Mickey Mills is Champion
The Mariani/Buss event was held over the course of two days. The first day, players were treated to a buffet and a meet and great with some of the past Lakers greats. Then they got down to business with the tournament which was No Limit hold'em with 1 hour rounds and each player started out with 3,000 tournament chips. We saw several familiar faces including Amir Vahedi, Marsh Wagoner, Men 'The Master' Nguyen, and David 'The Dragon' Pham. None of these players made it to the second day, but Marsha did manage to make a cash in this event.
The bubble was busted at the end of the second day and that meant that the remaining 17 players would return the next day to fight for their chance to be the champion.
Once the second day got started, it only took 2 hours to make the final table which heated up as soon as it was formed. On a flop of 3-5-J, Tommy Hufnagle went all-in and got insta-called by Moshe Manzur who turned over his set of 3's which was dominating the Q-J of Tommy. The turn was a 5 which paired the board. The miracle J on the river gave Tommy the better full house and Moshe Manzur was sick to his stomach over his 10th place finish. Moshe earned $2,610.
Right before the hand was dealt, Luis Sanchez told the dealer to give him a better hand. Once the cards were dealt, Tommy Hufnagle raised it up to 4k and Luis moved all-in. Tommy immediately called and turned over the pocket rockets. Luis turned over his pocket J's and then told the dealer that he actually was requesting a winner. The board read 4-6-5-3-K and that was the end of the day for Luis Sanchez who is out in 9th earning $2,880.
Joey Clapper was getting short stacked so, on the BB, he called the raise from Jim Erdman . The flop was K-5-6 and Jim fired out 6k and Joey made his move with his last 14k. The two turned up their hands and Joey had pocket 9's versus the K-Q of Erdman for top pair. The turn was an 8 and the river was a 10. Joey Clapper has been banished from the table in 8th place earning $3,145.
John Hoang, who has been noticeably quiet at this table, made a raise in middle position to 4k. Jeffrey Jiang called the bet and the flop came A-J-K. John made another 8k bet and Jeffrey flat called. The turn was a 2 and John fired out another 8k, but this time Jeffrey Jiang moved all-in and got called down by John. Jeffrey held the A-10 while John had A-J. The river was a 10 and Jeffrey Jiang has been voted off the table in 7th place earning $3,685.
John Hoang got crippled in an earlier hand when his K-Q ran up against the A-3 of Jim Erdman. Erdman had a pair of 3's on the flop and turned two pair for the win. 2 hands later, John put his last 6k in the pot and got called by Tommy Hufnagle and the hands were exposed. Tommy had a pair of 2's and John held the J-8. The board read 7-3-9-5-5 and John Hoang has finished the tournament in 6th place earning $4,755.
Tommy Hofnagle just got ousted. He moved all-in pre-flop with a pair of 6's and Mickey Mills called him down with A-Q. The flop was 3-Q-4, the turn was another Q and the river was a 3. Tommy Hofnagle finished 5th earning $5,830.
On the next hand, John Hearn put his last few chips in the middle on a flop of 10-5-J and Jim Erdman called him showing the Q-10 versus the pocket 6's of Hearn. The turn was an A and the river was an 8 and John Hearn was taken out in 3rd earning $11,195.
On a flop of 7-9-10, Blake Buffington checked to Jim Erdman who fired out 7k and Bruce moved all-in. Jim called and we see that Blake is behind with his K-2 versus the Q-10 of Jim. The turn was a 9 and the river was a 7. Blake Buffington was sent packing in 4th place earning $7,440.
The two players were almost tied in chips, so they decided on a chop. Our champion is Mickey Mills!
Bio
Mickey Mills has been playing poker for many years. He loves to play here at The Bike and his favorite game would be Hold'em. He is happily married and hails from Ocean Beach. Mickey is also a real estate investor.
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