BAGHCHEHSARAIE
BEATS PHAN
FOUR TIMES TO WIN NO-LIMIT
"I got lucky too many times," Sirous Baghchehsaraie
remarked after winning the third event
of LAPC XIII, $300 no-limit hold'em. Indeed
he did. John Phan arrived at the final
table with an enormous chip lead of $276,500,
twice as much as anyone else, and he used
them to cudgel his opponents with an unrelenting
succession of raises as he built his stacks
to nearly $600,000 at one point. The only
one he couldn't beat was Baghchehsaraie.
They had four big confrontations and Sirous
won all four of them, the last three times,
including the final hand, with draw-outs.
A
huge field of 678 players showed up for
the $200,000 guaranteed event. They made
a total of 1,111 rebuys and add-ons, generating
a prize pool of $536,700. Baghchehsaraie's
official share for his victory was $182,480,
a record cash-in for the local pro. His
biggest prior prize was $89,000 for a
second-place finish in a World Series
7-card stud event three years ago.
"John
is very aggressive, he said. "You just
have to play with him and hope to outdraw
him. You can't sit and wait."
Final
table action got underway with $500 antes
and blinds of $2,000-$4,000, 6:31 remaining.
There was only one flop and virtually
no action until the stakes rose to $1,000
antes and $3,000-$6,000 blinds. Then,
on hand number 10, Phan raised to $13,000
and Ernie Sebastian moved in for $23,000
more. Sebastian was a 2.8-1 favorite with
A-K versus K-10, but Phan rivered him
when the board came K-5-4-Q-10. Tenth
place paid $6,440. Wally Saikaly then
left and cashed in for $8,585 four hands
later. He moved in for $16,000 from the
small blind with A-2 and couldn't help
after Hassan Komoei called holding pocket
sevens.
Right
after limits went to $5,000-$10,000 with
$2,000 antes, Kristy Gazes faced a dilemma.
She was in the big blind with 10?-3? when
Kevin Song button-raised to $25,000. With
just $16,000 left, she drummed her hands
on the table in indecision, then finally
decided she had to go with her hand. Song
had J-8, neither player helped and Gazes
cashed out eighth for $10,735. To this
point, Phan, whose victories include a
win at Legends of Poker and two at this
year's World Poker Open, had been by far
the most aggressive player. Now he stepped
up the heat with three consecutive $30,000
raises which went unchallenged. The fourth
time he pushed in 30k, holding nearly
500k in chips, he hit his first roadblock.
Sirous moved in for $54,000, and his pocket
7s beat Phan's pocket 5s.
Marine
lance corporal Trung "Robert" Nguyen,
who started the final table with the second
chip lead, now heard taps play after he
bet his last $35,000 with pocket treys.
Sirous outran them by flopping a 10 to
his A-10, and Nguyen picked up $13,420
for seventh place.
Phan
then got lucky against Sergio Rodriguez,
who was playing only his second tournament.
After Phan raised to $29,000 and was called
by Kevin Song, Rodriguez moved in for
$21,000 more with pocket aces. Phan had
kings and flopped a set, then filled.
Rodriguez picked up $18,785 for fifth
place. Phan now had about 580,000 in chips.
Hassan Kamoei was next out. He moved in
for $40,000 with A-7, lost to Mo Fathipour's
pocket jacks and collected $24,150 for
fifth.
With
blinds now $8,000-$16,000, Phan still
led with $462,000, followed by Sirous
with $179,000; Song with $170,000 and
Fathipour with $86,000. Sirous hit Phan
a second time when he came over the top
of Phan's raise for $187,000 with A-J,
beating Phan's 9-9 when the board came
J-5-3-J-2. But Phan recovered by knocking
out Fathipour, who tried an all-in raise
of $55,000 from the button with just 4?-2?.
Phan called with A-8. It held up and Fathipour
cashed out for $32,200.
Three
hands later, hand number 50, Phan was
in the big blind with 9-5 when the flop
came Q-5-5. He made a small trap bet of
$16,000 with his trips and Song, holding
Q-7, raised to $36.000. A trey turned.
Phan bet $50,000, Song moved in for $121,000
and busted out when a river trey filled
Phan. The veteran pro took home $48,300
for third place.
Sirous
and Phan were now heads-up, and the match
lasted six hands. On the second hand,
everything turned around. Phan raised
to $60,000 holding A-Q. Sirous then moved
in for $376,000 with K?-4?. He missed
his flush after the flop came 10?-10?-5?,
but a king turned to give him the pot
and the chip lead with $756,000 to Phan's
$142,000.
The
two then agreed to a chip-count deal and
kept playing. Four hands later it was
over. Sirous moved in with K?-9?, once
again the underdog as Phan called for
his last $130,000 with A?-3?. The board
came 9-5-4-8-7, and the paired nine locked
up the win and the biggest payday ever
for Sirous Baghchehsaraie.
-- by Max Shapiro
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