Poker Tournament Results

Big Poker Oktober

An Tran

Tournament Report

An Tran An Tran Shows Who's Boss! By Max Shapiro Veteran professional An "The Boss" Tran added another win to his resume sheet by beating a field of 462 players to capture the first event of Big Poker Oktober 2000, $50 limit hold'em. It took him just a couple of hands to close out the festivities once he got heads up with his final opponent, a swimming pool salesman named Hal Newell. With limits doubling every 20 minutes, this was a wild and wooly tournament where players were forced to play fast to have any hope of getting in the money. And it really was a "fast" tournament. The final table assembled at the early hour of 12:30 a.m., and an hour later it was all over. Dr. Andy Lin, vice president of an engineering and environmental company, did the honors to set the last table. His A-K made for a classic match-up against Ferdie Arreca's pair of fives. An ace turned and Arreca was turned loose. With limits at a punishing $5,000­$10,000, a very short-stacked Ken Ha was all in for $4,300 in the small blind on the first hand. With only 7­5 of spades, he faced the A­J held by Lin, who had raised out the rest of the players. The flop was J­6­7, and then two running cards gave Ha a winning straight. A few hands later, it was Young Phan's turn to risk his chips. After sheet metal construction worker Stanley Serwinski raised, Phan called for his last $7,300. The cards were turned up and Phan was a big dog with K­J off against K­Q suited. But the personable Phan stayed alive by making two pair. "Lots of skill in this game, I'm telling you, man," he remarked. The next hand had the crowd of onlookers gasping. First, Ha raised. Then Tinnakon Sumarnkant, a printer originally from Thailand, called all in for $1,800. Next, An Tran made a hesitant call. Then Gary Gallerie, a poker dealer at the Bicycle Casino, put in his $10,000. And finally, with so much in the pot, Serwinski called with a very marginal K­4 suited. The flop came 8­6­6 with two diamonds. Ha, with A­10, bet out. An Tran, with A­J, called, and then Serwinski, with a flush draw, raised all in for another $1,700. The turn brought a nine and was checked down, and another eight came on the river. The huge pot was split by An Tran and Ha, each holding an ace to go with the two pair on board. Sumarnkant, who had K­J, finished ninth. Serwinski, with more chips, made it to the eighth slot. When the limits jumped to $10,000­$20,000, Ha, in the big blind, could last but one hand. After Phan limped, Newell raised with K­8 of clubs and Ha, with pocket sixes, re-raised all in for $26,500 total. Young had both players covered, but decided he'd rather try to move up a notch than risk getting crippled, and mucked his Q­J of diamonds. It was the right decision, because Newell caught an eight on the flop and another on the river to send Ha home. The field then narrowed to five when poker dealer Gallerie had to post his last $4,800 in the big blind holding only J­3 of hearts and lost when Phan's A­7 offsuit held up. At that point, Newell held the lead with $71,000, followed by An Tran with $58,000. Luc Ngo, a full-time side-game player, had $45,600, Phan had $30,400 and Lin trailed with $25,500. After making a deal for part of the prize pool, the finalists played it out for the rest. Luc then had the bad luck to raise with Q­J of diamonds and run head-on into An Tran's pocket aces. The board helped no one, and when the smoke had cleared, An Tran had all of Ngo's chips and the lead He extended it when he called Newell's re-raise, then forced him to fold by betting into a flop of A­K­8. The end was nearing. With limits now at a sky-high $20,000­$40,000, Lin had to put up his last $10,500 in the big blind. Newell was a huge favorite with A­Q of clubs against Q­2 of spades. The flop showed A­10­J with two spades, raising Lin's hopes, but the flush eluded him and it was now heads-up with An Tran enjoying close to a 3­1 advantage. On the last hand, Newell popped it with 5­4 and An Tran came back with a re-raise holding A­7. The board came 2­6­5, putting Newell in the lead with a pair of fives, and he bet his last $1,500. But a nine and then an eight gave An Tran a straight to drown the swimming pool salesman and end event number one. Biography - An Tran An Tran, a native of Vietnam, has numerous tournament victories, notably a World Series bracelet in pot-limit Omaha. "I made a lot of moves in this tournament," An Tran said after his win. "With such high blinds, you have no choice. "When you're low, you have to gamble. When you have a lot of chips, you can let the players break each other." Other major accomplishments include two Legends and five Diamond Jim Brady titles, a Hall of Fame win in limit hold'em, and a best all-around title at the Four Queens in 1994.