Winner Philip Kang Plays His First
Pot Limit Tournament
Event #21 of the Deepstack Mini Series was the second Pot Limit Hold’em game in the series. 36 players purchased 17 rebuys and created a prize pool of $7,712 and the top five players were in the money. After playing with 12 players remaining for over about an hour, the final table was set at nine players at 12:45am.
On hand #2 two of the short stacks got involved all-in preflop. Ramzi Daniel held K-J and had Julian Chung slightly covered and holding pocket 3s. The board fell A-9-2-Q-K and the river King gave the pot to Ramzi. Julian Chung was eliminated in 9th place.
Hand #13 had Kenneth Garen was all-in and covered Keith Rogers preflop. Kenneth had A-10 and was dominated by Keith’s big slick A-K. The flop was K-Q-10 and Keith increased his lead but had to fade a Jack for a chop or a 10 for a loss. The turn 3 and river 9 didn’t fare well for Kenneth and he was eliminated in 8th place.
Hand #16 had Andy Choe and Keith Rogers got involved in a pot that was all-in on the turn. Andy was covered and holding K-9 while Keith had Ad-4d. The flop was J-10d-7d and Keith had the lead and best draw to the nut flush. The turn 6 and river deuce gave Keith the winning hand as he was ahead the entire way. Andy Choe finished in 7th place.
Hand #18 occurred at 1:15am and hand Laurence Babahevian all in with a K-8 in the small blind. He was against Philip Kang’s big blind special 10-5. The flop came K-10-9 and both players hit their high card but Laurence had the lead. The turn 10 gave Philip a huge lead. The river 4 was no help to Laurence and he was eliminated on the 6th place money bubble.
With the final five players in the money, the play was still methodical and deliberate. A lot of preflop raising and re-raising but rarely a caller. Until hand #24, when Philip Kang, holding pocket 8s had Leland Wigington covered holding pocket 7s. The board ran Q-4-3-3-10 and Kang’s two pair bested Leland’s two pair. Leland was eliminated in 5th place and collected $385.
Over an hour passed as the final four players stepped up the aggression and saw pots down to the river but the shorter stacks were continually dragging the chips. On hand #48 Rami Zagayer was all-in with an A-6 against Keith Rogers Q-J. The board had something for everyone (A-Q-J) and Keith was leading with bottom two pair. The turn 7 changed nothing and the river Q filled up Keith and sent Rami out in 4th place for $770.
The three players battled back-and-forth for another 30 minutes with the chip lead changing no less than four times. On hand #57 Ramzi Daniel got it all in with pocket 5s against Keith Rogers’ pocket Jacks. The board came 9-7-3-Q-6 allowing Keith’s Jacks to hold up. Ramzi Daniel was eliminated in 3rd place and collected $1,155.
Heads up went on for about one hour. Each player took turns hold a significant chip lead over the other. It came down to hand #97 when chip leader Philip Kang raised Keith Rogers who re-raised and finally all the chips were in the middle. Philip held pocket 9s and Keith had two overcards (K-Q). The flop came Q-9-3 and although Keith hit his overcard, Philip picked up a set. Keith needed running Queens or running straight cards and the turn 8 kept Keith alive with a gut shot. The river King gave Keith top two pair but it was no match to Philip’s flopped set of 9s. Keith Rogers was the runner up and collected $1,930. Philip was the winner after declining any chip count deals earlier in the final table because he wanted to see how far he could actually play.
-- Jay “Bugsy” Siegel
BIOGRAPHY
Philip was playing in his first Pot Limit tournament. He typically plays No Limit Hold’em cash games online and live but occasionally plays in tournaments. He has a good record in tournaments: making final tables frequently. This is his first win at The Bike. Philip has been playing poker for about 5-6 years but has been playing seriously for about the last year. He enlisted in the U.S. Army and had a tour in Iraq from 2004 to 2005. On top of his military training he learned Hold’em from his fellow soldiers. After the Army he became a realtor and a loan officer. Currently he is a realtor in the Los Angeles area.
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