“What was so great about winning this tournament, said $1,000 no-limit hold’em champ Ronnie Stanley (aka The Carolina Express), “was that I was able to beat David Pham. He’s so tough. I had to play my heart out … lose and grind my way back, lose and grind back.”
Ronnie has a World Series bracelet in $2,500 limit hold’em and placed fourth in the championship event in 1997. It took 20 grueling hands of heads-up play before he was able to overcome David’s $107,000 to $87,000 chip lead and finally put him away. Pham, making his third final table appearance, demonstrated how skillfully he played when he was able to lay down a full house against Stanley.
The host for the World Poker Challenge no-limit event was T.J. Cloutier, an appropriate choice since many consider him the greatest no-limit player alive. Soon after final-table play began, limits rose to $200 antes with $500 and $1,000 blinds. On hand 12, Randy Holland, starting lowest chipped with $10,2000, raised all in for $6,400 and wasn’t called. It was the first of about 14 such all-in bets he was to eventually make.
On the 22nd hand, Crews Johnston, who has a Legends win and a couple of WSOP seconds on his resume, was crippled in a hand with Pham. Before the flop, Crews made it $5,000 to go, Pham popped it $9,000 and Crews moved all in for another $17,600, which was $1,500 more than Pham had left. You could see the wheels spinnng as David thought and thought. He finally called with pocket kings. Crews had A-K of spades and lost on a board of 6-4-2-9-J. Crews had to post his last $1,500 in the big blind immediately afterwards holding K-2 of hearts. Ronnie button called with A-2 and put Crews out when nobody improved.
The second time Randy moves in he’s in bad shape with K-6 of hearts against Ronnie’s pocket kings, but he catches three hearts to stay in action. A few hands later, Ronnie has kings again. This time, professional player Toto Leonidas raises to $4,000 and Richard London, a floor supervisor at Lucky Chances Casino, moves in for about $10,000 total with pocket 4s. Ronnie covers him and London’s bridge falls down when the board comes all rags.
Randy? All in again a couple more times and down to $2,100 when Toto beats him with a flush. But he makes another miracle all-in survival with Q-9 against Tom McCormick. The Shamrock Kid, winner of the earlier 7-stud 8 or better event, has aces to Randy’s Q-9, but Randy flops two pair.
About 10 hands later, McCormick survives when he re-raises Pham for his last $13,000 with pocket 8s. He isn’t too thrilled when David calls, but he feels better when he fills on the turn.
A few hands later, Randy raises to $4,500 and Tony Le, a Reno Hilton games supervisor, comes over the top for his last $21,000 with two 10s. McCormick covers Tony and then buries him in seventh place with pocket kings.
On hand 54, the board shows 10-7-4-7 and two diamonds. David, with a third 7, bets $4,000 and Ronnie calls.
When a second 10 falls, David cautiously checks. After long thought, Ron bets $15,000. Now it’s David’s turn in the barrel. He thinks, fidgets, counts the chips and finally, with nearly $40,000 left, folds and shows his full house 7. He later explains that there wasn’t that much in the pot and he figured that the best he could hope for was a split. Afterwards, Ronnie confirms that he did make a great laydown.
A few hands later, Carl Sanford raises to $5,000 with A-Q. Toto raises all in for about $6,000 more and goes broke when his A-2 can’t catch Sanford’s A-Q. Carl retired years ago as a mechanical engineer at the Lawrence Livermore nuclear research laboratories. The glow on his face, he explains, is not from radiation but from happiness at making the final table.
Blinds are hiked to $1,000 and $2,000 and the tournament goes past the 100th hand before the fourth player is eliminated. Carl raises $6,000, David hits it for $11,500 more and Carl pushes in all of his $30,000. It’s no contest. He has A-6 against A-A, and David takes the chips and the lead. A few hands later, Randy goes all in again for $13,400 holding K-3 offsuit. “You haven’t lost an all-in bet today,” muses Tom. “Oh,” he suddenly realizes, “that’s why you’re still here.” Tom calls with pocket sixes, and Randy still isn’t here anymore when Tom flops a set and wins.
Three-handed, David has $120,300, Tom has $39,300 and Ronnie $33,900. After a deal is made, Tom lasts about eight more hands. Ronnie, who has pulled ahead of him, bets all in with A-3. Tom says, “I have a pair,” turns over two deuces and then says “call.” Ron questions the legitimacy of the call, but Steve Morrow rules that since Ronnie was all in, Tom’s premature exposure of his cards can’t influence the action. Improper, perhaps, but legal. Tom wins the decision but loses the hand and his last $16,000 when an ace hits the turn.
With blinds of $1,500 and $3,000, David and Ronnie go at it. Ronnie gradually gains ground and eventually the lead as he wins the bigger confrontations. On hand 12, David bets $8,000 into a board of 10-7-2-2-K and then throws his pure bluff away when Ronnie calls. On the 20th heads-up hand, Ronnie is about $20,000 ahead. He bets $7,500 and calls David’s $20,000 raise. On a flop of 9-7-4, he moves all in with A-9 and David, with 10-8 and an open-end straight draw calls. A 7 and a king come and Ronnie collects his cash, title and crystal trophy. —Max Shapiro
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