Poker Tournament Results

Big Poker Oktober

Place	Name	Prize
1	Dong Bai Xu (Rosemead, CA, USA)	$45,198
2	Jason Fine AKA "Max" (Sun Valley, CA, USA)	$22,500
3	Lee Nguyen (USA)	$11,555
4	Isaac Crow (Downey, CA, USA)	$7,300
5	Eric Rivkin (Redondo Beach, CA, USA)	$5,475
6	Ben Pell (USA)	$4,255
7	Johnny Johnson (Burbank, CA, USA)	$3,040
8	Bruce Lee (USA)	$2,735
9	Edward Vartanian (Los Angeles, CA, USA)	$2,435
10	Raffi King (Granada Hills, CA, USA)	$2,130
11	Robert Mitchell	$2,130
12	Joe Saccone (Venice, CA, USA)	$2,130
13	Steven Elliot (La Habra, CA, USA)	$1,825
14	David Moskowitz (Oak Park, CA, USA)	$1,825
15	Mickey "Mouse" Mills (Downey, CA, USA)	$1,825
16	Jorge Pineda AKA "Cipote" (Chatsworth, CA, USA)	$1,520
17	Vanessa Terry (Los Angeles, CA, USA)	$1,520
18	Mike Narveson (USA)	$1,520
19	Shawn Pilot (North Hills, CA, USA)	$1,520

Tournament Report

Dong Xu Leads Entire Final Table Event #12 of Big Poker October was the biggest buy-in in this series where 186 players did 232 rebuys to eclipse the $100,000 prize pool guarantee by over 20%. The rebuy per player rate was a low 1.24 which included some players doing between 3 and 5 rebuys which meant that a good many players went without a rebuy and several of the final table players got there without a rebuy or add-on. The final table formed at 4:15am at the beginning of level 17 where antes were 2000 and blinds of 6000/12000. With three short stacks and five stacks around ten big blinds, the action should start off fast. That's exactly how it played out. On hand #6 Lee Nguyen was all-in against Raffi King's short stack. Lee held pocket 8s and Raffi showed K-8. The board fell J-4-2-6-7 and Raffi King could not pair his King. Raffi was eliminated in 10th place and earned $2,130. Just two hands later chip leader Dong Xu called the all-in of Edvard Vartanian. Edvard had pocket 5s and Dong was in a dominating lead with pocket 7s. The flop was Q-J-7 and Dong extended his lead with the flopped set. The turn was a 6 and had Edvard drawing dead but he found a 5 on the river anyway. Edvard, in his second final table appearance, finished in 9th place for $2,435. On the very next hand Bruce Lee was all-in against Ben Pell and Eric Rivkin. After a flop of Jc-7-2c, Pell bet Rivkin out of the pot and was heads-up with Bruce Lee. Ben showed a 9-7c and Bruce was drawing lean with an 8d-9d. The turn was the 4c and the river was the 10c giving Bruce the straight but completing Ben's flush. Bruce Lee was eliminated in 8th place and took home $2,735. On hand #13 Johnny Johnson was all-in against Jason Fine before the flop. Jason Fine held Kc-Qc and had the lead over Johnny's Js-10s. The flop was K-8-3 was no help to Johnny and the river/turn were both 6s. Jason's Kings-up were no match to Johnny's board single pair. Johnny Johnson finished in 7th place and earned $3,040. In less than an hour and only 13 hands into the final table, the final six players elected to evaluate a chip count. Jason Fine had just launched into 2nd place in chips while Dong Xu maintained the chip lead just the way he entered the final table. The numbers were run and the players did a little minor negotiation and accepted the deal. Dong Xu was declared the winner. -- Jay 'Bugsy' Siegel BIOGRAPHY Dong Xu added this win to his other three wins already this year. Dong has been playing tournaments for about 3 years and focuses on No Limit Hold'em. Dong owns a construction company and while business has been slow lately, Dong says he finds more time for poker tournaments. Dong did three rebuys early in the tournament but started to build up chips after the rebuy period concluded. He also had a good run of cards with about four tables to go. Dong had the chip lead during the entire final table and accepted the deal while still in first place.