Peter Fabrizio shall live on... in memory

[K10Suited Glen]

As those of you who knew Peter Fabrizio, this Foxwoods, Mohegan Sun and Turning Stone player died, tragically, at the age of 23 on December 2nd, 2002. I am asking anyone who ever played with Pete, knew him personally or has anything to say about him to please forward any stories, anecdotes, hands played, or any other info to me directly at Live4holdm@aol.com. All info gatherred will be put into a scrapbook for his family and friends to share. Eventually, when we have gathererred all that we can I hope to write an article, possibly for his hometown paper or in Poker Digest, Cardplayer or other major magazines to honor this great young man. Anything at all that you have to share would be greatly appreciated by me, my wife and all of Pete's family and friends, no mattter how small or trivial.
Because he was my best friend, I intend to have Pete live on, at least in memory. It's the least I can do for such a great young man. Thanks to all who take part. Sincerely, Glen and Stacy Peterson

[Greg (FossilMan)]

I was just looking through the archives, trying to find an old post of mine about a NLH hand with Pete. I couldn't find it. If somebody else happens to know where it is, please supply the post to Glen.

Here is the story in a less-well-remembered version.

It is 5,5 blind NLH at Foxwoods. Most likely a Tuesday night and I've busted out of the tournament early. I have a lot of money on the table, probably $5000 or so, and Pete is the only other stack over $1000. He has something like $3-4000. I've been playing a very loose aggressive game, and pushing people around. Pete has played with me before this, and he's one of players at the table who is the most capable of playing back appropriately.

I do a standard raise to $15 or $20 in middle position. I think we get one caller, and then Pete raises to something like $300 in the big blind. I immediately put him on AA, with a chance he has something else with the intent of either stealing now (and maybe showing the bluff as an attempt to gain a psychological edge over me), or setting himself up to get paid off when his secret hand hits, and my hand is paying off because it can beat AA. Oh, by the way, I have Qc9c and call.

Flop comes 99x. I cannot remember the other card. Pete appears to not like this flop, but bets $300. I call. Pete checks the turn card, which I also do not recall, although I'm almost 100% sure that no flush or straight is yet possible, though there is probably a flush draw out there. I give a little grin, and bet $800. Pete calls. The river card appears unimportant. Pete checks, and I bet something like $1200 or 1500 or some such. Pete doesn't like it, but calls. He did have AA, and I win.

Now, when I posted this hand before, a lot of people criticized Pete for calling. I did not. Against me, those calls are just fine. If he bets out or check-raises the turn, I'll most often fold if behind AA, but certainly won't fold if I have AA beat. A small portion of the time I would reraise bluff, putting him to another tough decision. I think he played the hand correctly, unless he could put a read on me (which I hope is tough to do).

Here's the important part, the reason I knew that even if I was a money favorite today over Pete, that might not be true much longer. After seeing my hand, Pete did not react in the common manner. No cursing, no whining, no look of defeat. He was clearly disappointed, and upset with himself for losing the money. However, all he did was say "Nice hand", gather up his cash and chips, and walk away. It was instantly clear to me that he was not quitting a loser. He was upset with the result, and recognized that he might not play his best game if he stayed in action, so he made the sensible and intelligent decision to quit for the night. MOST players could not make that decision, even if they intellectually knew it to be the best decision. They would not have the self-control to walk away and win the money back next time, when they knew they could play their best game. I knew I had just gotten lucky against a winner.

I'm sorry I won't get to see just how good of a player Pete would have become. He was already much better than most, and seemed destined to become one of the best.

Later, Greg Raymer (FossilMan)

[K10Suited Glen]

Thank you Greg, for the info on the hand and your correct view of how and why Pete played the hand, and then, rightly, got up and left.

As you remember, I was in that game as well. Pete had insisted I get in it. Those of you who don't know me must understand that I play a fair game but have a very heavy monthly nut due to child support, etc. Not worth going into here. But it has kept me from playing much and in turn has kept me from building my bankroll as I would have liked. Though that night I had some money, I couldn't take a big hit. I ended up putting in $150 and Pete added $200 and we went 50-50. I ended up plus $1750 for the game and gave Pete his $800+. That's one of the reasons he didn't play any further. Even after his loss to you he wasn't severely stuck in regards to his total bankroll and the night in general. In fact, he made a quick $1800 at craps (boy, I used to sweat him when he did that) and we all laughed and went to breakfast. He had nothing bad to say about you or the hand. He admitted mistakes on his part regarding his play. He was proud of his "Racehorse" and we had a great evening. (My lovely wife was there, playing $1-$3 stud and loved Pete's company too). That's how great Pete was... nothing regarding money botherred him. His only negatives that night were about how he might have played better. But he congratulated me and you on good play and made sure that the night ended up a memorable one with good food and great company.

God, I will miss my friend. If nothing else, he gave us a model to try to be like. Hid actions on and off the table were always commendable. And he would have been one of the very best. I have no doubt that someday, he'd have earned a bracelet from the WSOP. He was the type to do well there and would have beeen a great champion. Correct that, he was a great champion, of life.

Keep Playing Hard! Thanks for the imput.