Kathy Liebert Wins Again!
Kathy Liebert, one of the winningest women on the tournament trail, put another notch on her gun belt by capturing event 5 of Winnin’ o’ the Green 2003, $100 no-limit hold’em. She had an up-and-down ride at the final table, the turning point coming when she broke Bijan Ashkan. After that she surged ahead, but still had a chore putting away her final opponent, Ralph Landaw, a pediatrics teacher and stud side game specialist playing his first tournament ever.
The event attracted another impressive field of 202 players. Tournament director Denny Williams reminds players that they can avoid long sign-up lines by registering in advance for any event at the main cage.
Moshe Mandel just missed the final table. He lost his last $3,000 by calling with pocket 8s after Sang Truong moved in with pocket aces. Blinds at the final table started at $1,000-$2,000 with $300 antes, 7:45 remaining.
On the first hand, Bijan Ashkan moved in for $17,700. Hollywood night club owner Cliff Cantor called from the small blind for $12,100, and then Phil Goldner, who had already limped, called the raise for $12,200 total. Cantor held A-Q. “It’s almost perfect,” he exclaimed as Ashkan turned up A-J and Goldner showed 10-9. “Almost” does not count, because Ashkan made jacks full on the turn. Cantor, with $100 less, cashed out 10th for $720 while Goldner collected $835 for ninth.
After blinds went to $2,000-$4,000 with $500 antes, Ron Faltinsky, a vitamin distributor and top section regular at the Bike, went all in and survived for the first of four times when his K-Q outran Liebert’s pocket queens. Two players departed on the next two hands. First Alex Ayalya moved in for $20,500 with K-10 and got picked off by Landaw, who had A-K on the button and flopped a bullet. Eighth place paid $1,075. Next, realtor George Rechnitzer was pretty much dead meat in the small blind with 9-3. Ashkan was in the big blind with Q-5 and caught a queen on the river for good measure. George took home $1,315.
On hand 14 Liebert moved all in for $21,500 in late position with K-J. She was a slight underdog against Nick Sciurbe’s A-5 but survived when a king flopped. Sciurbe, a retiree, was present because he hit a one-outer at the second table, making quad 7s against a set of queens. Faltinsky, meanwhile, continued his escape act in a novel fashion. He was in bad shape with A-3 against Sciurba’s A-K when the flop came K-8-7 with three hearts. But then two more hearts earned Ron a chop.
Winning some, losing some, Liebert went all in again on hand 28. She had the better hand, A-J, and it won. Meanwhile, the fat lady sang for Sang on hand 30. He was all in with A-2 and Faltinsky broke him with J-10 by flopping a jack. Sixth place paid $1,795. Liebert picked up a lot of chips on hand 36. She raised 9K with K-10 and Ashkan moved in for $28k more with K-4. Rags came and Ashkan, a local pro, was paid $2,275 for fifth place. Two hands later, Liebert got even healthier by knocking out Sciurba with A-K to his A-4 when the board came 7-6-3-K-6. “He loves to gamble with me,” she commented as he collected his $3,230. “He likes having a weak female at the table.”
The “weak female” now had the bulk of the chips in play. But Landaw drew close to even when he ended Faltinsky’s escape routine on hand 44. Ron raised all in with A-5. Landaw had his $62,500 exactly covered and beat him with A-9. Ron cashed out for $4,665.
It took Kathy, with her much greater experience and aggressive play, seven hands to finish off Landaw. On the final hand, he moved in for $58,000 when he flopped a king to his K-8. Unfortunately for him, Liebert had o flopped an ace to her A-5, and that ended the match-up. –Max Shapiro
BIOGRAPHY
Kathy Liebert’s numerous tournament achievements is headed by her victory last year in the Party Poker Million event. Last year she also made the most no-limit final tables and made the final table at the Legends of Poker championship filmed by the World Poker Tour. Liebert has a degree in business and financing and worked for a year at Dun and Bradstreet. She began playing low-limit poker in Las Vegas in 1991, later was a prop in a small Colorado cardroom and played her first tournament in 1994. She has a second-place finish in a $3,000 no-limit event at the WSOP.
Tonight, she agreed that the K-10 versus K-4 hand when she broke Bijan Ashkan was the key pot for her. She paid tribute to her final opponent, Robert Landaw. “He was very aggressive, had lots of moves. It seemed as though he was picking on me.” If true, he was picking on the wrong person.
CHIP POSITION FINAL TABLE
Alex Ayala
$13,800
Phil Goldner
$12,500
Sang Truong
$57,700
Kathy Liebert
$43,200
Robert Landaw
$39,000
Ron Faltinsky
$6,500
George Rechnitzer
$3,900
Bijan Ashkan
$18,000
Nick Sciurbe
$49,000
Cliff Cantor
$12,400
ALL-AROUND PAY-OFF POINTS
Name Total
1. Suriyan Bhinestien 61
2. Robert Bakovic 61
3. Joe Boghossian 61
4. Barry Bergida 61
5. Kathy Liebert 59
6. Russ Rosen 53
7. “Unknown” 53
8. Joseph Isagulyan 53
9. B. J. Behboudi 53
10.Robert Landaw 51
11.Tae Womack 47
12.Shig Nakayama 47
13.Rolando Florendo 47
14.Alan Wood 47
15.Ron Faltinsky 45
16.Denfield Eudelle 44
|
