| Lots of Finals, But First-Ever Win
For Gioi Luong, in $300 No-Limit
Gioi Luong, a local semi-pro who’s been playing poker for a long time but tournaments for only a year, has made 13 or 14 final tables in that time, including several seconds and thirds, but never a first. Tonight he finally broke the ice by winning the fourth event of Hustler Casino’s Grand Slam of Poker III, $300 no-limit hold’em.
He did so by going on a tremendous late rush, knocking out three players in the final seven hands. With four players left, he held close to two-thirds of all the chips in play, and a four-way deal was made, ending the slaughter.
He said he was in good shape throughout the tournament and never in trouble. His most recent second-place finish came at the Commerce Casino’s Cal State Poker Championship last month.
The final table started with $200 antes and blinds of $600-$1,200, with 21:17 remaining. Jewelry designer Bob Patel, with $35,800, started with the chip lead but David Moon took over on the first hand, mooning Patel when his pocket aces crushed his opponent’s pocket 6s. Moon now had about $45,000, but a few hands later, Jenny Kang relieved him of about $13,000 when his pocket 6s beat Moon’s A-K.
Emad Rayyan next tripled up against poker player Brett “Gank” Jungblut and Patel when he flopped a king to his K-Q. He outran Patel’s A-J, while Jungblut, with Jh-10h, missed his flush draw.
It took 25 hands to lose our first player. Blinds by now were $1,000-$2,000 with $300 antes. Anton Ulker, who started lowest-chipped with $6,300, had already survived two all ins, the first time when nobody called his raise to $1,300, the second time when he moved in for $1,700 with pocket 4s which held up against Moon’s A-7.
Now he moved in again, this time for $8,000, holding Ac-10c. Jungblut called with pocket 8s and Jimmy Stewart, a stock trader making his second final table in a row, raised all in for another $4,000 holding A-K. Ulker survived again, taking the main pot when the board came Q-10-5-3-Q, while Jungblut took the side pot and Stewart took the exit, finishing 10th and collecting $725.
It was just after midnight, and action now speeded up considerably, with five players getting knocked out in rapid-fire fashion.
Two hands later, Kang pushed in all his chips, about $12,000, with A-Q. Luong quickly called with pocket kings which held up when the board came J-9-2-4-10. Kang cashed out ninth for $860, while Luong moved into the chip lead for the first time.
Two hands later, Rayyan, also making his second consecutive final table, and seventh this year, raised all in for about $10,000 with A-Q. Moon decided to call with Ks-7s and won when a 7 flopped. “Why you call the bet, man?” Rayyan asked in annoyance as he walked off to pick up his $1,210 for finishing in eighth place.
One hand later, Moon raised $4,000 with pocket 7s and Luong put him all in for about $30,000 holding pocket jacks. Luong made a set when the board came 10-5-4-8-J, and Moon was eclipsed, finishing seventh and picking up $1,450. Luong now dominated the table with about $82,000 of the roughly $194,000 in play.
Two hands later he had a confrontation with Jungblut, who is one of the members of “The Crew,” several players who coach and give moral support to each other. Jungblut had five cash-outs in this year’s World Series of Poker, including a win in the $5,000 Omaha hi-lo event. He also won a Grand Slam limit hold’em event last year.
This time, though, the best that “Gank” could do was sixth place. He called all in with pocket jacks after Loung had moved in from the button with pocket kings. The board came A-5-5-3-9, and Jungblut took home $1,930.
The next hand was number 33, and it was to prove the last hand of this tournament. Eulisses Sandoval, a taxi driver, was two away from the button and moved in with A-8. Patel called all in with K-Q, and Sandoval had him covered. Patel had 13 outs and was only a 49-51 underdog when a flop of J-10-4 gave him an open-end straight draw. His hopes ended when a 5 and then a 6 hit the board, and he finished fifth, which was worth $2,415.
A deal was now proposed for the four finalists. Howard Walker had around $27,000 to about $26,000 for Sandoval and $18,000 for Ulker, while Luong had all the rest, about $123,000.
The payouts were calculated and accepted. Ulker finished fourth, winning an official $2,900. Eulisses cashed out third, for a listed $4,590. Walker’s second-place finish officially was $9,175, while Luong, finally a winner, took home the trophy and an official $18,355.
—Max Shapiro
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