Ex-Bartender Uncorks Win!
Henry Minasyan, who toiled for years as a bartender at Hollywood Park before turning to other pursuits, chalked up his first major tournament win when he finished first in event 20 of Legends 2002, $500 1/2 7-card stud hi-lo and 1/2 Omaha hi-lo. It was pretty much a wire-to-wire victory for Minasyan, who came to the final table as chip leader and never looked back. His final opponent, William Sheppard, also lacked prior accomplishments in the world of tournament poker.
Sirous Baghchehsaraie finished ninth when Sheppard hit a full house on the river to outrun Sirous' straight in a round of Omaha hi-lo. At the final table, limits were $1,000-$2,000, with 2:22 remaining, and less than that for Barry Shulman. On the first hand, the Card Player publisher was about out of ink with only $300 left after posting his big blind. He had no cards at all, but had to go all in. He ended up with just two jacks and was blown out by poker player Paul Pirrone's nut flush.
The game became 7-card stud hi-lo with $200 antes, $300 low-card bring-in, same $1,000-$2,000 limits. R.W. Miller, retired as a sporting goods chain store owner, who started with only $5,800, went all in with four-way action, scooping with a 7-6 low and pair of fives. He then scooped the next hand to go from rags to riches in an eye-blink with a chip-leading $29,000. Meanwhile, Pirrone, after winning the first hand, could do nothing. He finally went all in but survived by catching a third 9 on the river.
The game changed to Omaha, $1,500-$3,000 limits, with Henry now back as a slight chip leader with $30,000. On the third hand, Pirrone was in the small blind and went all in holding A-A-10-7. When the board came K-6-3-7-6, artist Joe Belofsky took low with a 6-high straight, Miller took high with 6s full of kings and Paul took off for home. Later, on a board of K-8-7-10-4, an all-in Belofsky thought he had lost to David Levi, turned his cards face down and started to leave when he was informed that his A-3 was good for a quarter of the pot.
Van Pham ended up in sixth place. He was in the big blind, all in with a near-hopeless 2-2-K-Q and got chopped up by Belofsky's set of 4s and Minasyan’s nut low. After going all in and escaping three times, David Levi ran out of options when his last $500 was posted in the big blind with only 7-7-9-Q to defend it. Henry had A-2-10-J, flopped aces full and then, for good measure, made four bullets on the river.
The game changed to stud, $300 ante, $500 bring-in, $2,000-$4,000 limits. After a couple of all-in escapes, Belofsky finally found the kind of hand he was looking for to take a stand with: 2-3-5 of hearts. He raised and asked Henry to put him in for his last couple of hundred. Henry obliged with two aces. That was all he needed as Joe caught nothing but bricks to end up in fourth place. It didn't take long to get down to two, and once again Henry was the executioner. Miller, after being plagued by a series of low-card bring-ins, was badly chip-depleted. Finally, he was all in on fifth street with a pair of eights and a low draw. R.W. couldn't improve and once again Henry's two aces did the trick.
Two-handed, Henry had a chip advantage of about $75,000 to William's $24,000. After some discussion they struck a deal, and the former bartender chalked up his first major victory. -Max Shapiro
BIOGRAPHY
Henry Minasyan, 38, is of Armenian heritage and came to this country from Iran 24 years ago. He currently lives in Glendale. His bartending days behind him, he now has dual pursuits as a swimming pool contractor and as an artist whose specialty is three-dimensional scenery. He's been playing poker for six or seven years, mostly side games.
He plays in live action games about three or four times a week, his preference being $6-$12 Omaha hi-lo. However, he also enjoys all varieties of split-pot games. As for tournaments, he enters them only once in a while. Tonight, he said, he was in good shape throughout the tournament, held the chip lead, or something close to it, pretty much from the beginning and was never in any difficulty.
CHIP POSITION FINAL TABLE
Henry Minasyan
$19,600
William Sheppard
$16,400
Barry Shulman
$2,300
R.W. Miller
$5,800
David Levi
$11,100
Paul Pirrone
$19,200
Joe Belofsky
$9,700
Van Pham
$15,100
Chips raced and/or blinded off: $265
ALL-AROUND PAY-OFF POINTS
Name Total
1. David Pham 248
2. Daniel Negreanu 201
3. Marlon Delossantos 192
4. Huck Seed 171
5. Kathy Liebert 156
6. Men Nguyen 142
7. Sam Sanusi 138
8. Ron Faltinsky 132
9. T.J. Cloutier 125
10.Scotty Nguyen 116
SUPER SATELLITE
PAY-OFF POINTS
Name Total
1. Jeff Yoak 304
2. Tony Cousineau 251
3. Randy Holland 218
4. Mickey Mouse 193
5. Hassan Kamoei 175
6. Param Gill 152
7. Jimmy Tran 143
8. Paul Wolfe 129
9. Can Hua 124
10.Amir Vahedi 120 |
