Bread Salesman Gets the Bread
Entering only his third poker tournament, John Montano, a bread salesman, played a patient, steady game, went on a rush in the final stages, and took down the seventh event of 2006 Winnin' o' the Green, $300 limit hold'em. It looked like it might be a quick night when four players went out in 14 hands. But the final table would then drag on for 147 more hands, until nearly 3:30 a.m. For once there was no deal because runner-up Seth Nordon, a pro player who held the lead for most of the final table, wanted to play it out.
Final table opening blinds were 1,000-1,500 with 1,500-3,000 limits and 38 minutes left. Chip leader, with 53,000, was Victorville businessman Hosni 'Hoss' Bondargham, closely followed by Nordon with 46,500. Lowest chipped, with 7,000, was Hong Nguyen, a housewife. She committed herself on hand eight by raising from the small blind with A-J, then went all in when the board showed 10-9-5-4. Montano had Q-10 and hit a third 10 to knock Nguyen out in 10th place.
Two hands later, the pot was capped pre-flop and Le Kim Banh went all in. With pocket jacks, he found himself against Nordon's pocket queens. The board came 9-3-2-4-9. Banh, a furniture manufacturer, finished ninth, while Nordon took the chip lead.
Two hands later, we lost a third player. Oscar Cansino, a carpenter, was all in with K-Q, couldn't hit and lost to a pair of sixes.
By hand 14, we were down to six. This time Michael Kaul, who is in sales, who was all in with K-9 against Nordon's Kh-Jh. 'Maybe I can suck out this time, Kaul said hopefully. Not tonight. The board came K-10-3-8-5, and Kaul finished seventh. After pulling in his chips, Nordon's count had climbed to close to 100,000.
A few hands later, limits went to 2,000-4,000. At this point, an approximate count showed Nordon still leading with 92,000, followed by Montano, 50,000; Mark Fahim, 42,000; Richard Procida, 37,000; Bondargham, 30,000; and Beau Sundberg, 16,000.
Procida lost a lot of chips on hand 40. The pot was three-bet before the flop. Procida had K-J, Nordon, A-Q. With a board of Q-8-4-8, Procida tried a bet. Nordon raised all in and then made two pair with a river ace. A few hands later, the Whittier attorney lost his last chips holding Kh-7d. With a board of 9s-4h-2h-Ah, Procida bet, hoping to hit his nut flush, and Nordon raised him all in holding A-Q. Also in the pot was Fahim, who had flopped a set of 9s. 'I'm done, Procida said when a 3c hit the river. He finished sixth as Fahim hauled in the pot.
Two hands later, Sundberg departed. The poker dealer went all in with pocket treys, losing when Nordon, with 10h-9h, flopped a10.
A chip count was called for. It was Nordon, 82,000; Montano, 76,000; Fahim, 69,000; Bondargham, 43,000. The payouts were calculated, but Nordon said no. As play went on, Bondargham caught up, first by making quad kings, later by knocking out Fahim. The pot was raised pre-flop, and Fahim, a mortgage banker, was all in on the flop with pocket 6s. 'No 9 or 10,' he pleaded. His prayers were ignored as a 9 turned, and he finished fourth.
We were now at hand 72, and just beginning. All three players had plenty of chips, with Montano the lowest. When limits went to 4,000-8,000, Montano still trailed with 50,000 to 112,000 for Nordon and 108,000 for Bondargham. Montano later made a straight and started to play catch-up. It wasn't until hand 131, after limits went to 6,000-12,000, that it got heads-up. With a board of 10-8-4-2, Bondargham bet all in with A-8 and lost to Nordon's J-10. Nordon now had about 150,000 to 120,000 for Montano. A few hands later, Montano took a slight lead when he made four jacks. On hand 152, Nordon was down to 40,000 when his paired ace lost to Montano's aces-up. Nordon survived one all-in, finally putting his last chip with 10-5. Montano, with only 8-6, flopped a 6 and the title was his. -Max Shapiro
BIOGRAPHY
John Montano has been a bread salesman for Wonder Bread and Hostess for 11 years. He's been playing poker for only two. Most of his play thus far has been in limit hold'em games, $6-$12 and $8-$16. This is only his third tournament. He won one other, a $50 headhunter event at the Bike. Limit hold'em is all he plays because he has no experience playing no-limit.
Tonight he played what he described as a 'patient and relaxed' game. There were a couple of wild players at the final table, but Montano refused to get tied up in their action, preferring to play the waiting game. 'If the cards come, they come. If they don't, they don't' is his philosophy. 'I'm comfortable just playing my own game.' Tonight he was in average position throughout most of the tournament and the final table. At one point at the final table he got rather low, then won three or four hands in a row, and kept going from there. Now that he has a big tournament win under his belt, he plans to play more of them. But only limit.
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