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Hold 'em takes hold
Cont..................
In Las Vegas, Bonillas achieved his dream of playing in a world-class tournament alongside poker greats Raymer, Phil Hellmuth and Phil Ivey.
Bonillas also played against actor Tobey Maguire, who ended up playfully chasing Bonillas' 6-year-old son around a roped-off portion of the casino after learning of the boy's love of Spider-Man movies.
More than 450 people joined Bonillas in the $25,000 buy-in World Championship last April, with the top 100 winning at least $30,000. With 115 people left, Bonillas walked away from his table and went to his room at the Bellagio, choosing to have his cards folded automatically rather than risk getting knocked out so close to cashing.
His mom said otherwise.
"She was all, 'no, don't cheat, be competitive,'" said Bonillas, who returned to his seat and was eliminated on the next hand.
"I went from being happy to feeling it in my stomach, it hurt, like someone died in my family," Bonillas said. "I stayed in my room for like four or five hours. I just wanted to go home."
It wasn't until his return to Tucson that Bonillas knew he wanted to be a career-player. He made a series of big cashes in tournaments — earning him the nickname "The Poker King" — and also hit some slot jackpots, and now estimates he earns $500 to $1,000 per week.
"Or I could lose that much in a week," he said. "That's the hardest thing. Any two cards can win. It's 90 percent luck, 10 percent skill."
One long night
The tournament breaks after every hour for five minutes, when droves of still-alive players flock outside to catch a quick smoke break and compare recent hands.
"I should have been out of the tournament in the first 10 hands," says Ned Shabou, a 46-year-old freelance graphic designer who picked up Hold'Em after emigrating from France in 1997 and last year made two televised tournament finals. He finished eighth, winning $355.
Of the 87 that started, 63 are alive after 60 minutes.
Not included in that group was 84-year-old Elroy Anderson, a World War II veteran whose father taught him to play with matchsticks and toothpicks as chips when he was 12.
Anderson, decked out in a brown fedora, dark beige blazer and a blue shirt with a flower in the lapel, finished 76th. After losing part of his sight and a few teeth thanks to a mortar round in Europe, failing to win was hardly something to gripe about.
"I don't have to worry about the money," he said, smiling. "I'm a disabled veteran, the government takes care of me."
At the 2-hour break, 40 remain, but 10 more drop out in the next 21 minutes.
Things really slow down when only two tables of 10 remain. It takes more almost two more hours to get down to the final table, where everyone seated is guaranteed at least $206.
Just past midnight the last non-casher is eliminated, Known as the ‘bubble boy' — or girl in this case — Rose Michie was taken out by of all people, her boyfriend Kevin Olsen.
"He could have folded for me," Michie said, half smiling and half sneering.
Money time
Though everyone at the final table was assured of a pay out, the competition was far from over. After a short break, it took nearly 30 minutes before Marilee Hanson was knocked out in 10th place.
Shortly thereafter, five more people went out in a 13-minute span, winning between $309-$801 in the process, leaving a final four of partly-lucky, partly-skilled, mostly-tired players.
At the beginning of the tourney, the purpose of Laurie Spencer's sunglasses were to prevent opponents from reading her poker face. By 1:13 a.m., when she was knocked out fourth, they served more a purpose of hiding her drooping eyes.
Spencer, a 40-year-old real estate broker, says she'd "love" to play poker full time, but even though she won $1,030 that night she knows it would take much more to make it a career.
She's proud to have done this well, however, considering how often she feels like she's getting picked on by the male-dominated field.
"I feel like I get bullied a lot just because I'm a woman," said Spencer, one of two women (out of six who entered) to make the final table. "At least they try to bully me. They think I'll get intimidated."
One bad choice
For his first tourney at the Diamond, Sharp, the UA student, seemed to make all the right decisions to get down to the final three players. He knew when to play, when to fold, when to mimic another player's quirk by sticking an unlit cigarette in his mouth for good luck.
But when offered a chance to split the remaining $7,721 three ways, Sharp made a fateful choice to "see some more cards." He was knocked out minutes later.
"I'd have enjoyed playing longer," Sharp said afterward. "But I really don't play for the money. I never want it to be a job. I'd never look at poker as a way to make money. A lot of people that play now, that's all they want to do."
Source: http://www.azstarnet.com