Sunday, November 6, 2016 11:49 AM Local Time
Gutsy Call Leads to Turbo Triumph
Event #11
No-Limit Hold'em
Buy-in: $300 (+$65)
Total Entries: 163
Prizepool: $48,900
Dick Sargent takes down the Turbo for his first career gold ring and a win for the old guys.
Stateline, Nevada (November 6, 2016) – Dick Sargent claimed his first Circuit title on Saturday by conquering a field of 163 players in Event #11: $365 No-Limit Hold’em Turbo. The hasty tournament took only one day and finished on the main stage, at Harvey’s Lake Tahoe. This marked Sargent’s third cash of the 12-event series in Stateline. He bagged a couple smaller cashes earlier in the week.
Sargent, who has been playing poker since 2004, still sees himself as a bit of a novice who simply plays for the love of the game. There was nothing novice about his final table play though, which came with some support from a longtime pal, and coach.
“Marty and I have been friends for quite a while. He gave me, not only a lot of support, but a lot of behind the scenes help too,” said Sargent.
During the last leg of the match, Marty, watched and cheered on Sargent throughout the endeavor. Sargent seemed to be in the zone, playing like no one could stop him, but it was no easy task. When asked if it was a tough final table, Sargent gave a response.
“Yeah, it was. It wasn’t all roses,” claimed Sargent. “It just meant being patient, and waiting for my opportunities.”
One of these opportunities Sargent jumped out and grabbed brought a sense of shock and awe to the group of dedicated spectators railing the event. Sargent made a courageous call against Marcus Laffen, who came into the final table as the chip leader. In a blind versus blind situation, Laffen shoved in the small blind and Sargent called him out from the big blind.
“I remember reading something recently that, the big and small blinds, it’s very rare when they have premium hands,” Sargent explained. “So, when he shoved I felt like, at that time, he was buying the pot. And I was right on.”
Laffen did, in fact, hold a mediocre hand, and no one was in more disbelief than him, when Sargent revealed his queen-eight of clubs. Sargent ended up winning the pot and the instance proved to be a pivotal point during the final table. The former Navy photographer, and current resident of Hawaii, took over the chip lead and never looked back.
At one point during the final table, his friend and mentor, Marty, made a crack about Sargent sowing the young “wippersnappers” how to play. The 80-year-old did just that and was proud to be representing the older population with an outright victory. Along with the WSOP gold ring, Sargent was also awarded $13,203 and 50 Casino Championship points.
Here's a look at the final table results:
1st: Dick Sargent - $13,203
2nd: Dee Timmons - $8,159
3rd: Dashiell Thompson - $4,305
4th: Warlito Merafuentes - $3,211
5th: Marcus Laffen - $5,873
6th: Shane Gonzales - $2,437
7th: Christopher Bonita - $1,881
8th: Mark Garcia - $1,475
9th: Matt Tullis - $1,177
Complete results can be found above, under the "Results" tab.