BAGHCHEHSARAIE BEATS PHAN
FOUR TIMES TO WIN NO-LIMIT
"I got lucky too many times," Sirous Baghchehsaraie remarked after winning the third event of LAPC XIII, $300 no-limit hold'em. Indeed he did. John Phan arrived at the final table with an enormous chip lead of $276,500, twice as much as anyone else, and he used them to cudgel his opponents with an unrelenting succession of raises as he built his stacks to nearly $600,000 at one point. The only one he couldn't beat was Baghchehsaraie. They had four big confrontations and Sirous won all four of them, the last three times, including the final hand, with draw-outs.
A huge field of 678 players showed up for the $200,000 guaranteed event. They made a total of 1,111 rebuys and add-ons, generating a prize pool of $536,700. Baghchehsaraie's official share for his victory was $182,480, a record cash-in for the local pro. His biggest prior prize was $89,000 for a second-place finish in a World Series 7-card stud event three years ago.
"John is very aggressive, he said. "You just have to play with him and hope to outdraw him. You can't sit and wait."
Final table action got underway with $500 antes and blinds of $2,000-$4,000, 6:31 remaining. There was only one flop and virtually no action until the stakes rose to $1,000 antes and $3,000-$6,000 blinds. Then, on hand number 10, Phan raised to $13,000 and Ernie Sebastian moved in for $23,000 more. Sebastian was a 2.8-1 favorite with A-K versus K-10, but Phan rivered him when the board came K-5-4-Q-10. Tenth place paid $6,440. Wally Saikaly then left and cashed in for $8,585 four hands later. He moved in for $16,000 from the small blind with A-2 and couldn't help after Hassan Komoei called holding pocket sevens.
Right after limits went to $5,000-$10,000 with $2,000 antes, Kristy Gazes faced a dilemma. She was in the big blind with 10c-3c when Kevin Song button-raised to $25,000. With just $16,000 left, she drummed her hands on the table in indecision, then finally decided she had to go with her hand. Song had J-8, neither player helped and Gazes cashed out eighth for $10,735.
To this point, Phan, whose victories include a win at Legends of Poker and two at this year's World Poker Open, had been by far the most aggressive player. Now he stepped up the heat with three consecutive $30,000 raises which went unchallenged. The fourth time he pushed in 30k, holding nearly 500k in chips, he hit his first roadblock. Sirous moved in for $54,000, and his pocket 7s beat Phan's pocket 5s.
Marine lance corporal Trung "Robert" Nguyen, who started the final table with the second chip lead, now heard taps play after he bet his last $35,000 with pocket treys. Sirous outran them by flopping a 10 to his A-10, and Nguyen picked up $13,420 for seventh place.
Phan then got lucky against Sergio Rodriguez, who was playing only his second tournament. After Phan raised to $29,000 and was called by Kevin Song, Rodriguez moved in for $21,000 more with pocket aces. Phan had kings and flopped a set, then filled. Rodriguez picked up $18,785 for fifth place. Phan now had about 580,000 in chips. Hassan Kamoei was next out. He moved in for $40,000 with A-7, lost to Mo Fathipour's pocket jacks and collected $24,150 for fifth.
With blinds now $8,000-$16,000, Phan still led with $462,000, followed by Sirous with $179,000; Song with $170,000 and Fathipour with $86,000. Sirous hit Phan a second time when he came over the top of Phan's raise for $187,000 with A-J, beating Phan's 9-9 when the board came J-5-3-J-2. But Phan recovered by knocking out Fathipour, who tried an all-in raise of $55,000 from the button with just 4d-2d. Phan called with A-8. It held up and Fathipour cashed out for $32,200.
Three hands later, hand number 50, Phan was in the big blind with 9-5 when the flop came Q-5-5. He made a small trap bet of $16,000 with his trips and Song, holding Q-7, raised to $36.000. A trey turned. Phan bet $50,000, Song moved in for $121,000 and busted out when a river trey filled Phan. The veteran pro took home $48,300 for third place.
Sirous and Phan were now heads-up, and the match lasted six hands. On the second hand, everything turned around. Phan raised to $60,000 holding A-Q. Sirous then moved in for $376,000 with Kc-4c. He missed his flush after the flop came 10c-10s-5c, but a king turned to give him the pot and the chip lead with $756,000 to Phan's $142,000.
The two then agreed to a chip-count deal and kept playing. Four hands later it was over. Sirous moved in with Kc-9c, once again the underdog as Phan called for his last $130,000 with Ad-3h. The board came 9-5-4-8-7, and the paired nine locked up the win and the biggest payday ever for Sirous Baghchehsaraie. Max Shapiro
|
