Charles Dolan Earns No Limit Title
The 2008 Winnin' o' the Green series No Limit Hold'em event #12 had a 277 player field paying out $80,657. The final table was set at after midnight. Play was fast and 3 players were knocked out in the first two orbits.
On hand #1 short stack Zak Shapiro pushed his short stack with K-7 and ran into Rommy C.'s pocket Aces. The board missed both players (not recorded) and Rommy's Aces took down the pot and made the final table 9-handed. Zak Shapiro finished in 10th place and earned $1,010.
Hand #11 was a 3-way pot with Rommy C. all-in holding Ah-6h. Michael Christiansen ended up mucking to a post-flop bet and Diana Korkis showed pocket 9's on a board of Q-7-5-3-Q. Diana's middle pair held up against Rommy's Ace high (both had the board's pair of Queens). Rommy C. finished in 9th place for $1,210.
The next elimination was on hand #17 when Jan Bruhns was all in with pockets deuces against Michael Christiansen's K-Q. The board was Q-Q-10-6-A and Michael's trip Queens took down the pot. Jan Bruhn's two pair was good enough for 8th place and $1,610.
The fast play continued into hand #22 when Janie Haley was all-in holding Jc-8 against Ivan D'Cunha's 4d-5d. The flop was 9c-3c-2c. Janie's flush draw and Jack-high was leading Ivan's open-ended draw. The turn 4h turned the advantage to Ivan with one card to come. The river 2h gave Ivan two pair and Janie was holding a busted flush draw. Janie was eliminated in 7th place and took home $2,015.
Two hands later Scott "The Deputy" Diamond was all-in from the cutoff with pocket Kings. Wouldn't you know it, the small blind Benjamin Tang wakes up with pocket Aces. The board was J-10-6-7-A and Benjamin takes down a good size pot with a set of Aces. Scott "The Deputy" Diamond finishes in 6th place for $2,820. You can read more about the agony of this cooler on Scott's blog at www.wisehandpoker.com .
Hand #32 had a four-way pot that ended up heads-up at the river with a board of 9-8-2-K-9. Ivan D'Cunha had 8s-3s and Michael Christiansen held K-Q. Michael's Kings-up bested Ivan's 9's up. Ivan finished in 5th place and earned $3,625.
Play had slowed for about 30-40 hands as the players were more cautious about calling all-in. There was a lot of "raise- no call" until hand #71 when Diana Korkis was all-in with a short stack against chipleader Charles Dolan. Diana showed A-2 and was dominated by Charles' A-Q. The board of 7-5-3-J-K created a flopped gut shot for Diana but she could not find the 4. Charles' Queen kicker earn the top spot. Diana's second best hand gave her a 4th place finish and $4,835. Diana started the final table 7th in chips and worked quite hard to maintain her chips as several players hit the rail and she moved up 3 spots.
A key pot in this match occurred on the very next hand when the two chip leaders did battle. Charles Dolan saw a flop with Michael Christiansen of Jd-10d-8c. Michael checked and Charles bet 10,000. Michael raised all-in and Charles called. Michael showed J-7 for top pair and Charles had Qd-8d for a gut-shot and flush draw. The turn was a 2d and Charles made his flush. Michael was drawing dead on the river and was eliminated in 3rd place for $7,255.
Heads-up play lasted for exactly one hand when chip leader Charles Dolan had a huge lead over Benjamin Tang. The last hand of the match was #73 and Charles had a dominating A-8 against Benjamin's A-2. The board was A-K-Q and there was some additional help for a chop. Then the turn 8 took away a few of Benjamin's outs but the river 5 could not make the chop happen. Benjamin Tang finished runner up for $14,830 and Charles Dolan took the title, trophy, and $29,822.
-- Jay "Bugsy" Siegel
BIOGRAPHY
Charles Dolan is a twin sibling in the well known Tim Phan family. With 10 total brothers and sisters Charles wanted to shout out to the entire family. Two of Charles brothers were in attendance including his twin brother. They were supportive and proud of Charles play at the final table. Charles learned poker from brother Tim Phan and has been playing for only 3 years. Charles is a habitual raiser and I'm sure he learned that quality from Tim. Charles read the table as tight and took a lot of pots down uncontested. Charles noted that he had 300 chips left after taking a beat during the 100/200 level and took 300 to 50,000 in two hours.
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