Bike Prop Lance Tahata Says "No Deal"
The 2008 Winnin' o' the Green series progressed with event #10 No Limit Hold'em where 163 players battled for a first pool of $61,110 which included 82 rebuys. The final ten players were set at the final table about 12:30am. The final table was full of action and words. The trash talking was kept respectable and was primarily done to extract information
I think that hand #5 set the tone for the entire final table. After the 10-handed table folded around to the button, Steve "Pair the Board" Kahn, Steve raised 10,000. The small blind, folded and the big blind, Roger Barnes, went into the tank and eventually called. The flop came Jc-10-7. Roger checked, Steve pushed all-in and Roger called very quickly. Steve showed 8c-2c and was behind Roger's 9-10. Steve had outs to a straight and a flush. The turn 9 gave Steve the straight and Roger two pair. The river King was not what Roger needed and he finished in 10th place and earned $1,070. Steve was hoping to just pick up the blinds (obviously) but ended up showing the whole table his move with "Eight-Deuce". Steve tried to bribe this writer not to include this hand in the report but it was too good to keep from all you readers.
There ended up with a lot of very big pots that were chopped. On hand #9 the board came Ah-Jh-7h-6h-5h and an all-in pot got split. Consequently, two players dropped the F-bomb and were penalized one round each. Four other huge pots would be chopped at this final table.
On hand #18 Ricardo Ramirez was all-on with Ac-Kh against Alex Diego's 10-8. The flop came all clubs Qc-8c-3c. Alex paired his 8 but Ricardo had 2 overcards and a nut flush draw. The turn 8 tripped up Alex and the river offsuit King signaled the end of Ricardo's tournament. Ricardo Ramirez from Bullhead City, AZ finished in 9th place and earned $1,245.
The very next hand had Kevin Thong, appearing for his 3rd final table in this series, was all-in with pocket 8s against Luis Barron's Q-10. The board was K-Q-2-6-A and Luis's pair of Queens was the best hand. Kevin, on a positive trend in final table finishes, took 8th place and took home $1,425.
Hand #22 had Aris Dellalian calling all-in with A-Ko against Steve Kahn's all-in raise. Steve had a lowly pair of 3s and the board came Q-10-6-4-9. Steve's pair held up and Aris Dellalian finished in 7th place and earned $1,780.
Just one hand later Alex Diego called all-in with pocket Jacks against an all-in button raise by Luis Barron with A-7. The board was A-K-8-K-10 and Luis's Aces-up took down the pot and eliminated Alex Diego in 6th place for $2,495.
Hand #35 was another huge chopped pot when pocket 4s went up against A-K. The board was K-Q-J-A-10 (Broadway straight board). The top two pair was way ahead until the river 10 chopped it up.
Hand #34 had Jeff Shibley raising all-in with K-Q and getting called by Luis Barron's Jc-7c. The board came 9-4c-2c-5c-4. Luis turned a flush and eliminated another opponent. Jeff Shibley finished in 5th place and added $3,210 to his bankroll.
Three more big pot chops would occur in the next hour and finally on hand #66 Patrick Curran II raised all-in with A-10 and got called by Luis Barron's Kd-Jd. Luis is about a 40% dog until the flop of K-Q-2 where he picked up top pair. Patrick is open-ended but the turn 3 and river 8 do not complete his straight. Patrick finished in 4th place, displayed some poor etiquette, took a walk, returned to apologize to the dealer, and collected $3,210.
On hand #69 Steve Kahn raised from the button and got re-raised by the big blind. Steve went into the tank for a minute and called for all his chips. Steve had As-6s and Luis Barron showed pocket 8s. Steve was a 2:1 dog and the board came J-8-3-9-2 and Steve Kahn's night ended with a 3rd place finish and $6,775.
It was 3am and heads-up play started with a lot of conservative play for about 12 hands. On hand #84 (14 heads-up hands) Luis Barron got a double penalty when he dropped the F-bomb and mucked his cards and one flew off the table (not intentionally). It was a quick penalty since one round heads-up is only 2 hands. There were 5 or 6 penalties given at the final table but really all players were quite respectful of each other.
On the very next hand the big confrontation occurred. Luis Barron was covered against Lance Tahata. Lance had 3h-5d and Luis had 4h-5h. The flop was 5-3d-2d and Lance was ahead with 2-pair. The turn 10d gave Lance a flush draw but I'm not sure either player noticed because Luis was calling for an Ace. The river Ace of Diamonds came and Luis rejoiced but then it was shown that Lance had a diamond and the flush beat Luis's wheel. Lance Tahata wins event #10 and earned $27,805 with Luis Barron the runner-up collecting $14,260.
-- Jay "Bugsy" Siegel
BIOGRAPHY
Lance Tahata is a prop player for The Bicycle Casino in the $40/80 Limit Hold'em game. He plays only No Limit Hold'em tournaments and recently took 2nd place in the $500 No Limit Hold'em event at the LAPC. He made the second table at the $1,500 event at the LAPC. Lance enjoys playing Stud Hi-Lo and Omaha but doesn't find the games going as often as Limit Hold'em. Lance was firmly against any final table deals, especially when he was the short stack. That worked out well for him as he took home 1st place prize money and a 2008 WOG trophy.
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