Danny's the boy in No-Limit!
By Max Shapiro
Businessman and financial consultant Danny Lewis, a familiar face in hold'em side games, took first place and $19,120 in $200 No-Limit Hold'em, the tenth event in Winnin O' the Green 2000. He finished with a flourish, needing just four hands to bust his final two opponents, Farah Bonyadi and Bashar "Charlie" Satoot.
Tenth man out was Colorado CPA Julian Levy after he raised all-in for $8,300. Minh Nguyen called with pocket threes and filled up when the board came 10-Q-10-3-2.
Eight hands into the final table, Albert Umel was lucky to escape. In three way action, Sirous Bagchehsaraie bet $4,000 into a board of 5-7-9-K holding K-10. Barry Marfleet, a physician, folded with J-7. Umel called all-in for his last chips and won with A-K, but a jack on the river would have given the pot to Marfleet. On the next hand, though, Umel had the $2,000 big blind when Sirous made a "Danny Lewis raise" ($8,500, the same amount Lewis raised a bit earlier). Umel called for his last $3,000 with K-Q and lost to A-J when the board came 2-8-3-J-8.
Peyman Rajai departed on the next hand. With nothing left in the big blind, he faced Mohamed Ibrahim's pocket aces. The board came 7-7-4-J-Q with three hearts. Rajai squeezed his cards. The first was a heart, but the second was a useless king of clubs. With limits at $2,000-$4,000, Farah Bonyadi, mother of high-stakes poker player Fred Bonyadi, bet all-in with a questionable 9-8, but caught nines on the flop and turn, the first of two times she would be saved by trips. At midnight, Minh Nguyen was seriously hurt, losing about $25,000 after moving in with J-10 and being called by Bagchehsaraie, whose A-8 of clubs held up. A few hands later he lost the rest of his chips when he called Ibrahim's raise with pocket sevens. Ibrahim had K-J and flopped a jack. A few hands later, Sirous defended his big blind and his last chips with pocket nines, but Lewis, calling with K-J, overcame him when a king flopped.
After Ibrahim moved in with A-J, the onlookers went "Ooh" when Bonyadi made a daring all-in call with 6-5 of spades. Then they went "Wow!" when she flopped a set of sixes, the second time trips saved her. A little later, when Charlie Batoot pushed in two towering stacks of $500 chips, Ibrahim pondered at length whether to commit his last $17,000. A clock is brought in. A minute goes by, and tournament director Denny Williams counts off the final ten seconds. Ibrahim, apparently not clear on the concept, asks, "Now what? Do I have an option?" "Sure," Williams replies, "You have another minute." When he explains that the hand is really dead, Ibrahim doesn't look too disappointed. Finally, Ibrahim went all-in for about $25,000 with A-J. Boyadi, with K-Q, covered it and won when a queen flopped.
When Marfleet raises all-in $8,000 with K-10, both Lewis and Bonyadi call. Lewis, with J-8, flops two pair but slow-plays and checks. On the turn he bets $10,000 and then goes all-in for $30,000 on the river. Bonyadi calls and Lewis hauls in a big pot and sends Marfleet packing.
Three handed, Lewis has about $96,000, Bonyadi $92,000 and Satoot around $50,000. But soon Lewis has it all. On the third hand, Bonyadi pushes in all her chips with A-10 of spades. Lewis calls with K-J of diamonds. An overkill four diamonds hit the board. Lewis, heads-up, now has almost all the chips. On the next hand, Charlie goes all-in with K-K against Danny's A-Q. Satoot is looking good with a board of 5-4-2-10, but an ace on the river puts this tournament in the freezer for Mr. Lewis.
Biography - Danny Lewis
Danny Lewis, 53, has owned and sold numerous businesses, and currently is a financial consultant and expert witness in business evaluation situations. He rarely plays tournaments now because of the press of business, and refuses to play in Vegas because of the smoke. He won limit and no-limit hold'em tournaments at the Four Queens a few years ago, and later won three straight no-limit events here and at Hollywood Park. Then, the next night, he was first out at a Hollywood Park tournament, and was awarded a small "horse's ass" trophy, which is the only one he keeps on display to teach himself humility. The key hand for him tonight was after the second break when he was all-in with A-Q against A-K and caught a queen on the end to stay alive. He raved about how well the tournaments here have been conducted. "Superbly run. Absolutely great. One of the very best I've seen, and I'll continue to play all the no-limit events here that I can."
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