Waiter
Scores First Win
Michael
Wong, a young waiter who’s only played
a couple of major tournaments, had his
first cash-in, his first final table and
his first win when the seventh event of
Big Poker Oktober, $100 no-limit hold’em,
ended in a four-way chop. At that point
he had $81,000 while his three opponents
all had very close to $60,000 each.
Right
after limits went to $3,000-$6,000 with
$1,000 antes, he was down to about $10,000.
He went all in two times in a row, beat
Al Baham both times, and climbed to about
$80,000. Four hands later, Omar Vachhani
finished fifth and the deal was made.
The final table just missed being a family
affair after two players went broke at
the same time. One of them was Randy Holland.
He finished 10th when his A-Q fell to
Anthony Nguyen’s pocket 10s, and
he lost the chance to compete with his
wife and protégé, Laurene
Holland.
Final
table stakes started with $1,000-$2,000
blinds and $300 antes, 10:30 remaining.
Baham had lead with $59,900, and Andrew
Lake trailed with $12,800. On the fifth
hand, Nguyen raised, Holland re-raised
all in for $10,000 with pocket sixes and
then Wong moved in from the small blind
for more than $30,000 holding pocket jacks.
Nguyen couldn’t take the heat and
folded his pocket eights. “That’s
disgusting,” he said when an eight
flopped. “That’s wonderful,”
Holland thought when a six turned to save
her with a set.
After
blinds moved to $2,000-$4,000 with $500
antes, Holland collected a lot more chips.
Nguyen moved in from the button for $31,500
with Ad-6d. Holland looked at pocket kings.
She went in, covering him with $33,000.
And Lake, with Ks-7s, threw in his last
chips also. The flop came Qh-10s-2s, giving
Lake a flush draw. A 9c-Qc came and Nguyen
cashed out for $650 in eighth place while
Lake got $490 for ninth.
Two
hands after that, Holland broke another
player. With $2,000-$4,000 blinds and
$500 antes, Andrew Walton moved in for
about $25,000 and Holland called from
the button. “I might be in trouble,”
he said, turning up pocket fives. Actually,
he was about an eight percent favorite
to Holland’s A-Q, but became worse
than a 10-1 dog on a flop of K-Q-J. He
couldn’t help, and finished seventh,
collecting $815. Holland, meanwhile, had
shot up from her starting $14,100 to a
chip-lead of about $106,000.
Next,
Baham was in the big blind with 8c-5c
when poker dealer Cory Mihocko raised
all in for $12,000 with K-10. “Gotta
call,” Baham said, and proceeded
to make a wheel on a board of A-Q-3-2-4.
Sixth place paid Mihocko $1,140.
Blinds
went to $3,000-$6,000 with $1,000 antes
on hand 26. Wong had lost half his chips
a few hands earlier when Steven Goldman
moved for $13,500 with pocket fives and
he called with A-10. Now low-chipped,
Wong was in the small blind with K-Q.
He called all in after Baham raised with
A-10. A king flopped and Wong hauled in
the pot. On the next hand, Baham raised
to $12,000 with Q-10 and Wong moved in
for $21,000 more with A-10. The board
came A-5-3-Q-3, and suddenly Wong had
about $80,000.
On
the next hand, Steven Goldman tried a
steal by moving in for $23,000 with 7-5.
“You got me,” he said when Holland
called with A-Q. “I’d rather
be lucky than good,” he amended when
he made a nine-high straight. Three hands
later the tournament ended when Vachhani
had his last $4,500 posted in the big
blind with the “computer hand”:
Q-7. On the turn he had three sevens,
but on the river, Baham, holding Ah-5h,
made a flush. Fifth place paid $1,465.
The four players remaining made their
deal and that ended event number seven.
BIOGRAPHY
Michael Wong is a waiter at Palermo’s
Italian restaurant on Vermont Avenue in
Los Angeles. He grew up watching his cousins
play poker, but only started playing the
game “semi-seriously” himself
a little more than a year ago. He’s
played in a few very small tournaments,
but this is only about his second for
these limits. In side action, he plays
low-limit hold’em. He describes his
play as “tight-aggressive.”
Tonight,
he got ammunition in early going when
he held pocket aces, broke one player
who moved in with pocket queens and took
chips from another player, in the lead
at the time, who had A-K. That got him
up to about $1,300. He said he made one
bad play when he had Q-J, didn’t
bet a Q-rag-rag flop, and allowed a player
to make a flush. But he chalked it off
to a learning experience and moved on.
Max Shapiro
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