Anthony
Beats Other Tran!
Anthony
Tran, a fixture on the local tournament
scene, started the final table as chip
leader, played very aggressively and ran
off with victory in the second event of
Big Poker Oktober, $100 limit hold'em.
Tran, with numerous prior cash-outs, came
in second earlier this year at the Shooting
Star tournament at Bay 101. His final
opponent, Hai Tran, won the opening event
of the 4 Queens Poker Classic, which is
still in progress, when he beat a field
of 319.
CHIP
POSITION FINAL TABLE
Mitch
Krupa $7,000
Van Zakarian $20,000
Rocky Enciso $7,000
Fred Louie $16,000
Anthony Tran $38,000
David Jollibert $19,500
Olises Molina $15,000
Clinton Moore $1,000
Hai Tran $24,000
Paul
Javiar finished 10th. After going all
in twice and managing to turn his last
$500 chip into nine chips, he re-raised
all in for the third time with A-J. Anthony
called with K-Q and Javiar went broke
when a king turned. Limits at the final
table started at $2,000-$4,000 with 23
minutes left. The two Trans started just
as they finished, Anthony with the chip
lead, Hai second. On the third hand, Anthony
had queens to Hai's jacks. The pot was
four-bet before the flop and raised on
the turn, and when neither player improved,
Anthony's chip count had jumped to $60,000.
Clinton
Moore, who finished fourth yesterday,
went all in with A-5 under the gun on
the fifth hand. Olises Molina had 7-6
of diamonds. Four diamonds came and there
was no "Moore" Clinton. One hand later,
poker player Rocky Enciso put in his last
$2,000 with A-8. He took the lead against
Hai's pocket 7s when the flop came 8-5-4
to pair his 8. But then a 6 gave Hai an
inside straight to cut the field again.
It then took only three more hands to
lose another player. Jollibert David was
in the small blind with 8-7 offsuit against
Hai, who had the big blind with 10-9.
David had an inside straight draw when
the flop came J-10-3. He didn't hit when
a 4-K came, and he cashed out sixth.
A couple of hands later, the two Trans,
who had been locking horns a lot, did
it again. Anthony raised, Hai re-raised,
and Anthony complained, "Every time I
two-bet it, he three-bets it." Hai, with
pocket 8s, made a set on the river to
come within $4,000 of Anthony, who still
had a $60,000 lead. After limits went
to $6,000-$12,000, Mitch Krupa departed.
He had K-7 of spades in the small blind.
Hai had A-7 and put him out of action
when the board came J-9-4-7-10.
Hai
had now taken over the lead, about $63,000
to An Tran's $55,000. But he dropped below
50k after getting in another raising war,
this time with Van Zakarian. Hai bet into
a flop of K-10-7, then gave it up when
Van raised. The key hand came on the 34th
deal. It was three-bet pre-flop. The flop
was Q-J-10. Van bet, Anthony raised. The
turn was a 10. Again Van bet and Anthony
raised. Finally, with a river deuce, Van
checked. After a suspiciously long hesitation,
Anthony bet into the $35,000 pot holding
A-K for a Broadway straight, but Van didn't
buy it and folded and Anthony now had
about $70,000. On the next hand, Anthony
moved further ahead by knocking out computer
consultant and $40-$80 hold'em ring game
player Fred Louie. Fred had much the worst
of it with A-5 against A-K and couldn't
find anything.
By
the next break, Anthony had built his
lead to $80,000 against $43,000 for Hai
and $24,000 for Van. The players returned
to play hand 41 with limits now at $4,000
and $8,000. The end was swift. Zakarian
held 10-8 and on a flop of 10-5-2, he
re-raised all in on his paired 10s. Two
diamonds also flopped. Anthony held Ax,
6d. Two running diamonds, a 3 and a 9,
gave Anthony a flush, and two Trans were
left. Anthony held over $90,000 of the
$147,000 in play, and the two immediately
worked out a deal.
BIOGRAPHY
Anthony
Tran, 42, has been playing poker full
time for 15 years, with "too many cash-outs
to remember." A tournament specialist,
he feels that stud is his best game, though
people tell him that it's hold'em. His
standard strategy is to raise, raise,
raise. "I don't give players a chance
to breathe," he said. "If they have guts,
they can call." But, he adds, he chooses
his spots. "You have to learn your players
and pick the right place to gamble."
Tonight,
he said, he was up and down like a yo-yo.
He suffered a couple of bad beats, losing
with kings against A-K and jacks versus
7s, and at the third table was down to
$900 before he started his comeback. At
the final table, he said he felt very
confident, which was why he turned down
reqests for deals when the table was four-
or five-handed.
ALL-AROUND
PAYOFF POINTS
Name
Total
1.
Tony Abesamis 61
2. Clinton Moore 60
3. Anthony Tran 57
4. Richard Dagres 53
5. Hai Tran 49
6. Edward Moncada 47
7. Van Zakarian 43
8. Fred Louie 38
9. Randy Douthat 38
10. Mitch Krupa 34
11.Tony Sheets 34
12. Gus Cornejo 30
13. Jollibert David 30
14. Olises Molina 26
15. Ngoc Huynh 26
16. Badia Khalil 22
17. Rocky Enciso 22
18. Sarkis Talakan 20
Max Shapiro
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