Armenian
Express at Full Throttle
Wins 3rd Event, Takes Point Lead
Chris Grigorian continued his domination
of the Hustler Casino's Grand Slam of
Poker as he made his fourth final table,
scored his third win and roared into first
place in the all-around points race.
It was a thrilling, come-from behind victory
for the Armenian Express. On hand 55 he
was all in. Six hands later he was heads-up
with 28-year-old Navid Nabizadeh, trailing
him by about $30,000 to $85,000. He declined
to make a deal at that point because he
wanted the points. Three hands later he
had just about pulled even and two hands
after that he had a slight advantage and
agreed to an even chop along with the
all-important 50 points.
Meanwhile, tournament director Jim Miller
announced that the final two Grand Slam
events would be "Special Appreciation
Tournaments" with all players in the $25,000
guaranteed $125 limit hold'em event on
July 30 and the $40,000 guaranteed $225
no-limit event on July 31 to be given
$2,000 in starting chips.
Players at the final table started play
with blinds of $500 and $1,000. Entertainment
was provided by the ebullient David Levi,
a one-man sound effects system who sang,
whistled, popped gum as loud as mortar
shells and periodically shouted, "We're
playing for THOUSANDS of dollars!".
Hand eight was a battle of the short stacks.
David Scherer was all in for $500 with
pocket kings against Vegen Sarkissian
who called from the small blind with Js-4s
with $500 left. Fourth street showed As-9c-8s-Ks,
giving Sarkissian a flush to Scherer's
set. A river ace filled and rescued Scherer.
Hand 16 brought more drama. Sarkissian
was under the gun and put in his last
chip with As-10s. Christy Li called for
$700 with jacks. Then Grigorian gave them
some protection by raising from the button
with pocket queens. He flopped a set,
filled on the turn and both all-in players
were drawing dead.
Scherer, who started with only $3,000,
lasted until hand 27, raising all in from
middle position with Qs-7s. The pot was
re-raised by Levi and capped by Gene Resnick
who had A-K. He flopped a king and that
took care of Scherer. Two hands later
blinds went up and Vinny Landrum went
out. He was trapped in the small blind
with 8-5 and made nothing while Resnick,
with K-J, made two pair.
Richard Tatalovich, making his third final
table, started as chip leader, but didn't
have much luck after that. He was hurt
badly after Resnick hit on him two hands
in a row. On hand 41 Tatalovich gave it
up when the board showed K-J-10-Q and
Resnick bet, and on the next hand he lost
when Resnick flopped aces-up and took
the chip lead with about 55k. Two hands
later Tatalovich folded on the turn against
Randy Pham and was down to $900. He survived
one hand, but then busted out with Ac-6c
against Nabizadeh, who had K-8 and turned
an eight.
Soon after, with blinds of 2-4k, Levi
went south. He was in big trouble with
A-6 against Nabizadeh's A-K. The board
came A-8-2-Q-8, and as David left to pick
up his fifth-place prize money, the table
suddenly got a lot quieter. By now Nabizadeh
had taken the chip lead with about 70k.
Grigorian got a break on hand 43. The
board was Q-J-2. Nabizadeh bet holding
A-5 and Chris called with 10-9, hoping
to hit his open-ended straight draw. He
missed, but settled for a fourth street
10.
A rough count a few hands later showed
Nabizadeh still in the lead with about
50k. Resnick had around 35k and Grigorian
and Pham each had about 15k. Pham later
went all in with three-way action and
tripled up when he flopped a set of fives.
Then Chris went all in for the second
time on hand 55 and won when his A-K held
up against Navid's Q-J.
On the 58th hand, blinds went up a notch
to 3-6k, and Pham immediately went broke.
In the big blind with J-8, he had top
pair on a flop of 8-5-4 and went all in
when another four turned. But Nabizadeh,
with Q-4, had trips and now three were
left.
The approximate count was now Nabizadeh,
30k; Resnick, 39; Grigorian 16k. A couple
of hands later, Nabizadeh, with A-7, flopped
an ace to beat Resnick and leave him with
about $11,000. One hand later Resnick
had Kd-2d and called when Grigorian raised
with A-10s. On a flop of Jc, 9d-8d, Resnick
bet his flush draw, Grigorian raised with
his open-end straight draw and Resnick
put in his last $2,500. An offsuit ace
and trey came and the match was heads-up
with Nabizadeh holding nearly a 3-1 lead.
The turning point came when Grigorian
check-raised with a board of Q-J-5-5 and
Nabizadeh three-bet it. Both players had
a queen, but Grigorian had a bigger kicker.
Just about even now, Grigorian took the
lead when Nabizadeh folded two hands later
with four spades on board. They chopped,
and Chris celebrated win number three.
Max Shapiro
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