THE
KAMIKAZE KID STORMS TO
VICTORY IN NO-LIMIT HOLD'EM
Playing
in his customary go-for-broke fashion,
Hon Le, aka The Kamikaze Kid, broke players
left and right as he piled up an enormous
chip lead in the12th event of 2004 California
State Poker Championship, $1,000 no-limit
hold'em. Then he ran into a stalwart octogenarian
named Gene Resnick who fought back and
took the lead for a second time before
being done in by a couple of bad beats.
On his final hand, Resnick held pocket
queens but to his dismay Hon Le outdrew
him and he finished third.
Heads-up,
Hon Le enjoyed a huge chip advantage and
made a deal with Tim Phan to end the event.
Opening
blinds were $600-$1,200 with $200 antes,
12:25 left on the clock and Hon Le leading
big with 83k. Mark Seif got lucky right
after blinds went to $800-$1,600 with
$200 antes. He moved in with 9s-8s. Phan
had him with Ac-Qc, but a 9 turned to
keep Seif in action.
After an hour and 15 minutes of play,
12 all ins and two limit increases, not
a single player had the decency to leave
the table. At that point, Resnick, who
had doubled up against Hon Le, A-K vs.
A-7, had taken the lead with about $78,000.
Hon Le now had around $59,000, followed
by Emeliano Calitis Jr. with $52,000 and
Seif and Arnold Spee with close to $40,000
each.
Two
hours and 17 all-ins went by, still with
no casualties. At last a new dealer came
in who knew what he was doing and promptly
busted Danish pro Henrik Olsen. Olsen
moved in for about $8,000 with K-J. Hon
Le had Ac-Qc, made a flush and retook
the lead with around $90,000.
A
few hands later, Seif raised and then
moved in for $25,000 on a flop of 9-3-5.
"You have king-queen," Hon Le kept saying,
trying to get a read. He stalled so long
that Spee impatiently called for a clock.
Hon Le waited until the last second, then
folded.
When
blinds went up again to $1,500-$3,000
with $500 antes, there were still nine
players in action and Hon Le still led,
now with $102,000.
Six
hands later the next player finally went
out, and as usual the Kamikaze Kid was
involved. Hon Le raised to $15,000 with
K-9 and Mo Fathipour went all in with
3-3. Two pair hit the board and the king
played.
Later,
a clock had to be put on Nick Joanides,
who raised to $6,000 and also pondered
before folding when Phan moved in on him.
Three
hours into the final table, Seif moved
all in for the last time with $20,000.
"Might as well gamble," said Joanides,
as he matched the bet. Hon Le was suspicious.
"Just call?" he asked. "Why not move in?"
Not being able to stand being left out
of the action, Hon Le also called.
On
a flop of 10-5-3, Joanides moved in for
about $30,000 and Hon Le called. The hands
were turned up: A-9 for Seif, pocket 9s
for Joanides and K-9 for Hon Le. "I didn't
want Hon Le to draw out on me," Joanides
said, explaining his bet. The turn was
a jack, and then a king on the river gave
Hon Le top pair. As onlookers exploded
in excitement, Seif cashed out eighth
and Joanides seventh while the Kamikaze
Kid, now having knocked out all four players,
stacked up about 185,000 of the 278,000
chips in play.
The
excitement hadn't yet abated when Emeliano
Calitas Jr. moved in for $37,000 with
K-Q on the next hand. Phan, calling with
pocket 5s, just had him covered. The board
came 8-6-2-3-9 and Calitas was out in
sixth place.
As
the 100th hand was drawing near, Hon Le
moved in with A-A. Emad Rayyan looked
at pocket jacks and called. A board of
K-K-4-5-10 was dealt and Hon Le had disposed
of one more player. He now had a tall
picket fence of chips, nearly $200,000
altogether.
A
few hands later the table got down to
three handed after Spee moved in for his
last $10,000 with 10-9. Resnick called
with J-7 and won with jack-high on a board
of K-6-5-K-K.
It
looked like Hon Le would ride off with
a quick win, but things did not turn out
that simple. By the time blinds went to
$1,000-$4,000 with $500 antes, Resnick
had picked up some chips and now had about
$93,000 to $215,000 for Hon Le and approximately
$72,000 for Phan.
Later, as Resnick was pondering a move,
Hon Le warned him, "You move in and I
call you." "OK," Resnick said, "I move
in." Hon Le did not call.
Resnick
eventually pulled about even when he re-raised
all in for about $150,000 and Hon Le folded.
Another all-in re-raise that went uncalled,
and now Resnick had the lead.
Hon
Le struck back and pulled in front when
he came over the top for $50,000 pre-flop
after Resnick had opened for $20,000.
The flop came K-Q-J. Hon Le announced
all in and Resnick mucked.
Resnick
then suffered a really bad beat against
Phan. After Phan moved in for about $40,000
with A-10, Resnick quickly called with
pocket kings. On fourth street Resnick
had a set and Phan was dead to an inside
straight draw. "No queen," Resnick called
out. That's exactly what came, giving
Phan a straight and cutting Resnick's
stacks down considerably.
As
play went on, player after player moved
in without there being a confrontation.
Then,
on the final hand, Hon Le opened for $30,000
with A-2 and Resnick moved in for $73,000
with pocket queens. Hon Le called and
promptly flopped an ace. Resnick was beside
himself, because it was not the first
time in the tournament that Hon Le had
drawn out on him in this fashion.
Badly
trailing, Phan accepted a deal and the
aptly named Kamikaze Kid had the win.
-- by Max Shapiro
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