Poker Tournament Results

Debbi Landon, an executive producer at a company that creates music backgrounds for TV commercials, hit all the right notes in winning event four of Legends of Poker 2000, $300 limit hold’em. After building up a final table chip lead, she played many hands, enjoyed an exceptionally good run of cards and was never in trouble in coasting to victory.

The final table started after Daniel Negreanu finished tenth. With only $1,500 left and dealt A-Q, he was forced to go all in when the flop came 5-5-8. He caught a queen on the river, but Landon, with Q-8, had made two pair. Final table limits started at $2,000-$4,000. Chang Kim had the fewest chips and was first out. On the sixth hand, with limits now $3,000-$6,000, he went all in with pocket jacks, losing to Michael Chang’s river flush.

A dozen hands later, Ron Faltinsky, a vitamin distributor and a regular in the Bike’s top section, was in the small blind with A-Q. He raised and then was re-raised all in by Phil Hellmuth, who had pocket 9s. The board changed nothing, and the vitamin man swallowed his bitter pill and left. On hand 28, Hellmuth raised and Amir Vahedi made it $9,000 to go. Phil, with A-8, was a 6-1 favorite against Vahedi’s A-K after the flop came Q-8-5. He bet all in, only to see a king hit the river. He left, complaining that he had made three final tables in five days (two at Legends, one at the Hustler Casino), without much luck once he got there.

With limits at $4,000-$8,000, Landon was the chip leader with $69,000. Binh Do got low after Vahedi, with K-J of spades, bet the river blind on a flush draw, instead making an inside straight. On the next hand, Michael Chang, one away from the big blind, raised all in for $7,000 with A-6. All his chips were then extracted by a dentist named Henry Farokhi. He started with pocket 10s, flopped a set and ended up with a flush.

A few hands later, Do and Debbi went at it. He called all in with a K-7 when she bet on fourth street into a board of 6-3-2-3. “What do you have?” he asked. “Nothing,” she replied, turning up an 8-5. But then a river 4 gave her a straight to break him. “Debbi,” you’re the man,” Vahedi said in admiration. “Don’t try this at home,” she replied.

She had now increased her lead to $117,000. A few hands later, she did a number on Dinh Huong Kieu. A huge pot developed as Landon, with J-9, flopped a 9 while Kieu was in the lead with pocket 10s. But a third 9 hit the river, and an annoyed Kieu vented her frustration with a string of Vietnamese words which probably couldn’t be printed.

Debbi now had $145,000 of the $274,000 in play. Shortly after, Do departed. Amir raised with A-6 and Do, holding A-5 in the big blind, called with his last $3,000, losing when he couldn’t help. Three-handed, Debbi had $112,000, while Amir had $84,000 and Farokhi $78,000. They cut a deal and played for a remaining $10,800. Amir then went on a small rush, winning three hands in a row and taking a slight lead. But Debbi climbed back to $145,000 after drilling the dentist. On the river, Henry bet all in. “Three 8s,” he announced. “No good,” she replied, showing 8s full.

Limits now went to $6,000-$12,000, and Amir proved tough to break. It took 15 hands of back-and-forth action before she finally won with a flourish by starting with K-J and making three cowboys.

–Max Shapiro

BIOGRAPHY

Debbi Landon has been playing poker for about six years. This is her second Legends win; two years ago she won the shoot-out event. She also has a win and a second at Hollywood Park events. However, she’s too busy producing the TV commercial music for such clients as Taco Bell, Jeep and Microsoft to play many tournaments. A voice major in college, she personally provides some of the singing and guitar playing for the commercials.

Tonight, she faced some tough opponents. She started at Kathy Liebert’s table and later ran into Huck Seed and Scottty Nguyen, both of whom she knocked out. With about eight tables left, Daniel Negreanu put a couple of bad beats on her, and it took her a while to recover. Once she did accumulate a lot of chips, however, her game plan was to use them to take advantage of the smaller stacks and try to run over them.

CHIP POSITION FINAL TABLE

Phil Hellmuth Jr. $29,500

Amir Vahedi $28,500

Binh Do $23,000

Henry Farokhi $35,000

Chang Kim $14,000

Debbi Landon $45,000

Dinh Huong Kieu $68,000

Michael Chang $14,000

Ron Faltinsky $17,000

Chips raced and/or blinded off: $110

ALL-AROUND PAY-OFF POINTS

1. Sam Sanusi 63

2. Phil Hellmuth Jr. 62

3. Ernie Sebastian 61

4. Debbie Landon 59

5. John Juanda 57

6. Kathy Liebert 53

7. Amir Vahedi 51

8. Michael Chang 50

9. A.J. Viado 49

10.Huck Seed 47

SUPER SATELLITE PAY-OFF POINTS

1. Mike Fetter 71

2. Jeff Yoak 69

3. Howard Walker 55

4. Tom Vo 55

5. Mickey Mouse 54

6. Tim Doherty 47

7. Anthony Tran 47

8. Walt Williams 41

9. Hon Le 41

10.Devon Amico 41