Dragon Dave Consumes Field!
By Max Shapiro
Dave "The Dragon" Pham, a semi-pro who also operates a beauty salon with his wife, collected $19,520 by winning the third event of Winnin' O' the Green, No-Limit Hold'em. He came to the final table with the most chips, was never in trouble, built a huge lead and finally overcame his last opponent, the very tough Kathy Liebert.
A respectable turnout of 195 players made 293 rebuys to generate a prize pool of $48,8000. As the players continue to flow in, they have expressed appreciation for the Bicycle Casino's upgraded facilities and praise for how well the experienced tournament staff has been running the events.
At the final table, Pham quickly relieved the second chip leader, attorney Mark "The Shark" Seif, of $11,000 by raising pre-flop and then, when Seif bet $5,000 on the turn, re-raising and forcing him to fold. But he then gave it all back to Liebert after she moved all in the pocket eights and he called and lost with A-K. "I didn't even put a dent in Dave's stack," Liebert remarked as she collected $15,000. A few hands later, Liebert eliminated Ken Nguyen after he moved in for $21,000. He had queens to her tens, but she out ran him by flopping a set.
Pham then took care of Tom Honkawa, who decided to push in his last $8,800 with A-5 offsuit. The Dragon ate him up by calling with A-6 of clubs and flopping a six. Kathy again had tens when she called Andre Maloof's all-in bet of $8,600. But this time it was Maloof, with Q-J, who played catch-up by snagging a jack on the river. Right after blinds were increased to $2,000 and $4,000, CPA Maloof was closed down by Michael Konik, a gaming writer and author of a book called "The Man with $100,000 Breasts." Andre moved in for about $18,000 with J-3 of clubs and Konik called with A-Q, which held up.
Pham had one of his rare setbacks when he raised to $15,000 with A-3 of diamonds and Jeff Niedelman called and added his last $1,100. Jeff had the better hand with pocket nines, and flopped a third one for good measure. Seif, whose starting stack of $48,800 had been steadily dwindling, then lost another $14,400 by calling Moshe Yona's all-in bet. He had J-9 to Yona's Q-J, and the queen played when the board came 2-4-K-3-K.
Pham really surged ahead when he raised $15,000 and Konik came over the top for $47,000. Pham had A-J to Konik's A-10. He caught a jack on the turn and Konik was left with only about $10,000. On the next hand Liebert moved him in with K-Q. Author Konik had J-10 of clubs and signed out when the board came 5-9-3-5-Q. The Dragon then breathed fire on Seif by calling his $35,000 all-in bet. Seif had much the best of it, A-9 to K-9, but Pham, who by now could do no wrong, caught a cowboy on the river.
Yona also had the best of it with pocket fives, calling all-in when Niedelman bet $20,000 with J-4 of clubs. But a jack on the turn reduced the field to three. After Pham made three straight all-in bets without being called, Niedelman decided to make his move, pushing in $41,000. Bad timing. Pham had pocket jacks. No ace came to rescue Jeff and it was down to two.
Liebert was truly a damsel in distress, with only about $15,000 to fight off The Dragon's $230,000. The battle lasted one hand. Kathy had A-K, David had J-10, and The Dragon claimed his last victim with a river 10.
Biography - David "The Dragon" Pham
David Pham picked up his "Dragon" nickname as a tribute from a friend who watched him play five years ago. And since this is the "Year of the Dragon", David might have an awesome year ahead of him. This is Pham's second big win this year already. In January, he picked up $70,000 by winning a no-limit event at Harrah's. He also has won hold'em events at the Hall of Fame, Commerce and Hollywood Park.
A native of Vietnam, Pham has been playing poker about nine years, and seriously for about four or five. He said his strategy in this tournament was to be "very careful and not waste chips." He named Michael Konik as his most difficult opponent because he had "a lot of moves and knew how to pick up blinds." He also paid tribute to Kathy Liebert as a very tough player.
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