| Big Pot Gets Luong a Win
Pro player Gio Luong beat some tough players at the final table to win the 29th event of Legends 2004, the Mariani/Buss charity event, in a five-hour marathon. It was structured with alternating 30-minute rounds of stud and hold’em. The key hand came when Luong, starting with just 10-3 in a hold’em round, made a full house to beat pocket aces and a flush. He hauled in a huge pot, took an overwhelming lead and was unstoppable after that.
Ten percent of the $201,100 prize pool went to the L.A. Lakers Youth Foundation. The Bicycle Casino added 10 percent and Lyle Berman and Mike Sexton, though not playing, each added $300 to bring the total to $30,700. Jerry Buss lasted about three hours, his son Jimmy somewhat farther, while Frank Mariani broke at the third table.
One of the two final tables included Glenn Cozen, who finished second in the 1993 WSOP championship event; “Friends” superstar Matthew Perry; and the Robin Hood of Poker, Barry Greenstein, who was being sweated by Phil Ivey. The other table included Men “The Master” Nguyen, Harry Thomas Jr., Hasan Habib and Greenstein’s protégé, Mimi Tran. Perry, also on the Celebrity Poker TV show, finished 12th when Luong’s pocket aces beat his jacks. He will play in the $5,000 championship event.
The final table assembled when Greenstein busted out in ninth place in a hold’em round. He had K-10 and Robert Goldfarb, starting with 6-4, flopped a straight. Action started with $1,000-$2,000 limits, 25 minutes remaining.
Nguyen was left with about $8,000 when Thomas made aces-up. When the round changed to stud, $200 antes, $300 low-card and $1,000-$2,000 limits, Thomas finished the job, again with aces-up.
A few hands later, Tran took a slight lead when she showed quad kings against Habib. Habib then went out in spectacular fashion on hand 31. He started with pocket queens against Cozen’s pocket kings, check-raised all-in when he made a set on sixth street, and was out when Cozen caught a third cowboy on the river.
When the round reverted to hold’em, an eyeball count showed Goldfarb in the lead with about $43,000, with Tran, Cozen and Gioi Luong all very close behind. Cozen, who builds and owns surgery outpatient centers, took a big hit when he started with pocket kings against Goldfarb’s pocket 10s and a river king gave Cozen a set and Goldfarb a straight. Some 50 hands later it went to hold’em again at $2,000-$4,000 limits, with Thomas holding a slight lead. Cozen went out four hands into the new level. He was all in from the small blind with A-4 and lost to Thomas’ pocket queens.
Back to stud, $300 antes, $500 low-card, $2,000-$4,000 limits. Now Luong was the leader with about $70,000. Poker player Andy Bloch, who started lowest-chipped and had survived several all-ins, was next out. He had the lead with queens until Thomas busted him with a club flush. Luong and Thomas weren’t far apart with about $70,000 each, while Goldfarb and Tran were in the $30,000 range.
The big hand came in the next $3,000-$6,000 hold’em round. In three-way action, Luong had 10-3, Tran had Qd-Jd and Thomas had pocket aces. A flop of Qs-10d-3d gave Tran top pair and a flush draw. She flushed on the river, but was drawing dead because Luong had filled on fourth street. He now had a huge lead with about $140,000, while Tran was down to $4,000.
Tran hung in for nearly an hour. Close to the end of the next round, $3,000-$6,000 stud, Luong caught a third 9 on sixth street and put Tran all in. Her 10s-up fell short, and the tournament was down to three. A deal was discussed and nixed. Luong now had $146,500 to $32,500 for Thomas and $30,500 for Goldfarb. The end was near. Five minutes into the next $4,00-$8,000 hold’em round, Goldfarb was all in with A-J. Luong had 6-5, flopped a six, and it was heads up. Three hands later, at nearly 10 a.m., Thomas had his chips in with A-6. Luong, with Q-9, once again outdrew his opponent by flopping a queen and locking up his win. –Max Shapiro
BIOGRAPHY
Local pro Gioi Luong has been playing poker for 10 years, but tournaments for only the past year. He’s done extremely well in tournaments during 2004, making some 14 final tables, all in limit or no-limit hold’em, except for one 7-stud cash-out at the Commerce Casino’s LAPC. These final tables include a win at the Hustler Casino’s Grand Slam III a second at Commerce’s Cal State and a second and sixth at prior Legends events. His win tonight is his biggest tournament cash-out ever.
In cash games, Luong prefers $40-$80 limit hold’em. In tonight’s split game structure, he obviously was more comfortable with hold’em, but said he was OK with stud as well.
Tonight, he said he was never in trouble and had plenty of chips throughout. And once he won that huge three-way pot, he knew it was just a matter of time before he coasted to victory.
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