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Engineer Ali Wins Event 15
Ali Lari, a civil engineer with modest tournament experience, was the eventual winner of Winnin' o' the Green's event 15, $300 limit hold'em. For an extended period, the four finalists were fairly even in chips, with each leading at one point. Three of the players wanted a chip-count deal, but James Siebert, a project manager, repeatedly said no. Finally, Siebert went broke and a deal was made. Lari, who had moved ahead after a couple of draw-out hands, had 47k in chips. Sang Tran, a poker dealer at Ocean's 11, had 47.5k, and Chung Ng, a commercial pilot for Northwest Airlines, had 17k.
Final table play began with 1k/2k limits and 22:33 left. On hand nine, car salesman Henry Kaptanjian was all in with A-J. Siebert was in the big blind with just 7-3, but when a trey flopped we had lost our first player. After limits went to 2k/4k, Rusty Mandap, a host at Hawaiian Gardens, said'Take it,' as he tossed in his last chip when Ng bet into a board of 9-9-6-10. All Mandap had was A-Q and Ng did'take it' with pocket aces. One hand later, Eric Prince went all in for his last 3k with pocket 10s. 'I need luck,' he said, as Siebert showed pocket queens. No luck, and Prince became a pauper in chips, cashing out eighth.
Eric Arreca was making his second final table today, having finished 10th in the two-day event that started Wednesday. Both times the young pro started perilously low-chipped, but now he hung on by surviving a couple of all all-ins. He got as far as hand 24. Holding pocket 9s, he called all in with the best hand when Siebert bet on a board of Q-7c-6c-4. Siebert had Jc-5c, and a river 8c gave him his flush. Two hands later, Ng raised with pocket 9s. Jeff Rasmussen called all in with pocket kings and Tran put in his 4k with As-Q. The flop and turn were all spades, and Tran's nut flush left Rasmussen in 6th place.
Charles Chatterton, who is in the transport business, obviously hadn't had much poker experience, because he repeatedly had to ask what the bet was. Still, after starting with just 4,500 chips, he was still around. On hand 27, the board showed J-10-4-7, and Chatterton bet out with pocket 9s. Ng raised. 'Let's go all in. You have the best hand,' Ng said, not exactly telling the truth. Chatterton hesitated, finally called and lost to Ng's K-J. With no big disparity in chips, an even chop was proposed and nixed by Siebert. Hand 38 was a turning point for Lari. Holding A-9, he bet all in on a flop of Q-9-6. He was about a 4-1 underdog to Siebert, who held Q-8. An ace turned, and Siebert took a hit, but still declined a chop. Three hands later, Lari again had the worst of it against Siebert. He had J-9 and Siebert had A-8 with the board showing A-9-2-Q. A river 9 gave Lari trips, and Siebert was now down to 7k.
Limits went to 3k/6k, with hand 49 being the last. Siebert's tormentor was the one who finally finished him. This time Lari had the better hand: A-6 versus Js-8s. Nobody caught, Siebert missed his flush draw, and Lari's ace-high left him in fourth place. A quick chip-count deal ended the evening. -Max Shapiro
BIOGRAPHY
Ali Lari, originally from Iran, is employed as a civil engineer geologist with the state of California. He's been playing poker for some 40 years, and tournaments for less than two years. He now divides his time about equally between tournaments, which he plays about once a month, and cash games, $500 no-limit being his side game of choice. In either case, hold'em is all he plays, and his preference is no-limit.
Although he's won about three or four small tournaments, tonight's win was his biggest cash-in to date. Lari, describing himself as a selective player, said he was up and down throughout this event, but luck eventually made the difference. In any case, Lari was satisfied that he played well tonight, and with his first good win under his belt, he may step up his tournament schedule.
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