CAL
STATE FINAL DAY: LEADER
IS STAN GOLDSTEIN WITH 235K
Los Angeles pro Stan Goldstein will start
the final day of the 2004 California State
Poker Championship final event with a
chip lead of $235,500 after what announcer
Captain Tom Franklin called the longest
10-handed final table he had ever seen.
It took an unbelievable three hours-plus
to eliminate the 10th player and get down
to the final nine.
This
championship event had been revised and
trimmed to three days instead of the scheduled
four.
On
day one, they played five levels of 90-minute
rounds to midnight, with 38 players left.
Play resumed at 3 p.m. the next day. The
chip leaders were: Chuck Pacheco, $68,950;
Steve Sobel, $67,525; Mickey "Mouse" Mills,
$67,400; Amir Vahedi, $48,100; Goldstein,
$42,425; Steve Crockett, $37,450; Allen
Cunningham, $37,250; Daniel Weiss, $35,700;
and Ben Affleck, $32,450.
An
amusing incident happened just before
play began. Affleck and Tobey "Spiderman"
Maguire were standing outside the main
entrance when two young men rushed toward
them with a camera. But they ran right
by the two actors, yelling, "Amir! Amir!
Can we take a picture with you?" Well,
after all, this was Commerce, poker capital
of the world, and not Hollywood.
Day one saw the exit of such name players
as Scotty Nguyen, John Juanda, Barry Greenstein
and celebrity players Lou Diamond Phillips
and Maguire, who continued to sweat Affleck
the next day. On day two, more top names
like Cunningham, Daniel Negreanu, T.J.
Cloutier, Men "The Master" Nguyen, Chris
Ferguson and Erik Seidel had early exits.
With Ferguson's departure (his pocket
jacks lost to a river straight), the only
former world champion left was Dan Harrington.
When
play resumed after a dinner break, with
antes of $100 and blinds of $400-$800,
there were three tables left and Goldstein
had taken the lead with about 110k. He
also got the first kiss of the evening.
When Affleck stopped by the table and
exchanged whispers with Vahedi, Goldstein
asked when he would get some lip. So Affleck
brushed Goldstein's cheek.
As
play continued, Kathy Liebert raised with
A-Q, called all in when Pacheco came over
the top and lost to his A-A.
When
blinds went to $500-$1,000 with $150 antes,
there were 19 players left and Goldstein
had increased his lead to about 145k.
Behind him were Vahedi, 84k; Raymond Davis,
75k; and Affleck, about 70k. Ninety seconds
later the tournament got down to two tables.
Peter
Costa had been low-chipped most of the
day and was still in action. He ran out
of moves when he bet all in on a K-10-8
flop, holding Q-9 for a straight draw.
"Having a feeling," Vahedi called and
knocked him out with A-Q.
Ty
Nguyen, in a hand against Affleck, flopped
a set of queens and slow-played to the
river. But Affleck, with two pair, didn't
bite, especially with a scary board of
Qd-10d-3s-Ad-Ks. Then Daniel Weiss escaped
being bitten by Mickey Mouse. He was all
in with 10c-10d when the Mouse flopped
a set of deuces, but
Weiss made a flush when a fourth club
turned.
The
Mouse went out 15th after taking his fourth
bad beat. All in with K-K, he lost when
Jimmy Tran flopped a set of 7s. Gabriel
Thaler was next out with As-7s to Weiss'
A-Q after a queen flopped.
With
blinds of $600-$1,200, Goldstein still
led with about 160k. Nguyen wasn't far
behind with about 135k, while Vahedi,
Jimmy Tran and Poges Simityan were all
in the 90k range.
Harrington,
short-chipped for a long time, finally
left with A-K against Nguyen's K-K. Harrington
flopped an ace, but runner-runner spades
gave Nguyen a flush.
A
hand later, David Levi was low chipped
and moved in with 7h-6h. Nguyen called
with Ad-Qd, made another flush to knock
out Levi and take the lead with about
175k to 150k for Goldstein.
With
two spots to the money, play turned cautious.
Short-chipped, Weiss moved in five times
and nobody called. Meanwhile, Goldstein,
playing a steady game, picked up enough
pots, often at the expense of Vahedi,
to retake the lead. At the next level,
$800-$1,600 blinds with $200 antes, he
had about 225k to Nguyen's 200k. At the
other end, Davis was down to 11k after
taking two hits, first when Nguyen, calling
with everything and making everything,
hit yet another flush with 10c-7cs, the
second time when Davis raised to 10k with
Kh-Qh then folded when Pacheco re-raised
with A-J.
Finally,
with a board of J-5-4-, Weiss moved in
for the sixth time, for $24,800, with
Q-J. Goldstein called with K-J. Weiss
didn't help, and the final 10 gathered
at one table to play down to nine. Goldstein
started as leader with about 250k, followed
by Nguyen with 190k. Just as the clock
ran out, they almost got down to nine.
Raymond Davis was all in with A-10 versus
Nguyen's A-K but hit a 10 on the river.
Blinds now went to $1,000-$2,000 with
$300 antes. Goldstein and Nguyen were
about tied with 210k each. Finally, on
the 63rd hand, Al Korson moved in from
the button with A-4. Goldstein called
with pocket 6s and turned a set to turn
out the lights. Final table play resumes
at 3 p.m. tomorrow.
-- by Max Shapiro
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