Luck Loses to Men’s Skill!
A player with no poker history named Fi Tran for a time was hotter than a firecracker and ran wild over the final table. But luck can only get you so far, and when he finally got heads up with Men “The Master” Nguyen, he was over his head as Men easily out-played him. Finally out-chipped roughly $130,000-$30,000, the poker newbie accepted a tournament-ending deal. The Master’s $31,600 victory in $1,000 limit hold’em was his second in Legends 2002 following his $300 7-card stud win.
John Womack finished tenth with Q-9. With the board showing A-2-A-9, Men, with K-J and a flush draw, hit a king on the river. Just before that, Tran, all in with $2,000 and pocket 10s, quadrupled up in four-way action, won the next hand and came to the final table with $14,500 where Men was the big leader with $49,000.
Limits started at $1,000-$2,000. Soil engineer John Hom lasted eight hands. In the big blind with A-4, he lost his last $500 when Men raised with A-K and flopped a king. A couple of hands later, Tran started his rush. In a three-way pot against Men and T.J. Cloutier, he had pocket aces which held up. The next hand he had pocket aces again. This time Men, holding 10-6, made two pair when the flop came 10-6-2. Then a deuce on the turn gave Tran a winning aces-up. Remarkably, pocket aces in all showed up four times in 14 hands. The next time, Men had them and won. The fourth time, they were dealt to T.J. But when Tran bet a board of K-Q-9-J in three-way action, T.J. disgustedly threw the rockets away, knowing, rightly, that Tran (who held 10-J) had a straight.
Meanwhile, two players had busted out. First, an all-in Tony Ma cashed out in eighth place when his A-5 couldn’t catch T.J.’s pocket 10s. Shortly after, Huck Seed raised all in with pocket queens. Men had A-4 and hit an ace.
Next out was Tuan Nguyen. Men’s A-J beat his A-3 on the river when the board came A-Q-3-10-J. Eli Balas, starting with $10,000, seemed never to play a hand, and when limits went to $1,500-$3,000, he was down to one chip. He survived for a couple of deals, then went out with J-5. T.J, in the small blind, had 7-5 and made a straight on the river to cut the field to four. But three hands later, T.J. got frustrated when he flopped a set of 8s, only to have Tran turn a set of 10s. On the next hand, Tran put away artist Andy Lakey. With A-7 against A-J, Lakey couldn’t get lucky as Tran flopped three jacks.
By now, the rampaging Tran, a salesman, had about $80,000 of the $158,500 in chips. But the tide turned on hand 40. Men had 7-7 to Tran’s A-K when the flop came K-7-J. Men, with a set of 7s, just called Tran’s flop bet. But then the double-bet turn was capped, and at the end, Men hauled in a $42,000 pot and took the lead.
As action continued, a low-chipped T.J. went all in three times and survived before busting out on hand 56. All in with A-Q, he lost when Men flopped a 6 to his J-6.
Heads-up Men had a nearly 3-1 chip advantage. They played for 25 hands, with Tran dipping down to $8,000 at one point before making a modest comeback. Finally, during the next break, they talked deal and it was over.
Meanwhile, with the lure of being on national television when World Poker Tour films the $5,000 championship event, the nightly super satellites continue to attract big fields. Earlier, Daniel Negreanu set the betting line at a 131-player field. Tonight, Men the Master took a bet that it would go several players higher. –Max Shapiro
BIOGRAPHY
As Clint Eastwood famously asked in one of his “Dirty Harry” movies, “Do you feel lucky?” Well, Men “The Master” did tonight. In early action, he made sets on the river three times, once against Daniel Negreanu, once against Marlon Delossantos, and once against Toto Leonidas. “All three times they let me get there. That’s why I felt lucky,” the Master commented.
Men, whose many, many titles include four at the World Series, Hall of Fame and Four Queens along with three best all-arounds, said he was relieved when WSOP champ Huck Seed busted out. And when the awesome T.J. Cloutier departed in third place, he knew he would have an easy time of it against Fi Tran. “I was a big favorite because he had no experience. He was very easy to read. I had no trouble at all.”
CHIP POSITION FINAL TABLE
F i Tran
$14,500
T.J. Cloutier
$26,500
Hieu “Tony” Ma
$6,500
Tuan Nguyen
$12,500
Eli Balas
$10,000
Huck Seed
$8,000
Men Nguyen
$49,000
Andy Lakey
$26,000
John Hom
$5,500
Chips raced and/or blinded off: $275
ALL-AROUND PAY-OFF POINTS
Name Total
1. David Pham 193
2. Marlon Delossantos 186
3. Huck Seed 159
4 Daniel Negreanu 144
5. Men Nguyen 142
6. Sam Sanusi 138
7. T.J. Cloutier 125
8 Ron Faltinsky 118
9. Andre Maloof 107
10. Paul Ladanyi 103
SUPER SATELLITE PAY-OFF POINTS
Name Points
1. Jeff Yoak 292
2. Tony Cousineau 237
3. Mickey Mouse 193
4. Randy Holland 182
5. Jimmy Tran 135
6. Amir Vahedi 120
7. Phillip Barres 102
8. Param Gill 97
9. Can Hua 96
10.Paul Wolfe 93
|
