Jeffrey Louie, a 21-year-old math major
who works as a roofing salesman and estimator,
won the final event of Hustler Casino's
Grand Slam of Poker, $200 no-limit hold'em.
"Being a math major helped me in
counting chips," he joked. Louie,
who plays tournaments more than side games,
has won some small "crap-shoot"
events, but this is his first major win.
The lead rotated among the three finalists
with the chips, in line with one of Mike
Caro's theories, moving to the left. Mike
Downing, a Vegas pro with titles in pot-limit
Omaha at the British Open and pot-limit
hold'em at the World Poker Open, at first
held a big lead. Then Van Pham, a local
pro, took over. But at the end, when the
three made a deal, Louie had about a 2-1
lead over both players.
As the final event of Grand Slam of Poker
2003 wound down, tournament director Jim
Miller and tournament coordinator Warren
Karp expressed their gratitude to all
the players who supported them.
"We hope we gave you a good time
and a good play for your money, and we
look forward to seeing you all on the
tournament trail," they said.
Meanwhile, Chris "The Armenian Express"
Grigorian, winner of three limit hold'em
events, took down the all-around points
championship and first-place prize of
$10,000. Gus Mintzias won the super satellite
race and earned $5,000 for his first-place
finish, and Randy Holland, with the best
performance in the four Grand Slam events,
was awarded $5,000.
The final table started with $500 antes
and blinds of $1,500-$3,000, six minutes
left. On the second hand, Tony Nguyen
raised 20k with pocket jacks. Joon Lee
called for his last 2k with K-Q and finished
10th when rags came. With $2,500-$5,000
blinds and $1,000 antes, Downing made
it 30k to go with Qd-3d. Antranik Ulker
added $500 more with A-K and flopped a
straight. But two running diamonds gave
Downing a straight and now two were gone.
Tony Nguyen departed on hand 12. He moved
in on the button for 23k with A-3. Louie
called all in for 28k with A-K, and then
Downing called with K-Q. A board of Q-J-7-10-Q
gave Louie a straight and he tripled up
as Nguyen cashed in.
Hand 27 also produced three-way action
with one casualty. Blinds were now 4-8k
with $1,500 antes. First Pham moved in
with pocket fives. Bicycle Casino floorman
Gus Ayasai called all in with A-Q, and
Eddie Yi, the starting chip leader, gladly
joined the fray with pocket aces. Pham
made a full house on the river when the
board came 4-2-2-10-5, and the popular
floorman was floored.
One hand later, Downing flopped an ace
to his A-Q, bet 30k and was called by
Yi. Slow-playing, Downing checked the
turn. Taking the bait, Yi bet his last
20k on the river with a paired king and
ended up fifth. Downing now held a sizeable
lead of about 220k.
Kirk Conrad, making his third Grand Slam
final table, along with numerous other
final tables this year, bowed out fifth.
He had Ac-Kc and raised all in for $35,500.
Downing, holding Ad-Jd, called. A board
of 7-8-6-10-9 gave them both a straight,
but Downing's was higher.
Ex-dealer Paul Lui cashed out fourth a
few hands later. Pham raised 30k and Lui
added $9,500 more to go all in. Lui had
Ac-6c to Pham's K-J, but Pham outran him
when the flop came J-8-8. No ace came
to save him, and Lui's departure left
four remaining players.
At this point, Pham was closing in with
about 220k to Downing's 238k, while Louie
trailed with 52k. Pham then picked up
a couple of pots with all-in raises, and
with 6-12k blinds and $2,000 antes, he
now led with about 280k.
An all-in Louie later doubled up against
Pham when his K-J held up against Pham's
9-7 suited. He began moving up, and by
the time the blinds had gone to $6,000-$12,000,
with $2,000 antes, he had the lead with
240k to 155k for Pham and 115k for Downing.
Then, after calling a 40k raise by Louie,
Downing faced a bet of $100,000 with a
board of 10-5-4 and two spades. After
long hesitation and indecision, he finally
folded, with less than 80k remaining.
But on the next hand
he doubled up and was back in the running
again. Louie moved him in holding K-4,
and Downing called with A-10 of diamonds.
His hand held up when the board came J-J-10-Q-5,
and Downing now had about $180,000.
A
chip count showed that Louie now had a
lead of about 2-1 over both players. After
some brief discussion, the three agreed
to deal and the final event of Grand Slam
2003 was over. Louie took the title and
trophy, while Pham, with just a few more
chips than Downing, came second.
Max Shapiro
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