David Levi Wins Hold’em!
“I had a very strong feeling tonight,” Israeli-born pro David Levi said after his victory in the first $500 event in Legends of Poker, limit hold’em. He was right. Late into the final table, he went on a tear. The key hand came when he held J-8 against T.J. Cloutier’s K-K. Making a full house, Levi won a pot of close to $100,000 and took a near-insurmountable lead. Finishing second was Russell Rosen, winner of a Legends stud event two years ago. He said he was lucky to even get in the money, because, with four tables left, he was seated with T.J., Huck Seed, Phillip Ivey and Carlos Mortensen, who among them had a dozen WSOP bracelets
The nine finalists assembled after Jeff Gould lost with a full house and finished 10th.
Starting with A-8, he went all in on a flop of 10-8-7, then caught an 8 and an ace to fill. But Seed, with pocket 10s, sprouted a bigger full boat.
Limits began at $1,000-$2,000 and soon went to $1,500-$3,000. On hand 9, Eric Liebeler raised with A-Q and then went all in. Levi chased him down with A-6 and made a 10-high straight on the river. Attorney Liebeler’s case was dismissed, and so was he.
Ten hands later, stock trader Craig Brennan raised with A-8 suited and Rosen re-raised with Q-Q. The flop came J-6-2 and Rosen bet. With two chips left and the blinds approaching, Brennan called and bowed out when he couldn’t hit his ace. Two hands later, Seed was left with about $6,000 when he bet the river with a paired 6, losing to the pocket 8s held by John Hom, a soil engineer. A couple of hands later, Seed was all in but survived. A few hands later, telecommunications technician John Henson called all in from the small blind when Cloutier raised. “I’m in trouble,” he said, turning up an A-10 against T.J.’s A-J. He didn’t help and finished seventh.
As play progressed, Seed went all in three more times, winning with a set of 8s, a paired ace and then a straight. Then Hom, who won a bracelet in $3,000 limit hold’em this year, went all in for $3,000 with A-5, but wasn’t as fortunate. James Jockheck, in the big blind with 8-7, beat him with two pair. Soon after, Seed went on a small rush, and his stacks germinated to about $38,000. However, as limits rose to $2,000-$4,000, it was T.J. who held a good lead with $58,000, about a third of the chips in play. As action continued, Levi went all in and won with a set of kings against James Jockheck’s pocket jacks. Then T.J. pulled in a big pot by beating Seed when he hit his straight draw on the river. On hand 71, Jockheck, down to $2,000, went all in with an 8-5. Rosen had K-J and won easily with a flopped jack. A few hands after that, Huck lost all his bucks. Holding A-9, he thought he was in great shape when the flop came 9-6-2. Rosen, however, had pocket jacks.
Three-handed, T.J. had about $70,000 to $54,000 for Levi and $40,000 for Rosen. David’s big break came at the $3,000-$6,000 limit. The pot was three-bet on fourth street. The board showed 8-7-2-8, and Levi already had three eights to T.J.’s pocket kings. A river jack filled him for good measure. A few hands later, David picked up a pot of $35,000 when he bet into a board of K-2-2-10-Q and Rosen folded. By now, Levi had almost all the chips. A dozen hands later, he ended it by going in with 4-3 against T.J., all in for $3,000 with 9-5. Levi hit a 6-high straight, and then made a tournament-ending deal with Rosen, who had only $4,000 left. –Max Shapiro
BIOGRAPHY
This has been a big year for David Levi, who made the final table at all four of the Bellagio’s events, capping it by winning the final big one, $3,000 no-limit hold’em, collecting $159,000. He has a number of other major tournament wins, including a $200 stud hi-lo victory at Winnin’ o’ the Green in 2000. The 39-year-old Levi, who once played professional soccer for a team in Tel Aviv, Israel, plays mostly tournaments now. Stud hi-lo is his favorite game.
Tonight, he said, he was down to $150 in the first hour. “I got lucky, won a few hands and was about even at the break. I was doubled up after the second break, and won steadily after that. Asked to assess his play, he said, “I played real good tonight. I was confident and told my friends that I was going to do something.”
CHIP POSITION FINAL TABLE
John Henson
$23,000
Huck Seed
$19,500
Russell Rosen
$33,500
J ames Jockheck
$8,000
Craig Brennan
$13,000
John Hom
$9,500
David Levi
$18,500
Eric Liebeler
$11,000
T.J. Cloutier
$29,000
Chips raced and/or blinded off: $655
ALL-AROUND PAY-OFF POINTS
Name Total
1. John Juanda 99
2. Marlon Delossantos 99
3. Russell Rosen 94
4. Kathy Liebert 91
5. Ron Faltinsky 88
6. Daniel Negreanu 87
7. Huck Seed 85
8. Paul Lee 79
9. Men Nguyen 73
10.Andy Simon 70
SUPER SATELLITE PAY-OFF POINTS
Name Total
1. Jeff Yoak 189
2. Tony Cousineau 100
3. Randy Holland 99
4. Mickey Mouse 92
5 . Jimmy Tran 89
6. Hassan Kamoei 88
7. Mike Fetter 79
8. Steve Kaufman 69
9. Coach 69
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