Paul Javier Schools Final Table in
Pot Limit Hold'em
Event #8 of the Deepstack Mini Series was Pot Limit Hold'em and it attracted 60 entries. It ran concurrently with the Lakers game and players were dividing their attention between the TVs and the green felt. The prize pool was $8,148 with a 1st place prize of $3,258. After an hour of hand-for-hand play on the money bubble, the final table was set with nine players all "in the money".
It took over an hour before the first elimination occurred. On hand #28 Vinh Duong was all-in against Kenneth Kim. Vinh showed 10-8 and Kenneth A-K. The board fell Q-4-4-K-A and Vinh Duong was eliminated in 9th place and collected $205.
After the blinds increased to 3000/6000 at 2:30am, Craig Handelsman was all-in with K-J against Kenneth Kim's A-9. The board double paired (7-7-5-2-2) and Kim's Ace was ahead the whole way. Craig Handelsman finished in 8th place and collected $245.
Hand #52 had Khang Pham all-in holding a K-J against small blind Paul Javier's pocket 8s. The board came Q-7-6-7-10 with neither of Khang's overcards finding their way off the deck. Paul Javier's two-pair took the pot and Khang Pham was eliminated in 7th place and took home $285.
On hand #60, with the clock approaching 3am, Norai Khodadian raised the pot preflop and was re-raised by Kenneth Kim. Norai called and was all-in. Norai showed A-6 and was a 2:1 dog against Kenneth Kim's pocket 8s. The flop was J-9-7 which increased Kenneth's lead. The turn deuce and river King ended the tournament for Norai Khodadian who finished in 6th place.
The final five players elected to look at a chip count deal and when the numbers came back, the players easily accepted the deal. Paul Javier was the chip leader and was declared the winner.
-- Jay "Bugsy" Siegel
BIOGRAPHY
Paul Javier is a Special Education teacher from Compton, CA. He has been playing poker for about seven years and plays mostly tournaments. He occasionally plays $40 No Limit and $100 No Limit cash games. His last big win was an all-around Points tournament where he won a $10K seat in the WSOP Main event seat.
CHIP COUNTS ARRIVING AT FINAL TABLE
Seat 1 Kevin Dillard $27,500
Seat 2 John Bessent $17,500
Seat 3 Vinh Duong $50,500
Seat 4 Khang Pham $28,000
Seat 5 Craig Handelsman $51,000
Seat 6 Kenneth Kim $28,500
Seat 7 Norai Khodadian $43,500
Seat 8 Paul Javier $32,000
Seat 9 Dai Nguyen $59,000
Chip Variance = +1500
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