Jenni Chang found a pocket pair early in the ten-handed final table, and with her stack already short, she moved all in hoping for the best.
Unfortunately for Chang, her was no good against Dawn Wilnow and her . A clean board ran out and Chang stood to hug Wilnow before heading out to collect her prize money.
Richard Gargel pushed all in after a flop of against Alan Sansone. Sansone thought for a bit, picked up his stack of chips, and slapped it down on the felt past the line.
"You got a spade?" he asked.
"Nope," Gargel replied.
"Good."
Gargel:
Sansone:
"Keep it red," Gargel said. The dealer didn't, but a worked for him. So did a river, and Sansone, who had won numerous all ins on the river, finally had run out of luck.
Natale Kuey pushed all in from the button, and Richard Gargel made the call.
Gargel:
Kuey:
"Ah, Natale," Gargel said, seemingly ready to double his friend up.
The flop brought some more outs for Gargel though: .
"Oh!" Gargel exclaimed as the dealer placed the on the board. The river wasn't the out Kuey needed, and Gargel called him over for a conciliatory embrace.
Richard Gargel outlasted a field of 271 runners to claim a $22,080 first-place prize in the $340 Seniors No-Limit Hold'em event. The tournament began at 9 a.m, and Gargel finished it off here at about 3:30 a.m. with king-jack against jacks. With the win, he nearly tripled his live tournament career winnings of $8,235.
Gargel eliminated the final three opposing runners one by one to bag both the trophy pictured and the top prize.
Gargel now has some ammo to both pursue his poker goals and treat his family, as detailed in our earlier profile.
Megan Milburn opened to 140,000 under the gun, and Rose Ann Musillo shoved her small stack in from the blinds. Milburn's held up against Musillo's despite a five on the flop to send Musillo out in sixth.
Action folded to Denise Ronca in the small blind, and she moved all in. Megan Milburn called from the big blind with , and she was a favorite over the of Ronca. The board came down , and Milburn claimed another victim.
Teresa Sexton pushed all in when action folded to her small blind, and Valerie Novak asked what the blinds were going up to. When told the next level was 40,000-80,000 with a 10,000 ante, she decided to call most of her stack off.
Sexton:
Novak:
"Yesss," Novak said, when the flop came . Her excitement was short-lived, however, as the turn brought an , giving Sexton a straight and ending the hand.
Novak was left with less than the small blind, and she busted the next hand.