TOURNAMENT
REPORT
Poker is a game that
it takes a lot of years
of experience and study
to understand the game and
hone one�s skills to maybe
someday become a player
capable of winning a major
tournament, right? Well
somebody forgot to tell
a couple of youngsters from
California that waltzed
into the Bellagio and left
with the two biggest prizes
of the Five Diamond World
Poker Classic.
Twenty-six year old Erick
Lindgren of Folsom, CA,
and 24-year-old Prahlad
Friedman of Richmond, CA,
ended up heads-up with more
than $500,000 in chips each,
playing for the title of
the $3,000 buy-in No Limit
Hold'em Championship Event.
Lindgren and Friedman, who
are very good friends, played
heads-up for about an hour
before Lindgren surfaced
as the champion.
Lindgren
claimed a first place prize
of $228,192, which includes
a $25,000 + $300 entry in
Bellagio's Five Star World
Poker Classic April 14-18,
2003. A special added award
also provides the winner
with a seat in the prestigious
$200,000 World Poker Tour
Invitational Tournament
February 25-26, 2003, at
Commerce Casino in Commerce,
CA. Friedman earned $101,446
for his runner-up performance.
A
total of 183 players entered
the championship event and
played until 9 o�clock Wednesday
night, reducing the field
to 31 championship candidates.
It then only took 4 and
a half hours for the final
table lineup to be decided
on Thursday. During that
span of time, a number of
well known major tournament
veterans were eliminated,
including Men �The Master�
Nguyen, Allen Cunningham,
and a strong European contingent
that included European Player
of the Year nominee Peter
Costa (who finished 15th),
Aiden Bennett of Dublin,
Ireland (who finished 18th),
and Surinder Sunar of Wolverhampton,
England.
Once
it was down to the final
table, Lindgren was the
chip leader with $212,000,
but his pal Friedman ($153,000),
Card Player Magazine co-publisher
Jeff Shulman ($148,000)
and tournament veteran James
Allen ($146,000) of Glendale,
CA, were in reasonable striking
distance.
MONEY
STANDINGS AT START OF FINAL
TABLE
1
Erick Lindgren Folsom, CA
$212,000
2 Prahlad Friedman Richmond,
CA $153,000
3 Jeff Shulman Las Vegas,
NV $148,000
4 James Allen Glendale,
CA $146,000
5 Bill Eichel Parker, SD
$114,000
6 Vinnie Vinh Houston, TX
$84,000
7 Keith Hawkins Ascot, England
$73,000
8 Nathan "Butch" Wade Knoxville,
TN $68,000
9 Carlos Mortensen Madrid,
Spain $54,000
10 Dan Alspach La Jolla,
CA $46,000
FINAL TABLE TOTAL: $1,098,000
SEATING
FOR FINAL TABLE
Fifteen
minutes into play at the
final table with antes at
$1,000 and blinds at $3,000-$6,000,
Butch Wade of Knoxville,
TN, became the first casualty.
Wade, who had the A & 9
of Clubs, called Friedman�s
pre-flop wager of $30,000
and raised all-in with his
$67,000 bankroll, which
was called by Friedman,
who had A-Q off-suit. The
flop came 9-Q-5, with a
4 on the turn and a K at
the river, giving Friedman
a winning pair of Qs. Wade
finished 10th and made $6,087.
Friedman
and Vinnie Vinh of Houston,
TX, seemed to be the designated
eliminators for the final
table, as both very aggressively
pursued competitive chips.
It was only 10 more minutes
that passed when Vinh excused
Dan Alspach of La Jolla,
CA, when he raised all-in
with A-K and was called
by Alspach with K-Q. The
flop came J-6-5, followed
by a 3 and another J, making
Vinh�s A-high with a pair
of table Js the winner.
Alspach got $8,115 for ninth
place.
It
was Friedman�s turn again
as 10 minutes later saw
2001 World Series champion
Carlos Mortensen of Madrid,
Spain, betting his remaining
$36,000 on K-T. Friedman
called with A-J of Hearts.
The flop went Q-7-9 rainbow,
followed by a 3 and another
Q, giving Friedman a pair
of Qs with A-high, and the
pot. Mortensen, another
youngster at 30, had battled
aggressively during tournament
play, but finished eighth
for $10,145.
Vinh
then found pocket-Ks to
take on an all-in bet by
first day chip leader Keith
Hawkins of Ascot, England,
who played Q-4 of Clubs.
The flop came 8-8-A, with
another A on the turn and
a 6 on the river. Vinh wins
with two pair, As and Ks.
Hawkins, the last European
in the field, got seventh
place and $12,680.
Going
into the next session with
$2,000 antes and $5,000-$10,000
blinds, the final six players
were left with approximately:
Friedman-$300,000, Lindgren-$250,000,
Vinh-$230,000, James-$150,000,
Shulman-$120,000, and Eichel-$50,000.
For
the next series of hands,
most of the action was coming
from Eichel, plus two other
players � you guessed them,
Friedman and Vinh. Allen
went all-in with his A-K
and remaining $101,000 and
was called by Vinh with
A-Q of Hearts. The flop
was 9-T-4, with a J on the
turn and another 4 at the
river. Although his chip
stack was badly damaged,
the volatile Vinh was still
in action.
Shulman,
another young shining star,
was the next victim, and
Friedman again was the executioner.
Shulman knew he was running
out of time and chips and
bet his last $48,000 on
6-8, but was called by Friedman
with the 9-T of Diamonds.
The flop came 2-9-6 rainbow,
followed by a 3 and then
a Q, giving Friedman the
win with a pair of 9s vs.
a pair of 6s. Shulman played
very solidly in earning
his sixth place finish and
$17,753.
The
next half-dozen hands were
mostly dominated by Eichel
and Friedman, when Allen
looked down, found A-K and
raised $40,000 on a hand.
Eichel couldn�t pass up
raising with his $80,000
all-in bet on a pair of
9s, which looked like a
great move when the flop
came 4-J-T and a 3 on the
turn. But it was that killer
Q on the river that gave
Allen the A-high straight
and the pot, while Eichel
got a one-way ticket out
of the game with fifth place
and $22,825.
Now,
there were four players
remaining, and they took
a short break. Approximate
chip countdown was Friedman-$370,000,
Allen-$330,000, Lindgren-$300,000,
and Vinh-$100,000, which
was an hour and a half after
the final table started.
For
the remaining 20 minutes
before the next increase
in antes and blinds, there
was plenty of betting, mostly
by Vinh and Lindgren, but
no one was calling. At one
point, Vinh went all-in
on four straight hands,
but no callers except on
the third time, when he
and Lindgren locked horns.
Lindgren raised the big
blind by $20,000 with A-K,
after which Vinh raised
all-in for a total of $95,000
with A-8. The board went
4-4-2, then a 7, then another
2, making a split of the
pot with both having two
pair (4s and 2s) with an
A kicker.
Five
hands later, Lindgren raised
the blind $20,000 again,
and guess who called and
raised all-in with his remaining
$131,000 � that�s right,
Vinh. Lindgren had A-4 this
time, and Vinh held A-8.
The flop was A-Q-7, followed
by another Q and a T, giving
them both two pair (As and
Qs) with a T kicker � another
split pot.
The
blinds went to $10,000-$20,000
with the ante staying at
$2,000 at the two-hour mark
of the final table. Play
was cautious over the next
dozen hands as no raises
were called. Vinh kept things
interesting by raising all-in
during three of those hands,
but no callers. But then
Lindgren and Vinh squared
off once again. This time,
Lindgren had raised $40,000
on another A-K before the
flop, when Vinh moved all-in
with his A-4 of Spades.
Lindgren was able to call
a total of $259,000 of it,
leaving Vinh with only $15,000
in reserve. The flop came
Q-5-3 (no Spades), and then
K and a 9, giving Lindgren
a pair of Ks to Vinh�s A-high.
As
bad luck would have it,
Vinh had the next big blind
bet ($15,000) on the next
hand, so he went all-in
one more time, this time
against Allen. Vinh had
the Q-7 of Clubs, and Allen
was playing an A-K of Hearts.
The flop was 3-7-2 rainbow,
followed by a T and a 6,
giving Vinh extended life
with a pair of 7s.
On
the very next hand, Vinh
found Lindgren again and
went all-in with Q-6 of
Diamonds against his opponent�s
K-8 off-suit. The community
cards came as J-A-T, and
then 7 and A, giving both
a pair of As, but Lindgren
with the winning K kicker
over Vinh�s Q. Playing like
a warrior until the end,
Vinh wound up fourth and
won $30,434.
On
the very next hand, Allen
(on the button) raised $40,000
before the flop on Ac-6s,
but Friedman with As-5c
asked how much he had left
and put in $114,000 to cover
it. Allen decided to call,
but the flop came 2h-3d-4d,
and was followed by 9h and
4c, giving Friedman a straight
(on the flop) and Allen
a pair of 4s.
Allen,
a pro since 1992, ended
up third and made $50,723.
The Glendale, CA, resident
placed fourth earlier this
year in the Limit Hold'em
event of the California
State Poker Championships
and has done well in several
other major events over
the years. �I think I had
bad luck in losing that
last hand, but I�m still
happy. It feels good to
win $50,000 for two days
of work,� chuckled Allen.
�This is a great tournament,
and (Tournament Director)
Jack McClelland runs the
best tournaments,� he added.
That
left things in the hands
of two young but talented
players. Lindgren had $585,000
in chips, and Friedman had
$513,000. After a short
break, the heads-up duel
began, but no bets were
made over $60,000 for the
first half-hour, and Friedman
had gained a 2-1 edge in
chips by the time the antes
went to $3,000, and the
blinds were $15,000-$30,000.
Lindgren got back in the
chip race when he played
a K-5 and hit an open ended
straight draw with a 7 on
the river. His last $283,000
in chips were in the pot.
Finally,
after an hour of the two-man
match, it all came to an
end as Lindgren played A-Q
of Hearts against Friedman�s
pocket-3s. Friedman had
shoved his last $350,000
into the pot, and Lindgren
called. The flop came K-Q-2
(no Hearts), 7 and then
5. Lindgren won with a pair
of Qs to Friedman�s pair
of 3s.
Maybe
Lindgren had a premonition
that he was going to win
as he said that he had just
made an offer on a nice
home in Las Vegas, where
he wants to live now. He�s
been an active playing pro
since turning 21, after
getting his start in casino
work as a black jack dealer
for an Indian casino in
northern California.
�My
planned strategy was to
be aggressive today,� said
Lindgren, who maneuvered
himself into third position
on the chip leader list
after the first day�s action.
�I wasn�t sure it was going
to work though because I
found myself down to $3,000
in chips after losing on
pocket Aces in the third
round. But then I hit a
great run and doubled up
my chips three times with
pocket pairs, climbing back
to $50,000. From there out,
I just kept looking for
the right opportunities,
and it paid off big time.�
When
asked to rate what he felt
was the best part of his
game, Lindgren felt it was
his ability to stay even
keeled and not let things
both his concentration when
he played. �I don�t have
big highs and lows in my
thinking, and I think it
helps me a lot,� he explained.
Lindgren
said he and Friedman are
very close friends, and
it was like a dream come
true for both of them to
end up playing heads-up
for the championship. They
drove over from California
together, they shared a
hotel room during the tournament,
and basically spent their
free time doing things together,
as good friends do.
Friedman
hasn�t been playing quite
as long as Lindgren, but
feels his game is getting
stronger and stronger. He
was in 19th place on the
chip leader list going in
to the final day action.
�I�ve tended to be over-aggressive
in the past, and I�m learning
to control myself better,
watching out for traps and
making sure I select my
moves smartly,� said Friedman,
who just moved back to California
after living and playing
in Las Vegas for the past
two years.
�I
used to play a lot of basketball,�
Friedman said. �I was a
point guard, and I am used
to being aggressive. My
big dream was to play in
the NBA.� It looks like
he just made the big leagues
in another professional
sport.
Friedman
is engaged to pro player
Dee Luong, and they expect
to marry soon and start
raising a family. He loves
No Limit Hold'em and tries
to play in a three times
a week regular game at Lucky
Chances Casino when he can.
A
total of 183 players started
with $6,000 each in chips
in the $3,000 buy-in 2-Day
Championship Event, which
featured total prize money
of $532,530. More than $1.8
million in total tournament
prize money was paid out.
The Five Diamond World Poker
Classic was considered to
be a big success by the
players who participated,
as well as Bellagio Director
of Poker Operations Doug
Dalton and his professional
Tournament Director Jack
McClelland. Based on this
year�s success, next year�s
event has already been scheduled
for Dec. 1-18 and will feature
a $10,000 buy-in televised
World Poker Tour qualifying
event, according to Dalton.
Dalton,
considered by the world
poker community to be one
of the most professional
poker operators in the business,
was very pleased with the
turnout for the schedule
of events, and expressed
great pleasure at being
able to secure a firm foothold
on this future tournament
time slot, based on this
year�s player turnout and
response.
�We�re
very happy with this first-time
effort, which has been made
possible by the players
themselves, as well as Tournament
Director Jack McClelland
and our poker room staff,�
Dalton explained. �We are
already preparing for our
next major event in April,
the Five Star World Poker
Classic. It will match the
champions of the championships
from the World Poker Tour,
plus our aggressive schedule
of events is expected to
again draw players from
around the world.�
��
Jim Sherwood
