|
Van Pham Flops a Victory!
"Bad cards, good flops." That's how Van Pham summed up his win in the 12th event of Big Poker Oktober 2002, $200 Omaha hi-lo. He moved up steadily at the final table with admittedly lucky catches, and when it became three-handed, he had about $50,000 of the $79,000 in play. When he got heads up with retired Air Force Lt. Col. Jerry Simon, he had a 3-1 chip lead and the two agreed to a deal.
It took an unbelievable two hours, more than twice as long as yesterday's hand-for-hand marathon, for the 11th player to be eliminated. It was mostly Harold Berger's fault. He went all in about five times, usually with one chip, and somehow slipped by to the final (10-handed) table…with one chip. Once there, he went all in and survived three more times, hanging on all the way to fifth place. Luck, however, is no stranger to Berger, president of NPN, a pay phone company. Back in the old jackpot days, Berger once hit five in one year at the Bike, including one for more than $70,000, the largest ever to that date.
In any event, Andre Maloof, with a full house, finally broke the unidentified 11th player. It then took another 30 minutes for player number 10 to depart, one out of the money after a proposal to pay something to that spot was vetoed. Ulises Molina, in the big blind with Q-8-6-6, departed when Simon flopped three kings.
The official final table began with limits continuing at $1,000-$2,000, 10:14 remaining. As was the case yesterday, the pace then picked up considerably, with five players knocked out in just 11 hands. On the second hand, Barry Caraco bet his last $2,000 when he made kings and 10s on the turn. But two of the board cards were spades. Pham started with A-2-4-6 with a suited ace of spades and then picked off Caraco with a river spade. Rocky Enciso departed two hands later. The poker player, starting with A-3-7-8. was drawing dead by the turn after Maloof flopped a straight. Since he and Rocky both started with just $1,500, Andre still had scant chips when he was in the big blind the next hand. He had a decent A-2-8-10 and Van had just A-6-7-9, but when the board came K-J-6-4-J, the paired 6 was all Van needed to close the books on the CPA.
Moving right along, Ricky Ortiz got dynamited out two hands later. With $2,000-$4,000 limits, he was in the big blind with a very weak Q-9-8-6 when options trader Jason Thompson left him no options by flopping four aces. Then, on hand 11, Harold Berger, also in the big blind, was all in as usual with his usual one chip. He had 5-5-6-8 with two clubs and seemingly got lucky again by flopping a set when A-7-5 came, and then picking up a flush draw on the turn. But Gerald Stamler, himself going all in on fourth street, had made a wheel, ending Harold's lucky streak.
Seven deals later, Thompson was in the small blind when he picked up A-3-J-Q double-suited and raised all in for $4,000. Simon called with A-4-6-Q, then hit one 4 on the river and another on the turn to cut the field to three. On the next hand, Pham beat Simon with a flush to build his stacks up to about $50,000, with his opponents almost evenly splitting the rest. After taking the next two pots with no calls, Van was up to $60,000.
A few hands later, Jerry finished off Gerald. Stamler had A-7-9-10, and when a board of 7-7-5 gave him trips, he bet all in. But Simon, with two 5s in his hand, had flopped a full house, and for good measure made quads on the river. He and Pham then made their deal and the final table ended in a brisk 45 minutes. - Max Shapiro
BIOGRAPHY
Van Pham has been playing poker for over 10 years and tournaments for eight. He has a couple of victories in hold'em, the most notable being when he won an opening event at the Orleans that attracted a field of 940. He also had a win at Commerce's Holiday Bonus Tournament last year. He likes hold'em and Omaha equally well, and this is his first Omaha victory.
Unlike some players who feel it's a badge of dishonor to be called lucky, Van Pham had no qualms in saying that he had an abundance of it in this event. He said he was frustrated when a lot of times his good hands didn't get called, but it was still better than being outdrawn. Tonight he was down to $100 by the second round but managed to build it up to $600 by the second break. "When that happened, I felt lucky." And, he added, "You have to be lucky to win tournaments."
Event #12 Results
OMAHA HI-LO
$200 + $20
$19,400 PRIZE POOL
97 PLAYERS
1.Van Pham $7,175
2. Jerry Simon $4,220
3. Gerald Stamler $2,310
4. Jason Thompson $1,440
5. Harold Berger $1,880
6. Ricky Ortiz $1,005
7. Andre Maloof $835
8. Rocky Enciso $660
9. Barry Caraco $575
NEXT
BPO APPRECIATION
TOURNAMENT
NO-LIMIT HOLD'EM
$100+$20
One Rebuy
$10,000 Added
7:15 p.m., Tues., October 15
CHIP POSITION FINAL TABLE
Harold Berger
$500
Van Pham
$25,500
Ricky Ortiz
$1,000
Jason Thompson
$4,000
Barry Caraco
$6,000
Rocky Enciso
$1,500
Gerald Stamler
$5,500
Jerry Simon
$33,500
Andre Maloof
$1,500
Chips raced and/or blinded off: $575
ALL-AROUND
PAY-OFF POINTS
Name Total
1.Binh Do 129
2.Minh Ly 109
3. Tom Roach 106
4. Tony Abesamis 105
5. Ulises Molina 105
6. Clinton Moore 98
7.Justin Westmoreland 95
8. Andom Ghebre 87
9. Jollibert David 73
10. Rocky Enciso 68
11.Can Hua 61
12.Albert Luna 60
13.Tho Ngo 58
14.Anthony Tran 57
14.Joe Grew 57
15.Fran Pinchot 57
16.Farhang Ebadipour 57
17.Men Nguyen 57
|
