David Pham Wins Another
Winnin ‘O' the Green No Limit Event
Event #17, a $1,000 buy-in No Limit Hold'em event concluded the second and final day of play. It doesn't matter what place David Pham starts the final table, he always seems to finish on top. The final table was set at 9:30pm on the second day with Ray 'Iceman' B. as the chip leader.
Play was cautious and by the 11th hand, Steven Borgo, an attorney from Arcadia, CA, had pocket Kings 3 times and won each of them (he showed each one). On hand #13, Luis Sanchez raised all-in preflop with K-7o and was called by Men 'The Master' Nguyen with pocket 10's. The board was 8-8-4-Q-4 and Men's 10's held up. Luis Sanchez was left with 100 in chips. Luis was all-in on hand #14 and had the 2nd best hand. Luis Sanchez finished in 10th place and earned $2,340.
On hand #36, Ray 'Iceman' B. was all in with Q-Q and was called by Men Nguyen with an A-10. The board came Q-7-5-4-5 and the Iceman fills up on the river. Men 'The Master' Nguyen finished in 9th place and earned $2,730.
After the blind level was raised to $1,500/$3,000 with a $500 ante, Steve Crockett just lost a big pot to Allan 'Calypso' Enciso (AJ vs 10-10). On the next hand, Colin Gordon raised just enough to put Steve Crockett all-in if he called. Steve made the call with his J-5o and was up against Colin's K-10o. The board was Q-J-6-A-10. Steve flopped top pair but Colin turned the Broadway straight. Steve Crockett, the co-chipleader entering the final table, just lost his second straight hand and found himself in 8th place for $3,120.
On hand #61, Ray 'Iceman' B. raised all-in with Ah-7h and was called by Colin Gordon with pocket Queens. These two have some final table history together and were tangled up a couple of times at this final table. The board was K-9-5-6-4. No help for the Iceman and Ray B. finished in 7th place and received $3,900 of the prize pool.
About an hour later, the following confrontation occurred: the button, Colin Gordon limped in on the button, the small blind completed and the big blind pushed all-in. Colin got out of the way and David Pham thought for awhile and called. David showed A-J and the big blind, Bernard Ko showed a dominated A-8. The board was K-10-3-9-9 and Bernard Ko was eliminated in 6th place for $5,460.
The best 'call during the final table' was when Colin and David were in blind vs blind in an un-raised pot to the flop. The board was 8-8-4h-Qh-9h and it was checked on the flop and turn. David made a 16,000 chip bet on the river. Colin thought it through then finally called with his King-high. David released the hand and Colin won the pot.
On hand #126, Colin Gordon raised with Ah-6h and was called all-in by short stack, Steve Moreschi with Jd-8d. The board was A-K-9-J-3 and Colin won with a pair of Aces. Steve Moreschi was eliminated in 5th place and received $7,020.
Just a few hands later, Colin Gordon raised preflop for $16,000. Allan 'Calypso' Enciso re-raised all-in and Colin said, 'I smell a move.' He then called and showed a Qd-7d. Calypso proved Colin's hunch correct and showed 9-6. The board came down 2-2d-4-5d-6d. Colin made a flush on the river to beat Calypso's two pair. Allan 'Calypso' Enciso finished in 4th place and earned $9,360.
Calypso had quite a cheering section going, even Colin said he was rooting for Calypso after hearing the catchy chant of 'Ca—lyp—s000000!'
Colin found himself in a raising war post flop with David Pham on hand #146 as they were playing 3 handed. Colin was all-in with 6-7 against David's 9-10 and a flop of 10-6-5. Colin told David he didn't believe that David had a 10. The turn 3 and river 10 transferred almost all of Colin's chips to David. A few all-in blind hands later, Colin Gordon was eliminated in 3rd place for $14,820. Gordon told the table he was going out in 3rd or 1st—2nd place was not an option.
Heads-up play began with David Pham having over a 2:1 chip lead after acquiring Gordon's chips. One exciting hand occurred heads-up as both players were all-in on the flop. David held Ad-4d and Steven hand 5-7 with a flop of K-7d-5d. David's flush draw was behind Steven's two pair. The turn 10d gave David his flush and had Steven drawing to 4 outs for the boat. The river was a 7 and Steven re-draws to complete his full house. Steven holds the chip lead for the first time heads-up.
Twenty-three hands into the heads-up match, the unraised flop was 7-4-2. It was checked by both players. The turn was an Ace and Steven pushed all-in. David called quickly. Steven had top pair with his A-6 but David slow played his flopped two pair with 4-2. The river was a 9 and Steven Borgo finished in 2nd place for $29,640. David congratulated Steven and said he played very well. Steven put David, one of the best No Limit players in the world, to many tough decisions. David rarely makes a mistake but Steven gave him plenty of opportunities to do so. David Pham takes down another No Limit Hold'em title and $62,400…and he did it with 4-2 this time.
-Jay 'Bugsy' Siegel
BIOGRAPHY
This was David's 2nd win in the Winnin ‘O' the Green series. In both final tables, David found himself short stacked but ended up win. His aggression along with his accuracy in reading the situation has made him a danger to anyone at his table. Including Men 'The Master' Nguyen who was at this final table tonight.
David 'The Dragon' Pham is a top professional player with 2 WSOP bracelets to his name and countless other final table appearances. His had two 1st place finishes within 3 weeks of each other at the 2006 WSOP and the Bellagio Cup. David also rounded out 2006 with back-to-back 2nd place finishes at The Bellagio Five Diamond World Poker Classic events earning him over $300,000 in two days. He has won over $100,000 already in 2007. David, the cousin and former student of Men 'The Master' Nguyen, is
as aggressive as they come.
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