Nam Le Makes Huge Comeback to
Beat Golf Pro in 14-Hour Marathon
Down to 11,000 in chips after losing to a flush in an A-J versus A-J hand, high-stakes gambler Nam Le made a remarkable recovery to win event eight, $300 no-limit hold'em. In a grueling 27-hand heads-up match against golf pro Joe McGowan that lasted until 5:30 a.m., where the lead changed several times and blinds had soared to 15,000-30,000, a deal was finally reached when Le was ahead with roughly 450,000 to 300,000.
Le plays $100-$200 limit side games and has a prior tournament win at Commerce's Holiday Bonus.
This $100,000 event set three records for Grand Slam 2005. It was the longest, it generated the biggest prize pool and it was also the quietest, because the often-noisy crowd of spectators had been ousted and could only peer with their noses pressed against the glass enclosure of the small room that used to be a restaurant.
We started the final table playing with blinds of 2,000-4,000 and 500 antes. There was not a huge disparity in chips, which ranged from 41,000 for Chanveacha Kong to 97,500 for Joe McGowan.
It took one hand to lose our first player. Jorge Pineda, a general contractor second-lowest in chips, opened for 13,000 with A-Q and called when McGowan moved in with pocket jacks. Neither player helped, and Pineda cashed out 10th.
Seven hands later the blinds went to 3,000-6,000, with 1,000 antes. The second hand at this level was made for TV. Tony Grand was all in for 33,000 with pocket aces against McGowan's pocket fives. Then McGowan spiked a 5 on the turn to make 5s full of 8s, only to see a river ace give Grand aces full and double him up.
A few hands later, a chip-count deal was proposed. Le led with 118,000, followed by McGowan, 103,000; Grand, 99,000; Moshe Jonish, 88,000; Kong, 85,000; Lang Lee, 84,000; Anthony 'Big Bad Wolf' Guadagni, 78,000; Sid Jain, 65,000; and Gene Resnick, 53,000. After lengthy and contentious discussion, no deal was reached, and play continued.
On hand 18, McGowan moved into a big lead. He was all in against Le. Both had A-J, but McGowan's ace was a heart and four more hearts hit the board, leaving Le with just 11,000.
It was getting close to 3 a.m. before we lost our second player. The same pocket fives that were unlucky for McGowan proved even worse for Jonish. Lee had A-J and caught an ace on the flop and a jack on the river, and Jonish busted out in ninth place.
A few hands later, Resnick, a retiree with wins at LAPC, Legends and Hollywood Park's National Championship, was all in with Ac-10c. Kong had A-K, spiked a king, and that ended the octogenarian Resnick's chances for another title.
The players now took a short break, with McGowan in the lead with 265,000 and the players still arguing about a deal. It took about 40 minutes to go from seven players to six. Jain, a student, was short-chipped and all in with A-8. Lee busted him with pocket jacks.
A bit of controversy then erupted. Kong raised to 22,000. Le asked how much he had left. Kong said he had 60,000 and pushed them forward, advising Le that he'd call if raised. Tony Grand objected that it was an illegal move, and tournament director Jan Holubowicz agreed and warned Kong. In any event, Le folded.
Guadagni was next to depart. He and Grand both had kings, but Grand's kicker, a jack, was grander than Guadagni's 9.
As 4 a.m. neared, the blinds went to 6,000-12,000 with 2,000 antes, the highest so far in this tournament series.
Eighteen hands later, Kong moved in for 107,000 with A-J. Le, just covering him, called with pocket jacks. No ace came to save Kong, and he cashed out in fifth place.
Grand, meanwhile, couldn't find much to play and his chips were dwindling. He managed to survive when his pocket 8s held up against McGowan's A-Q. But a few hands later he was all in from the small blind with 9-6 against McGowan's 9-7, and the bigger kicker kicked him out in fourth place.
With blinds of 10,000-20,000 and 3,000 antes, McGowan had about 470,000 of the 750,000 chips in play.
Lee went out third on hand 81. He had Kc-Jh to McGowan's Ah-7s, and once again four hearts gave the golf pro and golf club builder a nut flush.
McGowan now had over 600,000 to 140,000 for Le, and the see-saw battle began. Nam immediately doubled through after he paired a king on the flop while McGowan paired a jack. A few hands later, Le left his opponent with 270,000 with A-10 against Q-J. Then McGowan grabbed the lead back when Le had A-10 to McGowan's A-6 and a 6 flopped. Then Nam paid him back, A-J versus A-J, when he made a diamond flush.
Negotiations went back and forth when each had the lead. Finally, with 15,000-30,000 blinds and 5,000 antes, Le took the lead for the final time when he made trip 8s while McGowan missed his straight draw. At last a deal was agreed on and event 8 was finally over.
—Max Shapiro |
