ARMENIAN
EXPRESS BEATS 20-1
ODDS TO ROLL TO 7-STUD WIN
They
were ready to turn the lights out when
Jaime Perez got heads up with fellow pro
Chris "The Armenian Express" Grigorian.
Perez had 160,000 in chips while Grigorian
with 8,000, hadn't enough for one big
bet.
But
then the unbelievable happened. Grigorian
doubled up twice, caught a miracle river
jack for an inside straight, made kings-full,
got rolled up twice in a row, and in just
eight hands the Armenian Express had steamed
into the lead and then rolled on to an
amazing victory in the second event of
LAPC XIII, $500 7-Card Stud.
"It was good to return to Commerce and
have the home court advantage again,"
he said after just returning from an unproductive
trip to Tunica. The win brought him $32,760
and the traditional Remington trophy.
Grigorian, whooping and hollering his
way to victory, also credited his girlfriend,
watching from the sidelines, for bringing
him luck.
Grigorian's
numerous tournament wins have mainly been
in hold'em events, though he rang up some
stud wins several years back.
The
final table got underway at level 11 with
$200 antes, a $500 low-card bring-in and
$1,500-$3,000 limits, 8:30 remaining.
Herman Milgram, an industrial engineer
from Miami with wins at the Bellagio's
five-diamond tournament and in Costa Rica,
started with a big lead of 54,500 in chips.
On the first hand, he tangled with poker
player Minh Nguyen. Nguyen started with
buried queens, made two pair and committed
all his 12,400 chips, only to see Milgram
turn up rolled-up eights and leave him
in eighth place.
Right
after limits moved up to $2,000-$4,000,
with $300 antes and a $500 bring-in, Vegas
pro John Roberson, who started the final
table with the fewest chips, busted out
in seventh place. He raised all in with
pocket eights and couldn't beat Peter
Brownstein's split tens. Brownstein is
an insurance business retiree.
Hand
12 sparked a lot of conversation and conjecture.
Brownstein went up against Gioi Luong,
a salesman, and a 38k pot developed. On
seventh street, Brownstein showed A?-8?-9?-K?,while
Luong's open cards were J?-6?-10?-2?.
"I'm going to call," Luong said, looking
at Brownstein's likely flush. With that,
Brownstein, who had been betting and raising
with just aces, checked and then folded
when Luong bet. Luong later said he had
made his own flush on sixth street.
As
play continued, Grigorian, who hadn't
been catching cards, went all in for the
first time and won with pocket kings.
At that point, Milgram still led with
over 50k; Luong, Perez and Brownstein
were all in the 20k range, trailed by
Robert Goldfarb, who is in property management,
and Grigorian.
On
hand 50, with limits at 3-6k, Perez jumped
into the lead with about 80k when he made
a straight on the first five cards to
beat Milgram in a big pot. Four hands
later, Luong missed his heart draw against
Brownstein's aces and cashed out sixth.
As
limits jumped to 5-10k, with 1k antes
and a 2k bring-in, Perez continued to
hold a big lead with about 85k. Grigorian
was still struggling with 9k while the
others had between 20 and 30k. After dipping
down, Goldfarb went all in with split
jacks. Chasing him down with just (7-3)2,
Perez managed to make two pair and cut
the field to four. He now had about 113k,
or 2/3 of all the chips in play.
A
few hands after that he put away Brownstein,
once again starting with nothing and somehow
making sevens full. And just two hands
later, the streaking Perez claimed his
third straight victim. Milgram, the starting
chip leader, was now all in after raising
with (6-6)8 and getting re-raised by Perez,
who started with (J-J)5. The jacks held
up, and now the contest was heads-up.
Not
that is seemed like much of a contest
with his 20-1 chip lead over Grigorian.
But Chris stayed alive by winning the
first two hands, then went all in again
as he found himself up against Perez'
two pair while holding (K-Q)5-A-10-2.
"I need a jack," he cried. "Yes!" he exclaimed
when a jack obligingly hit the river for
a straight.
In
quick sequence came kings full, then rolled-up
sixes and rolled-up fives. "Ship it to
Armenia!" the increasingly excited Grigorian
yelled as his second set gained him the
lead with about 100-68k.
Another
12 hands went by, with Grigorian raising
relentlessly. On the 90th deal, Perez
was left periously short-chipped when
he folded showing 7-7-J-5 after Grigorian
bet out with a board of K-4-10-Q. "The
biggest bluff in the world," Grigorian
laughed. A hand later it was all over
when Grigorian raised with (98)K and Perez
re-raised all in with (A-K)10. This time
Grigorian made kings-up, and the Armenian
Express had sped to a memorable victory.
-- by Max Shapiro
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