$1,500 Pot -Limit Omaha: 'The Devil Went Down to Georgia'

For five hours, I watched Dave "Devilfish" Ulliott, one of England's and indeed the world's greatest poker players, put on a virtuoso performance in the $1,500 (with rebuys) pot-limit Omaha event at the World Series of Poker. He got better and better, especially as the game got shorthanded.

I don't know how to play poker as well as the Devilfish, but I know great art when I see it, and he was putting on one of the finest performances I'd ever witnessed at a World Series final table. I was getting ready to write the story of Dave's coronation when he got heads up with Senatobia, Mississippi's Galen Kester, a 49-year-old former truck driver who is now a professional poker player in the Tunica games.

It was Tiger Woods against Bob May. It was a good old boy in a gray sweatshirt and blue jeans against a British rock star (Ulliott plays a mean guitar, actually) dressed out in an expensive all-black outfit. It was a guy drinking Budweiser against a guy drinking water. It was all supposed to go according to plan.

Someone forgot to tell Galen Kester the plan.

In a ranking of this nation's country music fans, I would probably come in about 200 millionth: I just don't have a lot of good ol' boy in me. There is one little ditty that I must confess to liking, though. It was pretty popular about 20 years ago: the Charlie Daniels Band's The Devil Went Down to Georgia.

In case you don't remember the lyrics, the tune starts:

The Devil went down to Georgia,

he was looking for a soul to steal,

He was in a bind, cause he was way behind,

And he was willing to make a deal.

Well he come across a young man sawing on a fiddle and he played it hot.

The Devil jumped up on a hickory stump,

And said, "Boy, let me tell you what.

"In case you didn't know it, I'm a fiddle player too,

And if you care to make a dare,

I'll make a bet with you.

"Now you play pretty good fiddle, son, but give the Devil his due.

I'll bet a fiddle of gold against your soul,

Cause I think I'm better than you."

Give me a little poetically geographic license here. I think Charlie Daniels wanted a Southern state, and he just picked one easier to pronounce than "Mississippi." But with a fiddle of gold, or at least a gold bracelet, at stake, "the Devil" went down, just like in the song. The gold bracelet went south.

A total of145 players started this tournament, and when we started play at the final table, the chip counts were:

Seat – Player – – Chip Count

- 1 – Dave "Devilfish" Ulliott – $42,000

- 2 – Jacky Chitwood – $10,500

- 3 – Jim Lester – $23,500

- 4 – Jon Brody – $10,500

- 5 – Freddie Deeb – $137,000

- 6 – Galen Kester – $30,000

- 7 – Annie Duke – $90,000

- 8 – Bob Walker – $31,500

- 9 – Jay Heimowitz – $60,000

We certainly had a star-studded field, although when you look at the list of the people who finished 10th-18th in this event, you'd probably be willing to bet them even money against the finalists, with Erik Seidel, Johnny Chan, Mike Sexton, and Amarillo Slim Preston among them. I had no complaints with this group, though. Ulliott you already know. Freddie Deeb plays a lot of high-stakes pot-limit, Annie Duke is the second all-time leading women's money winner at the WSOP, and as long as we're getting musical and playing fiddles, Jay Heimowitz might as well be Jascha Heifetz. He has six gold bracelets. Only Doyle Brunson and Phil Hellmuth have more.

We started play with 35 minutes left at the $1,000-$2,000 blind level, meaning under WSOP structure that an opening raiser could opt to make it a maximum of $7,000 to go.

On the first noteworthy hand, Kester raised less than the maximum, betting $5,000, and Lester decided to raise $11,000 more from the small blind. Kester called, the flop came 9-6-3, Lester moved in for his last $7,000, and Kester called. A-10-5-2 for Kester, K-K-10-4 for Lester, but a 10 hit on the turn and a 5 hit on the river, giving Kester tens and fives, sending Lester out ninth and sparing me any dreaded Kester/Lester errors.

The Song Might Not Have Remained the Same

Kester wasn't exactly deep when this hand started. If he hadn't spiked a second pair on the river, we might have had a very different tournament.

The short-stacked Brody moved his last $7,000 all in under the gun a little while later, and Deeb decided to call. A-A-J-10 for Brody, A-K-9-7 for Deeb, but the board came K-3-2-6-9, giving Deeb kings and nines, and Brody was gone.

Duke, who has played a lot of cash games with Deeb, and who isn't shy with her table talk, told Freddie, "You beat aces more than anyone I've ever seen!" She then told the table in general, "I've seen him beat aces with ace high three times since yesterday." Of such feats is a stack of $137,000 made.

On the very next hand, Devilfish raised from the button, and Chitwood decided to call with his short stack from the small blind. K-J-10-4 for Devilfish, K-10-5-2 for Chitwood, and the Q-J-5-J-3 board sent Chitwood packing. It was 4:41 p.m., and we were now sixhanded. The three short stacks were gone, which meant that now anyone left had enough chips to hurt anyone else.

"Hey, Bud Man!"

The clock went off, moving the blinds to $1,500-$3,000 and allowing a maximum opening raise to $10,500. Kester ordered a long-neck Budweiser, which was pretty funny, as he was sitting directly across the table from "Bud Man" Heimowitz, who turned his Army poker winnings into a Budweiser distributorship that's now run by his son.

Shortly thereafter, Heimowitz raised $6,000 out of the small blind, and Devilfish called from the big blind. The flop came 7 4 4, Heimowitz bet $12,000, and Devilfish raised him $30,000 more. Heimowitz considered for a while, as the bet would have put him virtually all in, and eventually showed two aces and folded. Devilfish didn't show anything but a lot of nerve.

Heimowitz raised a pot to $10,500, and Deeb flat called. The flop came K 7 6, Heimowitz moved in, and Deeb called instantly. A Q 10 2 for Heimowitz, K-K-9-4 for Deeb, a classic set vs. nut flush confrontation. The 8 didn't help, but the 3 on the river gave Heimowitz new life with about $80,000.

The chips were really flying around this table. We were seeing big action almost every other hand. Duke and Deeb, the two big starting stacks, were really the only ones not mixing it up at every opportunity, but Deeb, The Man Who Always Beats Aces, had been hurt by getting a set of kings knocked off.

Two hands later, Kester raised the pot to $10,500, and Walker called. The flop came A 9 2, Kester checked, Walker bet $11,000, and Kester thought a long time before calling. The J hit the turn, Kester moved in, and Walker called instantly. A-J-J-7 for Kester, a set of jacks on the turn, but A-A-8-7 for Walker, a set of aces on the flop, a classic case of "Be careful what you wish for, you might get it," and Walker had doubled through Kester, who now had only about $22,000 left to $110,000 for Walker.

A few hands later, I estimated the chips as follows:

Devilfish – $50,000

Deeb – $95,000

Kester – $45,000

Duke – $110,000

Walker – $100,000

Heimowitz – $35,000

Although a strict multiplication of chips by entry fees should have put $430,500 in chips on the table, we actually had $435,000, the result, according to Tournament Director Bob Thompson, of a few chip-ups during race-offs, and from some extra starting stacks that got blinded off for a while before the tournament folks discovered there were no entrants for those seats.

Kester limped into the next pot, and Duke raised it to $12,000. Deeb, the big blind, thought for a long time about what to do. He kept looking at Duke, and Annie, unlike a lot of poker players who avoid eye contact in these situations, stared right at him, unafraid of what her eyes might give away. Deeb finally raised $30,000 more, Kester mucked, and now it was Duke's turn to think.

After a bit of considering, Duke asked her frequent foe, "What were you thinking about all that time, Fred?" but Deeb declined to answer. Annie kept thinking, and Devilfish asked Thompson if they could stop the clock while Annie was deciding. Duke misheard this question and thought Devilfish had asked for a clock (forcing Annie to decide within a minute). They cleared up the misunderstanding, and Annie explained, "I got a big hand here, Devil. I gotta decide if he's – – – – – – – around with aces."

One Good Decision, At Least

Devilfish answered, "Here, Annie, give me your cards, I'll tell you whether to call or not," to which Duke replied, "You would call, I know." She finally decided to fold, and Deeb showed A-A-9-4 unsuited. "I thought you had dry aces," Duke said. "I had A-K-K-10 double-suited. Well, at least I made one good decision today; no matter what happens here, I made one good decision. Now you understand my dilemma, I had an ace in my hand."

A few hands later, aces popped up in Duke's hand at the wrong time. Kester raised from the small blind, and Duke immediately reraised $19,000 from the big blind, with Kester calling. The flop came J-J-10, Kester instantly moved in for his remaining $17,000, and Duke called. J-10-8-3 and a full house for Kester, A-A-10-9 for Duke. Kester had doubled through to about $85,000, hurting Duke badly.

"That happens to me every time I have aces," Duke said.

I asked Kester about the hand after the tournament. "I was short-stacked," he said. "I know what she has when she raises there; I know she has aces or kings, and she has no idea what I have. I figure when you're short in a tournament, you have to gamble a little and see if you can flop something."

After another 15 minutes, the clock went off, ending the round, and I estimated the chips at:

Devilfish – $40,000

Deeb – $130,000

Kester – $75,000

Duke – $60,000

Walker – $80,000

Heimowitz – $50,000

The blinds went to $2,000-$4,000, allowing a raiser to make it $14,000 to go.

Duke had lost some chips in a three-way hand when Devilfish raised a pot to $14,000, and Annie raised another $20,000 all in. Dave stopped and considered for quite a while, and then finally called, slamming a stack of 20 chips down into the pot.

Duke's Money Goes In Best, Comes Out Worst

K-K-J-10 with one suit for Duke, A-10-9-8 with one suit for Dave. The board came A-Q-2-8-4, and Duke was gone, the result of two hands in which she had gotten her money in with aces, kings, and the lead, only to be taken down by the community cards. She'd mucked kings when another opponent had aces. Pretty much all you can do in this game is get your money in with the best of it, and avoid getting your money in with the worst of it. Duke had done both, but the cards didn't cooperate, and she exited a disappointed sixth.

We lost Jascha Heifetz – I mean, Jay Heimowitz – five minutes later when a flop came Q-Q-7, Walker bet, Heimowitz moved in, and Walker called. Walker already had the lead with his A-Q to Jay's Q-J, and for good measure filled up when an ace hit the river.

With the two superstars out, the new chip counts were:

Devilfish – $70,000

Deeb – $175,000

Kester – $60,000

Walker – $120,000

Kester got moving when his aces held up against Walker's kings, doubling through and hurting Walker.

It was about 7 p.m., and this was when the Devil really started playing his fiddle hot. He avoided big pots and kept chopping at small ones, stealing blinds, limping in and betting at raggy flops, and just taking the game over. Shorthanded, Omaha becomes a game of pairs rather than a game of straights and flushes, and it's much less likely that someone has flopped something approaching the nuts; it's much more probable that no one has flopped much of anything. Devilfish understood this better than his opponents, and kept working them for $8,000 here and $12,000 there.

A Man Against Boys

I really felt like I was watching a man play against boys, no disrespect meant to his opponents. Dave was just playing at a higher level.

He didn't always chop at small pots. One hand was particularly memorable. Devilfish raised it preflop to $14,000, and Deeb called. The flop came J 10 10u, Dave checked, Freddie bet $20,000, and Dave called. The 8 hit the turn, both checked, and when the 9u hit the river, making all kinds of straights possible, Dave bet out $30,000. Deeb mucked, and Devilfish turned over A-4-5-6, a total bluff. He was wearing a black UltimateBet hat, and had certainly made an ultimate bet against Deeb.

Devilfish kept chopping away and bluffing away, and when the round ended, the chip counts were:

Devilfish – $160,000

Deeb – $100,000

Kester – $120,000

Walker – $55,000

The blinds moved to $3,000-$6,000, allowing a raiser to make it $21,000 to go. The players grew a bit more cautious for a while, with initial raises going unchallenged, when Deeb raised $10,000 from the button, and Walker moved all in for $34,000 more from the big blind. Deeb called. A Q 7 3 for Deeb, J 10 8 7 for Walker, who clearly had wanted his bet to buy the pot.

He changed his mind about what he wanted when the flop came A 7 4, giving him a flush and giving Deeb hopes only for filling up his two pair. The board finished 5-9, and Deeb was down to about $50,000.

A little while later, Devilfish raised it to $18,000 from the small blind, and Deeb called from the big blind. The flop came A 10 3, Devilfish fired $20,000, Deeb moved in for his last $35,000, and Devilfish called. A J 7 4 for Deeb, A-K-9-2 for Devilfish, and a king on the turn left Deeb dead to a heart on the river. The 6 sent Deeb out fourth, with the new chip count as follows:

Devilfish – $230,000

Kester – $105,000

Walker – $100,000

After some further maneuvering, Devilfish had lost a few chips when we had another of those three-way limp pots that Dave had been buying on the flop, although this one worked out quite differently. The flop came J 4 2, Kester checked, Walker bet $18,000, Devilfish folded, and Kester raised $54,000. Walker thought for quite a while, and called. The 7 hit the turn, Kester checked, Walker moved in for his last $26,000, and Kester called. Q-J-6-3 for Walker, top pair and a gutshot straight draw, but A-A-K-2 for the slow-playing Kester and a harmless 9 on the river left us heads up at 9 p.m.

"I'm Rich, Let's Change That Order to a Heineken"

Thanks to the big hand against Walker, Kester now held the lead, $250,000-$185,000. Kester, who had been ordering Budweiser earlier, was now guaranteed at least $83,515, and he ordered a Heineken. How money changes some people. But they were out of Heinys, and Kester accepted another Bud.

He wasn't, by the way, on some sort of drinking binge. This was his third beer in five hours. I mention it only because it's somewhat unusual to see any alcohol at a final table, but Kester told me afterward that it had been hot, and with all the pressure of a final table, he thought an occasional beer would help him stay relaxed.

When the round ended, Devilfish had nearly evened the score. Kester had $223,000, and Dave had $212,000. The boys stretched their legs on the break, and we came back playing with $5,000-$10,000 blinds, allowing a raiser to make it $30,000 to go.

Heads up, the small blind goes on the button, and acts first before the flop but last after the flop. I'll use SBB to stand for the player who had the small blind on the button.

A Cautious Full House

Kester brought one hand in for $30,000 from the SBB, and Devilfish called. The flop came A K 7, and both players checked. The 7 hit the turn, and Devilfish made an odd bet of $15,000 – an underbet for the size of this pot. Kester thought it looked odd, too, and paused for a while before deciding to call. The 5 hit the river, Devilfish checked, Kester bet $25,000, and Devilfish called instantly. Kester showed us a queen-high flush, but Dave showed sevens full of aces. The nonraise on the river told me either that he figured he could only lose if his raise got called, or that he was being cautious against someone he wanted to chop down rather than play one big pot with.

Either way, $70,000 moved from Kester's stack to Ulliott's, and Kester sighed audibly, as though some of the wind had been knocked out of him, but the wind, and the $70,000, returned fairly soon.

Devilfish made it $30,000 to go from the SBB, and Kester called. The flop came 10 6 5, and both checked. The 8u hit the turn, and again both checked. A fourth diamond, the 3 hit the river, again Kester checked, and Devilfish bet $40,000. Kester considered, not all that long, actually, and called. Devilfish had been bluffing; he could show only a pair of tens. Kester turned over K-J-J-8 for a pair of jacks and a pretty amazing call, considering Devilfish's preflop raise and the scary board with its various straight and flush possibilities.

A Stunning Call Changes the Game

"I don't know how he made that call," Devilfish said afterward. "It was a stunning call, and it made a big difference in the game."

The call seemed to inspire Kester, who started firing away at pot after pot, and Devilfish had to keep folding. Kester would call his initial raises, and then fire huge bets at the flop. Devilfish never found a hand with which he could call, and his stack had shrunk too much to be able to push Kester off his hands.

"Even the Devilfish needs a few cards," he said afterward. "Heads up, you need a few more cards than you do four handed, and I just went dead while he kept turning over aces and kings. I robbed my way from 18th to second, but couldn't keep robbing forever. He's a hard fellow to rob, too. I've played with him before, and he's both a gentleman and a fine player."

Nonetheless, Devilfish robbed a few here and there, and found a couple of hands to force his way back close to even, but from then on, Kester turned into an irresistible force, and Devilfish proved to be a moveable object. Kester remained the aggressor, pushing hard, and Devilfish could never push back.

Kester's stack had grown to about $330,000 when the end came. He made it $30,000 to go from the SBB, and Devilfish called. The flop came J 9 3, and Devilfish moved in immediately. Kester didn't take much time to call with K K Q 4, while all Dave could show was J 8 6 7, top pair.

The 10 on the turn gave Kester the nut straight, and Ulliott no outs, making the final 2 irrelevant. Bob May had beaten Tiger Woods.

A Long Time to Think

Kester has been a full-time poker player for a long time now, after taking the game up about 20 years ago, when he was still driving a truck for a living. "While I was learning," he drawled, "I'd make mistakes that would get me broke, and I'd have a long time driving the truck up and down those highways to think about those mistakes."

With the Tunica games so near his home, he doesn't often travel to Las Vegas or Atlantic City. "Don't have to," he said. "We have pot-limit every week. I play mostly live games, and I've played with all the big boys before. I played with Dave before, he knows me. I have a lot of respect for his game. I know when you play someone as good as him, you need to get more aggressive, so I did."

Would he be coming to Las Vegas more, now that he'd made a big score here? "I don't expect so," he said. "You can tell those Las Vegas boys that they're real welcome down in Tunica, though."

Well, the boy said, "My name's Johnny, and it might be a sin,

But I'll take your bet, you're gonna regret,

Cause I'm the best there's ever been."

Johnny rosin up your bow and play your fiddle hard,

Cause hell's broke loose in Georgia,

And the Devil deals the cards.

The Devil didn't deal the cards, or he'd own a second bracelet. But the song was right about one thing: On that day, at least, Galen Kester was the best there's ever been.

Final results:

$1,500 pot-limit Omaha

Entrants: 145 o Rebuys: 142 o Prize pool: $417,585

1. Galen Kester – $167,035

2. Dave "Devilfish" Ulliott – 83,515

3. Bob Walker – 41,760

4. Freddie Deeb – 25,055

5. Jay Heimowitz – 18,790

6. Annie Duke – 14,615

7. Jacky Chitwood – 10,440

8. Jon Brody – 8,350

9. Jim Lester – 6,685