| Cheu Kim “Joe” Lim, a poker player born in Cambodia, scored his first tournament win ever by capturing the second Legends of Poker event, $300 limit hold'em, cashing in for $60,075. Tuong Luu, who started with a big chip lead of $54,000 at the final table, controlled the beginning action. He ran his count to about $75,000 and seemed a shoo-in. But Lim, all-in twice early on, never lost confidence, sensing that Luu was inexperienced and would fade. After the first break, this was exactly what happened. Luu's chips evaporated and he finished a very disappointed fifth, while Lim, reading players, stealing pots and making good laydowns, climbed steadily upward.
Finishing second was Tuan Nguyen, an Asian games dealer at Casino San Pablo, who won a limit hold’em event at the Rio in 1999. When the two got heads-up, Lim held a chip lead of about $155,000 to $66,000, and they made a deal.
Young Phan eliminated Edward Carballo to set up the final table at 3:30 a.m. Phan, dealt pocket jacks for the second time in a row, raised Carballo all in, easily beating his K-6. Besides the Cambodian-born Lim, there were six players from Vietnam, one from Armenia (Norai Khodouzadeh, a prop at the Hustler Casino) and one from Hungary (former chemist Paul Ladanyi.)
Limits started at $3,000-$6,000, and two of the nine finalists were quickly axed. On the first hand, Minh Ly lost all his chips when his K-4 of diamonds got nowhere, while Phi Nguyen, a top-section host at Hawaiian Gardens, started with J-9 and flopped a jack. A few hands later, Ladanyi, holding A-10, bet into a flop of 9-8-2 and Luu checked-raised him all in with winning pocket sevens. Two hands later, Lim went all in for the first time, A-9 versus Khodouzadeh’s pocket eights, and escaped when an ace turned. He stayed alive a second time when he outran Hieu “Tony” Ma’s A-3 by flopping an eight to his J-8.
Phi Nguyen finished sixth. When Luu, with pocket queens, bet $6,000 into a board of 7-5-2-J, Phi added his last chip with A-Q and busted out. Young Phan then got in trouble with pocket tens when Khodouzadeh three-bet him before the flop. Raised when he bet the flop, he laid them down and the Hustler prop showed aces. It was the third time that Phan had been dealt tens, losing each time. Soon after, with limits at $10,000-$20,000, Tuan Nguyen, with pocket queens, put him in and Phan lost with … pocket tens!
Luu, who had been riding a steady down elevator, finally put in his last chips with two small clubs. Lim had two small spades and a third spade on the river got the table down to four. Joe now had grabbed the lead with about $90,000 while Tony and Tuan each had about $50,000 and Norai trailed with $21,500. The four wrangled over a deal for a long time, but couldn’t agree on terms and continued playing. Immediately after, Tuan raised with A-5 and Norai re-raised for an extra $1,500 with 9-8 of hearts. A bullet hit the flop and Norai was dead.
Moments later, at 6 a.m., Ma succumbed. He had earlier gone all in twice in a row, winning first with a set of nines and then pocket queens. On his final hand he held Q-8 and caught a queen on the river. But it was too little too late because Lim, starting with 5-2 of hearts, had flopped two pair. The two happy finalists quickly made a deal and cashed out. – Max Shapiro
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