Poker Tournament Results

Legends of Poker / WPT Event Season 8

Sam Teranie

Tournament Report

Teranie “Sammy” Behzad Takes Down the 2009 Legends of Poker Event #11 – $335 NLH Tournament The 2009 Legends of Poker had its eleventh overall event and the final table at the Bicycle Casino was not for the faint of heart as this colorful table played in the newly remodeled Events Center with a Multiple Re-buy $335 Buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament. The 2-day event began with a total of 263 players and a prize pool of $200,000. In addition to first prize of $58,000 the winner also received a championship ring and a $10K seat at the WPT tournament to be held at the end of the month. Final table play began at level 15 with blinds at 5K-10K with a $2K ante. Robert Suer entered the final table as the chip leader holding $390,000 of the $1,889,000 chips in play. On the 10th hand Al Ghanavati raised all-in from the cut-off position with A-Q, only to be re-raised all-in by Marcel Sabag holding pocket 10’s. The flop came 8-7-8 giving no help to Al’s two overcards, and after the 4 on the turn and the 2 on the river Marcel’s 10’s were still best eliminating Al in 10th place earning him $2,300. Five hands later found our short stack Charles Fazid all-in with K-9 before the flop. Teranie “Sammy” Behzad called the all-in with J-10 suited from the big blind. The flop came 8-A-7 giving Charles the early advantage but it also gave Sammy an inside straight draw. The turn was a K giving Charles top pair but Sammy now had the double inside straight draw and with the Q on the river Sammy made his Ace high straight sending Charles out in 9th place earning him $2,760. We had to wait for one level increase and eighteen hands before the next elimination. On the 38th hand Trevor Wilson limped in from the cut-off position, and after David Kutcher pushed all-in in late position Trevor decided to make the call. The cards were turned up revealing Trevor’s Q-J suited and David’s pocket A’s. After the rainbow flop of 9-3-K it appeared that David had a hammerlock on the hand while Trevor was left with an inside straight draw. The 10 on the turn was the out Trevor was looking for giving him an unbeatable King high straight, and with the K on the river David’s day was done sending him out in 8th place and earning him $3,680. On the 45th hand Robert Suer limped in under the gun and was raised by Trevor Wilson who was then called by both Teranie “Sammy” Behzad and Robert. After the flop came 4-K-6 the action was initially checked around to Trevor who bet $100K. Sammy then check raised all-in with $377, Robert folded and Trevor made the call showing his top pair with K-Q suited. Sammy had Trevor covered as he turned up his pocket 6’s giving him trip 6’s. With the 8 on the turn and the 5 on the river Trevor was eliminated in 7th place netting him $4,600. The 53rd hand saw Marcel Sabag raise from late position with A-10, Hung Du then re-raised all-in from the big blind with A-K. After Marcel made the call the cards were turned up and the flop was dealt 10-7-4 giving Marcel top pair. The Q on the turn and the 5 on the river were no help to Hung who was pushed out in 6th place taking home $6,440. Just three hands later we had our 5th place finisher. On the 56th hand Xuan Nguyen shoved all-in from the small blind with K-2 and was immediately called by Marcel Sabag in the big blind with A-Q. Xuan was able to out flop Marcel with a pair of 2’s on a 4-2-5 board, but that advantage quickly dissipated when a 5 hit the turn giving Marcel an unbeatable Five high straight. With the 8 on the river Xuan was eliminated in 5th place earning him $8,240. We would have to wait for thirty-two more hands to see our last elimination in this event. On the 88th hand Phuong Nguyen raised all-in from the button with pocket 5’s and was called by Teranie “Sammy” Behzad in the big blind with K-10. The flop came 4-2-J and after the 7 on the turn it looked as if Phuong had the hand won, but the 10 of diamonds on the river gave Sammy a pair on 10’s beating Phuong’s pocket 5’s. Phuong was out in 4th place making him $11,040. The remaining 3 players discussed a chip count and after the staff ran the numbers the players were in agreement to a deal. Teranie “Sammy” Behzad was declared the winner of the Legends of Poker eleventh event earning him the first place prize of $58,000, a championship ring, and a seat at the WPT later this month worth $10K. Follow our tweets on Twitter with the BicycleCasino page for tournament announcements and winner notifications. -- Matt Snodgrass BIOGRAPHY Teranie “Sammy” Behzad has been playing professionally for the past five years. He took 1st place in the $1000 No Limit Hold’em event in last year’s Legends of Poker. In an ironic twist Sammy found himself in a hand against the eventual 4th place finisher Phuong Nguyen on the first day of this event. With a J-10-10 on the board he pushed all-in for $50K with pocket 7’s and after much debate Phuong folded turning over his A-J. At the time Phuong had just over $100K in chips and had he made that call Sammy would have been eliminated from the tournament.