no Queen fell so your two 7s will stay wild for the entire game. You then notice that you have a full house – 8s filled with 7s. But wait! Your 7s are wild so you have the incredible hand of five 8s!!!!! Five of a kind, for those of you who don't play wild card games, is the strongest hand you can have. It even beats a straight flush. So unless someone gets a higher five-of-a-kind you have the best hand.

You also notice that Player F spiked a wild card too – giving him at least three Kings. He also may have a straight flush. Still, you figure to be in the lead.

The betting on sixth street is as follows:

Sixth Street

C: (x – x) 5s Ad As Kd
{calls, then folds}

YOU (7d8d)5d 7s 8h 8c
{raise to $2 - raise to $4}

F: (x – x) Ts Kh Ks 7c
{bets $1 - raise to $3 - calls $4}

G: (x – x) Ac 2c 4c Jc
{calls $1 - calls $3 - calls $4}

Player F was high with three Kings and bet $1.00. Player G called. Player C called initially, though drops out later when the raising starts. You, with your five 8s raise. Player F, whom you now put on four Kings, re-raises. Player G calls. Player C drops out. You take the last raise (the three raise rule is in effect). And Players F and G stay in for the final buck. Three of you see the River.

On the River you got the Qc. You can't improve on your five 8s so you don't care. And the Q has no special value anyway as a final down card. So your hand value wouldn't have changed in any event. The betting proceeds as follows.

YOU (7d8d)5d 7s 8h 8c
{raise to $2 - raise to $4}

F: (x – x) Ts Kh Ks 7c
{bet $1 - raise to $3 - call $4}

G: (x – x) Ac 2c 4c Jc
{call - call $3 - call $4}

Player F, believing no doubt that he has the best hand, starts the betting. You and he have a raising war with player G calling along until the betting is finally capped. You expose your hands at the showdown. You all reveal the following

YOU: 7d 8d 5d 7s 8h 8c Qc five 8s

PLAYER F: Js 7h Ts Kh Ks 7c 6d royal straight flush
PLAYER G 5d 3c Ac 2c 4c Jc Jh Ace high flush

You win! The other players have strong hands too – hands that would probably nearly always win in a typical game of 7-card stud. Player F had the other two 7s – a highly unusual occurrence. But that gave him the big straight flush. Player G really should have folded. With your trips showing and your aggressive raising he should have assumed that you had at least a full house. But crazy things like this happen in this game. So you're happy to take the money. And happy to play this great game again! What's not to like?

Taken from pokernews.com