CAN
HUA USES ‘BLACKMAIL' TO
GET TROPHY ALONG WITH CASH
There
may have been more drama after tonight's
$500 limit hold'em tournament ended than
there was while it was still in progress.
What
happened was that the event terminated
(at least it seemed to terminate) in a
five-way chip-count deal, with Can Hua
well in front. With all the cash locked
up, the players decided to switch to no-limit
just to play for the trophy. Then Can
Hua took a closer look at the unusual,
and unusually handsome, 2004 California
State Poker Championship trophy, which
consists of a shiny brass goblet lying
on its size, embedded in a rock, which
in turn rests on a wooden platform. He
decided the trophy was a keeper.
As
the players sat down, Can Hua informed
them: "No chop." Faced with the prospect
of smaller pay-outs, they accepted the
wisdom of "a bird in the hand," caved
in and let him take home the memento.
As a consolation, however, the other players
in turn also had their photos taken sitting
at the table behind the prize.
Can
Hua arrived at the final table with the
chip lead and held it throughout, though
his lead was not nearly as overpowering
as the one that Phil Penn had in Omaha
hi-lo the day before. Can Hua started
with $50,000, just a little more than
Thor Hansen and Guo Zhi Li had. He quickly
built it to about $80,000, and then remained
comfortably in front after that. He said
he had never been in trouble all during
the tournament, and steadily increased
his count rather than winning major pots.
Can
Hua, who finished eighth in Card Player
magazine's "Player of the Year" rankings
for 2004, has numerous tournament wins
including the championship event in Hustler
Casino's Grand Slam of Poker. Perhaps
his most amazing win came when he anted
his last $1,000 chip in a $1,500 no-limit
event at the L.A. Poker Classic last year,
and in 17 hands multiplied the one chip
200,000 times over on his way to a victory
worth $184,815.
Final
table play commenced with limits of $1,000-$2,000
and 11:43 left in the round. It took only
seven hands for the first player to cash
in. Holding A-K, Henry Khauv looked to
have a great flop when K-8-5 turned up.
Unfortunately for him, Can Hua had flopped
a set of 8s. Khauv bet and Can Hua raised.
Can Hua raised again when a deuce turned
and Khauv was all in. A river deuce filled
Can Hua and Khauv collected $1,530 for
his 10th place finish.
Can
Hua now had increased his count to $80,000.
Soon after, limits also increased, to
blinds of $1,000-$1,500 and limits of
$1,500-$3,000.
David
Silverberg, a jeweler, took a hit and
got dangerously low in chips when a flop
of Jh-7h-3h gave Dung Tran a nut flush.
A couple of hands later he three-bet with
A-J against Vinny Landrum. He may have
overvalued his hand, but with only $1,000
left, he was committed and went all in
on the flop. He had a coin flip against
Landrum's pocket 8s, but Landrum won the
toss after the board showed 10-5-3-5-4.
Once more pocket 8s did the job. Ninth
place paid $2,040 for Silverberg.
The
stakes now were $2,000-$4,000, and the
approximate count now showed: Can Hua,
$65,000; Vinny Landrum, $44,000; John
Phan, $40,000; Guo Zhi Li, $35,000; Dung
Tran, $28,000; and Travis Dang, $22,00.
David Tran and Thor Hansen were the two
short stacks, both with about $10,000.
Hansen
didn't manage to last very long. In the
big blind, he went with his Q-5. A board
of K-J-5-Q gave him two pair, but it also
gave a nut straight to Can Hua, who had
A-10. Hansen, the Norwegian transplant
now living in California, earned $2,550
for eighth place. Can Hua, meanwhile,
was now back up to $80,000 again.
The
next all-in confrontation pitted David
Tran, the other short stack, against Vinny
Landrum and John Phan. David moved in
with K-Q. The pot was checked down, and
Landrum's A-Q held up with five rags on
board. Tran got $3,185 for seventh.
This
was the first two-day event of 2004 Cal
State. Only about two hours had elapsed
since the final table assembled at 7 p.m.,
and things were rapidly coming to a conclusion.
John
Phan was left with only $2,500 when he
folded after Dung Tran bet on a flop of
5-3-3. On the next hand, Tran was the
big blind. He posted his $2,000 and was
down to one chip holding Qs-3s. Landrum
put him in with pocket 5s. The pair won
after the board came J-7-2-8-K. Tran cashed
in for sixth place, and five players were
now left.
A
few more hands went by, and then the players
decided to talk deal. At this point, Can
Hua still had a decent lead with $79,000.
Behind him were Landrum with $60,000;
Dung Tran with $46,000; Travis Dang with
$35,000; and Guo Zhi Li with $34,500.
After
tournament director Cheri Dokken did the
chip-count calculations, the players were
in agreement, and event number five seemed
to be in the books.
Well,
no, not quite. Now came the business of
playing no-limit for the trophy. They
sat down, but before any cards could be
dealt, Can Hua issued his no-chop and
no no-limit ultimatum, and this time the
chip count deal was accepted as final.
The official payout by relative chip position
had Can Hua receiving $47,175, along with
$24,225 for Landrum; $12,115 for Dung
Tran; $7,650 for Travis Dang; and $5,740
for Gho Zhi Li.
-- by Max Shapiro
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