| 2002
HALL OF FAME
POKER CLASSIC
EVENT #20 NO-LIMIT HOLD'EM
CHAMPIONSHIP EVENT
Friday, September 13, 2002
$5,000 Buy-in
$5,000 in chips
POETIC JUSTICE?
Did the winner win it? Or did the loser lose it? Here are the facts. You decide for yourself.
There were 54 entrants in the $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em Championship Event for a total prize pool of $253,800. Nine players were paid.
Final Table: 43 mins. Of 60. The blinds were $400/$800 with a $100 ante.
Seat Hometown Chips
Seat 1. T J Cloutier Richardson TX $25,400
Seat 2. David Ulliott Hull, UK $12,000
Seat 3. Peter Costa Leicester, UK $59,500
Seat 4. Chris Bjorin London, UK $18,300
Seat 5. Howard Lederer Las Vegas NV $64,900
Seat 6. Tony Cousineau Daytona Beach FL $10,900
Seat 7. Tom Franklin Gulfport MS $ 6,400
Seat 8. Paul Rowe Coronado CA $19,100
Seat 9. Amir Vahedi Los Angeles CA $53,600
Day One ended when O'Neil Longson went all-in with pocket Queens only to have Amir Vahedi wake up with pocket Kings in the small blind and beat O'Neil into the pot.
Day Two opened with a bang as the shortest stacks seemed so giddy to be in the money, they decided to go home to celebrate.
'Captain' Tom Franklin didn't waste anytime testing his luck for the day. He went all-in on the first hand, raising with A K. Chip leader Howard Lederer was happy to take part in Franklin's luck-test and called Tom's reraise to $6,300 with pocket Deuces. The Captain may have gained a half-hour of his life for something more meaningful than playing cards with a short stack when Lederer's Deuces held up.
Then again, Franklin may have cost himself a couple of bucks by his rash action. Because after him, the deluge! A cascade of players flowed out the door in record time. It was only five minutes later that T J Cloutier joined 'Captain' Tom on the boat to nowhere.
It's difficult to know from the sidelines what goes through the mind of a great player. Maybe T J thought he had the best hand, maybe he thought Amir Vahedi was just fooling around by raising in middle position. Maybe T J wanted to shut out all the other players behind him, in case Vahedi called. Whatever the reasoning, Cloutier reraised Vahedi's $2,500 bet by shoving in all his $25,000 in chips. Cloutier's shove did have the effect of getting himself heads up with Vahedi, but it was Amir's pocket Aces that T J didn't want to see. Cloutier's A Q was dead meat and suddenly there were seven.
But not for long. In fifteen more minutes, you could make that five.
Was this Championship poker or Lemmings rushing to the sea? The third Lemming who didn't like money was David 'Devilfish' Ulliott. David may be losing his hair, but was he losing his mind? Actually, in fairness, Ulliott was the only early out with a pair. David's pocket 7's all-in were crushed by the table's chip bully, Howard Lederer and pocket Jacks.
Finally that left us with a rational man: Tony Cousineau. The Dayton Beach boy was making more money by watching than playing. By his own count, Tony had been all-in over a dozen times on Day One. In a spectacular show of grit (and luck) Cousineau was still here and keeping his head while all around him were losing theirs.
With all the shorter stakes gone and no more crazies in sight, Tony took one more all-in shot. He raised with his last $4,000 and K 10 in the small blind. The table Hammer, Howard Lederer, called the pygmy reraise from the button with pocket change off the sides of his pyramid. Lederer had the A 4 of Spades and flopped an Ace. Cousineau could thank the dearly departed for the extra $5 grand and sixth place.
Just when it seemed safe to go back in the water without hitting a drown Lemming, Chris Bjorin took the plunge in 5th. Finally, we got an all-in who actually had the best hand. Alas, to no avail. The swingin' Swede, Bjorin, had pocket 9's and about $30,000. When Howard Lederer raised with A Q then called Chris's forward motion, Bjorin had a chance. All Chris needed was plenty a nothin'. But nothin' was in short supply for Howard Lederer at the time. Yet another Ace ripped right off the deck. Lederer continued to have plenty a plenty.
In less than an hour, over half the table had vanished. These guys might not make the dinner break the way they are going!
In a joking attempt at collusion, Paul Rowe kept urging Peter Costa to unite with him in a 'short-stack' attack on the monsters Lederer and Vahedi. Unfortunately for Rowe, Costa ignored him. Left on his own, Paul united his chips to Peter's when Rowe went all-in from the small blind with A K. Costa had pocket Jacks. Paul's 'Hail Marys' didn't deter Peter from joining the big boys in a threesome of their own—Peter, Amir and Howard. Folksy name!
With Paul Rowe’s $30,000, Peter Costa passed Amir Vahedi for second in chip count. Both were well behind the Lederer Towers, however. It was at this point that the horse, Amir Vahedi, started to go over to the stands to talk to his jockey, Phil Hellmuth, between hands. Howard Lederer didn’t seem to mind, but Peter Costa obviously wasn't amused. Whatever the former Champion was telling Vahedi, it wasn't working, as Amir's chips continued to fall like sand through an hourglass. The problem for Vahedi was that Costa had an Ace in almost every hand. That allowed Peter to reraise all of Amir's jabs at the pot.
In utter frustration, Vahedi still had the decorum to get all his chips in the pot with the best hand again Costa. Amir had pocket 10's and Costa had A Q. When an A Q flopped, it looked like curtains for Vahedi. But a 10 hit the turn and trips held up. Vahedi now had just enough ammunition to shot himself into 3rd. Amir tried to parlay his one hand rush into a heads up with Lederer. From the small blind, Vahedi raised $10k. Peter Costa came over the top all-in. Amir called with his last $45k and an A 8. The big hands late kept coming for Peter Costa. He had pocket 9's. Amir Vahedi was last years No-Limit Player of the Year and he played fittingly in this event.
Heads up, Howard Lederer had an $168k/$102k lead on Peter Costa. Lederer had branded this table from the outset. His presence in the final two was a given hours earlier. That he would have a substantial lead was no surprise either. The question was always who would be with him and how would the David do against Goliath.
It looked like the Goliath was going to stomp the puny David into the dirt when Peter Costa made a call that had the gallery buzzing. The board had come J 10 2 Q 9. Lederer bet $35,000 on the river. Peter Costa must have known in his heart that Howard had a King, but after a ten minute think session Costa just couldn't put his hand down. The call left Peter with only $40k to Howard's $230k. This puppy looked OVER.
How often does a world class player lose with an almost 6-1 chip lead heads up? Not often.
Before the fireworks that were to go off in a few minutes, Costa got some of his chips back with an all-in pair of Jacks against an A 4.
Then POW!
"If I don’t bet, I get nothing," Peter said afterward about the hand of the night. The flop had come J 4 J. This has to be a hand that Howard Lederer can let go easily. He has a massive chip lead and the blinds are only $1,000/$2,000.
But by betting out when the flop came, Costa effectively convinced Lederer he didn't have a Jack.
Of course, Peter DID have a Jack and he happily called Howard's $45,000 bet on the river nearly all-in. Howard showed King high.
Now the chip count was $150k for Costa and $120k for Lederer.
And we come to Howard's End.
There is still plenty of time for both players to work on each other. The blinds are still miniscule. There is a not insignificant $43,150 at stake, which is the difference between first and second place. What's the rush? Lederer may have had other plans, because we didn't make it to Dinner Break.
When the last hand flop came Kh 9d 3d, Costa bet $30k and Lederer reraised all-in. Peter Costa is a candidate for European Player of the Year. He is obviously an outstanding player. It would be poetic justice for Peter 'The Poet' Costa to win this Championship, because he's played in almost every event for the 2 ˝ weeks here with several near misses.
It must have taken 15 minutes for Costa to decide what to do. Lederer was admirably patient and didn't call for a clock on Peter. Finally saying, "I can't find a reason to lay the hand down." Costa called with K 6, top pair with a weak kicker. Peter was the favorite over Howard's A 4 of Diamonds. Lederer needed an Ace or a Diamond.
Did Peter Costa win this event or did Howard Lederer lose it? You have to decide, because the pair of Kings held up.
Official Money Winners
1. Peter Costa $101,520
2. Howard Lederer 58,370
3. Amir Vahedi 30,460
4. Paul Rowe 17,770
5. Chris Bjorin 13,960
6. Tony Cousineau 11,420
7. David Ulliott 8,880
8. T J Cloutier 6,350
9. Tom Franklin 5,070
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