Poker Wire - Live Tournament Reporting: Article

Befitting the wild fluctuations that are inherent to the game of pot-limit Omaha, players are dropping like flies here on Day One of the $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha tournament. After four hours of play, the starting field of 576 has already been whittled down to 216. As expected, the event was dominated by Europeans—PLO remains the most popular poker game in Europe—and most of the big names who call America home busted out early. For a time the exception to both was Robert Williamson III.

Looking dapper in the blue blazer he wore over a gold-and-black silk shirt, Williamson looked confident and relaxed throughout the day despite never building much of a stack. There is good reason for his confidence—Williamson is generally acknowledged to be one of the best pot-limit Omaha players in the United States. His name always gets mentioned alongside that of Sam Farha, Lee Watkinson, and Freddy Deeb. He has done particularly well at the World Series of Poker where he has cashed nine times, made six final tables, and won one gold bracelet in events featuring pot-limit Omaha.

It was a long short day for Williamson as he was perpetually hovering one poorly played hand or unlucky break away from elimination. At times he seemed more interested in the nearest television set which had the U.S. Open on. “Vijay’s back to even,” he announced at one point. But when it came time to mix it up he was more than willing. After two players, one of whom was Williamson, called a raise before the flop, the pot grew so large that Williamson only had two moves left in his arsenal: move all in or fold. Liking the 725 flop, he chose the former. His opponent took his time before folding his string of four overcards. “I had a pair and a ton of outs to make a straight,” Williamson said. “That was about as good of a flop as I can have for my hand.”

The next big hand he got involved in wouldn’t treat him as kindly. Once again, he was one of three players who mixed it up before the flop. The flop came 83J, and he shoved all his chips into the center of the table. The guy on the button, a young internet-schooled player, called with A-A-Q-J. He was winning but Williamson had a huge draw with his wrap: Q1098. This was one more example of the classic Omaha confrontation, an overpair vs. a big draw. Williamson needed one of the four kings, two queens, three 10s, three 9s, two 8s, or four 7s left in the deck—19 outs! But the turn was a 6, the river a jack, and Williamson was out.