World Class Omaha Eight or Better...With One Exception

There was some confusion over the starting time of the Omaha Eight or Better event, so the turnout was lower than expected, attracting only 18 players. The players who did participate were once again the cream of the crop.

Dr. Max Stern was in the two seat, terrorizing the table. "Shadow," who keeps proving himself time and again at the Orleans events, was in the five seat, stealthily gathering chips, living up to his nickname. Wayne Haynes, a dealer "gone pro" who has been cashing in events all over Las Vegas recently, was in the six seat. Charlie Shoten, who had just busted out of the noon NLHE event took the eight seat.

The other table was just as impressive, featuring experts such as Max Pescatori and Thor Hansen.
Some additional top players wanted to buy into the event, but they were busy battling it out in the NLHE tournament. No one was sad to see Jim Meehan, Tom Franklin and Louis Asmo shut out of Omaha Eight.
At 8:15 pm the final table was set. Players decided to make a ten handed final table, rather than the previously arranged nine. Only the top three would be paid and tensions were high.

Three players were short stacked, but two survived by scooping large pots, while one was eliminated.
The numbers dwindled quickly as Wayne Haynes garnered a good chip lead with Max Pescatori following behind. Charlie Shoten made a series of big hands, and soon outchipped even Max, giving Wayne a run for his money.

Felicia Lee Dyer (yes, yours truly) had a short stack from the beginning, getting squeezed in between expert players Wayne Haynes and Shadow on the right, and Max Stern, Charlie Shoten and Max Pescatori on the left. After getting virtually down to the felt a couple of times, she managed to scoop a pot, split some good sized pots, and was back in the game.

Max Stern went all-in after having been chipped down several times at the final table, with a premium hand, but was outdrawn and eliminated in sixth place.

Max Pescatori likewise took a chip dive, and was eliminated in fifth.

Not long into four handed play, Charlie Shoten became short stacked and took a chance on a big draw, not getting any help on the turn or the river, and being eliminated by Shadow in fourth place.

The final three, Wayne Haynes, Shadow and Felicia Lee Dyer played a few more hands, until it was obvious that the blinds were getting in the way of superb play deciding the victor.

A chip count deal was discussed, and calculated by the floorman. Wayne and Shadow were almost equal in chips with around 20,000, while Felicia trailed with only about 14,000. A fair chop was made, with Wayne and Shadow receiving $9205 and $9,125 and Felicia receiving $7,050.

Hugs and congratulations were passed around. The dealers were excellent in this tournament, receiving more compliments than any event thus far. Max Pescatori told one dealer that he was the best Omaha 8 dealer he'd ever encountered. All of the dealers at the Orleans event have been top notch.

Tomorrow will be the final $1500 event at the Orleans, a no-limit hold'em shootout. Thursday will be a satellite day, with several free $5000 seats being given away to top placing WPPA members (interested players can join the WPPA immediately prior to the event, there is no fee to join). Friday will start the final event, being televised by the Game Show Network and played in the Orleans theater with stadium seating for convenience. Seating is available for anyone who would like to be an audience member.