'No-Math, All-Feel' Wins
'I don't understand math, I just go by feel,' Jean-Robert Bellande kept saying during tonight's $2,500 no-limit hold'em championship final table. His feel took first place and $148,000 after a grueling heads-up match with top pro John Phan.
The four-hour final table witnessed dramatic draw-outs, sudden chip-lead changes, personality clashes, unheard-of deal offers, even a penalty. It was a made-for-TV event, and in fact was filmed as part of a poker documentary.
The final table started at 4 a.m., with 2k/4k blinds, 500 antes and 42:25 left. Phan ran riot the first 14 hands. On hand one, with a board of J-A-4, Bicycle Casino host Mo Fathipour had all his 45k in with K-J on a board of A-J-4. Phan, who had checked his A-8, called and Fathipour was out. Ten hands later, with a board of A-7-4-A, Phan again checked an ace, luring sales exec Bobby Firestone to move in with 10-7. Firestone left, and Phan now had the chip lead with over 200k.
He won the next three hands, made his third consecutive kill by knocking out a short-chipped Reza Yama, and had close to 300,000 of the 740,000 chips in play. Two hands later, the other Phan, Young Phan, went out. He moved in with pocket aces on a flop of 7-6-5, only to run into Bellande's set of 7s.
As play continued, Bellande began picking up more chips and talking non-stop. 'Win or lose, you never stop talking,' observed Robert Durant. Retired attorney Grady Talbot departed on hand 33 when he moved in for 51.5k with A-K, losing to highway contractor John Smith's pocket 9s. Jay Johnson, a sales rep, started with the least chips and had survived after being all in three times with the worst hand. He finally had the best hand, K-J against Phan's 7-3, but went bust after a flop of A-7-3.
By the next limit increase, 1.5 antes and 5k/10k blinds, Bellande had the lead with about 240k to 215k for Phan, 200k for Smith and 85k for Durant. Bellande suffered major frustration when he had A-K and lost after Durant, all in with A-6, made two pair. Bellande kept grousing that A-6 was the worst possible hand against A-K. Smith left on hand 58 when he shoved in 80k with pocket 2s and lost to Bellande's pocket 7s. Blinds went to 8k/16k. A few hands later, Durant got a 10-minute penalty when a quarrel broke out over a betting procedure and he said a bad word. It cost him 40k. Phan knocked him out on hand 82 and took a slight lead when he flopped a king to his Kd-9d to beat Durant's Ad-5d. Phan and Bellande now began a series of taunts over possible deals and who was the best player, with Phan offering to play winner-take-all. Bellande declined on the grounds that Phan had a bankroll and he didn't. Phan did get lucky on hand 97. He and Bellande flopped a club flush, but Phan's was bigger, and he now had a 2-1 chip lead. Bellande won some pots and after blinds went to 10k/20k, he was all in with A-K versus Phan's A-2.
He offered an even chop if he got the trophy, but Phan refused, went for the three-outer and lost. With a big lead now, and blinds at 10k-20k with 3k antes, Bellande had a chance to knock Phan out when he flopped a set of jacks. All Phan had was a flush draw, but a straight hit the board for a split. The contest finally ended on hand 108 when Phan moved in for 70.5k with K-9 on a flop of Q-J-4. Bellande had J-9 and the jacks held up.
-Max Shapiro
BIOGRAPHY
Jean-Robert Bellande, of Creole descent, is a former nightclub owner in L.A. He's been playing poker for six years, exclusively for two, on an on and off basis. After losing bankrolls in side games, he decided to concentrate on tournaments, with the help of such great teachers as Billy Duarte and 'Captain' Tom Franklin. His favorite game is no-limit, his least is limit hold'em.
A week ago, he took third place in a $10,000 World Series of Poker circuit event at the Rio. He's had trouble sleeping since then, maybe 10 hours altogether, he figures. That, and the beats, particularly the A-6 versus A-K, bothered him a lot tonight. 'Fortunately, I was in the zone,' he said. During the tournament, he played tribute to Phan's ability to shift gears, but he still can't believe Phan turned down an even-chop deal while facing disaster with that A-2 against A-K hand. |
