| Binh Do Gets the Dough
One hand made all the difference. Down to four players, tournament pro Binh Do was lowest-chipped with $41,000 against about $100,000 to $120,000 for his three opponents. Then, with limits at an astronomical $20,000-$40,000, he went all in against Rusty Mandap, flopped a jack to his A-J to outrun Mandap's pocket fours and hauled in a $122,000 pot. Two hands later he was still the leader when a chip-count deal was made, as he won the sixth event of Big Poker Oktober, $100 limit hold’em. Tonight's final table lasted 59 hands, more than all the hands dealt in the prior three events combined.
The final table began with limits of $4,000-$8,000, 22:39 remaining. Do was the chip leader with $68,000, followed closely by Donald Nguyen and Mandap. Attorney David Brightman exited first. After nursing his short stack for 11 hands, he put in his last two chips with A-J. "Super Mario" Esquerra was in the big blind with Q-10. The flop came 10-3-3, and a 10 on the turn filled him as Brightman collected $515. Two hands later the super one made it two kills in a row. Igal Mor, a security consultant making his first final table, raised all in for $8,000 with A-Q. Esquerra had pocket jacks and flopped a set to leave Mor in ninth place, worth $595.
Two hands later, though, Esquerra suffered a bad beat. He had A-K and this time Nguyen had the pocket jacks. With limits at $6,000-$12,000, Esquerra took the lead when he caught a king on the turn. But then Nguyen hit a two-outer jack on the river for a set, and Esquerra was down to two chips. Three hands later there was four-way action in a raised pot and Esquerra went all in with Ks-5s. He had hopes when the flop came 8-7-6 with two spades, but Joe Schulman had him covered with As-4s. No flush came, but a five turned to give Schulman a straight. Esquerra picked up $820 for eighth place.
Ten hands later, Do raised with pocket queens and Ahmad Jaberi added another thou with pocket 10s. A board of A-9-9-Q-A gave Do queens full as Jaberi cashed in seventh for $1,025. Van Mahesh had a close call a couple of hands later when he was all in with K-6 against Schulman’s pocket aces. "One more six," Mahesh called for when a six flopped. He settled for a river king. Shortly after, Xue Ping Shi had the pocket rockets. They held up, rescuing him for the second of four eventual all-in situations.
A big pot then vaulted Mandap into a big lead. He button-raised with Jh-8h, and Nguyen, a clerk, called from the small blind with K-10 offsuit. A Kh-10s-6h gave Mandap a flush draw and Nguyen two pair. Mandap bet, Nguyen check-raised. An ace and a queen came to gift Mandap with a runner-runner straight. After winning the next pot as well, he had about $150,000.
With limits at $10,000-$20,000, Mahesh busted out in sixth place, worth $1,430. He had pocket fives and Mandap, in the big blind with 10-2, flopped a 10. Mahesh was consoled knowing that he had taken the lead in the all-around points play-off race.
A half-dozen hands later, an all-in Schulman had the lead against Mandap, A-7 versus K-8. A king on the turn finished him and he cashed in fifth for $1,840.
When limits went to $20,000-$40,000, Shi was the chip leader with around $120,000, while Mandap and Nguyen had around $100,000 each and Do trailed with his $41,000. Then came the turnaround on the first hand after an all-in Do hit a jack to his A-J against Mandap's two fours. Two hands later the count was: Do, 102k; Shi, 95k; Mandap, 87k; and Nguyen, 79k, and the chip-count deal ended it. -Max Shapiro.
BIOGRAPHY
Binh Do came to this country from Vietnam 10 years ago, and has been playing as a pro for six of those years. While he plays $40-$80 hold'em side games, most of his playing time revolves around tournaments. He estimates he plays about 200 of them each year. A hold'em specialist, Do has scored wins at the Orleans, Hollywood Park, Commerce, "everywhere," with perhaps his biggest score coming in a $300 no-limit hold'em event at the Bicycle Casino last year.
Do describes his style of play as aggressive. Tonight, he said, he was down at one point to $400 at the $300-$600 limit, and gradually worked his way back up. A key hand for him came with about six tables left. Holding pocket kings, he knocked out Jim Miller, who had pocket 10s, and picked up a lot of chips.
ALL AROUND
PLAY-OFF
POINTS
Name Total
1. Van Mahesh 79
2. Eric Hamilton 78
3. Manalito Navarro 61
4. Viet Tran 61
5. James Mena 61
6 Angel Juarez 61
7. Larry Jensen 60
8. Binh Do 59
9. Patrick Schulze 59
10.Chris Straghalis 53
11 Jin Son Gu 53
12.Gioi Luong 53
13.Gary Vick 53
14.John Henson 51
15.Xue Ping Shi 51
16.Lee Kimball 47
17.Fred Dak 47
18.Miguel Guiterrez 47
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