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Poker Tournament Results
Legends of Poker - WPT Season 4
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Nader Isahac |
| 1 |
Nader Isahac AKA "THE LEGEND" (Porter Ranch, CA, USA) |
$95,830 |
| 2 |
Joon Lee (Rocky Mount, NC, USA) |
$46,580 |
| 3 |
Tony Grand (Chatsworth, CA, USA) |
$22,895 |
| 4 |
Lance Allred (Hollywood, CA, USA) |
$13,575 |
| 5 |
Moises Lopez (Sylmar, CA, USA) |
$10,650 |
| 6 |
Robert Nehorayan (Sherman Oaks, CA, USA) |
$7,985 |
| 7 |
Jason Levine (Porter Ranch, CA, USA) |
$6,665 |
| 8 |
Thor Hansen (El Segundo, CA, USA) |
$5,325 |
| 9 |
Harvey Goldson (Long Beach, CA, USA) |
$3,995 |
| 10 |
Brian "Frost" Foster (Kansas City, MO, USA) |
$2,930 |
| 11 |
David "The Lion" (Irvine, CA, USA) |
$2,930 |
| 12 |
Adam Nathanson (Los Angeles, CA, USA) |
$2,930 |
| 13 |
Dean Factor (Los Angeles, CA, USA) |
$2,395 |
| 14 |
Michael Zurn (Los Angeles, CA, USA) |
$2,395 |
| 15 |
George Shahrezay (Bell Gardens, CA, USA) |
$2,395 |
| 16 |
Steve Margulies (San Fernando, CA, USA) |
$1,865 |
| 17 |
Lang Lee (Rosemead, CA, USA) |
$1,865 |
| 18 |
Reza Saadieh (San Jose, CA, USA) |
$1,865 |
| 19 |
Jerry Snell AKA "The Lord" (Riverside, CA, USA) |
$1,595 |
| 20 |
David Orchid (Los Angeles, CA, USA) |
$1,595 |
| 21 |
Sang Pham (Fountain Valley, CA, USA) |
$1,595 |
| 22 |
John Roeffer (Costa Mesa, CA, USA) |
$1,595 |
| 23 |
Mike Kaplitz (San Diego, CA, USA) |
$1,595 |
| 24 |
John C. Liu (San Gabriel, CA, USA) |
$1,595 |
| 25 |
Gary Andrews (Studio City, CA, USA) |
$1,595 |
| 26 |
Ho Kim (Los Angeles, CA, USA) |
$1,595 |
| 27 |
Phil Ching (Rohnert Park, CA, USA) |
$1,595 |
| 28 |
Lawrence Grant (Clackamas, OR, USA) |
$1,065 |
| 29 |
Shyan Madiraju (Los Angeles, CA, USA) |
$1,065 |
| 30 |
Pom Moon (Corona, CA, USA) |
$1,065 |
| 31 |
Mike Souza (San Diego, CA, USA) |
$1,065 |
| 32 |
Albert Hanley (Los Angeles, CA, USA) |
$1,065 |
| 33 |
Peter Lee (Northridge, CA, USA) |
$1,065 |
| 34 |
Ramzi Daniel (Los Angeles, CA, USA) |
$1,065 |
| 35 |
Thanh Nguyen (Costa Mesa, CA, USA) |
$1,065 |
| 36 |
James Howe (Gardena, CA, USA) |
$1,065 |
| 37 |
Barry Caraco (Penasco, NM, USA) |
$800 |
| 38 |
Tony Phan (San Diego, CA, USA) |
$800 |
| 39 |
John Quach (Pleasanton, CA, USA) |
$800 |
| 40 |
Jean-Robert Bellande (Las Vegas, NV, USA) |
$800 |
| 41 |
Daniel Mogavero (Las Vegas, NV, USA) |
$800 |
| 42 |
Paramjit Gill (Diamond Bar, CA, USA) |
$800 |
| 43 |
Joe Nekrasz (Sammamish, WA, USA) |
$800 |
| 44 |
Ben Tang (Northridge, CA, USA) |
$800 |
| 45 |
Arin Youssefian AKA "AY" (Glendale, CA, USA) |
$800 |
Tournament Report
Total Beginner Takes #18!
Nader Isahac probably set a world's record tonight by winning a major poker tournament after only one month's experience. Isahac, a pediatric therapist, started learning the game just last month after being urged to do so by his friend, actor and poker enthusiast James Woods. Not only did Isahac win the 18th event of Legends of Poker 2005, $200 no-limit hold'em, outlasting a field of 505 players, but he did so in domineering fashion, arriving at the final table with a huge lead of 151,500 out of the 665,500 chips in play. When the tournament ended with a six-way deal, he had 198,500 chips, which amounted to 46,500 more than the second-place finisher.
This was a $100,000 guarantee event. Considering the size of the field and the 826 rebuys, it was a very fast tournament. The final two tables broke down to one in rapid-fire fashion, and the final table saw only 27 hands played before the deal was made.
Final-table play started with $500 antes and $2,000-$4,000 blinds, with 20:47 left on the clock. The first nine hands saw three all-in moves, but there was only one flop and no confrontations. Then, on the next hand, Brian 'Frost' Foster moved in for about $40,000 with Ah-9h and was called by Jason Levine with A-K. The board came J-5-2-A-10 and it was Foster freeze-out time as the Kansas City pro cashed out 10th.
The two hands were identical two deals later when there was another all in. This time Harvey Goldson, an executive who just got engaged, opened for $16,000 with A-9, and Lance Allred engaged him in combat with A-K. When the flop came A-7-3, Goldson bet his last $14,000. Allred had no difficulty calling with his better kicker. An 8-3 came and Goldson cashed out in ninth place.
Just two hands later another player departed. With blinds now at $3,000-$6,000 with $1,000 antes, Thor Hansen moved in with A-Q. After long deliberation, Isahac finally made a good call and turned up two sixes. 'A crap shoot,' Hanson remarked. It was, and the pro from Norway crapped out after a 6 flopped, leaving seven players.
On hand 20, Isahac picked up a lot of chips when Levine raised to $25,000, then folded when Isahac moved in. When the players returned from the next break the blinds were $4,000-$8,000 with $1,500 antes. Isahac's lead had now soared to about $240,000 while Robert Neholayan was periously low with $18,000, but after doubling through on one hand with pocket threes and taking the blinds and antes on another when he moved in and wasn't called, he recovered to about $60,000.
Six hands into the new level, Levine raised all in for another $50,000 and was called by Joon Lee. Levine had A-2, Joon had A-10, and for third time out of four all-in confrontations, we had both players holding an ace and a kicker. As happened the other two times, the higher kicker prevailed. The board came A-9-8-4-Q, and Levine, a Hollywood ad exec with a win in an American Poker Classic event, finished seventh.
A chip count was suggested and then agreed to. Isahac, with $198,500, was declared the winner. Joon Lee finished second with $152,000. Tony Grand, a very familiar face at final tables, was third with $91,000. Moises Lopez, a plumber, had $77,500 and got fourth. Allred, making his ninth final table in the past 12 months, earned fifth with $63,500. And Nehorayan, who is in the construction business, finished sixth with $58,500.
-Max Shapiro
BIOGRAPHY
For the past 12 years, Nader Isahac has been a pediatrics respiratory therapist, which is a lot longer than he has been a poker player. He had become friends with James Woods when both of them were playing blackjack in Las Vegas. Woods urged his friend to give up blackjack for poker, and last month Isahac bought a basic hold'em book and began studying. Since then, Isahac has played some small tournaments at Commerce, making a final table in his first or second try, but tonight was his first major event.
Woods has been advising Isahac, basically telling him to read books (Tom McEvoy and T.J. Cloutier's book on tournament poker in particular) and to visit Woods'own online site, HollywoodPoker.com. Tonight he steadily moved up in chip position, his biggest pot coming when he won a four-way pot with A-9 with about 12 tables left. Isahac, who said that his wife Rosalie was his inspiration, also allowed that he had more than his share of luck this evening.
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Tue, Nov 17, 2009 - 12:00am CST
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