IT'S 'PHAMILY POT' NIGHT AS VAN SLAYS DAVE THE DRAGON
In a battle of the Phams, Van Pham and David Pham got heads-up in the 11th event of Cal State 2003, $500 pot-limit hold'em. It wasn't much of a contest, though. Van, who had been playing his usual super-aggressive style, enjoyed a $143,000-$61,000 chip advantage and was able to dispatch Dave the Dragon in just eight hands.
It was the first time that Van had ever played pot-limit. But he said he was comfortable with the game, got lucky and felt he would win. Tonight's $48,255 payout was not the biggest for the journeyman pro. In hold'em events, he won about $58,000 at Reno and$60,000 at the Orleans. This year, however, he's only had one small prior win at the Bicycle Casino.
This was by far the toughest final table to date at this year's Cal State. Besides the two Phams, the field included Vince Burgio, John Juanda, Kathy Liebert and Barry Greenstein, who has played three events and made three final tables, including a win in the $500 limit hold'em contest.
The final table started with blinds of $800-$1,600, with 23:43 remaining, with the two Phams as slight chip leaders. The first player in could raise anywhere from $3,200 to $5,600. In pot-limit this is calculated by the player first calling the $1,600 big blind, then raising the $4,000 pot, for a total bet of $5,600.
The players started off cautiously. Ten hands went by without a flop as nobody cared to call a raise. Finally, Mike Fetter, in the big blind, went all in for $300 more with A-9. John Juanda chased him down with just 5-2 and failed to knock him out.
Van Pham took care of that business. After Fetter, in the big blind, was all in for his last $2,000 with J-8, Van got heads-up with him by raising with pocket fives, and won when the board came 9-9-4-Q-A.
Two hands later, David raised$4,000 with Ah-8h and Liebert moved in for 4k more with pocket 10s. Two more aces flopped, and Liebert was out in ninth place. A few hands later, Doug Briggs, an insurance salesman playing his first tournament, raised 5k with A-9 and Van re-raised to put him all in. A nine came on fourth street, but it wasn't enough to save Briggs because Van had pocket queens.
As play continued, Greenstein made an uncalled raise and announced he had pocket kings. "I usually have aces, but you have to gamble once in a while," he said.
On hand 24, Burgio button-raised with his last $5,000 holding 7c-3c. Lee Watkinson called from the small blind and Van overcalled from the big blind with Kc-Qc. Van bet $5,000 into a 7d-6c-3d flop and Watkinson called. When an 8c turned, Van bet the pot and Watkinson folded. An offsuit queen hit the river and now seven were left.
Five hands later, David raised 4k with A-7. Juanda moved in for 14k more with A-J and went out when a seven turned. At this point, the approximate chip count was, David, 75k; Van, 50k; Nash Rizk, 35k; Greenstein, 30k; and Watkinson, 14k. Now Van began to go wild. On hand 33, he raised 5k with pocket deuces. Greenstein, holding Ah-Qh, re-raised 15k, then bet all in for 10k on a flop of Jh-8h-5s. Van called.
Even though Van had the lead, Greenstein was better than a 58-41 favorite with two overcards and draws to a flush and two back-door straights. Rags came, the deuces held up and Greenstein was out of business.
The next hand Van took the pot with a raise and showed the Doyle Brunson hand, 10-2 (the unlikely final hand that Brunson won two World Series championships with).. A hand later, after David raised 4k, Van forced him out with a re-raise. And three hands later he busted Watkinson, who moved in for 7k with K-3. Van had A-2 and it held up. Van now had about $102,000, while David had $64,000 and Rizk had $38,000.
Controversy erupted on hand 40. Van raised and Rizk, a tax accountant/poker player, called. The flop was 4s-4d-Jd. Van bet the 12k pot, and again Rizk called.
When an offsuit seven turned, Van again bet the $36,000 pot, Rizk said something which Van interpreted as a call, and started to turn up his cards, a Jh, 7d. Rizk protested that he hadn't called the bet, but had called time. The dealer, the other players and tournament director Cheri Dokken, who was sitting at the table, all agreed he had said something like, "OK, that bet's gonna put me all in." Rizk insisted that he had also said "Time," but no one else agreed to that. Despite Rizk's adamant denial of a call, Dokken had little choice but to rule that the "OK" constituted exactly that.
Rizk had to commit all his chips and turned up a 10d-8d for a flush draw. An offsuit four was then dealt, Van won with jacks and sevens, and an unhappy Rizk cashed out third. .
It was now a "Phamily pot," or a "Phamtastic" one, if you will, with Van having most of the chips and the momentum as well.
On the first hand heads-up, when the flop came A-J-3, David bet 10k and Van forced him out with a 22k re-raise. Two hands later, Van raised pre-flop, bet the pot when the flop came 10-8-5, then bet the pot again when a king turned, and again David folded, substantially depleted.
Hand 48 was the final one. Van raised $6,000, and David decided to raise $8,000 all in with 9-7. He was in bad shape when Van turned up pocket sevens. The board came 4-4-3-5-10, and Van Pham was now one for one in pot-limit. --Max Shapiro
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