Event
#9
Much like winter weather, if you don't
like the situation at a poker table, stick
around for awhile and things are bound
to change. Case in point: The final table
of the $1,000 buy-in Limit Texas Hold'em
event included no less than seven chip
lead changes. Five of the nine finalists
had the chip lead at one point. But after
a five-hour marathon it was Amir Vahedi,
a California-based poker professional,
who stormed back from near elimination
to win all the chips and capture his first
victory at the 2003 World Poker Open.
Things
started off slowly. It took 45 minutes
for the first player to be eliminated.
That moment came when Mike Keohan was
forced to go all-in with A-4. Desperately
low on chips, Keohan wasn't too pleased
when he saw he was up against Paul Dahl's
A-J. Keohan was unable to catch a life
saving 4, and was knocked out of the tournament
in 9th place. Keohan, a computer programmer
from Illinois, received $3,508.
On
the next hand, Brian Green made his last
stand with 8-8. With limits up to $2K-$4K,
he raised pre-flop with the pocket pair
and was called almost immediately by Fred
Vogt with a bombshell -- A-A. An 8 failed
to save Vogt from extinction, which meant
an 8th place finish. Vogt, who recently
won the Pot-Limit Hold'em event at the
Bellagio in Las Vegas, collected $4,384.
The
final table was an absolute disaster for
the two early chip leaders. Vinny Vinh
and John Bonetti came in with the largest
stacks, but were unable to use their chip
advantage to seize control of the tournament.
Things went particularly bad in the early
rounds for Vinh, who failed to win a pot
of any significance during his 90 minutes
in the finale. Vinh's most crippling defeat
came when chattering Chad Ducharme dragged
a monster pot with trip 10s, leaving Vinh
with only $11K in chips. Then, Ducharme
(with A-K) took a big pot from Bonetti
(with A-J). Both players hit an ace on
the flop and got into a raising war. But
the pot was ultimately awarded to Ducharme
with the better kicker. In two key hands,
Ducharme had seized the chip lead -- which
he would hold for the next two hours.
Next,
Paul Dahl won a big pot from Brooklyn-born
Bonetti when his pocket kings snapped
off Bonetti's pocket queens. Amazingly,
Bonetti and Vinh were now lowest in chips
at the table, while two of the lowest
stacks coming in, Dahl and Ducharme, had
the biggest stacks.
Bonetti
rallied briefly and caught his biggest
hand of the night against Scott Aigner.
Talk about a bad beat; Bonetti was dealt
A-2 of diamonds versus Aigner's K-K. By
the turn, Bonetti was all-in. He stood
up as the board showed 2-3-10-5. But a
miracle ace fell on the river, saving
Bonetti, who took down the big pot with
two-pair. "What do you think I am, a fisherman?"
Bonetti snapped to the stunned crowd.
There
would be no miracles for Vinny Vinh. Several
bad breaks had already dusted off Vinh's
stack, and he took an even worse beat
on his final hand of the night when he
was dealt A-A. Incredibly, Vahedi was
in and flopped a flush, which blew up
the pocket rockets. Vinh, from Houston,
collected $5,481 for 7th place.
Fred
Vogt was the next to go. Vogt managed
to move up the money ladder into 6th place.
He went out when he was dealt A-Q versus
Bonetti's A-10. Vogt clearly had the best
of it -- at least until the flop. When
a 10 fell, that essentially put Vogt out
of the tournament. Vogt, a CPA who has
attended the World Poker Open all four
years, won $7,673.
A
short time later, Ducharme increased his
chip lead when his 6-6 held up against
Scott Aigner's A-K. Aigner failed to catch
at least a pair, which meant a 5th place
finish. Aigner, a physician, was the winner
of the Seven-Card Stud Eight or Better
event at the 2001 World Poker Open. He
collected $9,865.
Ducharme,
the talkative Cajun from Lousiana, was
on a roll. Next, he knocked out living
poker legend, John Bonetti. Chad was dealt
A-10 and was delighted to see the final
board show A-10-8-6-3, good for top two
pair. Bonetti quietly backed away from
the final table, shook hands with his
three opponents, and waved to the clapping
crowd. The great poker champion, and winner
of numerous major events over the last
two decades, finished in 4th place and
received $13,153.
The
three finalists battled across the green
felt for over 90 minutes. At one point,
things became heated. Ducharme talked
constantly at the final table, his chatter
fueled by a ceaseless stream of refreshments
from the bar nearby. Staring directly
at Vahedi, who was chomping on his trademark
cigar, Ducharme snapped, "I'm going to
take every chip you got, and then I'm
going to take away your cigar!"
Ducharme's warning almost came true at
one point. He nearly destroyed Vahedi
when the two players went back and forth
with a series of raises and re-raises,
when the final board showed K-3-2-5-A.
Vadedi (with A-4) lost the huge pot to
Ducharme (with 6-4), with the higher straight.
Next,
Paul Dahl was on the losing end of a duel
when Ducharme made a straight with 6-7.
Dahl (with K-J) felt confident enough
to bet when he saw the final board, K-5-8-9-K.
But the trip kings were no good. Ducharme
raised and won the money. At that point,
it looked like Ducharme might run away
with the tournament. Then, the weather
changed.
Vahedi
was down to $14K and somehow survived
three all-ins. He doubled up on successive
hands and gradually wore down Ducharme's
stack with several small pots that added
up to a significant momentum shift at
the final table.
Unfortunately,
Paul Dahl ran card-cold at the worst possible
moment. He took a devastating beat when
the limits increased to $6K-$12K. Dahl
moved all-in with A-10, after the flop
came A-Q-2. Vahedi called with Q-8, and
then spiked an 8 on the turn, for two
pair. Dahl, a retired real estate broker
from southern Washington, took home $20,826
for 3rd place.
That
hand gave Vahedi a 4-1 chip lead, which
he would never relinquish. But it wasn't
easy. A late scare came when Vahedi flopped
a queen-high diamond flush. Initially,
it looked as if this might be the final
hand of the tournament, particularly after
Ducharme went back and forth with several
raises. Amazingly, Ducharme had also flopped
a diamond flush. But his was better --
a king-high. The big pot gave Ducharme
one last ray of hope.
But
that hope was dashed by a bolt of lightning
when Vahedi called down a pure stone-cold
bluff by Ducharme, scooping a $50K pot.
Finally, the last hand of the tournament
came when Vahedi was dealt 9-7 versus
Ducharme's A-Q. When the final board showed
K-5-6-8-Q, Vahedi had the nut straight
and won his first gold bracelet at the
World Poker Open.
Amir
Vahedi, who left his native Iran twenty
years ago and lived previously in Pakistan,
England, and France before coming to the
United States in 1983, has been a dedicated
tournament player for many years. In spite
of Ducharme's bold prediction, he got
to keep $81,112. And, he got to keep his
cigar.
-- by Nolan Dalla
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