Powered by Two Incredible Draw-Outs,
Tony Abesamis Roars to No-Limit Win
Tony Abesamis was getting great cards all along at the final table, but what put him over the top were two huge draw-outs, once when his A-4 turned into a straight to beat A-J, the second time when he hit a third 7 to outrun pocket queens.
When he got heads-up with Daniel Rinehart, who's only been playing hold'em for a year, he was ahead by 199,000 chips to 93,000. They made a chip-count deal, $58,382 for Abesamis, $46,428 for Rinehart and played for $3,000, which Abesmis won shortly after to nail down his win in event 11 of Cal State 2005, $1,000 no-limit hold'em. Abesamis, a pro, placed 40th in this year's WSOP main event and 36th the year before.
Final-table blinds were $500-$1,000 with $200 antes, 43:56 left. Lakers co-owner Frank Mariani led with 78,500 chips. It seemed that Mariani, who won an event at Legends last month, might still be celebrating because he wasn't around when action started, but he was just stuck in traffic and missed only one hand. He didn't appear too interested in early action, but got going later after somebody brought in a bottle of wine, which he shared with the table.
After several all-ins and double-throughs, we lost our first player on hand 12 when Sang Pham, with J-10, flopped a jack but couldn't catch Rod Fani's pocket queens. Pham got $3,025 for 10th.
Pro player Ken Goldstein, all in with K-4 against Mariani's K-6, got off with a chop when the board came K-Q-5-7-9, but a few hands later Mariani didn't let him get away. Goldstein moved in for 2,600 with pocket treys. Mariani re-raised with Ah-3h, flopped an ace and then made a flush for good measure. Goldstein's ninth-place paid $3,785..
On hand 33, Charles Hickox Jr., a driver, moved in for 5,300 with pocket queens. 'Incredible!' he exclaimed, as Abesamis re-raised all in for 53,000 from the small blind and then turned up pocket kings for the second time at the table. Three 8s hit the board to give Abesamis a bigger full house, and Hickox drove off in eighth place, which paid $4,730
David Daneshgar, who started lowest-chipped, had moved all in numerous times, once doubling up, mostly taking blinds and antes, soon after moved into contention when he knocked out Andy Ton. On hand 41, Daneshgar opened for 5,000 with A-Q. Ton, with A-10, moved in for about 20,000, one chip less than Daneshgar had. The board came A-5-3-8-K, and Ton, a contractor, got $5,675 for seventh place.
At the break, Mariani still had the lead with about 80,000, with Abesamis now not far behind with about 65,000.
Blinds moved up to $800-$1,600 with the same $200 antes. On the first hand, Fani had a close call. He was all in from the cut-off seat for about 20,000 and got a call from Daniel Rinehart, on the button with pocket 7s.Fani, one card away from elimination when the board showed A-8-5-4, was saved by a river queen.
Rinehart got his chips back, and more, three hands later. In three-way action, we saw a flop of A-4-3. Abesamis took a stab at the pot with a bet of 2,500. Bad timing. Mariani, with Ah-3h, had flopped two pair and raised 10,000. Rinehart, with A-4, had a bigger two pair He moved in, and Mariani did too. The bigger two pair held up, and Mariani, handing over 27,500, lost the lead, falling behind Abesamis.
Another 26 hands went by before we lost another player. Nicholas Finamore, a Seattle poker room supervisor with numerous final-table finishes, was on the button when he moved in for 14,600 with K-Q. Abesamis, in the big blind, had a pretty automatic call with A-10. The board came J-4-2-7-10, and after three hours, half the field was gone. Sixth place paid $6,620.
When blinds went to $1,000-$2,000 with $300 antes, Abesamis led with about 88,000, while Rinehart and Daneshgar were in the 60,000 range.
Fani, a student and no-limit cash game player, moved in on hand 116 for about 12,000 with 7c-6c. Abesamis called with pocket fives. This time no river card came to rescue him, and Fani took home $7,565 for fifth.
Let's jump about 50 hands further now, with blinds moving up twice, to $1,500-$3,000 with $300 antes. Four are still left. As chips moved back and forth, three players had about 80,000 at one point, and Mariani 70,000. Now Daneshgar had the lead, and Abesamis made the first of his incredible draw-outs. Looking at one card, an ace, he moved in. Daneshgar was well ahead when he called with As-Js, because Abesamis' other card was an offsuit 4. The board came 9-8-2-5, and then a river trey gave Abesamis a wheel. He now had about 100,000, while Daneshgar was down to 22,000.
Mariani, meanwhile, had been going all in five times in 16 hands without a call. Then, on hand 180, Abesamis moved in for 94,000 with 7-7 and Mariani moved in for 70,000 with Q-Q. A 7 turned to stun onlookers and leave Mariani in fourth place, paying $11,350, while Abesamis took a huge lead of about 170,000.
By the time blinds went to $2,000-$4,000 and $500 antes, Daneshgar,a capital venturist with a win at Grand Slam, a chop at LAPC and a second in the Barcelona heads-up championship, had managed to double up. But after losing with Kd-4d to Rinehart's Ah-10, he was down to 2,500. That went in on the next hand. He had K-6 while Abesamis, with 9-8, flopped trip 9s. Third paid $17,780.
The two finalists made their deal. Finally, well past five hours and 200 hands, Abesamis put Rinehart away and got the trophy when he had A-9 to K-J and caught an unnecessary 9. —Max Shapiro
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