| After a Very 'Luong' Night's Work,
Philip Luong Wins Limit Hold'em
It was a very "Luong" night for Tuyen "Philip" Luong as the seventh event of Grand Slam of Poker, limit hold'em, stretched on until nearly 7 a.m. But considering his first-place reward of $39,520, it was worth the effort.
The pro from Hacienda Heights, CA, piled up chips just before the final table and arrived with $87,400, a third of all the checks in play. He steadily added to his lead, but then had a tough time disposing of his two stubborn final opponents, Charlie (Scotty Warbucks) Shoten and Yup Son.
The final table started with $1,000-$1,500 blinds and $1,500-$3,000 limits, 5:47 remaining. Jack Boghossian, making his third appearance as a finalist, was first out. He raised all in for $2,300 on the fourth hand with A-2, ran into Luong's A-K and couldn't help.
With 2-4k limits, hand 15 was three-bet with three-way action. A non-threatening flop of 2-2-7 started a capped-pot raising war between Luong and Frankie O'Dell. Luong bet the turn blind. O'Dell called, then went all in and mucked his hand without showing when Luong turned up pocket kings to increase his lead to about 125k.
Starting with only $4,300, Steven Edwards managed to survive two all-ins, but on hand 23 the game was up. Holding K-8, he raised $1,200 and went all in. Luong had As-8s and crushed him by first flopping an ace and then making a river flush. On hand 41, with limits at 3-6k, Shoten had K-6 in the big blind. He bet the flop of K-J-7, was raised by real estate entrepreneur Moshe Yona and re-raised. A turn-card six gave Shoten two pair. He put Yona all in and left him in seventh place.
A few hands later the player who calls himself "TNT" was detonated. He went all in with A-3 and Luong blew him away with pocket sixes. Soon after, Shoten did the honors on Tony Eskandari, who was all in with pocket eights. Shoten had Qs-Js, flopped a flush draw, didn't hit it, but still did the job with a jack on the turn.
Four-handed, Luong still led with about 160k. Shoten had moved up to about 60k, while Son and David Levi trailed badly with around 24 and 15k respectively.
Three hands later, Shoten raised from the button with K-10, Luong made it 12k to go with pocket sixes and Levi capped it with A-K. When the flop came 7-5-2, Luong bet and Levi raised all in. A 10 on fourth street paired Shoten and gave him a big pot. Levi, meanwhile, while cashing out fourth, picked up 38 points to move into the lead in the all-around points race.
It had taken 51 hands to eliminate the first seven players, but 55 more would be needed to bust the last two. Two hands later, Shoten, in the small blind, turned 9-2 into a straight to beat Luong and threaten him for the lead, with about 110k to Luong's 135k.
Son was now down to the cloth, but began an amazing comeback. He survived four all-ins, twice with full houses, once with a straight and another time with a paired-ace split. As Luong kept doubling him up, Son moved up to about 50k before Luong finally struck back at the 2-4k level by making three sixes. "At last I didn't get rivered," he sighed.
Son then escaped a fifth time by catching a king to his K-5. The approximate count stood at: Luong, 175k; Shoten, 50k; Son, 37k. But then Son went on a rush. When he beat Luong's A-Q by making a flush with Qs-Js five hands later, he had zoomed to about $115,000 to Luong's $95,000.
Then Shoten put the brakes to Son in the very next hand, perhaps the key pot of the night. Son had K-10, flopped a 10 and then caught a king on the turn. Shoten, hanging on with pocket queens, made a set on the river, raised all in and suddenly went from 50 to 100k. Then Luong got in a good punch on the next hand, nailing Son with a king-high straight and leaving him with 25k.
Now Luong turned super-aggressive, raising repeatedly and daring Son to call him. "I've already doubled you up 10 times," he said. As hand 90 approached, Luong was near the $200,000 mark. Finally, Son, in the big blind, went all in for his last $1,800 holding pocket sevens. "No," he cried, as the flop came A-Q-3 and Shoten beat him with Q-4.
Heads-up, Luong had a 185-75k lead, with limits at 6-12k. On hand 95, Shoten got crippled. With a board of 10-7-4-6-5, Luong bet. After long hesitation, Shoten called and Luong showed him 4-3 for a straight.
Shoten hung on for 11 more hands. Finally, holding K-Q, he called all in when Luong raised with A-8. The board came 9-8-6-A-Q, and Luong had finally wrapped up his win.
Max Shapiro
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