Programmer
Wins Hold'em!
A 45-year-old programmer named Farhang
Ebadipour applied relentless pressure
at the final table, went on a rush in
the late stages and ran away with the
sixth event of Big Poker Oktober 2002,
$200 limit hold'em. He was slowed down
once when an opponent, tired of his ramming-jamming,
bluffed him in a big pot. But Farhang
quickly recovered and after that he was
unstoppable.
The last 10 players sat down when Leo
Kay, with pocket kings, left Dan Torla
in the dust. Torla had 10-9, and the best
he could do was pair his 9. After three
hands, the "official" table of nine started.
Annie Liu arrived with only $4,500 and
it all went in with A-K. She was a big
favorite against Ebadipour's K-8 until
one 8 flopped and another came on the
turn.
CHIP
POSITION FINAL TABLE
Farhang
Ebadipour $24,500
Leo Alvarez $5,000
Leo Kay $22,500
Albert Luna $9,000
Binh Do $15,500
Charles Khoury $6,500
Andy Simon $21,000
Jim Miller $25,000
Fisherman Sammy $4,500
Limits started at $1,000-$2,000, with
12 minutes remaining. On the third hand,
station manager Charles Khoury committed
his last chips with A-10. Ebadipour challenged
him with just A-6 and won when a 6 flopped.
Two hands later, "Fisherman Sammy," a
professional fisherman, went all in with
A-7 of hearts against Binh Do's Q-8 of
hearts. When the board came 8s, 8c, 10h,
Binh Do was about a 20-1 favorite with
his trips, but the fisherman improbably
hooked two more hearts to stay alive.
Then, after being saved by hearts, he
was killed by hearts two hands later.
He had Q-J to Andy Simon's Ah, Jx, and
when four hearts were dealt, the fisherman
fell overboard.
Ebadipour
was once again a big underdog when he
called from the big blind with 10-6 after
Albert Luna raised all in with A-K. Albert
was in the lead when the flop came A-10-4,
but Farhang proceeded to stage a Luna
eclipse by making two pair when a 6 turned.
Leo Alvarez, a public relations player
who won a $500 stud event at the 4 Queens
last month, went all in with pocket 4s
against 5-4 and chopped when Q-J-10-J-10
was dealt. A few hands later, though,
he raised all in for $3,500 with K-6 of
hearts, losing to Binh Do's pocket 8s.
At
this point, Farhang had built up a commanding
chip lead of about $50,000. Then, on hand
32, when Farhang bet into a board of 10-10-9-A,
poker player Andy Simon raised. Farhang
folded and Andy showed him a taunting
7-6. "Every time you raise with anything,"
Andy lectured him. A few hands later,
after Farhang had recovered most of his
lost chips, he remarked, "I showed a little
more respect for you than I should have
had." The hand that got Farhang moving
again came against Kay, a mechanic. Kay
was left with one chip when he started
with A-K, made aces and kings and lost
to Farhang's set of queens. Then, in almost
an exact repeat of the hand where Binh
Do knocked out the fisherman, Kay flopped
a set of 8s while Farhang, starting with
9-7 of hearts, beat him with a flush on
the river and took his last chip.
Limits went to $3,000-$6,000, but there
was no limit to Farhang's win streak now.
First he beat Binh Do's pocket jacks by
hitting an ace to his A-K on the river.
Then he got Andy to fold when he bet into
a board of Q-9-2-4-7 holding 10-9. He
even turned up his cards prematurely and
still won. He and Jim Miller three-bet
pre-flop. When the flop came 9-2-5, Farhang
turned up A-9, thinking Miller, a shift
manager at Hustler Casino was all in.
Jim had one chip left, but he saved it,
saying that Farhang had outdrawn him.
No difference. Miller posted the chip
in the big blind the next hand with 10-4.
For a change, Farhang had the better hand,
with J-8, and it held up.
The
two finalists played two hands, and then,
with Farhang holding a lead of $118,000
to $15,000, Andy accepted a small bonus
and surrendered.
BIOGRAPHY
Iranian-born Farhang Ebadipour is a
business computer consultant. A poker
player for 10 years, he used to play a
lot more, but now sticks to tournaments.
He won a couple of other events a few
years back, including limit hold'em at
Big Poker Oktober. His style of play,
he said, sometimes is aggressive, sometimes
not. Tonight, he had two chips with about
seven tables left. "When that happens,"
he explains, I feel I have nothing to
lose
He felt that Simon made a good play by
bluffing when an ace turned. "I couldn't
call with my pair of jacks. Later, when
I said I had given him too much respect,
I was letting him know I was aware of
his game and that it wouldn't happen again."
He also praised the tournament staff as
the best in the business. "They run things
terrifically."
ALL-AROUND
PAYOFF POINTS
Name
Total
1.
Justin Westmoreland 95
2. Tony Abesamis 75
3. Ulises Molina 75
4. Jollibert David 73
5. Clinton Moore 60
6. Anthony Tran 57
7. Tom Roach 57
8. Men Nguyen 57
9. Farhang Ebadipour 57
10. Richard Dagres 53
11. Binh Do 50
12. Hai Tran 49
13. Andom Ghebre 49
14. Andy Simon 49
15. Peter Wu 49
16. Edward Moncada 47
17. Rocky Enciso 44
Max Shapiro
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