| Men Masters 7-Stud Hi-Lo!
Men "The Master" Nguyen, scheduled to leave for Aruba tomorrow, picked up some spending money for the trip by capturing the fourth event of Big Poker Oktober, 7-card stud hi-lo. Arriving at the last table with the most chips, he was, as usual, master of the house by repeatedly raising and putting out a non-stop chatter mix of humor, poker advice, self-adulation and admonitions to any player rash enough to call or bet into him. The final table had plenty of drama and draw-outs. If was also, tournament director Denny Williams observed, the noisiest table he had ever witnessed, with players, along with some 40 spectators largely partisan to Men, shouting comments, advice and hoorahs at maximum decibels.
At the second table, a short-chipped Bobby Hoffman went all in with pocket 6s. Rocky Enciso followed all in by raising on fourth street with kings and 10s. On sixth street, Men had A-Q/3-6-A-4. He then went into his routine of moving his last card around and around, beseeching good fortune from whichever poker deities he does business with. It worked, because he made aces and queens to scoop away both opponents, leaving only seven players for the final table.
Limits started at $2,000-$4,000, with $300 antes, a $500 low card bring-in and time for one hand, all that Shan Gu needed to get eliminated. Starting with only $400, she had to go all in, made nothing and was chopped by Men with aces-up and Andom Ghebre with an 8-low. On the third hand, with $500 antes, $1,000 bring-in and $3,000-$6,000 limits, Henry Kaptanjian, who is in the dry cleaning business, made sixes full of aces on fifth street, went all in and was cleaned out when Ghebre filled his set of queens on the river.
On the sixth hand, Justin Westmoreland, winner of last night's no-limit event, capped a pot and went all in against Men with split queens. The Master made two pair, but Justin escaped on the river with a third lady. A few hands later, Men gave his audience a little poker lesson. When Albert Luna raised and Ghebre re-raised with a door-card ace, Men mucked and loudly proclaimed that he was folding a hand that he had never folded before in stud hi-lo. He later disclosed that it was 2-5/3 and said he gave it up because he knew that Ghebre had two of the aces which were vital to him.
Hand 26 was Luna's last. He bet $2,500 on fifth street with A-3/10-6, missed his low draw and lost to Rich Nguyen, who started with split kings and made two pair. Ghebre, a mechanical engineer, had a close call a few hands later. He was all in with just two jacks while Men was drawing to a straight flush on sixth street. Men missed, and settled for half with an 8-low. Westmoreland, who had gone all in three times previously, finally departed on hand 28 when he failed to make a low and was blown out by Rich's full house.
Three-handed, the finalists began talking deal, a discussion that continued loudly but fruitlessly for the next dozen or more hands. Men, with a comfortable chip lead, suggested winner take all, an offer to which neither player responded. With limits at $6,000-$12,000, with $1,000 antes and $2,000 bring-in, Men had about $56,000 to around $39,000 for Rich and $31,000 for Ghebre. On hand 42, Rich went all in with 3-5/3-10 and caught bricks while Ghebre, starting with 2-7/3-2, made deuces and treys to get the match heads-up. Five hands later, Ghebre nearly busted and instead came close to pulling even. He was all in with two 4s and an ace with one card to come against Men's kings and 7s with an ace. Ghebre had four outs (two 4s and the two remaining bullets) and caught a 4. But after losing the next hand, he accepted Men's offer of a tournament-ending deal. -Max Shapiro
BIOGRAPHY
The credentials of Men "The Master" Nguyen hardly need repeating. His countless victories
Include three World Series bracelets and four each at the Hall of Fame and Four Queens, along with three best all-arounds at the Bicycle Casino. Tonight, he seemed more proud of the fact that he busted Hon Le, proclaiming it several times during the tournament and repeating it for this report. Men explained that Hon Le, who came in second at this year's Legends of Poker championship, is one of the players he backs, but said he wants to play hard against them and have them play hard against him. "Only one of us can take home the trophy," he declared.
In tonight's event, Men said he had his ups and downs and never had many chips until a key hand at the fourth table when he made a wheel and never looked back. The other key hand, he added, came when he broke two players at once just before the final table.
CHIP POSITION FINAL TABLE
Rich Nguyen
$14,100
Andom Ghebre
$22,800
Men Nguyen
$56,200
(Vacant)
Albert Luna
$7,200
Henry Kaptanjian
$8,600
Justin Westmoreland
$17,100
Shan Gu
$400
Chips raced and/or blinded off: $45
ALL-AROUND PAY-OFF POINTS
Name Total
1. Justin Westmoreland 95
2. Tony Abesamis 75
3. Jollibert David 73
4. Clinton Moore 60
5. Men Nguyen 57
6. Anthony Tran 57
7. Richard Dagres 53
8. Hai Tran 49
9. Andom Ghebre 49
10. Peter Wu 49
11. Edward Moncada 47
12. Rocky Enciso 44
13. Van Zakarian 43
14. Rich Nguyen 43
15. Tho Ngo 42
16. Randy Douthat 42
17. Wayne Chung 38
18. Fred Louie 38
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