| Local Wins 1st Last Chance
The first of five $100 no-limit hold’em“ Last Chance” tournaments rounding off Legends 2004 was launched tonight and drew 303 entrants. It was a quickie that lasted only 22 hands and ended in a four-way chop. The man who had the most chips at the end and was declared the winner was Steve Elghanayan, an easy-going local pro who plays nooners and other moderate-sized side games and tournaments.
He started as the chip leader, and after dropping down, went on a rush in the late stages, with his aggressiveness and fearlessness aided in no small part by a goodly supply of Miller Lites.
These events, 7:15 p.m. on weekdays and 4:15 p.m. on weekends, will culminate in a $10,000 added playoff on September 5.
Tonight’s event was the third in one day, following the Ladies Poker Party (day 2) which started at 12:15, and then and the Championship/WPT filmed event which got underway at 5 p.m.
When the final table began, blinds were $1,000-$2,000, with $300 antes. On the first hand, Chris Cervantes opened for $7,000 and Richard Bakovic moved all in. After an eternity of thinking, Cervantes called and turned up A-Q. Bakovic had Q-Q, and after the board came J-9-3-9-4, we lost our first player, and Bakovic had taken over the lead. Bakovic is a professional fisherman, who owns a fishing boat in Alaska. Two hands later, Jacky Lee was down to $2,400 after he opened for $10,000 with A-J and Ed Padilla moved in for $23,000 with Qd-Qd, winning when the board came 9-8-2-2-3.
On the next hand, the blinds went to $1,500-$3,000 with $3,000 antes, and Lee immediately went south. He moved in for his last couple of chips with pocket 9s. Poker player Robert Campbell was in the big blind with a not-very-promising 7-3, but it only cost him $500 to call. He promptly flopped two pair, and Lee cashed out ninth.
A third player was lost in action after only six hands. Steve Colasurd had A-10 and he pushed in all his $15,500. Bakovic had pocket kings and he re-raised all in as well. Bakovic then flopped a set, and Colasurd went out in eighth place. A few hands later, Campbell had the kings as he went against Elghanayan, who had moved in with J-9. Elghanayan got very lucky and jumped around in excitement when a jack flopped and another one came on the river to rescue him.
Kory Mathewson was next to move in. He had Ks-8s and $10,500. Elghanayan called with A-9 and flopped an ace. A river 8 was too little, too late for Mathewson, and he cashed out in seventh place.
Veteran player Bill Henson took a hit on hand 13 when his pocket 9s ran into Amir Naderi’s pocket aces. On the next hand, Henson moved in from the small blind for $6,500 with A-J. Bakovic called with Q-10 and when a queen fell on the river, Henson fell out of the tournament, ending up sixth.
The last player to go out was Naderi. He moved in for $28,000 with pocket 8s, and Ed Padilla went all in for $37,000 with K-Q. Padilla, who is the food and beverage manager at the Bicycle Casino, promptly flopped a king, and Naderi ended up in fourth place.
A chip count deal was discussed over the next few hands, and an exploratory chip count was finally agreed to. At that point, Elghanayan led with $129,500, followed by Bakovic with $93,500 and Padilla with $67,000, while Campbell was scraping the barrel with $13,500. After back-and-forth discussions, the bigger stacks agreed to give up something for Campbell, and the deal was struck. However, Padila, food and beverage manager at the Bicycle Casino, wants it known that he was “forced” into this arrangement. Forced or willing, it was over and Elghanayan had won the first Last Chance event. —Max Shapiro
BIOGRAPHY
After he had gone out to celebrate with another Miller’s, Steve Elghanayan was a happy but not entirely eloquent interviewee. However, certain facts were ascertained. He is 48 and has been playing poker for 39 of those years. He’s won a number of tournaments at local casinos, including lowball at Commerce, stud hi-lo here and 7-stud at Hollywood Park. His favorite game is lowball, and he splits his poker time about equally between tournaments, such as nooners at the Bike, and cash games.
He’s good friends with another pro player, Binh Do, though it was hard to tell from the conversation who had coached the other. His style of play? Normally passive, Binh Do helped out and explained, but aggressive when he’s had a few. Elghanayan said that he was never in trouble tonight and had chips all the way through.
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