Quick Win for Westmoreland!
With limits starting at $5,000 and $10,000, the final table of the final event of Legends 2001 did not figure to last long or offer much in the way of fancy plays. It was pretty much bet, raise and all in, and in 18 hands it was all over, with Arkansas native Justin Westmoreland bulling his way to victory.
Tenth out was a player named "Thang." He was all in with J-8, and Paul Davis, with K-6, completed a king-high straight. On the final table’s first hand, Westmoreland, who had been shoving raises in all through the tournament, raised on a flop of J-6-5 after Hien Phan had bet his A-Q. Justin had only 9-8, but he hit a seven on the turn for an inside straight, and put Phan all in on the river. One hand, one down.
On the fourth hand, Dan Swan, a golf club salesman and a champion "foosball" (table soccer) player, went all in but survived with pocket kings. Two hands later, though, Richard Flicker, son of local pro Steve Flicker, moved in and didn't come out. He raised to $9,000 with K-10 and was called by Rusty Bagayay with A-J. The ace held up when the board came 7-5-5-3-2. Young Flicker finished eighth and was given a congratulatory hug by proud papa Steve.
Ngoc "Marie" Hoang started the final table with the lowest stack, $9,000, but was having such a good time, it seemed as if she was the chip leader. When she went all in and won with pocket sevens against Rusty's A-7, her exuberance knew no bounds. Another father/son poker duo is realtor George Rechnitzer and son Andre. Both have made final tables, but this time is was George who was battling for the big money. When Phillip Luong raised with Q-J, George confidently re-raised to $15,000 on the button with pocket aces. On a flop of K-Q-8, there was a bet and a couple of raises and George went all in for $18,000. A seven turned, but then a queen on the river gave Phillip three queens and George seventh place.
Meanwhile, Westmoreland, who started the final table with a slight chip lead over Luong, was showing his muscle. When Swan bet a flop of Q-8-7, Justin raised, forced him out and showed another inside straight drawing hand, 9-5. There was bang-bang action on hand 11 as Luong, holding K-J, bet with the board showing J-7-4-2. Two players went all in: Swan with K-10 and Bagaygay with A-7. A river eight helped neither one, and five players were quickly gone. Two hands later, Paul Rowe raised with J-10 and Justin put him in with K-4. A king flopped, and a jack on the river was too late to help Paul.
On the next hand, Marie, who had survived this far on her starting $9,000, called Justin’s raise and went all in for … $9,000. He had A-2, she had Q-J, and a board of K-10-5-10-7 could not rescue her. The heads-up match lasted four hands. Luong got low on chips after he folded the turn on hand 17. On the final hand, he had K-J to Justin’s Q-6. Justin caught a pair on a flop of 10-9-6. Phillip went all in on the river, and Justin’s sixes were enough to give him victory in the last event of Legends 2001. –Max Shapiro
BIOGRAPHY
Justin Westmoreland comes from Texarkana, Arkansas, where his father taught him how to play poker when he was just a child. He had been playing in home games, but after scoring a $42,000 win in a no-limit tournament at the Silver Star in Philadelphia, he decided to move to California to play poker full time. He’s had hold’em wins at Hollywood Park and the Peppermill in Reno, and won an Omaha hi-lo tournament at Ocean’s 11. This year he won a best all-around after victories in three tournaments at the Winnin’ o’ the Green. He also won a couples tournament with Zaynab “Xena” Mogadam two years ago at Big Poker Oktober.
Justin says he plays all games but stud is his game of preference. In this tournament, he said he was in good shape throughout, and kept getting a stream of good cards and got lucky when he had to.
POINTS CHAMPION John Juanda Wins Mercedes SUV
John Juanda - LEGENDS POINTS CHAMPION
John Juanda won the 2001 Legends of Poker points championship by 28 points over runner-up Stan Goldstein. He won the $500 pot-limit hold'em event and finished third in $1,000 Omaha hi-lo, fourth in both the $300 and $500 7-card stud events, and sixth in $1,000 7-card stud hi-lo. Juanda, 30, is from Indonesia. He earned a master's degree in business, but decided to make poker his business. He has about a dozen titles from local casinos, and this year won the championship event of the World Poker Open at the Reno Hilton.
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