Tony the Tiger:
Southern California poker pro Tony Abesamis becomes WSOP Circuit's second two-time
winner
Two months ago, Tony Abesamis arrived at the Harrah's Rincon WSOPC tournament
and won the first event, netting $35,950. Most impressive was the fact that
Abesamis topped a huge field of 639 players. Now, at Lake Tahoe's $2,000 buy-in
no-limit event, on the eve of the $10,000 buy-in championship, Abesamis has
done it again.
The W. Covina, CA-based poker pro topped a field of 133 players and carved
out his share of $258,020 in the prize pool. First place paid $92,895. Abesamis
now has two gold rings on this year's World Series of Poker Circuit. He states
that he will be shooting for his third gold ring at Harrah's New Orleans later
this month. Alan Schein, who won events in both Atlantic City and Rincon is
the only other player with two WSOPC victories.
Report by Nolan Dalla - World Series of Poker Media Director
Seat 1 Tony Abesamis W. Covina, CA 32,600
Seat 2 Hans "Tuna" Lund Sparks, NV 31,700
Seat 3 Toan Nguyen Sacramento, CA 46,600
Seat 4 Ben Sarnoff San Francisco, CA 79,700
Seat 5 David Brock Stateline, NV 67,400
Seat 6 Mike Heshmati Morgan Hill, CA 36,000
Seat 7 Dan Schmiech Houston, TX 51,400
Seat 8 Glen Bean Biggs, CA 32,400
Seat 9 Mark Edwards Irvennes, CA 22,200
This day has been absolutely crazy. Starting at 11am the LIPS tour began with
about 120 ladies vying for the Women's Championship. At 1130am a VIP tournament
began that had close to 100 people in it (these were executives and Harrahs
diamond card players.) It is now 4pm and the $2000 final table has just begun.
Harvey's is jammed packed with people. Nolan Dalla is interviewing Chris Ferguson
at 5pm. Doyle Brunson is here selling his new Super System 2 and signing autographs
and then at 6pm Harrahs has provided Chris Ferguson, T.J. Cloutier, Doyle Brunson,
Howard Lederer and Robert Williamson III glossy photos for them to autograph
for the public. I hope I can find a few minutes to get mine.
The tournament is just underway and Mark Edwards in middle position pushes
all in. Dan Schmiech called without delay and shows a J J. Mark turns over A
K and on the flop catches A Q K. Dan now needs another J or a T to stay alive.
Just like is was ordered, a J comes on the turn and now Mark is sweating bullets.
The river completely disappointed Mark by dropping a lousy 2 and that ended
the day for him. He made it only 10 minutes into what most likely took most
of his nights sleep from him and took 9th and $7740. Mark is a management consultant
and has been a WPT finalist, has made several WSOP final tables and says he
is "a heck of a nice guy." He has enjoying this game of poker for
45 years, and he is only 52. Hmmm...and I thought I started early.
I just ran over to see how the LIPS women's event is going and it looks like
they are down to the final 11. I imagine they will be down to the final 9 very
quickly and then, I will be running back and forth trying to feed you information
about what's happening at each. The pronouns will be the dead giveaway. She/he,
her/him will be the clue.
The $2000 event began with 500/1000 blinds. They just advanced to 1000/2000
now with a 300-chip ante. These guys mean business. The raises are not respected
and induce players to come over the top and take the pot. Glen Bean just pushed
all in and Toan Nguyen, with a much bigger bank calls. Glen had the magic of
AA and Toan had Ac Jc. The aces proved faithful to Glen and doubled him up.
This table has no fear.
The final table has just begun for the LIPS tournament. Below is their starting
chip count.
Seat 1 Kathy Leibert Las Vegas NV 5,600
Seat 2 Jessica Encarnacion Elk Grove, CA 14,200
Seat 3 Renee Karcich Honolulu, HI 14,100
Seat 4 Donna Persinger Shingle Springs, CA 2,200
Seat 5 Randi Calabro Sacramento, CA 11,000
Seat 6 Michelle Rovello Irvine, CA 6,400
Seat 7 Michelle Schell Mound, MN 2,700
Seat 8 Kim Dowdall Lafayette, CA 5,300
Seat 9 Sandy Duncan Lincoln, CA 25,000
Seat 10 Lisa Vong Sacramento, CA 25,000
The first casualty for 10th place is Kim Dowdall in the LIPS event. There was
an agreement among the ladies to give 10th place $100, so Kim doesn't leave
empty handed. Two more have fallen in the last 15 minutes. Kathy Leibert came
to the final table short stacked and was able to hang on for a 9th place finish
making her $605. Behind her, in 8th place we find Donna Persinger winning $810
today. Since the last time I was over by the ladies event, two Michelles have
finished for the day. Michelle Schell accomplished a 7th place for $1,010 and
Michelle Rovello scooted in right behind her for 6th and $1,215. Michelle Rovello
believes that the future of women in poker is looking great and that it is amazing
it has come such a long way. I didn't get to watch much of the LIPS event unfortunately,
but here is a list of how they all finished. Fifth was picked up by Lisa Vong
for $1415, 4th by Renee Karcich for $1620, 3rd by Jessica Encarnacion for $2,225,
2nd for Sandy Duncan for $4,045 and in first place is Randi Calabro taking away
$7,283. The women looked like they were very serious players in this event,
but all the camaraderie was wonderful to watch. It is just a whole different
animal than the men's events. Something about Venus and Mars perhaps??
Back to the $2000 event, Dan Schmiech and Glen Bean created a monster pot heads
up against one another. Dan had a Th Jh and Glen had Ad 6h. The board took Glen
to the cleaners by presenting Dan a beautiful J on the turn. For 8th, Glen Bean
takes home $10,320. Glen claims to be a car wash attendant and at 27 years of
age, I believe he will be changing professions very soon. I don't how many of
you believe he washes cars for a living, but who am I to dispute. Several hands
later, Hans "Tuna" Lund pushed all in and after some thought, Mike
Heshmati decided to call. It was brutal. Tuna had As Jh and Mike big slick.
The board could not have been ordered more favorably for Mike than this one.
Christmas came early. 7 K A A 6. Tuna was disappointed in his play and said
he should have done better. He multiplied his buy in by 6 taking $12,700 from
this event and a 7th place finish. Tuna is 54 years young and his occupation
is "gambler". He has been playing the game of poker for 45 years (another
youthful initiation). He has made 2nd place in the WSOP main event in 1990 and
3rd in 1992.
The blinds have inflated to 1500/3000 and 500 antes. I just went over to see
a few minutes of Chris Ferguson's visit with Nolan. Both of these men are so
kind and are so good for this profession. They both have a wonderful sense of
humor, and treat other people the way they wish to be treated. I am so glad
to have had the opportunity to meet them both. Doyle Brunson only brought 160
copies of his Super System 2 books, and the line is humongous even after an
hour and a half of signing. This place is exploding with poker. Back behind
me and around the corner I hear all this cheering for the women's event, all
around me the crowd is enthused with the gentlemen left in the $2000 event.
Simply amazing what is happening here. The WSOP Circuit event was more than
a success in Lake Tahoe for certain.
Another big hand is in play. Toan Nguyen is up against Ben Sarnoff. Toan makes
it all his chips to go and Ben sitting directly to his left counters by doing
the same. Everyone else hightails it out of this one. Toan lets out an audible
groan when Ben shows a pair of rockets. He reluctantly shows the Jc Qh. The
flop showed a moments hope for Toan, presenting him a Q 6 9. But, nothing helped
him on the turn and the river leaving him in 6th place for $15,408. Toan says
this is his first major final table and has been playing for about 5 years.
Congratulations Toan.
Mike Heshmati crippled himself putting his faith in AQ. He ended up all in
against Tony Abesamis and Tony had just a bit better, the AK. The board was
absolutely a mess and isn't worth repeating. Tony took the pot with the K and
Mike sat with a lot fewer chips. Mike caught a J J two hands later and gets
all in against the chip leader, Dan Schmiech. Dan flips over the mighty K K
and Mike shows the trouble hand, J J. The board comes with all tiny cards and
Mike is out in a matter of two hands. However, for 5th place, he takes $18,060
home for his days work (or play). Mike is an account specialist and is 32 years
old. He has been playing for only 2 years and just loves the game. He, along
with so many others, is very excited about the direction poker is going
A young man I have played poker against numerous times while living in Lake
Tahoe, David Brock just doubled up and took about 42,000 off of Dan Schmiech.
David won first place in the World Championship Crazy Pineapple Hi-Lo Tournament
held on the North Shore of Lake Tahoe at the Hyatt. (Don't give up your day
job to be a pro pineapple man Dave!) He also professes that he has the most
"show" and "place" finishes in the super satellites here
at the WSOP event without a seat. That was 5 tries. To heck with those satellites,
looks like the $2000 buy in is his shining star as he sits in 4th at the very
least.
I watched Tony Abesamis win the $200 Rincon WSOP circuit event. He is a very
solid aggressive player. He also can boast of a 1st place finish in the WPPA
at the Orleans in the 2004 one thousand-dollar event. He is hoping that the
hotels and casinos enjoying the growth of poker will offer more incentives to
players. Cheers Tony! Tony has "pumped up the jam" as he has become
the raising maniac. Dan and David limp in and open the perfect opportunity for
another "Abesamis" all in raise. He takes the pot. Moments later,
Ben bets 16K, Dan and David fold and Tony pushes all in for another 40K. After
a great deal of thought, Ben sends his hand to the muck and Tony shows him a
stone cold bluff of a Q 8 off suit. Not to be outdone, the very next hand Tony
is the button and raises 12K followed by an instant all in by Ben. Tony torments
Ben with the "maybe I will and maybe I wont" act and then finally
folds. Tony and Ben are at it constantly now. Chips move back and forth, but
Tony's "tower of power" is growing and growing. He just took a load
of chips off Ben by flopping a set. I know Ben must be kicking himself for the
all in move with an A 8.
The chip count is as follows, Dan has 175,000, and David has 23,000. Ben has
33,000 and about 168,000 for Tony. Remember the no fear statement earlier on?
Well, the fear is in the air now. There is absolutely no doubt about it, except
for Tony.
As David is getting short of chips, he makes his move with that iffy J J. Dan
gives him a call and turns over a K 9. The worst possible news for David arrives
on the flop, A K 9. David has outs, but they are mighty slim. The turn brings
a 7 and the river ends David's day with a 5. David played great poker in the
tournament and leaves toting a bag full of money, $20,640.
The chip count for the final three players unfolds in this order. Tony is chip
leader at 211,000, Dan Schmiech with 146,000 and Ben Sarnoff with 42,000. Tony
is showing no mercy. He is hammering away at both Ben and Dan. He has so much
power with him massive mountain of chips that he makes it a huge amount to go
preflop, and neither player can afford to do battle. Ben finally found his all
in hand and has to go against Tony. Ben shows a K T and Tony a K J. The flop
doesn't improve anyone's hand and Ben was finally "Abesamisized".
For 3rd, Ben Sarnoff's booty is $28,380.
Now, for the final two. It's the Tony and Dan show. The show didn't last too
long though. Two tired players and a wicked last hand finishes the day. Tony
is the big blind. He limps in for the extra 3K, Dan checks. The flop comes T
7 6. Dan checks, Tony bets 10K and Dan calls. A 2d falls on the turn invoking
a check from both players. The 9 on the river brought Dan to bet 40K. Tony looks
at his cards, looks at Dan, looks at his cards, looks at Dan and he finally
says "all in." Dan instantaneously calls. Dan shows a 4 8 for the
straight, and Tony turns over the stone cold nuts, J 8. Another win for Tony
Abesabis bringing home the spoils of two days work. He made a grand total of
$92,895. Not a bad day for Dan either as he picked up a second and $51,605.
Tony is the first player in the WSOP Circuit events to claim his second championship
ring. He was so tickled as he put one on each of his index fingers and grinned.
Tony is a sweet man and seems to really enjoy this game. I must say, it was
very impressive to watch him play the players. He is a very intuitive man. Congratulations
again Tony.
By the way, I did sneak off and get my autographs. Until the Main event, ciao.
Sharla Lehrmann
sharla@pokerpages.com
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