AFGHANISTAN
How
appropriate is it that the World Series
of Poker should have its first event champion
from Afghanistan in the year following
9/11?
There
were 92 entrants in the $5,000 Buy-In,
Stud for a total prize pool of $432,400.
One table was paid, a total of 8 players.
The Final Table was setup Thursday night
when two players went out on the same
hand tied for the non-paying 9th spot.
At one table, Thor Hansen made a King
high flush to lessen Peter Moore. On the
other table, Men Nguyen made Kings up
to flatten Ken Flaton. That allowed us
to be charmed again the next afternoon
by the adorable Cyndy Violette, if only
for a few minutes.
THE
FINAL TABLE:
90 mins left of 90
The ante was $400, bring-in $1,000
Playing $3,000/$6,000
Player
Hometown Chip
Count
Seat
1 Mel Judah London UK $ 48,400
Seat 2 Morad Qushqur Hamburg, Germany
$147,700
Seat 3 Cyndy Violette Abescon NJ $ 7,900
Seat 4 Men 'The Master' Nguyen Bell Gardens
CA $ 73,600
Seat 5 Phil Goatz Las Vegas NV $ 86,200
Seat 6 Randall Skaggs Las Vegas NV $ 24,800
Seat 7 Thor Hansen Oslo, Norway $ 38,900
Seat 8 Steve Banks Santa Clarita CA $
32,600
It's not often, with players of this caliber,
that one of them would have nearly a third
of the chips starting the Final Table.
Who does this guy think he is, Phil Ivey?
Actually,
the success of Morad Qushqur in poker
is a function of his success in life.
Like a lot of wealthy businessmen, Morad
plays for a change of pace from his tension-filled
business. You can believe Morad's wife
Margaret when she says, "Most people come
here (the WSOP) to make money, he only
wants to have fun. He loves to play the
game." For Qushqur the $5,000 entry fee
is like an unlimited-ride ticket to an
amusement park. He gets to play for 23
hours for one price. From the get-go,
it was obvious that Morad's idea of fun
is to dominate a poker table. The only
question was who would finish second.
For
Cyndy Violette the only question was whether
she would win the only hand she'd get
to play. And the answer was no. The eternally
youthful Violette couldn't wait forever
at a $400 ante plus an occasional $1,000
bring-in. Cyndy found a buried pair of
7's and went for it. To Morad Qushqur,
Cyndy's raise and bets were meaningless
to his stack. Morad called Cyndy's all-in
with no pair and spiked an 8 on the river
for an overpair. This group got a whole
lot less pretty when Violette shrank in
8th.
At
every Final Table, it seems, there is
one player who is living through a nightmare.
Today that player was Phil Goatz. How
could an excellent player like Phil not
be able to win a last longer bet with
another player at the table who started
with less than a third his chips? Easy!
You repeatedly get dealt quality starting
hands, then you add a few delicious draws
on 4th and 5th Sts. Finally, you serve
up absolutely nothing on 6th St and the
river. Before you know it, $86,200 has
disappeared and you are on the rail in
7th place. From the very first hand, Phil
Goatz was the paymaster to the table,
he had to pay everyone off. Steve Banks
and Randall Skaggs won their all-in hands
against Phil. Goatz made Kings against
Banks' Aces. He can't call Men Nguyen
twice on the river. Perhaps gratefully,
the nightmare ended quickly. Within the
first hour Phil Goatz was broke. All-in
against Morad Qushqur, Phil saw his last
draw fail and Morad catch a third King.
It's
not comprehensible why Randall Skaggs
has so few WSOP cashes. There must be
some database error. He's a terrific tournament
player. Under pressure from the beginning
with so few chips, Skaggs fought bravely
but got a tough beat on his all-in hand.
Randall started with trip 10's on 4th
St. and made a King high straight. Either
of these two hands should have been enough
to win, but Skaggs didn't have enough
chips to get Steve Banks off a flush draw
that got there on the river. Randall,
in 6th, isn't through with this WSOP.
Even before the Final Table, Mel Judah
was aggravated. Mel spent much of the
preceding day at the same table as Men
'The Master' Nguyen. Many of the psychological
games Nguyen likes to play in a tournament,
Judah would be eager to tell you are 'out
of line.' Now at the Final Table together,
Mel was still steaming. Of course, it's
'The Master' who puts Judah out in 5th.
Men was catching the kitchen sink at the
time and had a 10 high straight on 5th
St. Mel was all-in with three Aces and
couldn't fill. Don't invite these guys
to the same party.
Another
player with a kitchen sink in his portfolio
was Steve Banks. Starting 6th in chips,
Banks looked like just another also-ran
to Qushqur and Nguyen, but huge cards
kept coming. How about this hand! With
the antes and bring-in elevated, Thor
Hansen had to make a move. He picked a
good hand and went for it, making an Ace
high straight. Steve Banks was performing
magic at the time, however, and wasn't
content with a full house. His trip 4's
could only look good in quads. Two Hansens
have already won bracelets so far this
year. Thor is one of them, but ONLY 4th
in this event. Poor Thor, hate to see
a Norse god struggling.
Ever
the manipulator, Men Nguyen tried a beauty
this time. The Master was third in chips
behind Qushqur and Banks, with less than
half of Morad's. "How about a save of
$100,000 each and we play for the rest,"
Men suggested seriously. Morad's English
isn't too good, but his Russia-born wife
Margaret's is. Sitting right behind Morad,
it was Margaret who said 'Nyet' to this
deal. Nguyen, who had been so hot early,
now was just as cold. The killer hand
for Men was when he made Aces up on Sixth
St. Most players go broke on this hand,
but they don't call him The Master for
nothing. Men was able to lay the hand
down. Morad Qushqur showed Nguyen rolled
up 7's.
It
was getting ridiculous for The Master.
Short-stacked now and three-handed, Men
was getting every low card bring-in. Nguyen
was giving the dealers looks that could
maim if not kill, when the funniest incident
of the Final Table occurred. Mark, a new
dealer, was brought in on normal rotation.
He dealt one hand. Men won the hand. This
was the only hand Nguyen had won in a
half hour when his chips were felt-bound.
The dealer coordinator comes in after
Men's winning hand and pulls Mark out
of the box. Mark didn't have his tie on
so he was improperly dressed. Predictably,
The Master went nuts. "I win one hand
and you pull the dealer? What's going
on here?" Nguyen had so few chips left,
he wasn't seriously offended. It was just
another opportunity to put on a show by
one of the great showmen of poker. Morad
Qushqur made Aces up to send the showman
out in a frustrated 3rd with $51,880,
just over half of the amount he generously
said he'd be content with minutes before.
Steve
Banks is a high-stakes Stud and Omaha
player in the LA-area casinos, so the
chip values weren't intimidating to him.
But if he could have Morad's money, he'd
gladly throw his away. Commencing with
a 2-3 chip disadvantage, Banks was campaigning
for a redistribution of wealth. He wanted
some money added to 2nd place. It was
difficult to get these Socialist ideas
across to a capitalist like Morad, but
eventually the message was translated
properly and Banks got his wish. Playing
for the bracelet meant a lot to Steve
Banks, but oddly it meant even more to
Morad Qushqur. That's because it wasn't
just the gold bracelet to Morad. It was
the chance to be the first player born
in Afghanistan to win one. Just as John
Juanda is the first Indonesian and Hasan
Habib the first Pakistani, being the first
from any country is an honor that can
never be taken away.
"Every
time he had me by the throat, he'd let
me go. I don't understand it." Steve Banks
was talking about the tactics of Morad
Qushqur during a late break. Steve hadn't
talked to Margaret so he didn't understand
Morad's motivation. The money was meaningless
to him. The guy just wanted to have fun.
Like a cat who keeps a mouse alive as
a more playful toy, Morad didn't want
the game to end. Banks actually took a
brief chip lead, until Morad put the hammer
down on him with a 6 high straight to
Banks' rolled up Aces. Normally the pros
make a living off businessmen, but there
wasn't going to be any other winner at
this table but Morad Qushqur. If you could
escape the immense poverty of Afghanistan
to become a rich Import/Exporter in Hamburg
Germany, what's the challenge of a card
game. It could only be fun.
Having
a Layne Flack-type year in the $10,000
Super Satellites for the Championship
event is Jan Sjavik now with TEN wins.
That means he's won a seat in the Big
One and a whopping $90,000 in tournament
chips. And the super satellites aren't
yet two thirds over. It's possible we
are seeing the making of a record that
will never be broken. You'd think winning
a Super Satellite was easy. It's anything
but. A saavy poker book publisher should
get a manuscript from Jan immediately
on Super Satellite play. He's a gold mine.
Other
recent winners are: Roger Smith, John
Montgomery, Donaid Burchell, Surinder
Sunar (3rd), Phil Laak, Scobie Trumper,
James Huntley, George Geros, Ken Adams,
Scott Mayfield, John Woo, Manuel Teixeira,
Owen Bradley, Nicholas DiLeo (2nd), Marsha
Waggoner, Frank Callahan, Rameen Sai,
Doug Shanley, George Rodis, Jogvan Colerfoss,
Paul Ladanyi, Simon Trumper (2nd).
Mike Paulle
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