Chan's
Eighth: The Orient Express Captures
Yet Another World Series of Poker Title
I
play because I love this game.
-- Johnny Chan
In
the longest final table of this year's
tournament, living poker legend Johnny
Chan outlasted the final nine players
at his table and ran away with $224,400
-- which included his eighth gold bracelet.
The final table lasted just over 11 hours
-- a veritable marathon of no-limit poker
action which featured an astounding 326
hands and a masterful performance by Chan,
demonstrating why he's widely-regarded
as the world's best all-around poker player.
The close of the event added yet another
twist to what has become "the battle of
the bracelets," between three former world
champions. Coming into the 2003 World
Series of Poker, Doyle Brunson was slightly
ahead of Johnny Chan and Phil Hellmuth
in the number of bracelets won -- with
Brunson at eight bracelets versus Chan
and Hellmuth's seven. However, Brunson
and Hellmuth have both added to their
jewelry collection recently, as each player
has already won an event at this year's
tournament. Just when it looked as if
Johnny Chan was about to be left behind
in the dust, "The Orient Express" steamrolled
down the tracks and won one of his own.
Chan now has eight gold bracelets (tied
with Hellmuth), and is one win behind
Brunson. Chan is also ranked first in
all-time money winnings in World Series
of Poker history, with a staggering $3,315,894
in prize money, to date. Not bad for a
former cook, who once played poker while
wearing his apron after his shift was
over.
Johnny
Chan was born in Hong Kong and came to
the United States where his parents opened
a number of restaurants. Chan discovered
his passion for poker over twenty years
ago and began playing in low-limit games
in Las Vegas during the late 1970s. By
1983, Johnny Chan was entering World Series
of Poker events. Two years later, he won
his first gold bracelet in the $1,000
buy-in limit hold'em event. That would
be the start of what was arguably the
most dominant interlude in poker history.
Chan won the world championship in 1987,
1988, and came within one card of winning
the 1989 championship, as well. He won
two more gold bracelets in the 1990s,
then another two in the last couple of
years before winning number eight on this
night.
At this final table, 1996 world champion
Huck Seed came in with the chip lead ($118K).
Chan was second in chips ($92K). Short-stacked
Barbara Laux and Layne Flack were the
first two players to be eliminated, followed
by two Englishmen -- Jason Gray and Carlo
Citrone. Don Barton has made many final
tables in his storied poker career, but
went out next in sixth place. That left
David Singer as the next player to make
an exit (5th) -- although it should be
noted that Singer is one of the few players
who has now made two final tables at this
year's tournament.
Down
to four players, Amir Vahedi looked to
be in good shape, but then ran into a
buzzsaw when he got into a confrontation
with Englishman Surinder Sunar. Vahedi
and Sunar both moved in, as Vahedi showed
the A-K of spades to Sunar's 4-4. The
flop was an absolute disaster for Vahedi,
which came 4-2-2. Vahedi was essentially
drawing (almost) dead and bounced out
of the tournament in fourth place, good
for $35,400.
With Sunar holding the chip lead at $300K,
one of the most interesting hands of the
night developed when Sunar tried to make
a move with a club draw, which was crushed
by Johnny Chan's pocket aces. After the
flop came 3-5-6 (and two clubs), Chan
was "all-in," and was covered by Sunar.
A club would have put Chan out of the
tournament and perhaps, more importantly,
given the win to Sunar. But it wasn't
to be. The aces held up and Chan was suddenly
the chip leader. Perhaps what was most
interesting about the hand was seeing
Huck Seed quietly pulling his hole cards
out of the muck as the audience watched
(Seed folded his hand pre-flop) and showed
2-4 for the nut hand. But poker champions
are not made by calling raises with 2-4
offsuit.
Seed
ran card cold over the next hour and was
finally forced to commit his chips with
K-Q against Sunar's A-7. Seed caught a
beautiful flop of K-Q-10, good for top
two pair. However, a crippling jack fell
on the turn giving Sunar the nut straight.
Seed could not catch another king or queen
and thus was eliminated in third place,
good for $55,550.
With
the tournament entering its third consecutive
day (the tournament started at 12 noon
on Tuesday; the final table began on Wednesday
at 2:00 pm, and ran past midnight), Chan
chipped away at Sunar hand by hand, minute
by minute, and hour by hour. It was classic
Chan, waiting out droughts of cards and
never giving his opponent an extra chip
or a loose call when he was convinced
he had the worst of it. Sunar played masterfully,
but was unable to muster any momentum
shift away from the former champion. Perhaps
had Sunar faced any other opponent, he
might have won on this night. But overcoming
Chan at a chip disadvantage was next to
impossible.
Interestingly,
when play became nine-handed, Sunar had
knocked out every player at the final
table. He had one opponent to go. But
Chan would not cooperate. The final hand
of the night came when Sunar was short-stacked
and committed his final chips with J-10.
Chan covered the bet holding A-10. The
board showed no pair for either player,
giving Chan the final pot of the night
with ace-high. Johnny Chan had done it
again, making it look easy., Meanwhile,
one of Europe's best players, Surinder
Sunar has yet to win a gold bracelet at
the World Series of Poker. Incredibly,
Sunar has won just about everywhere else
in the world, but still hasn't broken
through at the Series. No doubt, his day
will come.
"Honestly, the bracelet and the money
doesn't mean to me as much as enjoying
the game. I play because I enjoy the game,"
Chan said afterward. "No-limit hold'em
is the most skillful poker game, and that's
why I enjoy playing it the most."
Chan
also pointed out he was fortunate to win
one key pot where he was all-in against
Sunar with A-A, against Sunar's club draw.
"If a club had come from the deck, he'd
be sitting here right now, not me," Chan
said.
When
asked to reflect back on his twenty odd
years of being at the top of the poker
world, Chan was more introspective. "It's
a tough business," he said. "A very tough
business."
-- by Nolan Dalla
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