RAY
D BEATS DANIEL AND T.J.
FOR FIRST TOURNAMENT WIN
Ray Dehkharghani, a cash game player
who for obvious reasons goes by the handle
of Ray D, beat back Daniel Negreanu and
T.J. Cloutier, two of the very best in
the business, to win the 14th event of
4 Queens Poker Classic, $1,000 limit hold'em,
for his first major tournament win. Playing
three-handed, T.J. ran into bad luck.
His worst beat came when he matched his
pocket queens against Ray's pocket jacks.
Four diamonds came and Ray flushed a$16,000
pot. Heads-up, Ray, who has played a lot
with Daniel and is familiar with his aggressive
style, stayed with him and slowly ground
him down.
Chip
Position, Final Table
Seat
Player Chip
Count
1.
T.J. Cloutier $7,275
2. David Plastik $9,875
3. Charles Fiore $2,800
4. Jaime Ateneloff $8,400
5 Tony Cousineau $6,700
6. Daniel Negreanu $9,025
7. Scotty Nguyen $10,700
8. Ray Dehkharghani $5,350
9. Jimmy Tran $2,875
Vinnie
Vinh finished 10th. He flopped two pair,
losing when Tony Cousineau, in the small
blind with 9-6, hit his open-end straight
on the turn. The final table started with
$300-$600 limits. On hand eight, Jimmy
Tran was in the small blind with 6s, 4s.
A flop of 5s, 3s, 9h gave him an open-end
straight flush draw. When an 8 turned,
he check-raised all in against Ray D,
who held 7-5. A river 6 gave Ray an inside
straight and Jimmy was gone.
Play went fast, with 43 hands dealt in
the 50 minutes left in the round. Returning
from a break, with limits now at $400-$800,
Ray, Daniel and Uruguayan impresario Jaime
Ateneloff were the leaders with about
$11,000-$12,000 each. Three hands later
Negreanu made a small flush, leaving Scotty
Nguyen with $4,000. Soon after, the WSOP
champ left after he missed a flush draw
and lost to Cousineau's paired ace.
Charles Fiore called with his last $500
holding A-10. Three players limped. "I'll
take it from here," Costineau announced
after flopping a set of 5s. He bet out,
won and now six were left. On hand 136,
Daniel rolled over Tony with a wheel,
leaving him with $1,700. A few hands later,
Cousineau raised with A-2 of hearts and
was chased by three callers. "Some respect
I'm getting," he complained. But he flopped
aces full to quadruple up. Just before
the next level, he got knocked down again
to $1,500 when T.J. made a straight to
outrun his aces. Continually in trouble,
Tony still managed to eventually finish
fourth. "You outlasted players with tons
of chips," T.J. later said in tribute.
"You make John Inashima (an ultra-tight
survival specialist) look like he wasn't
there."
With limits up twice to $800-$1,600, Daniel
and T.J. were chip leaders with about
$20,000 and $18,000 respectively. Las
Vegas pro David Plastik, still upset after
T.J. had earlier beat him with a runner-runner
two pair, wasn't any happier when Ateneloff
left him on the bubble by making a runner-runner
flush. David, with ace-deuce, had a big
lead against Jaime's Kh, Jd when the flop
came Ad, Qh, 4h. Jaime, who has a reputation
for not surrendering hands, raised and
called Plastik's re-raise. Plastik bet
all in when a 9h turned, then busted out
when an 8h rivered.
Jaime's turn came on hand 170 when he
tried to bull a pot with 10-3 of hearts.
Negreanu stayed with him with A-6 of hearts,
knocking the Uruguayan out by winning
with a flopped 6. Five hands later, Tony
was in the big blind with 10-7. He called
all in and was in very bad shape when
T.J. raised with K-10. Junk came and now
three were left.
The biggest pot so far built up between
Daniel and Ray, but it was wasted time,
because they both flopped the same two
pair, each holding K-8, and split. There
was no split, however, on hand 190 when
Ray made his unexpected flush with J-J
to beat T.J.'s two queens. Fifteen hands
later, another pot was bet, raised and
re-raised to $18,000 between Negreanu
and Cloutier. T.J. had only ace-high,
but he bet and called to the end when
the board came Q-3-3-K-5. "I knew you
didn't have a 3," he said. Daniel didn't,
but he did have pocket 7s, and now T.J.
was down to $4,500. That went in on the
next hand, when limits became $1,000-$2,000.
Holding J-5 of spades, T.J. flopped draws
to both a straight and a flush when 6-4-3
was dealt. He missed and Negreanu, with
9-6, put him out with his small pair.
Heads-up, Ray had a slight lead, which
Daniel overcame on the first hand when
Ray folded on the river. After that, it
was Ray D all the way. He pulled way ahead,
about $43,000-$20,000 when a flop of Q-10-3
gave him queens to Daniel's 10s. A few
hands later he won with 8-7 when a 7 turned,
then left Daniel with just $1,500 when
he flopped a jack to his J-3. The next
hand, number 225, was the last. Daniel
had to go with 5-4 to Ray's 10-3 and lost
to the Vegas pro when a board of A-7-10-A-A
gave him an unexpected full house and
his first tournament win.
Max Shapiro
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