Side
Bet Drives Davis' Win!
After winning the 12th event of Winnin'
o' the Green, no-limit hold'em, Raymond
Davis dedicated his victory to Bruce Lee.
He bet Lee $100, at 20-1 odds, that he'd
win one of the four remaining events,
and the side bet gave him additional incentive.
To get there, Davis had to climb a mountain.
He arrived at the final table with only
$4,500 after his set of 9s was crushed
by a straight flush. Surviving a couple
of all-in encounters, he slowly built
his stacks, but still trailed badly until
he eliminated two players in one hand
to get heads-up with Tony Grand. A 3-2
dog, Raymond then got all the chips in
six hands collecting an official $23,965.
Second paid $11,500.
Nine players made the final table after
two were knocked out in one hand. Grand
raised with A-K, Steve Shkolnik called
all in with A-J, and Debbie Landon added
her last $400 with 5s, 4s. Neither all-in
player could improve and both collected
$1,115.
Blinds at the final table were $600-$1,200
with $200 antes, 29 minutes remaining.
On hand 7, Davis doubled up when he moved
in for $4,300 with pocket queens and beat
a player named "Deuce of spades." The
Deuce got turned loose on hand 18. With
antes of $300 and blinds of $1,000-$2,000,
he raised all in for $5,300 with Q-10.
Davis called blind, saying, "If I looked
I might have to throw my hand away." Davis
turned up J-9, winning when the board
came K-J-6-5-2. Deucey collected $1,270.
Frank Schram, who is in insurance sales,
cashed in his policy for $1,410 on hand
21. He moved in for $4,300 with Kc, 8c.
Grand called and won with A-Q.
Mario Esquerra, meanwhile, who started
with a sub-par $10,700, was climbing the
ladder with a series of bullying all-in
moves. He met disaster on his fourth move,
though, when Bijan Ashkan called his A-3
with pocket kings, cutting Mario's stacks
from about $16,000 to $4,000. "Super Mario"
lasted two more hands, but still finished
higher than Chris Psillas. On hand 40,
Arash Ghaneian, holding 10h, 6h, tried
a steal with an all-in button raise. A
short-chipped Chris called with A-10.
A 7-3 favorite, Chris lost and cashed
in for $1,710 when a 6 turned.
On the next hand, Esquerra, with pocket
3s, departed when Ghaneian, with K-J,
made two pair. Mario wasn't too unhappy,
though, because his sixth place finish,
in addition to paying $2,300, vaulted
him into a 28-point lead in the all-around
points race.
With $2,000-$4,000 blinds, Grand and Ghaneian
were now co-leaders with 59k and 57k respectively.
Arash then took the lead when he took
out his third straight victim. Bijan,
in the big blind, was all in with 10-5.
Arash had J-3 of diamonds and hit a flush.
Fifth place paid $2,845.
After
the three finalists made a deal for most
of the prize money, the action got looser
and wilder. On hand 50, Tony raised with
pocket 8s and Arash moved in with A-Q.
The board changed nothing, and Arash was
left with about $8,000.
Hand 65 was the most dramatic. Before
the flop, Ghaneian was all in with Q-9
of clubs, and so was Dell with K-Q of
diamonds. Davis held pocket 8s. Dell took
the lead on a flop of A-K-7 and caught
a third king on the turn. But a river
8 gave Davis a full house. Dell cashed
out fourth for $3,785 and Ghaneian got
$5,815 for third.
Heads-up, Grand, a retired businessman
whose many enterprises included ownership
of an amusement park in New Jersey, led
120k to 80k. Raymond gradually pulled
ahead. On the final hand, Tony raised
with 8-8, Raymond moved him in with 10-10,
and it was all over when the board showed
A-7-3-2Q.
BIOGRAPHY
Raymond Davis is a full-time player
from the Bicycle Casino's home city of
Bell Gardens. He divides his time between
tournaments and side games and is a familiar
figure at the Bike's top section. So far
this year he's made five final tables
and won four major tournaments. All his
prior wins were at the Hustler Casino,
his most recent win being a limit hold'em
event at the Hustler's Poker Challenge
Cup. He also finished seventh at Commerce
Casino's Los Angeles Poker Classic's million-dollar
event last year, cashing in for $38,000.
Tonight, Raymond said, he never expected
to win and just tried to move up a few
notches. Normally an aggressive player,
he changed his strategy to suit his depleted
chip position. Instead, he said, he tried
to just stay out of the way and allow
the other players to bust each other.
Max Shapiro
|
