Hairdresser Wins in 5 Hands!
In a movie called "Escape from Alcatraz," Clint Eastwood played a
convict. While conversing with another inmate, he was asked how his childhood
was. "Short," Eastwood responded.
The same goes for the fourth event of 2006 Winnin' o' the Green, $200 no-limit
hold'em.
Short, very short. Five hands, to be precise.
After Huy Duc Pham was knocked out in eighth place, the seven remaining players
made a chip count deal. Brandon Waggoner, a Beverly Hills hairdresser who's
been playing poker only two years, had the most chips and was declared the winner.
He had 252,000 checks, followed by David Davidson, 241,000; John Hoang, 204,000;
Gavin Griffin, 122,500; Kevin Gugliotta, 110,500; Hai Tran, 82,000; and Jose
Carlos, 81,000.
The chip count calculations came to $37,310 for Waggoner; $35,920 for Davidson;
$31,245 for Hoang; $20,940 for Griffin; $19,425 for Gugliotta; $15,825 for Tran;
and $15,700 for Carlos. After some negotiations, the larger money winners gave
up some cash, and the deal was made.
Davidson, who came in second, was playing his first tournament ever. He describes
himself as recently becoming a "sort of a pro," adding that "I
studied enough."
Hoang, who finished third, is as admired for his agreeable personality as much
as for his many poker accomplishments. Among his numerous cash-ins are no-limit
wins at Winnin' o the Green, National Championship of Poker and Cal State. His
biggest payday came when he collected $222,187 for a win at the Jack Binion
World Poker Open. Griffin earned $270,420 for winning the $3,000 pot-limit hold'em
event at the 2004 WSOP. Gugliotta is a carpenter, Carlos a retired CPA, and
Tran has long been a familiar face in local tournaments.
Only nine players made it to the final table after two players busted out at
the same time. At one table, Ireneo Borbon started with J-10. He missed an open-end
straight draw while Griffin, who went in with A-10, hit a gut-shot straight
to leave Jerome in 11th.place, paying $2,730. At the other table, David Jerome
ended up 10th when he moved in with A-3. Waggoner had 6-5 and knocked Jerome
out when a 6 turned. Jerome collected $2,730 for 10th.
As soon as the nine finalists sat down, a chip count was called for. But after
the payouts were announced, there was an objection and play commenced.
Action started with antes of 2,000 and blinds of 5,000-10,000, with 21:24 left
on the clock.
Virtually all the action came on the third hand, and there was plenty of it
to go around. First, Frank Rite was two away from the big blind with 6,000 left,
when he decided to move in with A-4. Hoang then raised to 50,000. Carlos was
next. He called all in for 27,000. Then, Griffin moved in for over 150,000.
Finally, Hoang, who had Griffin covered, called.
Carlos turned up pocket jacks while Hoang and Griffin both showed A-K. When
the board came 9-7-3-3-6, the jacks had held up, and Carlos, hauling in the
main pot, more than tripled up. Hoang and Griffin split the side pot. And Rite,
a nutritionist and pro player whose numerous cash-outs include wins at the Mini
Series of Poker, Legends and the Hustler's Grand Slam, was out in ninth place,
which paid $3,285.
Two hands later, Waggoner moved in from the small blind holding Qc-3c. Pham
was in the 10,000 big blind holding 7-5, and decided to call and go all in for
22,000. He took the lead when the flop came A-7-2. The turn card was a 4. Then
Waggoner yelled, "Send it!" when a river queen gave him a winner.
Eighth spot was worth $4,370.
A second chip count was called for, and this time everyone agreed. The evening
was over, and the hairdresser took home his trophy.
Tomorrow should be an interesting event. A Mexican poker event, starting at
noon, will be offered for the first time at Winnin' o' the Green. Then, at 4:15,
will be the second event of the day, the XTRA Sports 25K Getaway No-Limit Hold'em
tourney
-Max Shapiro
BIOGRAPHY
Brandon Waggoner recently sold the four "Hair Outlaws" hairdressing
shops he owned, along with a school. He now works for Paramount Studios, doing
hairdressing work for "Charmed," a TV show about witches. He's only
been playing poker for two years, and turned pro a year ago. He had been pretty
much familiar only with no-limit hold'em and wanted to be an all-around player,
so he took the unusual step of paying $600 to go to dealer's school to get a
feel for all games. Thus far he's had 19 local cashes, two at the WSOP, and
several wins at the Mirage's daily tournaments. His biggest payday was $225,000
for finishing fourth in a WPT Circuit event in Atlantic City. He had been playing
$15-$30 hold'em side games, but now plays only tournaments.
He describes his play as 75 percent aggressive. "I like to mix it up,"
he adds. Tonight he had a rough time in early going. He made four rebuys before
the first break, and was down to $200 at one point. The key to his recovery
was cracking aces, which he did five times by making sets with smaller pairs.
(Could be a world's record.) Waggoner has been playing at least one major tournament
a month, and with this win plans to step up his schedule.
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