Kane See Dominates Final Table
The 2009 Winning ‘O the Green series kicked off with a near sellout field of 339 players. The no-rebuy tournament had a $98,649 prize pool with 1st place taking $36,459. After eleven hours of play, the final table was set with 9 players due to a double knockout while 11 handed. The 5,000 starting chipstacks (including the bonus chips) had 1,695,000 chips in play. Although there were a couple of shortstacks with 3K/6K blinds and an 1K ante, there was still plenty of final table play available.
At 3am, the table started play after a 9-handed chip count was proposed but several players objected to even considering a deal this early in the final table. On hand #10, Ha Diep got all his chips in with A-K on the small blind after being raised from late position by Kevin Gugliotta with pocket Tens. The board missed Ha completely (9-7-3-4-9) and Ha Diep finished in 9th place and earned $1,480.
The next elimination occurred on hand #29 when Ameen Behzadnia button-raised all-in with A-8 and was called by the big blind Brandon Lee holding A-9. The board came J-10-7-2-Q and Brandon’s 9 kicker played sending Ameen out in 8th place for $1,975.
It took until hand #54 for the next big confrontation. As the board showed A-10-2-3, Sandy Hayes got his last chips in on the turn with top pair (A-5) against Kane See’s second pair (10-8). The river was an 8 and Kane See found one of his 4 outs for two pair. Sandy Hayes, visiting from Seattle, WA finished in 7th place and pocketed $2,465. Once he shakes off this beat he’ll be back for several more WOG events.
Hand #84 occurred at 5:30am when Brandon Lee pushed from the cutoff with pocket deuces after a raise from the chip leader Kane See in middle position. Kane called with pocket Jacks. The board came A-A-Q-K-7 with no help to Brandon and he finished in 6th place earning $3,455.
Hand #95 had Abraham Barbarian losing to Kane See for his tournament life (hands not recorded). Abraham Barbarian, from Glendale, finished in 5th place and took home $4,440.
Several hands later (#99), Kane See called Laurence Babahekian’s all-in raise preflop. Laurence showed a Q-9 and Kane showed a suited A-K. The board fell J-6-5-2-3 and the Ace high took the pot and eliminated Laurence in 4th place.
On hand #104, Kane See called the all-in preflop raised of Henry So. Henry showed A-8 and Kane showed a suited K-6. The board came K-J-3-4-5 and Kane eliminated his 4th opponent at this final table. Henry So finished in 3rd place and acquired $8,880.
Heads-up play lasted for 9 hands when the big confrontation occurred. Kane raised from the button that required an all-in call from Kevin Gugliotta. Kevin gave it a good 5 second thought and called. Kane showed A-K and Kevin showed his dominated As-4s. The board came 9-8-3-K-7 with no spades. Kevin Gugliotta finished runner-up earning a respectable $18,185. Kane See earned the title after knocking out 5 of his 8 oppenents. Kane See earned $36,459.
This was the first event of the series and it played down without a final table deal ending about 6:30am. Let’s hope all the events are played this well at the final table. Congrats to all the final table finishers. There was not a weak player at the table and the quality of play was impressive.
-- Jay “Bugsy” Siegel
BIOGRAPHY
Kane See has been playing poker for only 2 years and plays predominantly tournaments. This is his third tournament of the year and his first win. Kane has several titles in
Southern California tournaments during his short playing career. He credits his win tonight on his player reads but also a good string of luck. He hit many of his flops at crucial times and was dealt pocket Aces at an above-average rate. When he’s not playing poker Kane works within the computer industry.
| 
