Dao Bac Plays to the End
Event #12 $500 + $50 Omaha Hi/Lo started with 166 players including defending
2005 champion Shirley Rosario. Professional player, Shirley "Poker Babe"
Rosario, made it deep into the tournament with her solid Omaha Hi/Lo play, but
could not retain the title. It took until 2am for the final table to be set
and play lasted for 116 hands until 5:45am when pro player, Dao Bac, won the
heads-up battle with Jin Kim.
The first elimination occurred on hand #8 when Greg Sharp, poker dealer from
St. Louis, called a re-raise by Dao Bac putting Greg all-in. Greg held A-2-8-8
and Dao had A-A-Q-3. The flop was 6-8-10 giving Greg a set and a nut low draw.
The turn Jack gave Dao the gutshot draw and the river completed Dao´s straight
for the scoop with no low. Greg lost the entire pot to runner-runner and he
was eliminated in 9th place and received $1,455.
The next elimination took only two more hands. Darlene Springman, from Queen
Creek, AZ, called Gerbrehiwet Goitom´s preflop raise and the flop was 7-7-5.
Darlene went all-in and was called. Darlene showed A-2-2-5 to Gebrehiwet´s
A-3-5-7. The Ace on the turn filled up Goitom and the Jack on the river squashed
the possibility of the low. Darlene finished in 8th place and earned $1,665.
Hand #15 would start a preflop raising war between Gebrehiwet Goitom and Ernie
Scherer, Jr. Ernie, father of top pro player Ernie Scherer III, was all-in preflop,
with a 2-3-Q-K against Goitom´s As-4s-4-Q. The board was A-Ks-7s-10s-10.
Goitom turned his flush with no low available to eliminate Ernie Scherer, Jr.
in 7th place for $2,075 in prize money.
Hand #32 was three-way action between Jin Kim (button), G. Goitom, and short
stack Stephen Ladowsky. Steven was all-in after the flop of 2s-5d-9d. Betting
continued on every street between Kim and Goitom. The turn was a 7d and river
an 8s. Jin showed a 2d-3d-J-Q for the flush and Goitom showed 3-6-x-x for the
low. Canadian Stephen Ladowsky mucked his cards after seeing that he was beat
and was eliminated in 6th place and added $2,905 USD to his bankroll.
Jin Kim tangled with Andy Wang in hand #44. Andy was all in preflop with 2-3-4-4.
Jin showed 2-4-7-8 and said he called for the pot odds, not necessarily because
of his cards. The board was 3-9-9-7-7. Jin hit runner-runner 7s for trips to
beat Andy´s two pair (9s & 4s) with no low available. Andy Wang finishes
in 5th place and received $3,735.
Gebrehiwet Goitom was all-in two hands later and was called by Brian Belen.
Brian showed 4-5-6-K and Gebrehiwet showed A-7-7-8. The board was J-2-3-6-10.
Brian turned a 6-high straight and scooped the pot. Gebrehiwet was out in 4th
place and earned a respectable $4,980.
A chip count deal many times over the next 70 hands, but the chip lead changed
as often as the "no deal" holdout vote. Each player would take their
turn saying no to a deal. "Let´s play!" was heard at the end
of every hand.
On hand #111 at 5:30am, while the blinds were $4,000/$8,000, Brian Belen was
all-in preflop for his last $12,000 against Dao Bac. Brian showed his Q-J-J-9
and Dao had A-2-8-9. The board was 2-6-Q-2-K and Dao hit a set on the turn to
scoop the pot and Brian finished in 3rd place and earned $7,885.
Heads-up play lasted only five hands and Dao Bac dominated Jin Kim in chips
and each hand put Jin all-in. On hand #116, the fifth consecutive heads-up all-in
hand, Dao showed his 2-7-J-Q and Jin had A-3-5-7. The flop was 4-J-K. The turn
6 gave Jin some outs for the high and low. The river King erased the low possibility
and Dao´s Jack would make his two pair for the scoop. Jin finished in 2nd
place for $15,770. The clock on the wall showed 5:45. It will be another 10
½ hours before the next tournament starts, perhaps some sleep is in order—although
not for this writer.
-Jay "Bugsy" Siegel
BIOGRAPHY
Dao Bac, a professional poker player, from Garden Grove has been winning and
cashing in tournaments non-stop. Dao cashed twice at the 2006 WSOP, once in
NLHE and once in PLO. He took 6th place in last year´s 2005 $500 Omaha
H/L tournament. Dao had won a 2005 Legends of Poker $300 No Limit Hold´em
tournament. This is Dao´s first cash in the 2006 Legends of Poker and he
will be playing many of the events to come. Dao is a professional on the table
and off the table. | 
