FULL
HOUSE IS KEY TO LOCAL PRO'S
POT-LIMIT HOLD'EM WIN
Armond
Ananian, a $20-$40 hold'em side-game pro
who plays tournaments only occasionally,
took down the eighth event in the Hustler
Casino's Poker Challenge Cup, $300 pot-limit
hold'em. For much of the final table,
Brian "Bear" McCann had been clawing the
players as he amassed a big chip lead.
Then, in a dramatic turnaround, Ananian
beat McCann's flush with a full house
to take over the lead and then hang onto
it until the end.
This
is the first major tournament win for
the Iranian-born Ananian who now lives
in Glendale and has been playing professionally
for 15 years.
The final table was set after Vinnie Landrum
finished 11th. He was all in with K-10
and lost to Mike Carson's unimproved A-Q.
Blinds at the final table began at $300-$600
with 26:04 left. Starting with a below-average
$8,000, Ananian was all in on the second
hand against McCann. The Bear, who arrived
in a virtual tie for the chip lead, had
paired his king, but A.A. had A-A and
was on his way. For his part, McCann recovered
two hands later when his K-K held up against
software trainer George Kraynak's A-Q.
John Inashima, making his third final
table to date, had been playing his usual
conservative game and was down to $700.
On hand 19 he finally decided to go with
K-J and raised $100 more. Thor Hansen,
Kraynak and McCann all called. The flop
of K-9-4 was checked, but then Kraynak
bet $1,700 when a 6 turned. This violation
of the unwritten rule of "Let's check
down the all-in player" annoyed Hansen,
but he folded, along with McCann. George
had 8-7 for an open-end straight draw
and made it when a 10 hit. Only nine places
were paid and Inashima came away empty-handed.
Two hands later, Mike Carson, holder of
a World Series bracelet in pot-limit hold'em,
had raised $1,600 before the flop, then
bet $3,500 when the board showed Q-J-6,
only to have Ananian raise and move him
all in. Carson had K-10 for an open-end
straight while Ananian had A-Q. His paired
lady won the pot and Carson picked up
$592 for ninth. Immediately after, with
blinds at $500-$1,000, Robert Betts, a
full-time player from Albuquerque, called
all in with a suited A-4 after McCann
raised with pocket 10s. Betts couldn't
hit anything and cashed out for $750.
Vince Burgio, another bracelet holder,
had been complaining about bad beats in
earlier Challenge Cup events. This time
he must have known something, because
after he called a raise from the big blind
and went all in, he turned up 9-7 against
A-3 suited and said, "I like this hand."
He liked it even better after two more
9s flopped to keep him in action. Instead,
it was Thor Hansen, the two-braclet pro
who won the Omaha/8 event earlier, who
was next out. When Kraynak raised, Thor
pondered and asked if he could beat two
8s. When Kraynak said he could, Thor called.
Both men were lying. Hanson had two jacks
and Kraynak had two 7s. But then Kraynak
showed he could beat 8s, because he flopped
a set. Thor took home $1,050 for seventh.
Burgio, meanwhile, had been building up
his short stack with aggressive raising.
Then he went against McCann, re-raising
all in for $10,000. He had A-10 and lost
to the Bear's A-Q. Vince earned $1,350
for his sixth place finish and for once
had no bad beat to complain about.
The Bear now began to show his teeth.
He four-bet a pot, forcing Mack Lee to
fold, then showed two aces. Raising and
taking blinds, he built his stacks up
to about $40,000, which was 40 percent
of the chips in play. On hand 51, with
blinds at $800 and $1,600, Lee moved in
for $5,600 with Q-10 suited. The Bear
picked him off by calling with A-8 and
flopping an ace.
As
Lee cashed out for $1,650, McCann stacked
up nearly $50K in chips. But there was
a reversal of fortune six hands later.
McCann had made it $4,200 to go with A-Q
and Ananian called. A board of A-8-K-K-2
with four diamonds gave McCann the number
two flush, but Ananian, with pocket 8s,
was full. He made a small trap bet of
$2,000 and McCann came over the top for
10K more. Perhaps fearing the two kings,
Ananian just called, but the pot was big
enough to make him the new leader with
about $50,000.
As
play continued, Pirrone found himself
left with just $1,400 when his K-Q lost
to Kraynak's A-10. Two hands later he
had to post it in the big blind with just
6-3. McCann and Ananian called and checked
the pot down. Ananian, with Q-5, won with
a paired 5, and Pirrone departed in fourth
place with $2,100.
On hand 90, McCann, who had continued
to lose chunks from his once-massive stacks,
finally played his last hand against Ananian.
He had jacks, Armond had A-K of clubs.
The Bear raised, Ananian re-raised and
McCann moved in for $12,000 total. An
ace flopped, Brian collected his $3,600
for finishing third and it was now a heads-up
match.
Or, to be more accurate, a mismatch, because
Ananian enjoyed something like an 11-1
lead. For about 20 hands the two finalists
played cautiously, with Ananian never
giving him a chance to double up. Finally,
Kraynak raised to $6,000 with Q-5 and
Ananian decided to look him up with 7-6.
When a Q-7-2 flopped, George bet all in
for $6,400 with his paired queen and Armond
called with his paired 7. He then made
a second pair when a 6 hit the river,
and event number eight was in the books.
Max Shapiro
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