Mystery
Man is Champion!
Joe
Grew, a young "mystery man" who declined
to disclose any significant information
about himself, won the ninth event of
Big Poker Oktober 2002, the $300 no-limit
hold'em championship, a $100,000 guarantee
event, after a long, back-and-forth match
with Binh Ta. Binh had himself won a $100,000
guarantee tournament six years ago at
Commerce Casino's California State Poker
Championship.
After the last 10 finishers sat down,
it took 20 minutes to reach the official
nine when a chip-depleted Todd Bleak,
in the big blind with just 6-3 of spades,
had little chance against Grew's pocket
10s. The final table started with $100
antes and $400-$800 blinds, 23 minutes
remaining. Grew was chip leader with $40,300.
On the first hand, Mike Hartzheim raised
to $3,000 with pocket jacks. George Nakagawa,
in the big blind with pocket 4s, had just
enough to call all in. George was in bad
shape when the flop came A-5-5. Then a
4 turned to apparently rescue him with
a full house. But then a jack hit the
river to give Hartzheim a bigger full
boat..
CHIP
POSITION FINAL TABLE
Andre
Maloof $14,700
Minh Ly $16,400
George Nakagawa $3,100
Don Hoffman $7,400
Tony Abesamis $10,300
John Juanda $27,800
Joe Grew $40,300
Mike Hartzheim $14,400
On hand number eight, contractor Don Hoffman
moved all in for $5,300 with A-4 of spades.
Andre Maloof called with A-K of hearts.
With a board of Q-8-2-J and two hearts,
Don had only two outs, but he got there
with a river 4. On the next hand, Grew
raised to $2,500 with K-7 and Andre pushed
in all his $12,600 with pocket 8s. A king
flopped, and two were gone.
Blinds
went to $600-$1,200 with $200 antes. On
hand 27, Grew lost about $24,000 to Hartzheim
another young, unfamiliar face who lives
in Wisconsin and is in the printing business.
After Mike raised to $3,600 pre-flop with
pocket jacks, Joe bet $6,000 on a flop
of Q-7-4, and then bet all in when a 5
turned. After long thought that brought
a clock into play, Mike finally called.
Joe, with 10-6, had nothing but a straight
draw. Hartzheim now had about $50,000
and, briefly, the chip lead.
John
Juanda became short-chipped when he moved
in with a paired 6 and contractor Don
Hoffman called with pocket 10s. On hand
36, with $300 antes and $1,000-$2,000
blinds, John moved in for $4,000 with
pocket 3s. Binh Ta called with 8-6 and
knocked him out with a straight when a
9-10-J-Q was dealt. Tony Abesamis cashed
out sixth on the 43rd hand. He raised
to $10,000 with A-Q and Ta moved him in
holding pocket 8s. Tony took the lead
when a queen flopped, but then an 8 turned
to give Binh a set.
When limits at $2,000-$4,000 with $500
antes, Binh Ta led with $62,500, followed
by Grew with $41,500, while the others
were in the $12,000-$19,000 range. Hartzheim,
who had been steadily declining, finally
raised all in on the button with A-2 of
clubs. Ly called from the big blind with
8-6 and won when an 8 came on the river.
On hand 85, Minh, winner of the hold'em
event the night before, was in the big
blind with 5-2 of hearts and called all
in for about $11,000 when Binh Ta raised
with A-6. The board helped neither player,
and three were left. Binh Ta now had $62,500,
Grew had $41,000 and Hoffman, $35,500.
But Hoffman very quickly busted out when
he bet all in with Q-7 on a flop of Q-10-9.
Grew, with J-8, had a straight and it
was now heads-up.
The
match-up lasted 20 hands. Joe quickly
took the lead, then got knocked down to
about $22,000 when Binh Ta, with A-J,
outdrew his A-Q, by catching two more
jacks. But Joe then doubled up twice on
the next two hands, first when his A-7
paired a 7, and then when his pocket deuces
held up. With limits at $3,000-$6,000,
Binh Ta briefly took the lead again. Then
Joe pulled ahead. On the last hand, Binh
tried an all-in move holding 4-3 when
the flop came A-3-5. Joe called with pocket
jacks and it was all over.
BIOGRAPHY
Aside
from giving his age as 29 and the fact
that he lives in Carlsbad, California,
but is not originally from there, Joe
Grew begged off having to provide much
more information about himself. He's been
playing poker for six years and only recently
began playing tournaments. This year he
tried his luck at the World Series and
came in 17th in the $1,500 shoot-out event.
Returning for the Mini-Series of Poker,
he made the final table in no-limit event
finale. Hold'em is his best game, and
no-limit hold'em his game of choice in
tournaments.
Tonight's
event was a long one, lasting 12 hours
until past 4 a.m. Grew indicated that
he was doing moderately well though-out
and never felt threatened, and began getting
a nice run at the second table.
ALL-AROUND
PAYOFF POINTS
Name
Total
1.
Binh Do 129
2. Tony Abesamis 105
3. Clinton Moore 98
4. Justin Westmoreland 95
5. Minh Ly 95
6. Ulises Molina 91
7. Andom Ghebre 87
8. Jollibert David 73
9. Albert Luna 60
10.Tho Ngo 58
11. Anthony Tran 57
12. Men Nguyen 57
13. Joe Grew 57
14. Tom Roach 57
15. Farhang Ebadipour 57
16. Leo Alvarez 56
17. Boris Kolas 55
18. George Nakagawa 54
Max Shapiro
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