Finance
Man Cashes Out!
After grabbing a big chip lead early on,
John Canawati dominated the final table
and breezed to a win in the sixth event
of Winnin’ o’ the Green 2004, $100 no-limit
hold’em. His most persistent nemesis was
Tony “Mailman” Tolentino. When they finally
got heads-up, Canawati led by 300k to
85k, and the event ended in a deal and
the first tournament win for Canawati,
a finance manager for a car dealership.
Final
table stakes were $500 antes and $2,000-$4,000
blinds, 17:21 left. The mailman started
as the big chip leader with 84k. Then,
on hand four, Canawati made a trap raise
of 20k with pocket aces. Tolentino went
for it, moving in for 82k with pocket
9s. The board came 7-6-4-Q-8, and suddenly
Canawati was way in front with about 125k.
Five
hands later, office manager Param Gill
moved in for his last 12k with pocket
4s. Dr. Frank Rite called with K-K, only
to see Gill flop a set. On the next hand,
blinds went to 3-6k with 1k antes. On
life support, Rite’s last thou was posted
in the small blind. Canawati gave him
“protection” by raising to 40k. Some protection.
He had Q-J to Rite’s Q-3 and pulled the
plug by flopping two pair.
On
hand 13, Michael Yoshino moved in under
the gun for 32k with J-10. Tolentino called
with Ad-3d and Anthony Tran called all
in for 4k with Qs-4s. The board came K-8-2-3-6.
Torentino took the main pot with his paired
trey, Yoshino took the side pot and Tran
took the bus.
A
few hands later, Canawati moved in with
9c-7c. A low-chipped Henry Kaptanjian
called with A-2 and cashed out eighth
when a 7 flopped. Gill, meanwhile, had
gone all in four times so far and was
still in action. On the 19th hand he moved
in again with pocket 8s and was called
by Yoshino with Js-6s. Yoshino was in
front with a Q-9-5-J board until a river
10 gave Gill a straight, leaving six players.
Gill did the honors again on the next
hand when Loren Moody Jr. moved in with
A-3 and Gill busted him when his pocket
7s held up.
On
hand 25, Canawati raised to 20k. “Pocket
aces?” asked Tolentino suspiciously. He
folded, but Gill called. The board came
K-Q-10 with one diamond. Canawati moved
in with Kd-8d. Gill called for about 35k
with Ks-9s, and it looked to survive again.
Then Canawati leaped out of his chair
when two running diamonds gave him a flush
as he busted Gill and increased his chip
lead to about 230k.
Blinds
became 5-10k with $1,500 antes. On the
third hand, Greg Hopkins tried a button
steal by moving in for 38k with the Doyle
Brunson hand, 10-2. Hopkins may have been
the best player at the table, but he’s
no Doyle Brunson. The mailman picked him
off by calling with A-9 and flopping a
9, leaving Hopkins with just 4,500. Two
hands later Hopkins, in the big blind,
was all in with 7-2 against writer David
Tuchman’s Q-J. He started to walk away
when the board showed A-5-3-K, but sat
down again when a river 7 saved him. Later,
Tuchman moved for 30k with J-7. “I’ve
got you covered and I’ve got nothing to
lose,” Tolentino said. He made a good
call with Q-10 and gave the writer a rejection
slip with queen-high.
“I
can hurt you now,” he warned Canawati,
with about 125k in chips to Canawati’s
210. Hopkins’ 50k lasted five hands. Canawati
moved in with A-Q, Hopkins called with
A-3. Hopkins led with a flop of 10-3-2,
but a jack and king then gave Canawati
a straight, and two hands later event
six ended in a deal.
BIOGRAPHY
John Canawati has been playing limit
hold’em poker five years, no-limit for
six months, and his only prior final table
was at Big Poker Oktober last year. He’s
played nine tournaments this year so far
and placed six times. He describes his
play as 60 percent aggressive, 40 percent
solid. He said his strategy at the final
table after getting the chip lead was
to be aggressive at the start, then let
the other players knock each out when
it got down to four handed.
Earlier,
he was down to $225 at the first break,
but managed to double up several times
with marginal hands, and from that point
on kept moving up until he got the lead
with the pocket aces. “I thought Hopkins
played very well, but I outdrew him,”
Canawati said, adding that he had hoped
to get heads up against him, because he
wanted the experience of playing against
the best.
Max Shapiro
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