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“The poker table is the true equalizer!” NJFP Dealer,
Terry Wedin, so eloquently stated after looking over
the Final Table for the NJFP Season-3 Finals, which
played out over the weekend on December 8 and 9th…
The ten finalists were as diverse as anyone could
envision; both male and female, they represented
almost every ethnic, religious, social, and economic
backgrounds imaginable.
The 100 survivors of
the Day One Finals Shootout and the Ten Top Overall
Scorers, who had a bye on Day One, filed into The
Whiskey Café on Sunday Morning with their best
game-faces on. Shortly after, “Shuffle Up and Deal”
was declared, the words, “Player Down” sounded, and
the stunned expressions on the faces of the 99
remaining said it all.
The first casualty of
the day was none other than “7-0” leader, Hasham
Khawaja. Hash, as he is better known, was knocked-out
gracefully, and did everything right. Unfortunately,
his pocket-Kings weren’t as good as the pocket-Aces in
the hand of his opponent. Hash expressed “no regrets”
about his play, and although he was the first to
experience a bad beat that day, he wasn’t the last.
Former NJFP Season 2
Champion, and “7-0” comrade, John Ishak, had his chip
stack crippled by Dawn Shipwash who limped in with
wired 9’s to Ishak’s 10-9 off-suit. The flop came
10-10-9, giving the champ trips, which fell to Dawn’s
nines full. Two hands later, John was looking at the
same hand, which had won him the title at the Season 2
finals, pocket 4’s. Unfortunately, lightning didn’t
strike twice and as Ishak put it, “I guess it wasn’t
meant to be” and out he went.
I’m gonna win this
thing!” That was Rafael “Riff-Raff” Krupa’s attitude
going into the NJ Free Poker Finals, and it held
true. After almost nine hours of grueling play, Krupa
overcame 100 other NJFP hopefuls, to capture the Texas
Hold’em victory.
It would not be easy
however, as player after player was knocked-out, and
chip-stacks rose and fell throughout the day, Krupa
just bided his time. He was never close to being the
chip leader, until the final table, and obviously,
that is when it really counts.
The Final-Ten was an
interesting collection of old-school NJFP veterans and
hard-shelled youngsters, and at the helm was Rose “the
spanking dealer” Smith. The first to get KO’d, was
Ringside Bar veteran, Adam Canvisser. As one of the
low stacks at the table, he was pushed to the brink by
a Krupa raise. After careful consideration, he
decided to push all of his chips in, with a pair of
6’s. Unfortunately, Canvisser was dominated by Krupa’
pair of 9’s, which didn’t hit and he finished in tenth
place, and thus began the “Riff Raff” explosion.
Next to be knocked out,
was Helen Chen, founding member of the “Asian Mafia”.
One of the stalwarts throughout Season 3, Chen was
considered to be one of the favorites to take down the
final prize. Her reputation was also bolstered by her
victory in the “Tournament of Champions” the day
prior. As one of the lower stacks, she made a raise
with half her chips. Krupa immediately re-raised
enough to put Chen all-in, if she chose. After an
agonizing process, Chen decided to make her play with
K-10. Once again, Krupa was dominant with A-K. Chen
received no help from the board, and her very
impressive and successful weekend ended with a ninth
place finish.
Ending the day in
eighth place, was Kenneth Asuquo. It should be noted
that he made the final table as one of the smaller
stacks, thanks in no small part to a horrendous beat,
to Paul Esperanzate, in what was, without question,
the “Hand of the Match”. With only three players
remaining until the final table, they had a heads-up
battle at NJFP Dealer, George “Command Center”
Cheung’s table: Paul’s pocket Kings versus Kenneth’s
A-Q suited. Asuquo seemed to be in outstanding shape
when the flop paired his ace, and it seemed even
better, when a third ace came on the river.
Unfortunately, for him, the turn had netted Paul a
two-outer King, thereby giving him a full house, to
beat Asuquo’s trip aces, resulting in the subsequent
short-stack at the final table.
It would not be a true
final table without a little “7-0” representation.
This time it was the aforementioned Paul “Rose
Freaker” Esperanzate, who went heads-up with Krupa and
once again, Krupa was favored: A-J vs. Paul’s A-10.
This time, however, there was a little more drama, as
Paul hit a 10 on the flop. But sometimes you live by
the turn, and sometimes… With only two outs, Krupa
found a friendly Jack on Fourth Street, and
Esperanzate’s time had expired. Paul finished in a
very respectful, Seventh place.
Without question, the
boldest player at the final table was Ren “Double
Down” Buonomo, who had to suck-out on Day One to stay
alive,
at new NJFP Dealer, Christina Luo’s
table. Ren was all-in with Q-K off-suit, against Jay
Munier's A-J. The flop came A-Q-x putting Buonomo
well behind. Apparently lucky with the ladies, a
Queen on the turn, saved him, and he later jokingly
remarked "that was better than sex!"
With Ren’s calm and
playful demeanor, it is difficult to tell whether he
is at the final table of the NJFP finals, or simply
another Tuesday night game at Whiskey. He plays with
the same confidence and seemingly reckless abandon,
and it sometimes helps him (as evidenced by his
raising with K-8 suited, and then hitting trip 8’s on
the flop, almost inducing a call). Eventually
however, Ren simply ran out of time, and was
knocked-out in Sixth place.
Perhaps the most
interesting new development came from Dorothy “The
Flag” McGuinness. The original bar-tab satellite
winner and one of the most popular veteran players in
the league, her passion for the NJFP flag chips is
legendary. After almost eight hours of playing
without any of her favorite chips in sight, Dealer
George Cheung decided to surprise her, by handing her
a flag chip midway through the final table, as a card
protector. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”, wasn’t
a consideration, and after that, Dorothy wouldn’t win
another hand.
McGuinness eventually,
would have no choice but to push her remaining chips
all-in with A-K, only to run into pocket Kings, held
by Joan “Of Arc” Aguilucho. As she left the table
with a very impressive Fifth place finish, Rob “Lord
of the River” Grosch asked her if this was the end of
her flag obsession. Dorothy’s response was shocking
and to the point, “I think so!” We’ll see, Dorothy,
we’ll see!
Finishing in Fourth
place was Angel Serrano Sr., patriarch of the “First
Family of Willie’s”. Three things you can always be
certain of … death, taxes, and the Serrano family
playing poker together at Willie McBride’s every
Thursday and Sunday night. He did a fantastic job all
weekend, but eventually, the blinds were just too
tough to overcome.
Joan “Of Arc” Aguilucho
was the next to go. Aguilucho was the top newcomer in
Season 3 among the final ten. With her sister and
group of friends cheering her on, she exhibited
strength and knowledge throughout the finals, and knew
exactly how to push her sizable chip stack around to
her advantage. Like the others before her, she had
the misfortune of running into the “Riff Raff” buzz
saw. Her pocket 8’s were conquered by Krupa’s pocket
Aces, and Joan would finish, her very successful
Season 3 campaign, in Third place. Aside for the
awarded sponsorship, she also left with the admiration
of her friends and family, and the respect all of the
NJFP players.
When asked for her
opinion as to the competition, she stated; “I
believe everyone I've played with at the final played
their best game. Dorothy made many great bets, Angel
Sr. knew exactly when to push all in to double up and
survive, Cynthia (referring to Cynthia Ann Wilkes who
finished on the bubble) knew when to call and fold,
Paul survived with a small stack managing to get in to
the final table. Aside from some obvious aggressive
bluffs, everyone played their cards rights. At the
end of the day when you have skilled players battling
each other, the inevitable happens. Luck becomes the
deciding factor.” There is no doubt that we
haven’t seen the last of Aguilucho.
Then it was heads-up:
Rafael “Riff-Raff” Krupa versus Herman “Pink Chip”
Belcher. Belcher acquired most of his stack in a
tremendous battle minutes before the final table
began, and was chip-leader, with over $200,000 in
chips, going in. Flying under the radar, for the most
part he just bided his time, while Krupa knocked out
player after player. For the next 30 minutes, it was
a very entertaining chess match between the two. At
one point, Belcher made a tough lay down, folding a
pair of Jacks with an Ace kicker, when Krupa pushed
all-in on the flop, with a queen showing. Like all
good players, Krupa never let on whether he had
Belcher beat or not.
Eventually, Belcher
decided to put his tournament life on the line, and
went all-in with pocket 2’s. When you’re hot, you’re
hot, and this was no exception. Once again, Rafael
was favored with pocket Q’s. No help came on the
flop, turn, or river and Herman Belcher finished in
Second and a $500 sponsorship, while Rafael Krupa took
home a NJ Free Poker sponsorship to a major World
Series of Poker event, and the title of NJ Free Poker
Season 3 Tournament Winner!
When asked for a
comment, Rafael has this to say; “I
would just like to thank NJ Free Poker for giving me
the opportunity to fulfill a dream that I have been
wishing to come true ever since I started watching
poker on TV. Words cannot describe the feelings that
I went through while playing on Sunday. Throughout
the roller coaster ride of ups and downs during the
Finals tournament, I managed to prevail through a
field of some tough and fierce competitors. I would
also like to congratulate all the players at the
finals for a job well done and for making this an
awesome experience. Lastly, I would like to thank the
dealers, event planners, and tournament directors for
doing a fantastic job on the structure of the
tournament. Now as a winner of the season 3 NJ Free
Poker finals, I will do my very best to try to
represent this organization at a WSOP event. Again, I
would like to say thanks to all the players, dealers,
and directors for making this all possible.”
Recalling Krupa’s self-fulfilled
prophecy of “I’m gonna win this thing” before
the finals actually
began, dealer extraordinaire, Terry “Smoke Break”
Wedin, noted; “I remember what he told me, because he
seemed so focused throughout the day…From beginning to
end, that was his mindset … to win.”
Congratulations to all
of the players at the NJ Free Poker Season 3 Finals,
and thank you to everyone for supporting the league.
To all of the NJFP
Dealers: Thank you for another job well done, with a
special thanks to the A-Team and to Rob Grosch for the
extra effort and for always going above and beyond the
call of duty on behalf of NJ Free Poker.
Season 4 has already
begun and another Final Tournament is scheduled for
May 2008. We will keep you posted as to how the
winner faired at his WSOP event.
Shuffle up and Deal
Lisa T.
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