"Evil game, this poker is."

I wrote about "Crazy Chris" in one of my last week's posts regarding a tournament at the Oasis casino in Mesquite, Nevada. I was referring to a young man, Chris Hinchcliffe by name. Chris is a frequent visitor to Mesquite, having completed a construction project here, he continues to return to play poker and other casino games. He has a gambling spirit and and loves to gamble it up in Texas hold'em poker. His style is aggressive and he doesn't shy away from getting all his chips in the pot. It's fun to play poker against Chris, especially when he's running cold. Apparently, this past weekend, Chris was running very hot, and took home approx $450,000 from The Party Poker Million III Cruise WPT tournament, which he qualified for with a $25.00 buy-in.

He made the final table and was seated with some of the world's best poker players. He began with a huge chip lead. On the final day, the seats and chip counts were:

Seat
Player
Chip Count

1
Zolotow, Steve
$380,000

2
Nguyen, Scotty
$310,000

3
Hinchcliffe, Chris
$1,765,000

4
Greenstein, Barry
$220,000

5
Negreanu, Daniel
$560,000

6
Lindgren, Erick
$595,000

Here is a brief account of Chris's final hand and his reaction:

"We were three-handed, and with one of the broadest grins you’ve ever seen, Hinchcliffe asked rhetorically “Do you know what I can do with $450,000?”
The grin stayed even when Hinchcliff’s tiny stack went away four hands later, when Negreanu made it 100k from the button, Lindgren called from the small blind, and Hinchcliffe called all-in from the big blind. Negreanu and Lindgren each checked rather rapidly as the board came down J-3-2-2-4, and with small wonder: Negreanu had K-6, and Lindgren Q-9. Hinchcliffe offered a rue smile and flipped up his Q-8, and left to a standing ovation slightly more thunderous than the other players had received. Big chip lead lost or not, he had been in troubled waters and regained control just in time to make enough money to change more than his own life.

A YOUNG MAN’S LIFE CHANGES FOR THE BETTER

He had been in debt before he came on the cruise: he owed his mother $8,000. He had joined PartyPoker.com only a few days before online qualifying ended, and had won his seat and cruise on his first $25 try. Now Mom was not only going to get repaid all at once, but she was going to get a new car, ".

Chris Moneymaker, eat your heart out! Mesquite, Nevada now has its own poker celebrity. It gives hope to the poker fanatics, who dream of playing in a big game against top pros and getting the best of it. We love this evil game. I can't wait to see you on the Travel Channel Chris Hinchcliffe. Congratulations.

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