"Tony the Tiger"Roars Again!
Devouring two players on the last two hands, Hieu "Tony the Tiger,Ma clawed his way to victory in the Player Appreciation finale of Big Poker Oktober, $200 no-limit hold'em. After picking David Levi clean for about $45,000 and consuming Amir Vahedi's last $35,000, he had almost $150,000 of the $210,000 in chips on the table and made a tournament-ending deal with Kathy Liebert, runner-up for the third time in this series. The noted two-bracelet pro was also responsible for setting the final table after "Majik,went all in with A-9 of spades and Ma called with K-Q. He won when the board came 8-8-5-K-2 but nearly mucked his cards, misreading his opponent's hand as A-8. Yes, even the best…
The final-table started with $300 antes and $1,000-$2,000 blinds, seven minutes left. On the third hand, Liebert tried a $4,000 bluff with 10-2 and got picked off by city employee Ricardo Najera, who had K-9. "Well, Doyle (Brunson) won two World Series with that hand,,she rationalized. She later took a chip lead of $44,000 when she moved in for $18,500 and her sevens held up against the A-K held by Levi, who was making his third consecutive final-table appearance. With $500 antes and $2,000-$4,000 blinds, local player Kongpop Sakolchai was in the big blind with 8-5 when Amir Vahedi raised him all in for another $4,000. Amir had A-9 and flopped a nine to win easily. A few hands later, Amir moved in with two tens and mail carrier Tony Tolentino called for his last $7,000 with 10-9. That was insufficient postage. The board came A-5-4-A-8 and Tony was cancelled.
After her 6-6 lost to an all-in Frank Rite's 10-10, and her A-J was outdrawn by Levi's K-10, Liebert was down to a bit over $10,000 by hand 17. But she began climbing up after busting out Najera in seventh place. He raised all in for $5,000 with Q-Q and she called. "Not a good hand,,was the diagnosis of Rite, a doctor of holistic medicine, as Kathy turned up 5-5. "A good hand,,was the doctor's second opinion when a five turned. With $1,000 antes and $3,000-$6,000 blinds, Kathy had a second big draw-out. After she shoved in about $14,000 with K-J, Rite moved in for around $10,000 more with J-J. She called and flopped a king, performing a chipectomy and leaving the doctor with $2,500. That went in with A-6 of hearts on the next hand after David moved in with pocket kings. The board came 6-4-3-2-2 and Rite said good night.
On the next hand, Ma moved in with J-7. Property manager Moshe Yona called all in for about nearly $20,000 with Q-J. He looked like a winner with a K-9-5-6 board, but a river eight gave Ma a straight. Hand 42 was the beginning of the end. All of David's chips went in with K-J against Tony's pocket eights. A board of J-8-6-J-3 gave David three jacks, a loser to the Tony's eights-full. Smelling blood, the Tiger moved in with A-4 on the next hand, and Amir called. Amir had the same K-J that David did, and the result was the same. The board came A-4-2-Q-2, giving Tony a big lead. He And Kathy quickly agreed to a deal, and Big Poker Oktober 2001 was in the books. -Max Shapiro
BIOGRAPHY
Hieu "Tony,Ma is a 45-year-old native of Vietnam who came to the United States in 1956. His clutch of titles include two World Series wins: a limit hold'em event in 1996, and the opening limit hold'em event in 2000. His biggest cash-out was the $239,000 he collected in the second Carnivale of Poker at the Rio, also for limit hold-em. Ma owned a wholesale seafood business before starting to play poker semi-professionally nine years ago.
Tonight, Ma said he was "lazy,early in the tournament, a bad habit he often has when playing in smaller events that don't command his full attention. After re-buying, then going all in and surviving several times he began getting lucky and moving up. At the final table, facing "all good players,,he decided to play his best game. His best move, perhaps, was declining a deal when he was low on chips.
CHIP POSITION · FINAL TABLE
Moshe Yona
$28,200
Amir Vahedi
$31,300
Kongpop Sakolchai
$13,000
Kathy Liebert
$28,900
Frank Rite
$21,200
Ricardo Najera
$5,300
David Levi
$29,800
Tony Tolentino
$18,200
Tony Ma
$34,200
BIG POKER POINTS CHAMPION
Tom Connors held off a late charge by David Levi to win Big Poker Oktober's all-around points championship and $10,000. He won the $100 7-card stud event, took second in $100 stud hi-lo and eighth in $100 limit hold'em. Connors, 30, comes from a poker family. His late father was poker manager at Crystal Park and his mother is a floorperson there.
|
