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"David" Gets Record Payout
Event number three of Legends of Poker 2005, which offered a $150,000 guarantee, attracted 379 players who made 467 rebuys and generated a prize pool of $253,800, the largest for any non-championship event in the 11-year history of Legends. The starting time for Legends was moved up three hours to 4:15 p.m. this year, and this new record should finally end the long-held concern that afternoon starts would hurt attendance. The truth is sinking in that very few poker players have "jobs" or at least they don't let their jobs interfere with their poker playing.
Even so, this event dragged on to nearly 4 a.m., and there were still four players left when they agreed on a chip-count deal. The winner declined to give his full name, or have his photo taken or offer any biographical details. "Just call me David," he said. "Or a Bicycle Casino player." OK, let's just call him David.
The final table began with $300 antes and blinds of $1,000-$2,000, 8:11 remaining at level 13. Only nine players made it there after Noel Castro busted out at one second table just as Jimmy Tran went broke at the other. Castro finished 11th and Tran 10th.
Veteran player Thomas Chung, who has two World Series bracelets, arrived with a big lead of $167,400 in chips. At the other end was Billy Juleff, who started by far the lowest with only $3,300. He survived once by tripling up on the second hand, but then only managed to get to hand five.
Blinds were now $1,500-$3,000 with $500 antes. Juleff was in the big blind when Chung opened for $10,000. Juleff added another $1,000 and went all in. He had 10h-8h to Ad-8d for Chung and finished ninth when the board showed Q-5-4-5-6.
Meanwhile, at the outset of the final table, pro player Ted Nguyen had let slip a bad word and was hit with a mandatory 10-minute penalty, final table or not. When he finally got to sit down again, it wasn't for long. He was just in time for his big blind on hand eight. David raised with A-10 and Nguyen went all in with Q-8. Dan rivered an ace while Nguyen missed everything and finished a very dejected eighth.
Mehdi Sadeghian was down to $12,000 and in the small blind when David put him all in. Sadeghian had a strong holding, but his Ac-Qc was still a big dog against David's A-K. The highest card to hit the board was a 7, and Sadeghian cashed out in seventh place.
Chung, meanwhile, was playing very cautiously, getting involved in very few hands and protecting his lead. On hand 24 he finally made a small raise. " the first hand you've played in the last 25," David snorted, exaggerating only slightly. "You must have pocket rockets," he added as he folded.
Limits now went to $2,000-$4,000, with $500 antes. The key hand of the night came down on the 30th deal when everything turned around. Chung had only 9-7, but perhaps trying to take advantage of his tight image, kept betting as the board came A-10-4-J-A. David kept calling with A-8, won a huge pot and now had roughly $160,000 while Chung was down to around $85,000. "I knew you had nothing,"David gloated. "I just let you bet."
We lost our next player on the 38th deal. After Chris Overgard raised to $17,000, Dan Barrett announced he was going to put him all in. He hadn't seen that David still had cards, and said he would have just called had he noticed, but the declaration stood. Overgard called for a total of $49,500 and turned up A-K. Barrett had pocket queens. The ladies held up when the board came J-5-3-3-7, and Barrett moved into second place in chip standings.
Six hands later, Alex Aras, on the button, went all in for $4,500. "The only good cards I got all night," he announced, turning up A-J. They weren't good enough, though. David, calling from the small blind, had only 8-7, but his hand turned into a straight when the board came 6-5-2-9-2. Aras settled for fifth place and play resumed as David kept asking the players to see what the chip-count numbers would be.
After seven more hands, the others agreed. David had the lead with $168,000 while Barrett was second with $118,000; Chung had $81,000; and Steve Margulies was fourth with $56,000. They agreed to a deal, and "Just call me David" was now "Just call me rich.? -Max Shapiro |
