ACE
OF SPADES EARNS WIN FOR
REALTOR GEORGE SHAHREZAY
Holding
an ace of spades when a fourth spade hit,
George Shahrezay won the key pot of the
night and jumped into a big lead. Since
a five-way deal had been made earlier
and it was now 4:30 a.m., his two weary
opponents ceded him the trophy two hands
later and called it a night. Until then
it had been a see-saw contest among the
mainly local players at the final table.
The
victory in the second event of the 2004
California State Poker Championship, $300
limit hold'em, is only the second tournament
win for Shahrezay, a realtor in nearby
Paramount. He has a prior win in 7-card
stud hi-lo, also at Commerce. A familiar
face in local casinos, he splits his time
between tournaments and cash games.
The
final table started with $2,000-$4,000
limits, six minutes left. The chip count
was $1,500 short because a player took
ill midway through the tournament and
his chips were removed from play. Nothing
much happened at the first level other
than a couple of short-stacks going all
in and surviving, and then limits went
to $3,000-$6,000.
Six
hands into the new limits, veteran player
Walter Smiley, who couldn't catch any
cards, went out quietly with queen-high
to Shahrezay's ace-high.
Two
hands later, Chan Vu tried a pre-flop
raise with K-J. He ran into "Miami" John
Cernuto's Q-Q, went all in on the flop
and finished ninth when he couldn't improve
and the queens reigned.
Cernuto lost chips when he held A-2, check-raised
on a board of A-K-7-10 to put Ralph Nunley
all in, then lost when Nunley showed A-Q.
Rocky
Yo was understandably upset after a horrendous
beat. Holding Q-x ( he only flashed one
card at the end), he had trips when the
flop came Q-Q-6. He didn't know it at
the time, but he was nearly a 98 percent
favorite against Ron Drew, who had A-K.
But then a runner-runner 10-J gave Drew
a straight and Yo heartburn.
Miami
John, who won yesterday's opener, finished
eighth. After he re-raised with A-J, JoJo
Zahner put him all in with pocket 7s and
flopped a set.
As
limits went to $4,000-$8,000, Drew's frequent
raising had gotten him the lead with approximately
$105,000. Then Zahner took it away from
him A flop of Ah-8h-3h was four-bet. Drew
folded on the turn and Zahner showed 3-3
for a set.
Visibly
still upset by his trip-queen beat, Yo
raised with his last chips from the small
blind with 7-5. He somehow managed a chop
against an 8-4 when the board came K-3-2-2-3.
But he didn't last much longer. He had
K-Q in a pot against Mitchell Katz. He
connected when the board came J-J-3-K,
but the king also gave Katz , with K-J,
jacks-full.
Nunley
went out two hands later. All in with
K-J, he had the lead when the board showed
Q-10-3-K. Then a river 4 gave Ali Yarahmady
a two-outer set of 4s. The field was now
down to five, and after long negotiations,
a chip-count deal was finally struck.
At that point, Katz was the leader with
$108,000, followed by Drew, 90k; Zahner,
76k; Yarahmady with 51k; and Shahrezay,
50k.
With
the money accounted for, the play now
got considerably wilder. Ironically, Katz,
the player with the best of the deal,
would be next out, and lowest-chipped
Shahrezay would end up as the winner.
Within
just 15 hands, after limits went to $6,000-$12,000,
their positions would be reversed. After
beating Katz in a pot with pocket jacks,
Shahrezay took the lead with 128k while
Katz had plummeted down to only 30k.
Meanwhile,
Drew, who also had been faltering, made
yet another runner-runner straight, beating
Zahner in a big pot. "Back in the saddle
again," he smiled, stacking his chips.
Drew won the next pot, and now was close
to a dead tie with Shahrezay.
Katz, who is in the hedge fund business,
couldn't make a comeback. He went out
with K-10 against Yarahmady's A-Q when
a queen came on fourth street.
At
this point, Shahrezay, Drew and Yarahmady
were all closely grouped in the 120k range
while Zahner, a pro player, trailed badly
with about 20k. Zahner later raised from
the small blind with pocket 9s. He then
raised Drew on a flop of Q-8-6, then bet
blind and went all in when Drew, with
Q-7, raised. The queens beat the 9s, and
the field was down to three, with Shahrezay
still holding a slight lead.
He
dropped down when Yarahmady beat him soon
after. Yarahmady won a sizeable pot with
a higher kicker when he and Shahrezay
both paired a king on the flop. Shahrezay
lost again when he and Drew both paired
an ace on the flop. Once again, he was
undone by a bigger kicker, 7 for him,
queen for Drew.
Then came the deciding pot. With a flop
of 7s-4s-2s, Shahrezay bet and Yarahmady
check-raised. Another deuce turned. Then
an 8s hit the river. Yarahmady bet, Shahrezay
raised, Yarahmady folded and Shahrezay
showed the ace of spades for a nut flush.
Shahrezay
now had about $195,000 of the $375,000
in play. Two more hands were played, and
then Drew and Yarahmady (who had repeatedly
promised to win the trophy) threw in the
towel and let Shahrezay have the title
and the unusual trophy, a silver goblet
on its side embedded in a rock.
-- by Max Shapiro
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