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Poker Tournament Results

LA Poker Classic / WPT Event Season 3

No Limit Hold'em

January 29, 2005 at 3:30 PM
Commerce Casino
Tournament Schedule

Buy-In	$300 + $30
Prize Pool	$667,554
Entries	881 + 1413 rebuys
Report Available

Ali Bahman Sabahi

Place	Name	Prize
1	Ali Bahman Sabahi (Los Angeles, CA, USA)	$240,319
2	Fred Lavassani (Burbank, CA, USA)	$116,822
3	Raymond Davis AKA "The Amazing" (Commerce, CA, USA)	$57,410
4	Joon Le (La Habra, CA, USA)	$34,045
5	Conrad Ehart (Phillips Ranch, CA, USA)	$26,702
6	Danny Pourat (Beverly Hills, CA, USA)	$20,027
7	Minh Luu (Garden Grove, CA, USA)	$16,689
8	Hailu Gabriel (Las Vegas, CA, USA)	$13,351
9	Gary Vick (Northridge, CA, USA)	$10,015
10	Patrick McLaughlin (Newport Beach, CA, USA)	$7,343
11	Jeremy Khinoo (Turlock, CA, USA)	$7,343
12	Russell Hendricks (Wildomar, CA, USA)	$7,343
13	Hanh Le (San Jose, CA, USA)	$6,008
14	Rafi Ourfalian (Tarzana, CA, USA)	$6,008
15	Alen Patatanyan (Encino, CA, USA)	$6,008
16	Trang Ngo (Huntington Beach, CA, USA)	$4,673
17	Peter Fricano (Chicago, IL, USA)	$4,673
18	Brian Stonoff AKA "Stoney" (Scottsdale, AZ, USA)	$4,673
19	Samir Morcos (Sherman Oaks, CA, USA)	$4,005
20	David Gee (Gilbert, AZ, USA)	$4,005
21	Joe De Niro (Studio City, CA, USA)	$4,005
22	Dave Truong (Vancouver, BC, Canada)	$4,005
23	Vinny Landrum (Canoga Park, CA, USA)	$4,005
24	Robert Roter (Rancho Palos Verdes, CA, USA)	$4,005
25	Tim Lyons AKA "The Alaskan Assassin" (Anchorage, AK, USA)	$4,005
26	Stan Singer (Long Beach, CA, USA)	$4,005
27	Cyrus Farzad (Los Angeles, CA, USA)	$4,005
28	Kham Hoang (Pomona, CA, USA)	$2,670
29	Sung Yi (Los Angeles, CA, USA)	$2,670
30	Ben Tang (Northridge, CA, USA)	$2,670
31	Joudi Alsaady (Lancaster, CA, USA)	$2,670
32	Chris Cellery (Gardena, CA, USA)	$2,670
33	Aryan Ansari (Irvine, CA, USA)	$2,670
34	Jonathan Lemone (El Paso, TX, USA)	$2,670
35	Meda Lubliner (W.Hills, CA, USA)	$2,670
36	Paul Kim (Johnson City, NY, USA)	$2,670
37	Jeff Mullholland (Newport Beach, CA, USA)	$2,003
38	William Lin (Denver, CO, USA)	$2,003
39	Mitchel Allen (Stevenson Ranch, CA, USA)	$2,003
40	Ming Li (Irvine, CA, USA)	$2,003
41	Truong Huynh (West Hollywood, CA, USA)	$2,003
42	Bilal Barraj (Riverside, CA, USA)	$2,003
43	John Hehnlin (Ghugiak, AK, USA)	$2,003
44	Rocky Enciso (Glendale, CA, USA)	$2,003
45	Shane Schleger (Santa Monica, CA, USA)	$2,003

Tournament Report

881 Players Sets Commerce Record; Importer from Iran Wins the Event
With the poker explosion shattering records everywhere, Commerce Casino had its biggest tournament to date as 881 players showed up for LAPC XIV event No. 4, $291 no-limit hold'em. The guarantee was $225,000, and first place alone, $240,319, exceeded that amount.
The event ended in a four-way deal with Bahman 'Alli' Sabahi, 54, a general merchandise importer originally from Iran, declared the winner. It's his first major tournament victory. He came to the final table a big leader with 245,000 chips, and by the time the time the table got down to five, he had close to half of the 1,148,000 in play.
When the deal was cut. Sabahi had 515k in chips, followed by Freddy 'Twin' Lavassani, 280k; Raymond Davis, 187k; and Mike Lee, 124k
Sabahi has been playing no-limit hold'em for 30 years, when he knew it as 'French poker.' He said he had to struggle until the final three tables when he made some moves and got some big hands to surge ahead. The opening event found itself 10 tables short when 799 players swamped the tournament room. This time, the casino was prepared for another onslaught and set up 13 additional tables in a tent on the patio, with more up on stage, and everyone got a seat immediately.
Players came to the final table with $3,000-$6,000 blinds and $1,000 antes, 30:56 left at that level. The irrepressible Davis immediately made an offer: If he got heads-up, he'd be willing to play winner take all, starting with even chips. Surprisingly, nobody took him up.
Very hard to miss was Patrick McLaughlin, a dance instructor, who was wearing an enormous welder's helmet. He said it was a 'poker helmet' designed to prevent opponents from picking up 'subliminal tells.' Perhaps so, but it didn't prevent Sabahi from picking up his chips. On hand seven, Sabahi had J-10 in late position and bet 20k when he flopped two pair. McLaughlin flat called with two queens. When a 6 turned, Sabahi moved in. McLaughlin called for 59k and was first out. Sabahi now had about 420k in chips.
Gary Vick, a programmer, had started in average chip position, but took a hit when he moved in with J-J, losing when Lavassani, a poker player twin, called all in for $46,000 with A-A. A few hands later Vick was under the gun and moved in with Kd-10d. Sabahi called with A-Q. The board came 8-7-5-8-8. Vick finished ninth, and Sabahi's stacks had grown to about 470k. A few deals later, on hand 25, Gabriel Hailu, a Las Vegas bellman, picked up pocket kings and moved in. Brett Ehart had trapped him by limping with A-A under the gun. The aces prevailed, and seven were left.
Blinds were now $4,000-$8,000 with $1,000 antes. A number of hands went by with pre-flop raises taking the pot. Finally, Sabahi called Davis' 9k raise and bet 40k into a flop of Q-4-2. Davis folded and Sabahi showed a K-5 bluff.
Minh Luu got lucky when he moved in for 9k with A-5, got called by Dani Pourat with A-J, and split when the board came A-K-K-Q-9. Luu later doubled up when he moved in again. Davis called blind from the small blind. He had pocket 5s, but couldn't beat Luu's 6-6. Finally, on hand 46, Luu moved in a final time, this time from the small blind, with Ac-Jc. Mike Lee called from the big blind with 3-3 and broke him.
One hand later, Pourat, a designer/manufacturer of women's clothing, was getting impatient with his lack of hands and pushed in his 31k under the gun with K-Q. Ehart picked him off with pocket treys. Just before blinds went to $6,000-$12,000 with $2,000 antes, Ehart raised to 30k. Everyone folded to Lee. After very long hesitation, he finally decided to fold, and showed an A-K. 'Oh, my God,' Lavassani groaned in disbelief.
By now, Sabahi had climbed to 508k. Behind him were Davis, 316k; Lee,143k; Ehart, 108k; and Lavassani, 73k. Davis next pulled off a semi-bluff against Lavassani. He raised to 24k pre-flop with Ad-8d and then moved in, on a flop of 10d-10c-2d, forcing the twin to fold. The last player out was Ehart, on hand 63. He moved in from the small blind for 40k with Q-10 offsuit. Sabahi called from the big blind with K-J and paired a jack on fourth street. With four players left, Sabahi now had an enormous 560k.
A big reversal came on hand 72. Davis, in the cut-off seat, raised to 24k. Lavassani, who had limped with pocket jacks, moved in for 96k more. All Davis had was A-9 offsuit, but he gambled, called and lost when the board came K-7-5-10-J. Making a set, Lavassani vaulted past Davis to move into second chip position.
A couple more hands went by, and then the finalists began discussing deal. A lot of money was at stake, and the negotiations lasted a long time. Finally, an agreement was reached, and this record-setting tournament was over.
-Max Shapiro