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Lu Zhe Zhang of Vienna Runs
Off with Pot-Limit Hold’em Win
Lu Zhe Zhang, a Chinese pro living in Vienna, largely dominated event #7 of the 2004 St. Maarten Open, pot-limit hold’em. He came to the final table with a slight chip lead and after eight hands had come close to doubling-up. He and restaurant owner Jerry Forte were to battle for the lead for much of the evening. But when Zhang got heads-up, it was with Sharber Koum of England. Koum, who had gone on a late rush, had 134,000 in chips to 194,000 for Zhang. It was now close to 6 a.m., and they agreed to a deal that ended the tournament.
Zhang, who has been playing poker for about eight years, is mostly a cash game player, and this is his first big tournament win. He was sweated by his friend from Vienna, Jacky Zhang (no relation), who finished seventh in pot-limit Omaha the day before.
Opening blinds at the final table were $1,000-$2,000 with 7:12 left on the clock. Three players were all in the 50,000-chip range: Zhang, Forte, and Tore Lagerborg, the young Norwegian pro who won the Omaha hi-lo event two days before.
Two players left on the first two hands. First, Greg Amoils, making his third final table, raised with A-K and was put in by Forte, who had pocket jacks. Amoils, a sporting goods importer from South Africa, couldn’t help and one was gone. Sami Siltanen, a young Finn, was next. He raised from the small blind with A-6 and Rick Glading, a British telecoms engineer, re-raised with A-K. The board came A-K-5-J-A to give Glading aces-full and Siltanen ninth place.
Six hands later, with blinds of $1,200-$2,400, Zhang retook the lead. Tore, with pocket 4s, raised. Zhang called with J-J. The flop came A-J-3. Tore bet 10k. Zhang, with a set of jacks, just smooth called. A turn-card 5 was checked by both players, and the trap was set. When a 7 came on the river, Tore bet all in for $31,500 with his small pair, finishing eighth when Zhang showed his set. Zhang now had about $100,000, followed by Forte with around $80,000.
Harry Casagrande, another player from Austria, was left with only $4,000 when Koum’s pocket 7s beat his A-K, but he would make a comeback, climbing all the way to fifth place.
Farina Valter, the man from Guadeloupe, finished seventh. In the small blind with J-2, he flopped top pair and ran into Forte’s set of 4s.
Casagrande started his comeback when he went all in with A-J and beat Glading’s A-5. After blinds went to $1,500-$3,000, Casagrande raised and wasn’t called in three out of four hands, and now had recovered with about $35,000. He added more chips when he knocked out Glading on hand
34 by flopping a set of treys.
Forte briefly took the lead from Zhang after betting 25k into a flop of Q-7-3, forcing Zhang to fold. Zhang returned the favor on hand 45. With a board of Jc-4c-3c-2d, Zhang checked his nut flush and let Forte bet $24,000. On the river, when a scary fourth club fell, Zhang didn’t want a checked hand, so he bet $24,000, got a call and retook the lead with about 140k.
Casagrande, meanwhile, had continued to build his chips, until two bad beats suddenly put him out. First, he got in a big hand against Steve Anger, who works for Planet Poker, running their bingo division. Casagrande had pocket kings, but runner-runner clubs gave Anger a flush. Then, on hand 46, he had pocket 6s. Forte, holding K-10, raised to $10,500 and Casagrande moved in for $28,500. The Austrian was in the lead until the river, then smacked the table in frustration when a king fell. Forte’s kings won and Casagrande exited in fifth place.
Blinds now went to $2,000-$4,000, permitting opening raises of between $8,000 and $14,000. At this point, Zhang had consolidated his lead with about 165k. Forte had faded to about 68k, while Koum had 50k and Anger, 43k.
Three hands later, Anger looked at pocket 5s and opened for $14,500. Koum, with pocket 7s, made it $40,000 to go, and Anger re-raised for his last few chips. With a board of Q-10-Q-3, the bingo man needed a 5 to survive. He couldn’t fill his card when a deuce came on the river, and the tournament was now down to three players.
Hand 51 was the one that pretty much decided the tournament. Forte was dealt pocket 10s and got into a raising contest with Zhang, who had him covered in chips and had him covered in cards with pocket kings. All of Forte’s $70,000 went into the middle. The board came J-J-8-2-4, and now the match was heads-up.
Koum now proposed that they switch to no-limit. With Jacky Zhang interpreting for him, Lu Zhe turned down the request and play resumed.
Koum closed the gap a little when he held K-8 and paired the 8. At that point, he proposed a split, pointing out that they weren’t that far apart in chips. It was aslight exaggeration, perhaps, since Zhang had a lead of about 60,000 chips.
A more equitable deal was worked out, and the cash-game player now had his first big tournament score. -Max Shapiro
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