 Newsletter Signup
Stay informed with the
NEW Casino City Times newsletter! Related Links
|
Gaming News
What a Steury! Sick call leads former online pro to WSOP H.O.R.S.E. title13 June 2011Sometimes, a single moment in time has a monumental impact on the outcome of something that is far bigger and greater. For Aaron Steury that special moment came in the $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. event at the World Series of Poker, when play was down to just three finalists. Facing tough fellow poker pro Adam Friedman in what turned out to be the game-changing hand of the tournament, Steury was dealt a speculative hand with interesting possibilities. But five blanks hit the board, and it turned out that he missed his straight draw. Steury was essentially left with nothing more than queen-high in his hand. For 99.99 percent of all poker players reading this, that’s normally an instant-fold situation. Virtually every card in the universe under the circumstances would hit the muck. The pot would get pushed the other direction, and a new poker hand would be dealt. The hand would pretty much be forgotten. But Steury noticed something odd. Things just didn’t seem right with surrendering a huge pot so easily. What sparked his skeptical inquisition at that moment in time isn’t quite clear and perhaps can’t even be calculated by mere mortals. When Friedman decided to bet the river, Steury thought long and hard and then ended up making what virtually every observer would later describe as a “sick call.” Friedman looked up. He shook his head in disbelief. Then, his proverbial jaw dropped to the ground, choreographed in perfect unison with a hundred gasps in the crowd that witnessed one of the boldest final table calls of the year at the WSOP. When Friedman showed dejection at the call, Steury instantly knew he was right and he had made the perfect read. As it turned out, Friedman too had missed his straight draw – albeit with two lower-ranked cards. Steury may have only had “queen high,” but he turned up his cards with the confidence of a conqueror who had out-analyzed, out-foxed, and as it turned out, outplayed a very strong opponent. He might as well have been tabling a royal flush. “I thought there was a pretty good chance I had the best hand," said Steury. "I was right and I was confident the rest of the tournament. I was spot on. That was the turning point.” The final table played on for another 90 minutes. But the outcome was really decided then and there. Buoyed with self-confidence, Steury could do no wrong. From that moment forward, he knew he could trust his reads and inner instincts. To a successful poker player, this is the jet fuel that rockets dreams into reality. It’s the victory switch. On it went. As for his final two unfortunate opponents, the duo might as well have been playing poker with their hole cards exposed. Facing an opponent who’s in what’s called “the zone,” and has just revealed the uncanny ability to make startlingly accurate reads is as deflating to the player on the opposite end of the table as is the aura of confidence that surrounds the poker superman. Thirty or so hands later, it was all over. Aaron Steury was a WSOP champion, and received $289,283 in prize money. “This is one of the softest WSOP fields," said Steury. "There are a lot of people who do not know what they are doing. As you would expect, Day One was easier, then Day Two got a bit tougher, and then Day Three was very tough.” A 24-year-old poker pro and self-described grinder, from Fort Wayne, Ind., Steury came into this year’s WSOP with eight previous WSOP cashes. His best showing had been a 14th-place finish in the $5,000 buy-in H.O.R.S.E. Championship, played in 2009. But this triumph trumped everything he'd done before and paid out nearly three times the combined figure that he earned up to this point. Steury’s parents were not initially pleased with their son’s decision to play poker professionally. But he has now been successful for four years and they have come to support his career choice. Steury added that this WSOP gold bracelet victory will likely bring more encouragement from his family. Steury was primarily an online poker player up until recent events that now threaten his livelihood. He played in high-stakes cash games and multi-table tournaments. The runner up was 35-year-old poker pro Michael Chow, from Honolulu, Hawaii. He won last year's $1,500 buy-in Omaha High-Low Split event. This time he took second place, which paid $178,691. Friedman, who gained fame as one of ESPN's "agony of defeat" poster boys during the 2005 WSOP Main Event, finished third to win $121,437. Many observers thought this might finally be Friedman’s moment and redemption. But his ultimate triumph and moment of glory will have to wait a bit longer. Jonathan Tamayo from Humble, Texas, was fourth; Ron Ware, a poker pro from Discovery Bay, Calif.,best-known in the poker world as “Grumpy,” finished fifth; former gold bracelet winner Denis Ethier, from Las Vegas, Nev., was sixth; David Baker, from Kenner, La., was seventh, and Paolo Compagno, from Campione, Italy, was eighth. In addition to Ethier, former bracelet winners who cashed in this event included: David Bach (14th), Todd Brunson (19th), Eli Elezra (21st), Farzad Rouhani (25th), Ken Aldridge (30th), Layne Flack (48th), LyleBerman (49th), Max Pescatori (52nd), Cyndy Violette (55th), Ryan Hughes (58th), Svetlana Gromenkova (69th), Allen Bari (78th), Ivo Donev (83rd), and David Chiu (93rd). The three-day tournament attracted 963 players, a near-record for any Mixed Game format. Tournament summary provided by Nolan Dalla, WSOP Media Director, reprinted by permission. |