Daneshgar Wins 2-Day Final
David Daneshgar and David 'The Dragon' Pham chased each other for the chip lead at the final table of the 2006 Winnin' o' the Green championship event. At the final bell, Daneshgar, a semi-pro, had a slight lead, and they chopped the prize pool, ending nearly five hours of play. Because day 1 ended with only 33 players left, this became a two-day rather than a three-day event.
Day 1 started with 198 entrants. Action was furious, and casualties mounted swiftly. Barry Greenstein, Allen Cunningham, Mike Laing, Michael Mizrachi, Huck Seed, Kevin Song, and John Bonetti were some of the better-known players who fell by the wayside. After eight one-hour levels, the field had melted, with Pham the only brand name left. He was also chip leader with 62,500. The 33 came back the next day at 2 p.m. instead of noon, and they prepared to play through.
The final table got there at 7:45 p.m. with 1,000-2,000 blinds and 300 antes. With 208,300 chips, more than a fifth of all those in play, Daneshgar was now the big leader. Pham pulled even on hand three when Joey Clapper opened for 17,500 with K-Q, then moved in on a flop of K-J-4. Pham called for 80,500 and won with A-K. Clapper had 40,000 left, but soon doubled through, again against Pham, when two kings flopped to fit his K-J.
Nothing much happened after that until hand 23 when Pham, giving the most action, bled 41,500 from Sam Kassis in three separate bets, before getting him to fold on the river by moving in. After 50 hands and two hours had gone by, we still had only one showdown, and no bust-outs. Daneshgar still led with about 150,000.
Returning from a break, with 1,000 antes and 3,000-6,000 blinds, we finally got action. On the first hand, David Tran opened for 25,000 with pocket 8s. Joey Clapper moved in for 64,000 with A-K and left Tran short when an ace turned. Two hands later, Tran moved in for 24,000 with A-3, and Daneshgar, calling with A-Q, busted him when his kicker played. On the next hand, Pham opened for 22,000 and Gary Do, in the big blind, pushed in for 40,000. Do had the lead, Ah-10h to Qd-Jd for Pham, until a queen turned, leaving eight.
Close to an hour later, Daniel Rentzer opened from the button with A-6, and Sam Kassis pushed in from the big blind for about 45,000 with K-J. He had moved in six times before without being called. This time he was, and when the board showed Q-5-3-4-6, Kassis cashed eighth. On the next hand, Clapper raised to 27,000 with pocket queens. Pham called with Kd-Qd. The flop was K-7-6. Clapper moved in for 94,000. The Dragon called, busted Clapper in seventh place with his paired cowboy, and now had the lead with roughly 300,000.
We were starting to pick up speed. Three hands later, poker player Jim Schmidt moved in for 39,000 with pocket 5s. Daneshgar's pocket 8s were enough to beat him, but four diamonds came and he also hit a flush. He was now close to Pham.
Sixteen hands later, on the 91st deal, he took the lead again. Tyler Birss moved in for 79,000 with A-5. 'I must be in trouble,' he said when Daneshgar called. He was. Daneshgar had A-J, and Birss, a Canadian, ended fifth.
A hand later, after Francisco Fragoso opened for about 80,000, Daneshgar moved in. Fragoso didn't like it, but he was pot committed, and added his last chips, about 40,000. Once again Daneshgar had the dominant hand, A-Q to A-J for Fragoso. A river queen sealed Fragaso's fate. He cashed fourth as Daneshgar took a very big lead with close to 500,000 chips.
Blinds soon went to 5,000-10,000 with 2,000 antes Two hands later, Rentzer lost almost half his chips to Pham when he bet 50,000 on a board of A-8-3-7, then folded when Pham moved in. On the next hand, Pham took the rest when Rentzer moved in with J-7, and Pham broke him with pocket 6s.
Pham now had 470,000 chips to 520,000 for Daneshgar. They quickly agreed to an even split, $146,025 each, with Daneshgar taking the win and trophy. -Max Shapiro
BIOGRAPHY
David Daneshgar is a venture capitalist and a part-time poker player. In college, he taught a poker class to students there. He was ranked in the top 100 in Card Player magazine's Player of the Year standings last year, and currently ranks in the 46th spot. Earlier this year, he won a limit hold'em event at Borgata worth $110,400, and last year he won a shoot-out event at the Hustler Casino's Grand Slam of Poker. He's also had a chop worth about $60,000 at an L.A. Poker Classic event, and came in second at Barcelona's heads-up championships.
He said he had two key hands tonight. In early action, he had 9-8 of hearts, turned a flush to double up and was in good shape throughout. Then, with three tables left, he raised to 3,000 with As-Ks and somebody, for reasons that escape him, came over the top for 75,000 with A-8, and that got him the chip lead.
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