Can
Hua, in All-Viet Finish, Wins
Grand Slam Poker Championship
The three finalists in the $2,500 no-limit
championship event of Hustler Casino's
Grand Slam of Poker were Can Hua, Scotty
Nguyen and Tony "The Tiger"
Ma. At that point the language became
"Vietnamese only," and, after
a chip-count chop, the intensity of the
contest lifted as the three pros joked
their way to the finale, playing only
for the trophy and title.
At that point, a rough count showed Hua
in the lead with about 375k, followed
by Nguyen with around 330k and Ma with
around 215k, and that's the order in which
they finished. This is Hua's biggest cash-out.
His biggest prior win was fifth place
at a World Poker Tour event at the Bike.
Action in this two-day event was halted
at 2 a.m. the first day. The 20 finalists
returned at 1 p.m. with Scotty Nguyen
the chip leader with $109,700. Phil Hellmuth,
once chip-rich, had a terrible time. Late
at night his pocket queens were beaten
by kings, then his A-K ran into kings,
and the next day he busted with A-K vs.
kings. He was seen talking to himself
for 45 minutes.
The Tiger had better luck. At the second
table he knocked out four players including
Hellmuth and Men the Master, and came
to the final table with a huge lead of
$299,000.
Final table stakes were $500 antes with
2-4k blinds, 52:41 remaining. For the
first 24 hands until dinner break there
was almost no action except for a perilously
short-chipped Chris Grigorian going all
in twice, surviving once with a set of
kings, the other time when he earned a
chop, A-Q versus Tuan Le's A-K, when two
pair hit the board.
Things loosened up after dinner. With
$1,000 antes and blinds of 3-6k, Nick
Kurzon busted out on the second hand when
he went all in with Ac-2c and lost to
Kirk Conrad's A-Q. Next, Grigorian went
all in a third time, but the Armenian
Express stayed on the tracks when his
Q-Q stood up against Ma's 10-10. Tuan
Le finished ninth. After he moved in for
19k with 5-5, Ma called with K-J and turned
a jack.
Ma, who had been holding steady at the
300k mark, suddenly had his stacks cut
nearly in half on two consecutive hands.
On hand 37, Ma dropped 99.5k to Hua when
he raised to 25k with pocket cowboys and
Hua moved in with pocket aces. On the
next hand, Ma raised to 20k with A-Q.
Richard Tatalovich moved in for 49k with
A-K and won when the board came 8-5-2-5-K.
The Armenian Express finally ran out of
steam on hand 40. He went all in for 35k
with K-Q and Hua busted him with pocket
queens. Two hands later, Dick Corpuz moved
in for 60k with pocket jacks. Hua saw
him with A-Q, and when the board came
Q-5-2-3-9, the field was down to six and
Hua had the lead with about $320,000.
Recovering, Ma added 78k to his stacks
when he knocked out Kirk Conrad in sixth
place. Conrad opened for 20k with K-Q
and Ma closed him out by moving him in
with pocket 10s and filling up when the
board came 2-2-J-10, The Tiger was now
back up to about 260k and began raising
aggressively and picking up more chips.
By the time limits increased to $1,000
antes with blinds of 4-8k, Ma had the
lead again with about 360k followed by
Hua, 250k; Tatalovich, 120k, Nguyen, 110k
and Wiener, 60k. A few hands later, after
Ma bet 40k into a flop of K-J-6, Hua came
over the top for 60k more, Ma folded and
Hua had climbed to 360k.
On hand 64, Wiener opened for 12k pre-flop,
then bet all in blind about 48k more with
A-J. Tatalovich called with Q-9 and finished
Mel off by flopping a queen.
Blinds were now 6-12k with $200 antes.
Tatalovich, card dead all night, finally
looked at his best hand so far: pocket
jacks. When Nguyen raised 25k, Rich moved
in for 164k. Nguyen, with A-Q, called,
just covering him with 165.5k, and flopped
a queen.
The three now made a chip-count deal and
played for the trophy. On hand 97, Ma
took a big hit when Hua slow-played a
set of deuces. With a board of 10-5-2-K,
Ma bet 20k, Hua hit it for 60 more, hauled
in a pot of over 100k and left Ma with
about 60k. A hand later Nguyen finished
him off when his Kd-Jd held up against
Ma's Jc-10c.
Hua, with an advantage of about 560-360k,
dueled with Nguyen for a dozen hands.
On hand 111, Scotty, getting tired, went
ahead and bet all in without looking.
When he looked, he had only a 6-2. Hua
called with K-5. The board came J-10-4-9-J,
and Hua was crowned the no-limit champion
of Grand Slam of Poker 2003.
Max Shapiro
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