WILD WEEKEND SPIN

Championship Event

Sikyala Watches the Ups and Downs of Muhammad

It's a Hollywood script and a miracle in the making, but unfortunately for Hakima Muhammad, there's no fairy tale ending. It's a story of early success spiraling into the abyss, divine intervention resurrecting the dream, only to have fate deal a cruel conclusion to a whirlwind weekend.

It starts Thursday night when Muhammad picked up $2,800 in a Second Chance tournament, more than three quarters of the $3,500 she needs to play in the Championship Event. "I wanted a story where you could use my nickname," Kima "Slice" says, a play on the name of mixed marital arts phenom Kimbo Slice.

But instead of sitting tight and ponying up the balance, Muhammad trys to win the rest.

A $550 Survivor Tournament entry gone here, a $230 Second Chance bust there, and a first-hand elimination of a 1 in 5, $750 automatic qualifier, and the well is dry. "I lost it all," Muhammad laments, "I played in at least four other events and couldn't get it done. Late last night (Saturday) I was hoping for a $350 sit and go, but we couldn't get 10 players."

Poor planning and weekend banking hours make it tough for Muhammad to withdraw the entry fee and she's resigned to missing the Championship Event.

But that's when fate takes over.

Muhammad and her "poker companion" Muk Sikyala, both of the Baltimore/Bowie, MD area, misplace the car keys creating a revelation. "I told her, 'we're still here and roulette's the only answer,' " says Sikyala, "one lucky spin and you're in."

So Muhammad sat by the red and black wheel and waited, and waited, and waited. Thirty minutes passed and she got the feeling. "It just came to me, a message from above, the number 10."

She took a single, $100 chip, and placed it in the first row, the black square, four away from the green single zero. The number 10. After the floor confirms the large bet, the ball hovers over the twirling colorful pie shaped slots and then it happened.

"I couldn't see it," says Muhammad, as the white ball danced around the circular grid, "I was at the other end of the table, but I saw the dealer's face," she said, as the sphere settles on the number 10. There's a roar from the players and bystanders who are celebrating the win, Muhammad's dream is alive again.

A less than 3 percent chance hits, 35 to 1 odds come true, and the dealer stacks 35 black, $100 chips. A big win and the exact total for Muhammad's entry into the Championship Event.

After flipping her initial bet to the dealer as a tip, Muhammad hustles to the Event Center and calls Sikyala while on-line to register. "I couldn't believe it, I simply couldn't believe it," he said after leaving the poker room to join the party at the opposite end of the casino.

Muhammad is at the table just twenty minutes before the field is closed, with Sikyala hanging over the rail. He's just over Muhammad's shoulder while she plays at Table 3 - Seat 10.

Then disaster.

Just back from the first break, it's pocket kings against pocket aces. All the money's in the middle and aces hold. Unfortunately for Muhammad, her kings are crowned and she's out the door.

"I can't believe it," she says, "after all that, for it to end this way."

Up and down, in and out, highs and lows. A wild weekend spin for one player in the world of Borgata poker.