David Tran Wins in 40 Hands
Tonight’s $200 no-limit event, with 20 percent of the prize pool going to the Mothers Against Drunk Driving charity, set a speed record for 2006 Winnin’ o’ the Green played-out events. The final table went exactly 40 hands. Sang Park, a contractor, arrived with a big lead of 193,000 chips, and held it until nearly the end before poker player David Tran doubled through to move in front and then claim victory two hands later. It is the second tournament win for Tran, who is mostly a cash-game player.
The final table started with 2,000-4,000 blinds and 500 antes, 5:33 left. Park was way in front with 193,000 chips, while Tran was a little above average with 78,000. Action was fast, furious and immediate.
On hand one, George Rose pushed in for 10,000 from the cut-off seat with Ah-9h. He was cut off by Peter Parker, who called from the big blind holding A-J. The board came 10-3-2-J-3, giving Parker the win and leaving Rose in 10th place.
On the next hand it was Tran who moved in with A-J. Vincent McBride, who manages one of the apartment buildings owned by the noted player “Mickey Mouse” Mills, called with pocket 4s. An ace flopped, and the apartment manager cashed ninth.
When Ernest Bennett was all in on hand four, it looked like a third player might sink to the bottom, but his pocket kings kept him afloat. Blinds were now 3,000-6,000 with 1,000 antes. The next contested all-in came on hand 12. Parker, who owns a limo service, moved in for 64,000 with A-K. Park called with pocket 4s. It was a coin-flip until a flop of 10-6-4 left Parker dead to a runner-runner straight which never came.
Park now had about 280,000 of the 700,000 chips on the table. Two hands later, graphic designer Ben Osborne moved in with A-J and was called by Ernest Bennett and Terrence Williams. When the board came 10-7-5, Bennett bet his A-7. Williams folded and berated Bennett for not following standard procedure and checking down the pot. In any event, Osborne escaped with a river jack.
A few hands later, there was a chip count, with Tran still well in front with 279,000, but a deal was vetoed and play went on. Blinds were now 5,000-10,000 with 2,000 antes. Several players went all in and won their matches, until hand 26 when Terreaux Williams, an engineer, saw he had only 10 times the big blind left and decided to make his move with pocket treys. Park called with pocket jacks, and Williams finished seventh when he couldn’t improve. Two hands later, Osborne was all in and in bad shape with K-9 against Benjamin Chung’s Ks-Js. The board came A-4-3-5-7 with three spades, and we were quickly down to five players.
Bennett, after surviving one all in with a set of 5s, raised 24,000 and went all in again after Park tried a steal with J-2. Bennett, with A-7, made a good call, but got hit with a bad flop: J-8-5, and cashed fifth.
Players were dropping fast. Just one hand later, on hand 32, movie producer Andy Scheinman raised and Chung moved in for 5,000 more. Chung had A-7 to Kh-3h for Scheinman, and won that match-up when the board came 8-4-3-7-A. Two hands later they went at it again. This time Scheinman had the A-7, in clubs, while Chung had Kh-10h. Scheinman opened for 50,000, Chung moved in for 152,000, then finished fourth when the board came 4-4-3-7-2.
Scheinman finished third on a really bad beat on hand 36. He was all in with As-Js against Tran’s Ac-Jc. It looked like a split until two clubs flopped, and a third gave Tran a flush.
Tran suddenly zoomed up in chips, but Park still led by about 1.5-1 when they got heads-up. This all changed on the next hand when Park opened for 70,000 with Kh-3h, and Tran moved in for 236,000 with As-8d. The board came A-Q-10-3-5, and suddenly Tran was way ahead. The next hand was the last. Park moved in with Jc-10c, Tran called with Kh-8h, the board came A-5-3-3-2, and Tran had his win. –Max Shapiro
BIOGRAPHY
David Tran has been playing poker for about 10 years, just about all his adult life. He is mostly a cash-game player, preferring $100-$200 limit hold’em. While he hasn’t played that many tournaments, he still has had numerous cashes, including a win at Heavenly Hold’em, a second in the Holiday Bonus tournament, and another second at the WSOP Circuit tour at the Rio last year.
He describes his style of play as careful. “Make that scared,” he amends it. Tonight he said he was in fairly good shape and had chips all through the tournament. The breakthrough hand, of course, come when he doubled through against Park to take the lead. He evaluated the final table, overall, as “medium tough.”
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