| Mystery Man is Champion!
Joe Grew, a young "mystery man" who declined to disclose any significant information about himself, won the ninth event of Big Poker Oktober 2002, the $300 no-limit hold'em championship, a $100,000 guarantee event, after a long, back-and-forth match with Binh Ta. Binh had himself won a $100,000 guarantee tournament six years ago at Commerce Casino's California State Poker Championship.
After the last 10 finishers sat down, it took 20 minutes to reach the official nine when a chip-depleted Todd Bleak, in the big blind with just 6-3 of spades, had little chance against Grew's pocket 10s. The final table started with $100 antes and $400-$800 blinds, 23 minutes remaining. Grew was chip leader with $40,300. On the first hand, Mike Hartzheim raised to $3,000 with pocket jacks. George Nakagawa, in the big blind with pocket 4s, had just enough to call all in. George was in bad shape when the flop came A-5-5. Then a 4 turned to apparently rescue him with a full house. But then a jack hit the river to give Hartzheim a bigger full boat..
On hand number eight, contractor Don Hoffman moved all in for $5,300 with A-4 of spades. Andre Maloof called with A-K of hearts. With a board of Q-8-2-J and two hearts, Don had only two outs, but he got there with a river 4. On the next hand, Grew raised to $2,500 with K-7 and Andre pushed in all his $12,600 with pocket 8s. A king flopped, and two were gone.
Blinds went to $600-$1,200 with $200 antes. On hand 27, Grew lost about $24,000 to Hartzheim another young, unfamiliar face who lives in Wisconsin and is in the printing business. After Mike raised to $3,600 pre-flop with pocket jacks, Joe bet $6,000 on a flop of Q-7-4, and then bet all in when a 5 turned. After long thought that brought a clock into play, Mike finally called. Joe, with 10-6, had nothing but a straight draw. Hartzheim now had about $50,000 and, briefly, the chip lead.
John Juanda became short-chipped when he moved in with a paired 6 and contractor Don Hoffman called with pocket 10s. On hand 36, with $300 antes and $1,000-$2,000 blinds, John moved in for $4,000 with pocket 3s. Binh Ta called with 8-6 and knocked him out with a straight when a 9-10-J-Q was dealt. Tony Abesamis cashed out sixth on the 43rd hand. He raised to $10,000 with A-Q and Ta moved him in holding pocket 8s. Tony took the lead when a queen flopped, but then an 8 turned to give Binh a set.
When limits at $2,000-$4,000 with $500 antes, Binh Ta led with $62,500, followed by Grew with $41,500, while the others were in the $12,000-$19,000 range. Hartzheim, who had been steadily declining, finally raised all in on the button with A-2 of clubs. Ly called from the big blind with 8-6 and won when an 8 came on the river. On hand 85, Minh, winner of the hold'em event the night before, was in the big blind with 5-2 of hearts and called all in for about $11,000 when Binh Ta raised with A-6. The board helped neither player, and three were left. Binh Ta now had $62,500, Grew had $41,000 and Hoffman, $35,500. But Hoffman very quickly busted out when he bet all in with Q-7 on a flop of Q-10-9. Grew, with J-8, had a straight and it was now heads-up.
The match-up lasted 20 hands. Joe quickly took the lead, then got knocked down to about $22,000 when Binh Ta, with A-J, outdrew his A-Q, by catching two more jacks. But Joe then doubled up twice on the next two hands, first when his A-7 paired a 7, and then when his pocket deuces held up. With limits at $3,000-$6,000, Binh Ta briefly took the lead again. Then Joe pulled ahead. On the last hand, Binh tried an all-in move holding 4-3 when the flop came A-3-5. Joe called with pocket jacks and it was all over. - Max Shapiro
BIOGRAPHY
Aside from giving his age as 29 and the fact that he lives in Carlsbad, California, but is not originally from there, Joe Grew begged off having to provide much more information about himself. He's been playing poker for six years and only recently began playing tournaments. This year he tried his luck at the World Series and came in 17th in the $1,500 shoot-out event. Returning for the Mini-Series of Poker, he made the final table in no-limit event finale. Hold'em is his best game, and no-limit hold'em his game of choice in tournaments.
Tonight's event was a long one, lasting 12 hours until past 4 a.m. Grew indicated that he was doing moderately well though-out and never felt threatened, and began getting a nice run at the second table.
CHIP POSITION FINAL TABLE
Binh Ta
$17,100
Andre Maloof
$14,700
Minh Ly
$16,400
George Nakagawa
$3,100
Don Hoffman
$7,400
Tony Abesamis
$10,300
John Juanda
$27,800
Joe Grew
$40,300
Mike Hartzheim
$14,400
Chips raced and/or blinded off: $580
ALL-AROUND
PAY-OFF POINTS
Name Total
1. Binh Do 129
2. Tony Abesamis 105
3. Clinton Moore 98
4. Justin Westmoreland 95
5. Minh Ly 95
6. Ulises Molina 91
7. Andom Ghebre 87
8. Jollibert David 73
9. Albert Luna 60
10.Tho Ngo 58
11.Anthony Tran 57
12.Men Nguyen 57
13.Joe Grew 57
14.Tom Roach 57
15.Farhang Ebadipour 57
16.Leo Alvarez 56
17.Boris Kolas 55
18. George Nakagawa 54
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