Poker Tournament Results

Five-Diamond World Poker Classic II / WPT Event Season 3

John Esposito

Tournament Report

ALMOST WORST TO FIRST WSOP bracelet winner, John Esposito (Limit Hold'em 1999), had to feel that this was his lucky day. Starting the Final Table next to last in chips, John had pocket Aces hold up three times in the first 16 hands. Good thing, he was going to need every chip. FINAL TABLE Seat/Player/Hometown/Chip Count Seat 1 Jimmy Cha La Habra CA 110,000 Seat 2 Minh Nguyen Lake Elsinore CA 104,000 Seat 3 Paul Darden Hamden CT 194,000 Seat 4 Blair Rodman Las Vegas NV 90,000 Seat 5 Chester Burnett Ladera Ranch CA 47,000 Seat 6 Rick Young Las Vegas NV 96,000 Seat 7 John Esposito Las Vegas NV 76,000 Seat 8 Reza Payvar Los Angeles CA 280,000 Seat 9 Lonnie Alexander Bozeman MT 226,000 The ante is 1,000. The blinds are 2,000/4,000. There are 22 minutes left at this level. On the second hand, John Esposito showed the table his pocket Aces when no one called. Normally that's not such a good idea. The others might think your rush is over. On the ninth hand John got to show them again because he was all-in against the chip leader Reza Payvar. With the board showing 10 8 6 and two hearts, John couldn't wait any longer. He shoved his stack of about 90k into the middle. Reza had the A 9 of Hearts for the nut flush and a gutshot straight draw so he called. If a heart or a seven comes, John Esposito is our ninth place finisher. Instead that dubious title goes to Card Player magazine writer Rick Young. Rick trapped himself with a 30k bet from early position. No one could have believed that John Esposito could have pocket Aces again. So when John came over the top of Rick, he called all-in with K Q offsuit and about 60k. Jack McClelland says, "John shows his usual pocket Aces." And Esposito shows the quickly aging Young the door. That gave Chester Burnett the boost into 8th. Chester didn't get any of those pocket Aces as a chip dog like Esposito because Chester drew the five seat not the seven seat. On hand 19, Burnett coughed up his last 25k with Q 9 offsuit. In the small blind, the ever-aggressive Reza Payvar called with 7 5 off and spiked a seven on the turn. Tale of two short stacks and a couple hundred thousand dollars. Who said life is fair. The hand of the day may not have eliminated anyone, but it gave us our most exciting moment and set the stage for all that followed. Reza Payvar is a successful cash player in LA. He is relatively new to tournaments, but came second to Tobey Maguire in the recent Phil Hellmuth event at Hollywood Park. Let's say he is VERY aggressive. Reza could have finished a horrible 7th from starting chip leader, but he made a bad play good. When John Esposito bet enough to put Payvar all-in from the small blind, Reza didn't hesitate to call with the J 2 of Hearts in the big blind for his case 120k. Everyone was so sure that Payvar was history to Esposito's A Q offsuit that something rare happened. Jack McClelland miscalled a hand. "Reza Payvar is our 7th place finisher," Jack said. Not so fast my friend. There was a deuce on the turn. Reza won with a pair of 2's. John Esposito looked like he'd be shot. Now we had a personal vendetta that John would talk about for the rest of the day. Alexander wasn't great. In fact Lonnie Alexander was awful. In a nightmare final that happens sometimes, Lonnie Alexander couldn't win a hand. With starting chips worth a real $100,000 if he could have cashed out, Lonnie got $14,000 for seventh. Nothing worked for Lonnie. In desperation Alexander tried raising blinds with Q 8 offsuit. Not great. And then he tried going all-in with pocket 2's. Also not great. Lonnie flopped to the rail when Jimmy Cha had pocket 9's behind him on the button. His misery ended. We fast forward to hand 60 when something extraordinary happens. Pocket Aces lose. Minh Nguyen has the rockets in the small blind and got Paul Darden to call all-in from the big for his last 47k and Q 5 offsuit. The flop comes Q 5. So Paul justifiably thinks his luck has turned around. Nope! On the next hand Darden gets pocket 9's in the small blind and gets all his 94k in the pot. Blair Rodman has pocket Queens in the big blind and reraises all-in to shut out a betting Jimmy Cha. Good night, Paul in 6th. With blinds now at 5k/10k, all-in was the main play. Minh Nguyen never got over the cracked aces in 5th. On hand 87 Nguyen goes all-in for 135k with A J off in the small blind. Jimmy Cha has A K on the button for 130k. Minh now has 5,000 in chips which goes all-in on the next hand. Nguyen doesn't with J 7 off against John Esposito's A 8 in the big blind. When Blair Rodman found pocket 4's on hand 97 he went all-in for his case 100k. No problem for Reza Payvar to call with A J. With a Jack on the flop, Blair would have to rebound from finishing 4th. For some reason, the three remaining gentlemen took a walk together. The three stacks were approximately 500k for Esposito, 400k for Payvar and 300k for Cha. On hand 109, Jimmy Cha was the first of the three to leave. How's this for a draw? The flop comes Qc 10s 9c. Jimmy has the J 5 of Clubs for up and down with a four flush. When Reza Payvar bets all-in, Cha quickly calls all 250k. Reza has Q 5 and turns a 5. No straight, no flush, no Jimmy as he Cha-Cha's out the door in 3rd. Heads up it's a 3-2 chip lead for Payvar. The old adversaries have finally eliminated all the competition. The pocket Aces and the J 2 of Hearts are only memories. There is a title to fight for. Hand 116 brings a new chip leader as Reza gets a little frisky. The flop is 10 6 6 with two hearts. Payvar thinks his pocket 8's are good. John Esposito knows his 10 8 is good. Now it's almost over. John Esposito doesn't wear his World Series bracelet "except at the World Series." What he does sport however is an interesting twist on the dark glasses controversy. John had shades on then his regular glasses down his nose. That's the way to see and not be seen. Everyone got to go home in four hours at hand 120 when Reza flopped a 10 with his J 10 of Diamonds. John Esposito with his signature cigar called with the Q J of Spades. The board was K 10 3. When a Queen turned, it turned almost the worst into the first. John Esposito is going to the WPT dance in April.