| Soldier Guns Down Field
Stephen Savioli, an army PFC on a weekend pass, mowed down the final table and captured the fifth and final Last Chance no-limit hold’em event of Legends 2004. It was the first live tournament ever for Savioli, who is an Arab linguist student at the Presidio in Monterey. Once he got the chip lead he played his normal ultra aggressive style, and nothing remained standing under his onslaught. When he got heads-up with Craig Yoshida, he had a chip lead of about 12-1, and the tournament quickly ended
Savioli, an avid online player, got a lucky break when he won a key hand by accident.
On hand 24 he attempted to raise to $9,000 with As-4s, only to realize that Yoshida had already raised the same amount, so he was forced to simply call. He later said he would not have called a raise. Steve Tourouk also called, and then Abram Assatoury went all in for $500 more. Along with the antes, there was now $40,000 the pot. On a flop of Q-s-10d-5s Savioli bet $10,000, got heads-up with Assatoury, who had just 8h-6h, and won with ace-high.
The final table started with $300 antes and $1,000-$2,000 blinds, 6:42 remaining. Eric Shimp had the chip lead with $67,100. Earlier, at the first break, an unfortunate thing happened. A player was caught going to the rest room with his chips in his pocket. He was disqualified and the chips confiscated. This is one of the strictest no-no’s in tournament poker, and this it was the third time at Legends 2004 that the rule had to be enforced.
On the third hand, Edward Cunamam moved in under the gun for about $11,000 with A-8. Hamid “Captain” Mohammadi also moved in for slightly more with A-Q. Tourouk, covering them both, called with pocket queens. The ladies stood up, and Mohammadi stood down in ninth place, while Cunamam, a dental and medical assistant, finished 10th.
Limits rose to $1,500-$3,000 with $500 antes. Another 16 hands went by without too much happening except that Shimp’s starting chip lead was evaporating. Then, on hand 20, Tourouk opened for $8,000 with Ad-5d and Chris Caruso, a semi-pro returning to tournament play after a three-year absence, moved in for $15,000 with pocket kings. An ace turned and now seven were left. On the next hand, one more seat was emptied. Steven Phimmasane went all in for $12,000 with Ac-10c and Bryan Chan called with Qs-Qd. The queens were sufficient, but when four spades hit the board, Chan also had a flush and Phimmasane settled for seventh place.
Then came the big hand where Savioli made his accidental call with As-4s resulting in s Assatoury, a baker, getting cooked and ending in sixth place while Savioli took the lead.
By hand 25, Shimp was down to about $30,000 after posting his big blind and holding J-4. A flop of J-10-9 gave him top pair and he bet $5,000. Tourouk, a salesman, had made two pair with 10-9 and put Shimp in. When a 10 came on the river, Tourouk filled and Shimp, a plasterer, got plastered.
With four left, the chip count was: Savioli, $111,500; Tourouk, $104,500; Chan, $62,000; and Yoshida, $39,500. The players agreed on a save, and action continued.
Blinds went to $2,000-$4,000 with $1,000 antes. It was now Savioli all the way. First he got Chan to abandon a a $36,000 pot by raising him all in on the flop. One hand later he eliminated Tourouk. Savioli had 8-4 and a flop of 8-7-6 gave him top pair and a gut-shot straight draw. He bet $8,000. Tourouk, with 7-5, had second pair and an open-ender. A 5 on the turn gave Savioli his straight, and we were down to three players.
A few hands later, Chan raised with A-6, Savioli re-raised with K-Q and Chan moved in for $35,000. The board came K-Q-6-10-7 and Savioli’s two pair left Chan, a mortgage broker, in third place.
Heads-up, Savioli had about $300,000 to around $25,000 for Yoshida, who is in the finance department of a car dealership. It couldn’t last long and it didn’t. In four hands, Yoshida was all in with 10s-8s. Savioli was the underdog with 5s-4s until a board of K-3-2-5-A gave him a wheel and a win. –Max Shapiro
BIOGRAPHY
Stephen Savioli is 21 and first got turned onto poker when he read David Sklansky’s “Theory of Poker.” Whenever he can he takes a break from the Army language school to come to L.A. to play, cash games until now. He plays online a lot, preferring no-limit hold’em and pot-limit Omaha hi-lo, which he feels not many players know how to play well. He likes no-limit hold’em because it fits his style, which is “real aggressive. In no-limit, he said, you can make the other guy have to make a decision, but in limit there’s no finesse.
Tonight he got his chips by “chopping away” and avoiding going all in. He won despite a lack of cards, getting pocket kings once. Explaining that accidental call hand, he said he would have mucked it had he been aware of a raise. On the flop, he bet because he felt he had to protect his flush draw and didn’t want to be up against three other hands.
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