| Vol XIII, No. 2
Friday, March 1, 2002
Ex-Dealer Has First Big Win!
Alex Narvaez, who dealt big-game, big-name poker at the Sahara when that casino was in its prime back in the 70s, scored his first major tournament win by outlasting a field of 356 players in the second event of Winnin' o' the Green, $100 limit hold'em. "I had a great time," smiled Narvaez, who now is a sales manager for roofing products.
The final table was marked by non-stop debate as players repeatedly tried and failed to make a deal. The major hold-out was Bijan Eishkan, who had a mere $9,000 with six players left, then made a remarkable comeback to get heads-up with about $132,000 in chips to Narvaez' $148,000, and the two chopped the remaining prize money.
The final table got underway after Chris Bartolomeo went all in with K-3 of spades and was blown away when John Ngud flopped a set of kings. Ferdinand Sicam came to the table the chip leader with $49,500, even though he was still serving a 10-minute penalty. With 11 players left, he had blurted out the forbidden word when a fourth club hit the river. But he won when opponent Ellix Powers folded, and forfeited only $4,500 during his vacation time.
Limits started at $3,000-$6,000 and went to $5,000-$10,000 on the third hand. On that hand, Sicam dropped down to about $14,000. He had been aggressively betting, but when Rong Lam bet all in when the board showed J-4-2-Q-10, Sicam folded and Lam became a co-leader. On the next hand, Martik Matthewsian called all in for $5,500 after Narvaez raised. Martik had A-K and flopped a king, but Mark had A-A to leave his opponent in ninth place.
Four hands later, Harold Newell, a salesman with numerous tournament wins, called for his last $6,000 with Q-8 after Sicam raised with A-9 of hearts. An ace flopped, and the field was cut to seven. A few hands later, Powers picked up a lot of chips at the expense of Lam when he capped the pot and went all in pre-flop with J-J, which held up against Lam's 9-9.
Right after that, Ngud cashed out in seventh spot after going all in with Q-10. "I guess I'm forced to call," said Wayne Chang, in the small blind with J-4. He added a few more chips and won when the board came J-5-4-9-7.
Lam and Powers were now co-leaders with about $70,000 each, while Eishkan was down to $9,000. Refusing to make a deal that would pay him so little, he decided to go for it. On the next hand, he began his comeback, going all in with pocket nines and beating Lam's A-9 suited. Two hands later he picked up the blinds with a raise, and two hands later got Narvaez to fold by betting into a board of K-J-5.
Alex then turned around and crippled Lam by re-raising with A-7 of diamonds against Lam's 5-4 of spades and nailing it with a river ace. On hand 25, Lam went all in with Q-10 against Powers' A-10. "I win," Powers declared when the board showed 8-5-3-9-J, then realized that the river jack made Lam's inside straight. A hand later, Alex finished Powers off. He raised with A-7 of diamonds and Powers re-raised with pocket fives. Powers bet all in on a flop of 10-10-8, but then a seven and an ace gave Alex a winning two pair.
On the next hand, Sicam raised with A-2, Lam went all in with pocket 6s, and then Eishkan raised with pocket queens to put Sicam all in. A board of Q-9-3-J-9 gave Eishkan queens-full, and two players departed at once. Hand 29 was he final one. Alex had $155,000 to Bijan's $86,000 and Wayne's $41,500. Still refusing a deal, Bijan went up against Wayne. He trailed with 10-9 against Wayne's A-J when the board showed J-10-7-2. But a river 10 gave him winning trips, and he finally agreed to a deal with winner Alex Narvaez. -Max Shapiro
BIOGRAPHY
Alex Narvaez, 56, now lives in Fountain Valley, but has called many different places home. In addition to his dealing (Jack McClelland was a fellow dealer at the Sahara) and roofing sales occupations, for a time he also ran a Canadian tour business. He's played poker for 20 years, and has a lot of small tournament wins, but this is his first major title. He plays mostly hold'em side games, up to $20-$40.
Alex describes his style of play as "pretty aggressive." Tonight he was all in three times in the early going, but each time got lucky and escaped on the river. Once he built his chips up to about $3,000, he was never in trouble. His key hand came at the $30-$60 level when he started with A-5 of diamonds and caught a trey on the river to make a wheel.
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