Bad Beats Don’t Stop Song
Repeatedly in tonight’s $500 no-limit hold’em shootout event, at the first table and the last, Kevin Song was plagued by a run of bad beats. But the genial pro hung in, came back from being lowest chipped three handed, and finally came out on top in event number seven of Legends 2004 after a deal with runner-up “Miami” John Cernuto.
Hollywood was again represented at the tournament tonight. Tobey Maguire was back, and this time “Spiderman” crawled to heads-up in the first qualifying round. Actor Vince Vaughn also played yesterday and today.
The tournament began with 220 players. The 22 table winners started over again at three tables with $1,500 each When the final table started, blinds were still only $50 and $100, with 20:22 left. On the ninth hand, Tony “The Mailman” Tolentino moved in for $375 with Ah-10h. Kevin Goodling had pocket kings and The Mailman was stamped “cancelled.”
Irene Kristal, a dietician, lasted three more hands. Holding 8d-7d, she moved in for about $800 with the board showing Qd-10h-3d-4s. Dan Alspach called with Ac-10c. Kristal missed her flush draw and finished ninth. Just three hands after that, contractor Kevin Goodling, holding K-5, moved in with a board of Kh-9h-6d-2h. He was drawing dead because Amir Vahedi, with 5h-3h, already had a flush
Blinds became $100-$200. One of the few times Song drew out came when he was all in for $3,500 with a paired 6 and made two pair on the river to outrun Alspach’s paired 10. Alspach lasted until hand 39. Holding Kd-2d, he flopped a flush draw and missed, while Song flopped two pair and filled. Vahedi busted the next hand. He moved in with A-J and lost to casino executive James Brown’s A-K.
When blinds went to $100-$200 with $25 antes, a rough count had Song leading with around $10,500, followed by Brown, $8,500; Ben Tang, $6,500; Al “Sugar Bear” Barbieri, $5,000 and Cernuto, $2,000. Cernuto started his comeback when he bet a hand on the river and Song folded. Then, on hand 52, he moved in for $2,850. A very long time went by. Barbieri almost called for the clock until he was informed that the action was on him. It might have been a tournament first: a player putting a clock on himself. “Sugar Bear” quickly called with pocket 9s and lost to Cernuto’s pocket queens.
Tang, a pro from Arizona, busted on hand 56. He had 8-8, opened for $800, got raised by Song $2,000 more and moved in for a total of $6,500. Song, with pocket jacks, just had him covered, won with a flopped set and took the chip lead with close to $16,000. Later, Song took one of his bad beats when he called with A-J and then Cernuto, all in with A-10, flopped a 10.
Later, Brown moved in and Barbieri mused about a tough decision. “You know it’s on you,” Song jokingly reminded him, in case Barbieri was considering calling the clock on himself again. Barbieri finally called with pocket jacks. Brown had pocket 8s, flopped a set and Barbieri, a one-time Legends champion playing this tournament for the first time in five years, was out in fourth place. On the next hand, Song suffered another beat on the river. He had moved Cernuto all in holding pocket 6s. Miami John had A-J and rivered a jack.
When blinds went to $200-$400 with $75 antes, Song trailed with about $6,500 while Cernuto and Brown were in the $13,000-$14,000 range. Brown then took a big hit when he moved in on the river with trip 5s and lost to Song’s 5s full. With about $14,000, Song now was roughly even with Cernuto. Song finally busted Brown on hand 68. This time he didn’t worry about another bad beat. He was about a 93 percent favorite with A-A to Brown’s A-7 and made a full house when the board came A-9-4-2-2.
Heads-up, Song had about $19,000 to $14,000 for Cernuto. They played four hands without much change, then agreed to a deal. Max Shapiro
Biography
Kevin Song, who comes from Korea, began playing poker around 1990 and tournaments in 1995. He has numerous titles and cash-outs, including a 1997 World Series bracelet in $2,000 limit hold'em, a U.S. Poker Championship victory in 7-stud hi-lo in 2000 and a second in a $1,500 hold’em shootout event in this year’s WSOP. He recently returned to tournament action after a three-year absence while he built a retail business.
At tonight’s first table, he said he would repeatedly build his stacks, only to have all-in players double up on him three times with bad beats. “But it’s part of the game,” he noted. “I was very comfortable because those players played like little girls and wouldn’t come over the top. The veteran pro continued to keep his composure when the same pattern repeated at the final table. He said he was also uncomfortable with the structure, restarting with few chips and small blinds, but was able to adjust there as well.
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