| 'Armenian Express' Continues His
Hustler Success with Hold'em Win
Chris Grigorian seems to have found a home at the Hustler Casino. Earlier this year he finished first and third in two 7-stud hi-lo events and second in limit hold'em at the casino's Challenge Cup tournament, and now the "Armenian Express," chugging right along, won the opening event of Larry Flynt's Grand Slam of Poker, $200 limit hold'em. Chris, holder of numerous titles, finished 22nd at the 2003 WSOP championship event.
There was actually a three-way chop when Grigorian, Randy Holland and Vinny Landrum were reasonably even in chips. But Grigorian, with the lead, was the official winner and is also the front-runner in the $25,000 all-around points race. He took the chip lead in early going at the final table when he knocked out John Hoang and retained the lead, or was close to it, until the three finalists decided to call it a night.
Limits at the final table started at $1,500-$3,000, with 25 minutes remaining. Ron Melrose, winner of the Bay Area tournament championship, arrived with just $4,200 and lasted but four hands. Looking at Kd-Qd, he decided to go with it from middle position, but couldn't overcome Richard "Tiny" Nauffal's A-K.
Next out was Hoang, who has been having a fantastic year. He's had 18 final table finishes thus far in 2003 and is ranked 13th overall in the current Card Player standings and number one in seven-stud hi-lo. He arrived in strong chip position, but nothing went right for him once he sat down. After losing big pots to Landrum and Grigorian, he was down to $7,200 when he found himself in the big blind right after limits went to $2,000-$4,000. He called with Js-10s after Grigorian raised, then called for his last $1,200 when Grigorian bet with a board of K-9-5-4. His only hope was a queen for an inside straight, but Chris, with pocket queens, already owned two of them, and Hoang unhappily settled for ninth place.
Not long after that, David Lambard, a high-limit side game player, found himself all in with only K-4 to defend himself against Hossein "Mike" Razmi's K-K. No contest. When the board came J-8-5-4-5, seven were left.
A few hands later, Nauffal raised with pocket fives. Massoud Setayesh didn't notice, and made what he thought was a call with Q-8. When told of his oversight, he tried to take his money back, but the ruling was that he had to either abandon his $2,000 or put in the full 4k . He called the raise...and flopped two more eights. "Sorry about the ruling," tournament coordinator Warren Karp said to him jokingly.
But the windfall didn't do him much good. Holding 10-5 in the big blind, he paired his five on a flop of K-J-5 and bet all in. Unfortunately for him, Londoner Norm Wheatcroft held Qh-Jh and had paired his jack. Six were left just as limits inched up again to 3-6k. At this point, Grigorian, Landrum and Nauffal were all closely bunched with a bit over 60k each.
But then Holland moved into contention at Grigorian's expense. The pot was three-bet before the flop. Holland check-raised with a board of A-A-6-3 and then bet the river. Grigorian called and sighed when Holland showed him A-K. Holland now took the lead, briefly, with close to 70k.
At 3 a.m., Razmi took his leave. He was all in with J-9 against Holland's J-3. When the flop came A-K-J, Holland called for a pair or big card so he could at least get his money back with a chop. A 10 turned, and it looked like might get his wish. Instead, a river trey gave Holland a win, and a startled Razmi cashed out in fifth place.
At this point, Grigorian, thanks to an earlier straight, had regained the lead with approximately $88,000 to $76,000 for Landrum, $60,000 for Holland and $58,000 for Nauffal. A deal was discussed at length, but couldn't be reached. As play continued, Grigorian continued to add to his stacks, finally reaching the $100,000 mark. Holland's luck, meanwhile, continued to hold. All in with K-10 against Nauffal's K-Q, he got the split he was looking for in the earlier hand when the board came 7-7-9-A-A and the king played for both.
One hand after the players returned from a break, it was Grigorian's turn to get lucky. He held K-6 of hearts, while Nauffal had K-Q of clubs. With a board of A-Q-2-K and two hearts, Grigorian bet and Nauffal called all in. "No heart!" Tiny pleaded. To no avail. A 10 of hearts rivered, and the table was down to three players.
Chris was the leader with about $112,000, and now, with limits raised again, the finalists this time agreed to divvy up the remaining prize pool. The Armenian Express once again was on the fast track at the Hustler. -Max Shapiro.
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