11-12.........................$2,817
13-15.........................$2,465
16-18..........................$2,113
MALE NURSE FROM
TAMPA WIN TAG TEAM EVENT
Two friends from Tampa, Florida took down the $500 no-limit tag team event, the 27th tourney of 2006 LAPC, and the final one before the six-day, $10,000 championship event. Steve Diamantas is a pro player with a win at the Bellagio Five Diamond. His partner for the evening was Barry Clancy, a registered nurse who, along with Diamantas, has several wins at the Seminole Hard Rock in Tampa.
Their final team opponents were Super Mario Esquerra, who has best all-arounds at virtually every casino he has played at, and Jon LeMone, a small business owner from El Paso, Texas.
This event had a strange ending. With only a few players left at the final table, and the normal cut-off time of 3:30 a.m. approaching, tournament director Cheri Dokken allowed them to play until 5 a.m. With that new deadline nearing, the remaining two teams, fairly even in chips, agreed that after 5 a.m. they would just keep going all-in until one team busted. But, moments before 5 O' clock, with a board of Ah-Js-9h-Qh, Esquerra moved in with a Jh-8s flush draw. Diamantes called with Qs-8d with slightly more chips and the paired queens held up.
This was 's first tag team tournament. It was structured so that each team member rotated at every new level. Blinds started at 1,500-3,000 with 16:48 left. Diamantas/Clancy had the chip lead with 202,500. At the other end, Mario Fahimivad and Roland Viola had only 10,000, and were gone in an eye-blink.
With blinds at 4,000-8,000, Anthony Reategui, who was making his third final table, tried to steal the blinds by moving in from the cut-off seat for 40,000 with only 10d-9h. Daniel Cordi, teamed with his father, Joseph Cordi, called with pocket 10s. Four hearts gave Reategui a miracle flush and his team survived.
The team of Kirby Rogers and Chris Overgard went overboard when Esquerra put Overgard all in with an 80,000 raise. Super 's A-K prevailed against As-Js.
With blinds of 3,000-6,000, and 1,000 antes, the Diamantas/Clancy team remained chip leader with 173,000.
Poker player Tony Nguyen and his teammate, Joey Clapper, finished eighth. On hand 36, with his team down to 30,000 and just two away from the blinds, Nguyen moved in with K-5. Casey Smith had an easy call from the button with A-Q, and an all-rag board changed nothing. Smith and teammate Andy Richards are both L.A.-area students studying communications and business administration, respectively.
Joseph Cordi, a retiree, and his son, Daniel, comprised another team. Joseph was playing when his team ended seventh two hands later. Clancy opened for 24,000 and Cordi moved in for 25,000 more with K-9. Clancy had A-2, and father and son were out of business when a flop of 5-4-3 gave the Clancy/Diamantes team a straight.
Moving right along, another team went out two hands later. Adam Spiegelberg is a Vegas pro with various final tables, and his cohort, Joe Tehan, won the $300 no-limit, rebuy event earlier here. Spiegelberg lost his 's last 40,000 in a hand against Ryan Hughes, a Phoenix pro and partner of Reategui.
When blinds went to 4,000-8,000 with 1,000 antes, Richards sat down to a lead his team now enjoyed of 230,000. Diamantes returned to 195,000; while Esquerra had 170,000; Reategui 95,000, and David Baker, teamed with fellow Texas pro Cornel Cimpan, was down to 30,000.
A big pot developed on hand 51. Esquerra opened for 20,000 and was called by Richards and Reategui. On a flop of 10h8s-6s, Reategui moved in for 68,000 with J-9 and Richards, with a Qs-Js flush draw, called. Esquerra had to fold, but his pocket 7s would have won a big pot, as Richard's queen-high knocked out the Reategui/Hughes team.
The Texas team finished fourth. Richards raised with 8-6 to put Baker all in. Baker had K-4 and lost when an 8 flopped. As play went on, Diamentes/Clancy regained the lead and still had it when blinds went to 5,000-10,000. Clancy, now in the seat, began putting pressure on with a lot of raises. Play went on at length until hand 87, after blinds went to 6,000-12,000 with 2,000 antes and a new team came in. On hand 87, Richards opened for 67,000 with A-8 and got called by Super Mario with As-10s. The board came 7-5-3-K-J, and 's bigger kicker got the tag team event heads-up.
It was very close, something like 370,000 for Esquerra/LeMone to 350,000 for Diamantes/Clancy. The two teams decided to chop the money even up and play for 8,000 and the two horses. Ten hands went by with D/C now holding a slight edge oveer E/L. As 5 a.m. neared, they made their showdown agreement. But, moments before that happened, Esquerra moved in, missed his flush draw, and this tag team event was over. Max Shapiro |
