Bruce
Lee Wins a Quickie!
It wasn’t as fast as the night before,
which lasted all of five hands and ended
in a nine-way chip-count deal. But tonight’s
$100 shootout event wasn’t exactly a marathon
either, lasting only 40 minutes before
coming to an abrupt halt. In a shootout,
normally the last man standing becomes
the winner. Tonight, there were seven
men still standing at the conclusion,
but Bruce Lee had by far the most chip
ammunition after knocking out two players
in the final hand. A seven-way chip-count
deal was proposed and agreed to, and Lee,
a side game pro, was declared the undisputed
champion in event number four of Winnin’
o’ the Green 2004.
This
event was structured as limit hold’em
until the 280 entrants got down to 10,
at which time the game reverted to no-limit.
When the final table got underway, blinds
were $100-$200, and there were22 minutes
left.
In
early action, Rusty Bagaygay, Duoc Nguyen
and Isaac Gonzales all moved all in, without
attracting any customers. Finally, an
all-in Parviz Dardashty, a businessman
who started in a tie with Lee for the
fewest chips, was all in with 9-8 against
Eric Arreca’s A-7 on hand number 12. The
board came 10-9-8-3-J, and the flopped
8 was enough to keep Dardashty in action.
Three
hands later, Kevin Goodling, a Costa Mesa
contractor, was on the button with pocket
6s. He raised, and Nguyen went all in
with pocket jacks. A river jack gave Nguyen
a set, and Goodling was left with just
$125.
On
the next hand, blinds remained the same,
but $25 antes were instituted. On the
first hand, Isaac Gonzales, who is in
the restaurant business, went all in with
no callers. On the next hand Goodling
committed his last $75 with pocket 9s.
Bagaygay was waiting for him with pocket
aces. The board came 5-4-3-8-Q, and Goodling
was first to say goodnight, cashing in
for $350 for 10th place.
On
the next hand, Bagaygay bet $500 into
a flop of 6-4-2. “All in,” Lee said quietly.
“What
did you say?” Bagaygay asked, pretending
he didn’t hear.
“ALL
IN,” Lee announced more firmly. This time
Rusty got the message and folded.
Two
deals later came the 26th hand, which
was to be the final one. Chris Grigorian
has had several tournament wins, but what
made him happiest was finishing second
in two World Series events last year.
He wasn’t getting any hands at the final
table, so when he finally picked up A-J,
it looked big to him and he moved in.
Eric Arreca, an aspiring young pro from
Baldwin Park with wins at Hollywood Park’s
Sport of Kings, the San Francisco Open
and at the Bike’s Ho Ho Hold’em, hadn’t
been able to play any hands at the final
table. Now he looked at pocket jacks,
and called with his remaining chips, about
$850. Lee, in the big blind, had an easy
call with pocket kings. A board of Q-9-2-2-9
didn’t change anything, and two players
were suddenly gone. Grigorian, with more
chips, cashed out eighth for $420 while
Arreca finished ninth and collected $350.
A
chip-count deal was now suggested, and
the seven players left all said “aye”
after calculations were made and dollar
amounts were announced. Lee, who lives
in Downey, had exactly 10,000 in chips
and was the winner. First place paid an
official $10,350. Behind him with 3,900
was Diamond Bar resident Bagaygay, whose
official payout was $5,110. The other
five were Nguyen, of Bell Gardens, 3,300
in chips, $2,470; Gonzales, of El Monte,
2,750 and $1,540; Jun Parado, Hacienda
Heights, 2,250 and $1,260; Tipton Schoolhouse,
a pro from South Pasadena, 1,725 and $980;
and Dardashty, Los Angeles, 875 and $700.
BIOGRAPHY
Bruce Lee has been playing poker professionally
since the 1980s. He is mainly a live action
player, preferring mixed games from $40-$80
to $150-$300. This is only his second
tournament this year. He hasn’t played
many overall, but once won two Omaha tournaments
in two consecutive years, including one
at Winnin’ o’ the Green. He also has a
second in no-limit hold’em.
Lee
said he was a solid player a long time
ago, but gradually came to realize that
he had to be more aggressive in tournaments,
and changed his style. Tonight he said
he was never in trouble. “Anybody could
have won if they got the cards I got,”
he explained. A big hand for him came
at the second table when he picked up
two queens against Eric Arreca. After
tonight’s win, Lee said he might be stepping
up his tournament participation.
Max Shapiro
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