Hellen English Starts and Finishes in First
The 2008 Legends of Poker continued with Event #19, a $545 buy-in LPA No Limit Hold'em Ladies tournament. A field of 72 players vied for a share of the $34,920 prize pool. Final table play began with 6:46 left at level 10 with blinds at 600 and 1,200 with a 200 ante. Hellen English arrived at the final table as the chipleader holding 68,500 of the 324,000 chips in play.
On hand #14 Hellen English raised to 2,200 with Natalya Novek calling. They saw a flop of 3-J-7. English bet 5K and Novek raised all-in. English called with J-6. Novek held A-J and was in great shape to double up. The turn came a 4 with Novek still ahead. English called for a 6 and spiked one on the river as a 6 came and gave English two-pair sending Novek out in 10th place.
Couple hands later Laine Caspi pushed all-in for 2.5K. Joy Adams and Lynn Venturella called from the blinds. Adams and Venturella checked down a board of 3-Q-J-Q-J. Caspi held-A-J for Jacks full of Queens. However, Adams held K-Q for Queens full of Jacks sending Caspi out in 9th place for $875.
On hand #34 Dana Van Gilder raised to 4.5K. Mari Lou Morelli called from the small-blind. Benay Karp then pushed all-in from the big-blind. Van Gilder called and after some thought Morelli folded. It was a good fold since Van Gilder held pocket Aces against Karp's K-J. After the board came 2-3-8-9-3 Karp was our 8th place finisher earning $1,050.
Hand #42 saw Mari Lou Morelli raise to 8K. Naomi Takaya pushed all-in with pocket 8's. Morelli called with A-2. The board came 3-K-6-7-Q and Takaya's pair of 8's was good enough to send Morelli out in 7th place for $1,220.
Joo Sik Baek was the lone male at the table. A bounty pool was collected to award the lady who can knock Baek out of the tournament. On hand #45 Baek raised to 9K from the small-blind. Hellen English re-raised and Baek pushed all-in. English immediately called with pocket Jacks while Baek showed 10-8. English was in great shape to knock Baek out and win a huge pot and maybe just as importantly win the bounty. After the board came 9-9-4-3-A English's pair of Jacks sent Baek, to the delight of the rest of the ladies in the room, out in 6th place for $1,570.
The mood of the remaining five ladies was jubilant after Baek's knockout. A chip count deal was discussed and agreed to. Hellen English was the chipleader and declared winner of event #19.
-- O.J. Alcaraz
BIOGRAPHY
Hellen English enjoys playing golf in addition to poker. You can see her at every ladies event in the area. She also plays in open tournaments. English prefers to play tournaments but at times will play $100 buy-in no-limit hold'em cash games at the Bike. Her strategy today was to stay patient and pick her spots. Her patience paid off as she arrived to the final table as the chipleader and ended up on top when all was said and done.
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