| Avoiding the 'Crazies,' Amir Vahedi
Plays Straight Poker, Gets 2nd Win
Starting and ending the final table with the most chips, Amir Vahedi was the official winner of event 18 of LAPC XIV, $1,455 limit hold'em, which carried a $1.2 million prize pool.
But it was no wire-to-wire performance because he found himself at an unimaginably wild table. One pot was eight-bet before the flop. Another saw a player bet blind into the flop, turn and river. Bluffing and calls with almost nothing were rampant. One pot had numerous raises on the flop and turn; the board showed J-J-9-7-K and pocket 4s won it! And, of course, the chip swings were just as wild.
'I tried to stay out of these crazy people's way, and put myself in the right position,' Vahedi said afterwards. 'Maybe a few times I let go of the best hand, but I had no problem with it because I didn't want confrontations with these crazies. I wanted their chips, and didn't get much of them, but I knew they would either blow their chips off or blow somebody else's off.'
The strategy worked, and when Vahedi was heads-up with electrical contractor Jason Chan, he had 740,000 in chips to 540k for Chan, and decided to do a deal. This was the second victory for Vahedi, who also won a limit hold'em shootout event. Actually, another deal for most of the prize pool had been made earlier with three players left. Chan at that point led with 480k to 465k for Vahedi and 295k for Finnish pro Juha Helpi.
The 10 finalists, all shooting for first place of $446,292, began play at level 15 with blinds of $3,000-$6,000 and $6,000-$12,000 limits, 35:49 remaining. The top five finishers would also receive a $9,603 entry into the four-day championship/WPT event
Steve Crockett, a contractor, was lowest chipped and first out, on hand 4. All in from the big blind with Q-8, he couldn't beat an ace-high.
The wildest and most emotional player at the table was Michael Sigel, a poker player from New Jersey. The other action players were Peter Chan and Tran, while Vahedi, Paul Darden Jr. and Helpi played a more controlled game. In early action, Sigel won a big pot from Peter Tran when he made a nut flush on the river and took a substantial lead with about 340k. But, playing often and loosely, he would experience drastic swings after that.
Greg Hopkins started second-lowest in chips and was the second player to leave the table. He was crippled when his pocket jacks lost to Sigel's pocket kings. Then, on hand 13 Hopkins had K-Q and couldn't hit anything after Paul Darden Jr., with pocket 8s, raised him all in. Following the script, Jim 'Cincinnati Kid' Lester started third-lowest and was third out. Holding Jh-10h, he three-bet pre-flop and decided to toss in his final 5k blind. Vahedi had Kh-9h, and his king-high won.
The eight-bet pot involved (who else?) Sigel and Tran. Sigel folded and showed A-K when Tran raised him on the river with a board of K-10-8-7-10. With limits of 8k-16k, Sigel was still top dog with 320k. Not slowing down, he raised Tran on a board of K-10-8-9-4, then mucked when Tran called and showed A-high.
Aram Zerounian, an electrical contractor, finished eighth. Holding 7-6, he missed an open-end straight draw and lost to Juha's flopped set of 9s.
By hand 27, Sigel had blown off two-thirds of that 340k he once had after his Q-J couldn't beat Darden's ace-high. He recovered by winning the next hand, then betting blind all the way on the following hand, forcing Tran to finally give up his ace. On hand 38, Tran and Chan got into a raising war, with Chan finally winning with pocket 4s even when the board was full of overcards. Tran's once-big stack finally evaporated on hand 41. Down to 12k, he couldn't go anywhere with his A-3, while Juha flopped two pair.
Vahedi hadn't been doing anything dramatic, but had picked up enough pots so that he wasn't much behind chip leader Chan when limits went to $10,000-$20,000. Sigel was finally all in on hand 53 with three-way action, but survived by flopping a set of 6s. He got up from the table while the hand was still in progress to celebrate with friends, a breach of poker etiquette that drew rebukes from Darden and Vahedi.
Amir began to take over on hand 61. Against Helpi, the pot was capped pre-flop. On a board of 7-5-3-Q, Vahedi check-raised and Helpi mucked.
Darden went out on hand 62. He moved in with A-3, could only pair his trey and lost to Chan's pocket 9s.
After escaping two all-ins, Sigel finally lost his last chips. Sigel had A-5, Helpi K-Q. With a board of Q-7-2-J, Helpi bet and Sigel put in his last 5k chip. Another 7 on the river ended Sigel's hopes, and he finished third.
The three finalists now made their chip-count deal and played for a small remainder of the prize pool. The next hand might have been the key hand of the night because it vaulted Amir into a commanding position. With a board of J-10-5-5, Helpi bet, Vahedi raised and Helpi re-raised with a third 5. Vahedi had 9c-8c for an open-end straight draw. He later said he raised to push Helpi off the hand, figured Helpi had trips when he three-bet, but the odds justified a call. A river 7 completed the straight, and Vahedi now had about 600k, which he soon increased to 700k.
Then, on hand 74, Vahedi had Ac-5c and had Helpi all in on a board of 8-5-4-J with two clubs. A river 4c gave Vahedi a flush to outrun Helpi's paired jack and get the tournament heads-up. After three hands of play, Vahedi suggested a deal, and he had his second Remington trophy.
Max Shapiro
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