| The first Seven-Card Stud event at the 2004 Jack Binion World Poker Open was history-making for at least two reasons. First, Can Kim Hua became only the second player ever to win two titles in the same year, in the tournament's five year history. Just two days ago, Kim Hua won the Omaha High-Low event. Second, Kim Hua ran over the final table in record time for a JBWPO event. It took less than two hours for the 46-year-old Californian to completely roll over the final table and earn his second victory in just three days.
Down to eight players, the final table started with limits at $1500-3000 and antes at 200. Starvros Karabinas, a retired physician from Austin, TX was the first player to make an exit. Karabinas started off with split Kings and ended up with (K-6) K-A-2-J (9). Unfortunately, his opponent, John Oetker, caught a second pair on seventh-street and showed (10-10) J-9-7-5 (9). Karabinas took $1,552 for eighth place.
A short time later, Can Kim Hua and John "Gandi" Cain got into a raising war when Kim Hua started with (K-K) 6 versus Gandi's (Q-6) Q. Gandi managed to catch running jacks for two pair – Queens and Jacks -- but when Kim Hua caught a second Ten, he ended up with Kings over Tens -- the winning hand. Gandi, who deals here at the JBWPO and was playing in his first major poker tournament, added $2,328 to his poker bankroll for seventh place.
The next player was eliminated just three minutes later. David Borchest, who started the day with a precarious chip lead ($24,500 versus Kim Hua's $23,500), saw nothing go right at the final table. He was down to half of his original stack when he was dealt his final hand of the night -- (6-3) 3-7-Q-J (x). John Oetker made a straight when he showed (5-4) 3-2-8-A (x). Oetker started off with an outside straight flush draw, which left Borchest as the clear underdog. The straight effectively destroyed Borchest, who had made final tables at the Taj Mahal, Foxwoods, and the World Series of Poker. He received $3,104 for sixth place.
Oetker knocked out yet another player when he topped Bill Byers, from Florida, who was short-stacked throughout his too brief 55-minute stay at the final table. Byers was forced to move his last chip into the pot with (9-5) Q-3-K-4 (A), with no pair. Oetker spiked a pair of 8s on the last card to win the hand. Byers, who has previous final table appearances here at the JBWPO, collected $3,880 for fifth place.
Another Floridian followed Byers out the door when Andrew "AJ" Kelsall, who plays live cash games for a living, was eliminated in fourth place. AJ started with (K-4) 4-Q and was "all-in" on fourth-street. Kim Hua began with (7-6) 7-8 and was delighted with the turn of events on the following rounds. Kim Hua caught a second pair. Then, he spiked a 10 to make a straight. His (7-6) 7-8-9-9 (10) bested AJ's final board, which showed (K-4) 4-A-Q-10 (Q). AJ Kelsall, who finished sixth in last year's JBWPO Limit Holdem event, won $4,656 for fourth place.
Frank Kitchens, from Oxford, GA, nursed his small stack along until finally, he was grinded down to just a few chips. His final board showed (7-5) 5-A-Q-7 going into seventh-street. Kim Hua showed (A-4) 5-4-4-Q, good for trip Fours. Kitchens desperately needed a Five or a Seven to top Kim Hua's three-of-a-kind, but rolled over a disappointing Nine on the final card, failing to improve his two-pair. Kitchens' chance to win was fried, but he did manage to cook a $7,760 payday for third place.
Heads-up play featured two previous JBWPO winners. John Oetker won the $500 buy-in Limit Holdem event last year. And, Can Kim Hua won his first gold and diamond bracelet a few days ago. The chip counts stood as follows:
Kim Hua -- $90,400
Oetker -- $51,500
Over the next forty minutes, Kim Hua used his nearly 2 to 1 chip advantage to sledgehammer his seemingly defenseless opponent. Oetker, who enjoyed a nice rush of cards during the first hour of play, repeatedly looked down and saw miserable starting hands, which Kim Hua continuously picked-off with third-street raises. His stack slowly decreased to the point he was a 7 to 1 dog.
When the final hand was dealt, Oetker was down to just $21K in chips which were tossed into the pot on fourth-street. Oetker had (A-5) 5-10 versus Kim Hua's (J-J) 8-7. Oetker took the lead when he caught a second 10 on fifth-street. But on the sixth card, Kim Hua was dealt another 8, making two pair -- Jacks over 8s. Oetker desperately needed another Ten or Five to survive, but failed to catch his miracle. John Oetker, added a second-place finish to his impressive career at the JBWPO. He collected $15,520.
With his impressive victory in record time, Can Kim Hua, of Rosemead, CA, becomes only the second player to ever win two gold and diamond bracelets within the same year. He joins 1998 World Series of Poker champion Scotty Nguyen (who accomplished his feat in 2000) in the record-books. With fifteen events still to go at this year's tournament, it's certainly conceivable that the very talented Can Kim Hua could win an unprecedented third title in the coming weeks.
When asked what he'd do with a "third" gold and diamond bracelet, Kim Hua said he now has two -- one for each wrist. "I suppose I'll have to put the next one around my ankle," he said.
Play started at: 4:00 pm CST
Play ended at: 5:55 pm CST
|
