HOLD'EM
EVENT ENDS FAST AS
HUNG DU REGISTERS FIRST WIN
The final table for the 23rd event of
California State Poker Championship was
the speediest yet, taking just a bit over
two hours to complete. Hung Du, who's
been playing poker for five years but
only the past year professionally, was
declared the winner when a three-way chip
count deal ended the action.
It
was the first tournament win for Du, who
plays mostly side games, specializing
in limit hold'em, "never no-limit."
Dung
Nguyen is a pro player who finished 40th
in this year's World Series championship
event and cashed out for $60,000. Tonight,
he had started the final table with a
sizeable chip led of $82,000 and was running
over the players in the early stages until
Du took some big pots and the lead.
But
perhaps the most dramatic story revolved
around Jack Boghossian, a watchmaker and
familiar face around the local tournament
circuit. With four players left, he was
down to a handful of chips when he went
all in by betting blind before the flop.
He won the pot, began raising nonstop,
making big hands and starting shooting
up like a rocket. By the time the field
was down to the last three, he had nearly
closed the gap. He had 99k to 101k for
Nguyen and 129k for Du, and that was the
basis for the chop.
Level
10 opening limits at the final table were
$2,000-$4,000 with 26:36 remaining. On
the fifth hand, EDX Dizon had $1,000 left
after posting his big blind. Nguyen raised.
Dizon fretted for several minutes. When
he finally called all in and turned up
a reasonable calling hand of A-8, the
table wondered why he even had to think.
He was getting 7-1 odds and would have
been all in on the small blind the next
hand. As it turned out he was in bad shape
when Hung showed pocket 9s. The board
came 8-2-2-5-K and Dizon, who lives in
Milpitas, was out of action, finishing
ninth and collecting $3,040.
Nguyen,
running hot, claimed his second victim
with pocket kings. He raised pre-flop
and then Binh Ta, with pocket 7s, bet
all in when the flop came10-9-5. A jack
and a 6 didn't help him and Ta and finished
eighth, which paid $3,790.
Later, Nguyen got involved in a re-raised
pot with Boghosian. Nguyen bet the river
with the board showing K-9-5-7-4, Boghossian,
who called with little enthusiasm, asked,
"Do you have aces?" That's exactly what
Nguyen had. He also had about 125k in
chips now, more than twice anybody else's.
After
limits went to $4,000-$8,000, poker player
John Hoang was almost down to the cloth
in the big blind when the flop came 9-6-5.
Hung, with 5-4, bet and Hoang called all
in with 10-7. He couldn't hit and Hung's
paired 5 knocked him out in seventh place.
It paid $4,740.
Not
many hands later, Django Young, an investor,
had to invest his last chips in the small
blind with K-9. Realtor George Shahrezay
had him covered in chips and cards with
A-9 and nailed him when an ace flopped.
Young picked up $6,635 for sixth place
and the table was now down to five players.
The table continued to get rapidly pared
down. David Smira is a Portland, Oregon
artist. He was in the big blind with pocket
6s and called when Hung Du raised. The
flop was 3-2-2. He bet, Hung Du raised.
When a 10 hit fourth street, Smira went
all in for $3,500. Hung Du turned up pocket
kings, and the artist was out of the picture,
cashing out in fifth place for $11,370.
Du
now had moved into the lead with about
125k to around 100k for Nguyen, 85k for
Shahrezay and 30k for Boghosian.
Several
hands later, Boghossian had slipped down
and was on the verge of elimination when
he looked down at A-K. Deciding he had
to go with the hand, he bet blind for
his last $1,500, hit a king and started
his recovery.
He raised a couple of times without calls,
then won a pot holding pocket 10s. The
watchmaker who had taken a licking now
was ticking. Then, after hauling in a
big pot when he flopped a straight and
then made a flush on the river in a hand
against Shahrezay, he was suddenly up
to about 75k.
A
hand later he again got involved in a
pot with Shahrezay. On a rush now, Boghossian
re-raised with K-J and ended up with a
straight when the board came Q-10-7-Q-9.
After
that, Shahrezay was not able to recover.
On his final hand, Du bet when the flop
came K-8-4. Nguyen raised and Shahrezay
re-raised all in for 10k. There was a
bit of uncertainty when Du flashed pocket
9s. For a moment it seemed as if he had
turned his cards up by mistake, but he
was just folding. Shahrezay had the lead
with K-Q to 9-8 for Du. The turn turned
everything around when another 8 gave
Du trips, to outrun the realtor's paired
king, and Shahrezay cashed out fourth
for $11,370.
The chips were counted out, the calculations
were made and the players accepted the
figures as event number 23 (three more
than scheduled because of a reformatting
of the schedule) was in the books. Du
collected an official $70,115 for first
place, while second paid $36,005 and third,
$18,005.
Tomorrow
starts the first day of the $10,000 championship
no-limit hold'em event
-- by Max Shapiro
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