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Ben Chung Slows and Wins
In the first event of this year's Winnin'o'the Green, Ben Chung, manager of a ReMax realty office, had the chip lead at one point, but blew off chips with overly aggressive play and finished a disappointing eighth. He learned his lesson and played a much more relaxed game in tonight' all-around points play-off. The strategy paid off because he had the chip lead and got the win when a five-way chip-count deal ended the evening and WOG 2005.
Blinds at the final table in this $50,000-added event started at 300/600 with 100 antes and 2:47 left. Vinny Landrum, short-chipped, moved all in four times in the first five hands. The only one to look him up was George Marlowe, after blinds had moved to 500/1000. Marlowe had the best hand, Ad-10d versus K-J, until a jack turned to leave him in 10th place. Landrum is a pro player who took third in a $15,000 WPT event at the Bellagio.
A much worse draw-out finished Alex Papachatzakis on hand 15. He called all in with pocket 9s after Thu Nguyen moved in with pocket 6s. Nguyen flopped a set and we were down to eight.
On hand 35, plumbing contractor Jim White was left with 1.5k after Chung moved in with A-J. White called for 10.4k with K-9 and lost to Chung' two pair. Two hands later White moved in with A-8. Dien Ly called and took his last chips with A-10. Then, on hand 44, Thu Nguyen, a chemical technician, moved in for 6.7k with Q-10. Ly called with pocket 7s and Sirous Baghchehsaraie with A-K. After the board came 10-9-9-Q-3, Nguyen tripled up with his paired queen and left both his opponents short-chipped. Ly put in his last 3.5k two hands later with A-6 suited. John Mikaelian, a gambler, called with A-Q, flopped a queen, and Ly ended up seventh.
A few hands later, Baghchehsaraie made a seemingly unusual move when he called blind under the gun with his last few chips. It made sense after he explained that he was doing it for the pot odds, which were a lot greater than had he waited to go all in the next hand on his big blind. In any event, it worked. He had only 9-5, but paired his 9 to beat Chung and Mikaelian, and he continued to move up after that.
Karlo Gharabegian, an editor at a local TV station who won the $200 no-limit event, started as chip leader and had been playing very carefully. On the next deal he moved in for the third time, virtually the only hands he had played. His opponents, possibly noting how selective he was, folded after all of his raises.
A chip count was now taken as blinds went to 2k/4k with 500 antes. Chung led with 35k, followed by Gharabegian, 26k; Landrum, 21.5k; Baghchehsaraie, 12k; Mikaelian, 9k; and Nguyen, 6.5k.
On the first hand at the new level, Nguyen moved in with Q-8. Baghchehsaraie called with A-3 and was in bad shape when Gharabegian also called and turned up A-10. But Sirous got lucky when a board of Q-5-2-J-4 gave him a wheel, as Nguyen cashed out sixth. Another chip count was taken, with Sirous now in third place and Gharabegian fourth, and the final deal of WOG 2005 was made. -Max Shapiro
BIOGRAPHY Ben Chung, who works out of the ReMax office in Hancock Park, has been a realtor for three years. He' been playing poker for two, and concentrating mainly on tournaments. Besides his first and eighth-place finishes in this year' Winnin'o'the Green, he also has final tables in no-limit hold'em at America' Poker Classic and Ho Ho Hold'em, along with one in no-limit Omaha hi-lo at the Calgary Classic. His game of choice is no-limit hold'em because it requires 'a lot more thinking.'
He describes himself as a fairly aggressive player. 'sometimes more aggressive than I should be,'he added, thinking of WOG' first event. He said that tonight he felt a lot more relaxed and was able to lay down a lot of good hands. Early in the tournament he found himself in trouble twice, but was able to make comebacks each time.
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