An Tran, who came officially came in
second yesterday but actually chopped
evenly with Peter Costa, essentially made
it two in a row when he destroyed the
final table in $500 no-limit hold'em.
The event, the eighth in 4 Queens Poker
Classic 2002, attracted a good-sized field
of 152 players.
The Las Vegas pro arrived at the final
table with a chip lead of $33,700 and
could seemingly do no wrong. With seven
players left, he pretty much wrapped things
up by pulling in a $44,000 pot, breaking
two players and ending up with close to
two-thirds of the chips. After that, he
coasted home.
Chip Position, Final Table
Seat
Player Chip
Count
1.
Eric Holum $7,800
2. Ross Ellefson $26,800
3. Chris Grigorian $13,600
4. An Tran $33,700
5. Michael O'Malley $16,300
6. Jan Siroky $16,900
7. Ash Pervaiz $10,600
8. Hassan Kamoei $19,400
9. Chris Bjorin $7,200
The last table began after Marc Magazu
posted his last chips in the big blind
with Q-J and lost to Michael O'Malley,
who had A-7 and flopped a 7. Blinds started
at $500-$1,000 with $100 antes and 56:14
remaining. Ross Ellison broke on hand
6 in a classic match-up: his A-K vs. An
Tran's Q-Q. An Tran made it $7,000 to
go. On a flop of 6-6-7, Ross bet $5,000
and An Tran moved in for about $18,000
more. "Gotta call," Ross finally said,
with perhaps $15,000 left. He couldn't
hit his big slick, and suddenly An Tran
had a much bigger chip lead with about
$58,000.
Bracelet holder Chris Bjorin started lowest
chipped with $7,200 and never could build
his stacks up much. He lost some chips,
then doubled through to about $8,400 when
his Q-Q held up against Ash "The Cash"
Pervaiz, got hurt when Ash later flopped
a set of 5s to outrun his aces, and finally
broke. On a board of 9h, 10h, 9d, he held
J-10. Ash moved him in with Ah, Jh and
made a flush on the river.
Hassan Kamoie, a pro from Indio, California,
was cut down to $6,600 when Ash paired
an ace to outrun his pocket jacks. When
blinds went to $800-$1,600 with $200 antes,
An Tran still had a big lead with more
than $50,000. Then came hand 40. Kamoie,
in middle position, moved in for about
$3,000. In quick succession, Eric Holum,
a multiple title-holder, moved in for
around $19,000 and then An Tran announced
all in. The cards were turned up: pocket
6s for Kamoei, A-K for Holum, pocket queens
for An Tran. When 9-7-3-2-8 was dealt
out, nobody hit anything, but Kamoei and
Holum hit the pay window.
An Tran now had about $96,000, close to
two-thirds of the $152,000 in play. Just
before the limits went up, insurance salesman
Jan Siroky broke out in fifth place after
moving in for $10,600 in the small blind
holding K-Q. Siroky was sporting an Artie
Cobb/Dr. Seuss-style tall fabric hat festooned
with a white rabbit and three playing
cards: A-2-3 offsuit. (Wrong game, Jan,
this wasn't 8 or better.) It was too bad
for Siroky that those cards didn't play,
because the flop came A-2-3. Chris Grigorian,
aka "The Armenian Express," had called
with A-J from the big blind and won going
away with a second-pair jack on the river.
Blinds now went to $1,000-$2,000 with
$300 antes. Michael O'Malley, a writer
for Card Player, had arrived with an average
stack of $16,300. He had been playing
carefully, and hadn't had big swings.
Right after the blinds went up, though,
he raised to $6,500 pre-flop and then
gave it up when Pervaiz came over the
top for $7,500 more. Down to about $4,000,
he called all in from the button with
A-3 when Grigorian raised with A-8 of
hearts. The board came 9-7-4-6-A and he
lost when Chris' 8 played.
On the next hand, Chris went all in for
$33,000 with A-Q and split against Pervaiz'
A-Q, the second time that Chris had split
with A-Q. Three hands later the Armenian
Express had a train wreck. He raised $8,000
with A-10, and when a seemingly safe flop
of 6-5-3 came, he moved in for about $30,000
with A-10. An Tran called with just 9-7.
He missed his inside straight draw, but
hit a 9 on the river.
Heads-up, An Tran now began using his
big stacks as a weapon. On the first four
hands he raised before the flop twice
and bet out on the flop the other two
times. Each time Ash the Cash prudently
folded. On hand 75, with a flop of J-6-3,
An Tran bet $4,000 and Pervaiz took a
stand, moving in with A-3 and winning
when his two treys held up.
He now had about $39,000, but that was
his last hurrah. Immediately after, An
Tran raised to $4,000, holding Q-3. On
a flop of 6-3-2, the Ash man, holding
J-10, pushed his remaining chips in. A
river queen gave An Tran a winning two
pair and a resounding victory.
Max Shapiro
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