1. Nghi Van Tran, Toronto, Canada - $780,615
Date of Birth: April 9, 1967
Occupation: Engineer
Nickname: Henry Tran
Hobbies: Blackjack, skiing, tennis
Birthplace: Vietnam
Other: Started playing poker about four years ago
2. Erick Lindgren, Las Vegas, Nevada - $430,521
Date of Birth: August 11, 1976
Occupation: Poker Player
Nickname: Edog
Hobbies: Golf, basketball
Birthplace: Burney, California
Other: Made the final table in two previous WSOP tournament
Final Table Started at: 2:30pm EST
Final Table Ended at: 8:30pm EST
Final table report
Chad Brown $591,000
Stan Goldstein $457,000
Nghi Van Tran $412,000
Erick Lindgren $294,000
Mimi Tran $215,000
Aaron Bartley $171,000
Nick Frangos $148,000
Chris Ferguson $147,000
Michael Esposito $60,000
Short stack Michael Esposito was the first casualty. On Day 2, Esposito was severely short-stacked on the bubble, struggling to outlast another short stack just to reach the money. Esposito went all in, survived, and somehow survived long enough to reach the final table.
When Esposito found Ac 7c in the small blind, he made his move. But Nick Frangos, also dangerously short-stacked, had 8s 8c in the big blind, and moved in to isolate Esposito. Frangos made a set on the flop, and Esposito finished in 9th place, earning $47,310.
Chad Brown is an accomplished Seven-Card Stud player. He is widely recognized from his televised showdown with cantankerous Men Nguyen and relentless Ted Forrest in the WSOP Seven-Card Stud event. Although he began the day as chip leader, Brown was a completely benign presence at the final table. He called off nearly all of his stack, and his primary beneficiary was Nghi Tran, in the following bizarre hand:
The hand began on a humorous note, when no less than six players decided to limp in for $12,000. It was like a $2-$4 "family pot". Ngih Tran killed the buzz by uncooperatively raising $40,000 from the big blind. Only Brown and Lindgren called. Flop: Qh Th 2s. Tran bet $70,000, Brown called, and Lindgren got out of the way. Turn: 3s. Tran bet $130,000, and Brown flat-called again. River: 6d. Tran moved all in for about $155,000, and Brown called. Tran turned over Q-J, which looked pretty pathetic, considering. But Brown mucked.
Suddenly, Tran had nearly $1 million, and Brown was down to about $165,000. Newly empowered by his enormous chip lead, Tran called Chris Ferguson's all-in reraise with As Jc. Jesus had pocket jacks, but Tran hit an ace on the turn, and excommunicated Jesus in 8th.
By the time Chad Brown found 2c 2h in the big blind, his stack had dwindled to $99,000. It was folded to Aaron Bartley on the button, who raised to $36,000. Brown pushed. Bartley thought for a while, and called with As 9c. He flopped trip nines and busted Brown in 7th.
Before busting Brown, Bartley had been quietly building his stack by diligently taking down uncontested pots. After busting Brown, Bartley suddenly emerged as a formidable force at the table, with over $500,000 in chips. Bartley is a 22-year-old online player who recently crossed over into live play. His online handle is GambleAB.
Ngih Tran $936,000
Aaron Bartley $503,000
Erick Lindgren $460,000
Nick Frangos $234,000
Mimi Tran $189,000
Stan Goldstein $163,000
Stan Goldstein took a big hit when his pocket jacks lost to Lindgren's pocket kings. Then, Goldstein moved all in with Kh Qs, only to have Lindgren call with Ac 9s. The board helped neither played, and Goldstein was out in 6th.
Nghi Tran $1,142,000
Aaron Bartley $647,000
Erick Lindgren $355,000
Mimi Tran $181,000
Nick Frangos $162,000
Lindgren raised to $50,000 in the cutoff, and Bartley called from the big blind. Flop: Kd Js 4d. Bartley checks, Lindgren leads out for $65,000, and Bartley called. Turn: 10d. Bartley checked, and Lindgren moved all in for $240,000. Lindgren took it down. "You should've checkraised [on the flop]," Lindgren suggests, and a disappointed Bartley seemed to agree.
N. Tran $994,000
Bartley $516,000
Lindgren $424,000
Frangos $246,000
M. Tran $165,000
Despite the misstep, Bartley was still in a strong position. However, he was about to get involved in two critical hands which would illustrate the danger of tangling with the chip leader.
Ngih Tran opened for $35,000 under the gun, and it was folded to Bartley, who reraised to $100,000 from the big blind. Tran called. Flop: Qs 8h 5h. Bartley lead out for $100,000, and Tran reraised to $400,000. Bartley folded.
On the next hand, it was folded around to Bartley in the small blind. He looked down at Ac 5s, and raised to $50,000. Once again, Tran came over the top, reraising to $120,000. It seemed as though Tran was simply running Bartley over, and Bartley must have thought so too, because he moved all in for about $300,000. But Tran wasn't messing around this time. He had a real hand, As Qd, and he called. Bartley got no help and cashed out in 5th for $141,930.
I was really impressed by Bartley's play at the final table. He played with real guts. He wouldn't be pushed around, and he kept his opponents on the defensive. At a time when he could have probably coasted to 3rd place for an extra $95,000, he risked everything to give himself a chance to win by trusting his read and standing up to an aggressive chip leader.
Ngih Tran $1,530,000
Erick Lindgren $420,000
Nick Frangos $234,000
Mimi Tran $161,000
Without many chips to maneuver, Mimi Tran had to resort to moving all in to pick up blinds and antes. She did this several times successfully, but then lost several confrontations with Nick Frangos. The first time, he doubled through her with Ac Kc against her Ah 9s. Then he busted her with As Qd against her 8h 8c. Mimi wasn't involved in any big pots at the final table, and never gained any real momentum.
Ngih Tran $1,254,000
Erick Lindgren $736,000
Nick Frangos $504,000
With the blinds at $10,000-$20,000, Lindgren raised to $80,000 from the small blind. Frangos had Ah Qs in the small blind, and pushed in his entire $468,000. Lindgren called immediately with Ac Kd. Frangos spiked a miracle queen on the turn, but the 10d spiked on the river, giving Lindgren an ace-high straight.
Ngih Tran $1,255,000
Erick Lindgren $1,240,000
Tran burst out of the gate at full speed. He challenged Lindgren with huge opening bets, raising the $20,000 blind to $100,000. "He wants to play big bet poker," Lindgren later said, explaining his strategy for dealing with Tran. "He's a gambler."
Lindgren's adjustment was to slow the game down, making little raises to bait Tran into playing bad hands, resulting in expensive mistakes. "I'll slow right down," he said. "I'll let him take the little pots." Lindgren made small opening raises, only $20,000 or $30,000, and he yielded to Tran's enormous overbets, allowing Tran to quickly accumulate about $300,000.
On the 11th hand of heads-up play, Lindgren picked up Qh 10h on the button, and made his customary raise to $40,000. Tran just called. Flop: Qs 6d 4c. Tran lead out for $105,000, Lindgren raised to $280,000, and Tran moved all in. "Really?" Lindgren asked, incredulously, as if to say "Are you SURE that's what you want to do?" Kind of chiding, I guess. Then he went into the tank.
Lindgren later explained his reasoning on the final hand: considering the preflop action and Tran's previous aggression, there was no way that he had AA, KK, QQ, AK, AQ or KQ.
Lindgren also ruled out Q-J. "And there's no way he bets $100,000 into me with two pair," Lindgren said, so he concluded Tran didn't have two pair or a set. Against any other hands, Lindgren was a favorite. The most dangerous hand that Tran could possibly have was 7-5 or 5-3 with a backdoor flush draw, against which Lindgren would be a 63% favorite.
"Let's go," he said, and called confidently. Tran was visibly distressed as he turned over 7h 5c. But the 3h spiked on the river, giving Tran the straight, and the victory.
In a way, Lindgren's strategy worked perfectly, up to the very last card. He got Tran committed to a weak hand, and made sure that he was the favorite when the big money went in. However, Tran's approach was also effective, in that it nullified many of Lindgren's advantages, and forced him to either surrender lots of chips, or to roll the dice when he would prefer to wait for a better spot. |
