After
a Very 'Luong' Night's Work,
Philip Luong Wins Limit Hold'em
It was a very "Luong" night for Tuyen
"Philip" Luong as the seventh event of
Grand Slam of Poker, limit hold'em, stretched
on until nearly 7 a.m. But considering
his first-place reward of $39,520, it
was worth the effort.
The pro from Hacienda Heights, CA, piled
up chips just before the final table and
arrived with $87,400, a third of all the
checks in play. He steadily added to his
lead, but then had a tough time disposing
of his two stubborn final opponents, Charlie
(Scotty Warbucks) Shoten and Yup Son.
The final table started with $1,000-$1,500
blinds and $1,500-$3,000 limits, 5:47
remaining. Jack Boghossian, making his
third appearance as a finalist, was first
out. He raised all in for $2,300 on the
fourth hand with A-2, ran into Luong's
A-K and couldn't help.
With 2-4k limits, hand 15 was three-bet
with three-way action. A non-threatening
flop of 2-2-7 started a capped-pot raising
war between Luong and Frankie O'Dell.
Luong bet the turn blind. O'Dell called,
then went all in and mucked his hand without
showing when Luong turned up pocket kings
to increase his lead to about 125k.
Starting with only $4,300, Steven Edwards
managed to survive two all-ins, but on
hand 23 the game was up. Holding K-8,
he raised $1,200 and went all in. Luong
had As-8s and crushed him by first flopping
an ace and then making a river flush.
On hand 41, with limits at 3-6k, Shoten
had K-6 in the big blind. He bet the flop
of K-J-7, was raised by real estate entrepreneur
Moshe Yona and re-raised. A turn-card
six gave Shoten two pair. He put Yona
all in and left him in seventh place.
A few hands later the player who calls
himself "TNT" was detonated. He went all
in with A-3 and Luong blew him away with
pocket sixes. Soon after, Shoten did the
honors on Tony Eskandari, who was all
in with pocket eights. Shoten had Qs-Js,
flopped a flush draw, didn't hit it, but
still did the job with a jack on the turn.
Four-handed, Luong still led with about
160k. Shoten had moved up to about 60k,
while Son and David Levi trailed badly
with around 24 and 15k respectively.
Three hands later, Shoten raised from
the button with K-10, Luong made it 12k
to go with pocket sixes and Levi capped
it with A-K. When the flop came 7-5-2,
Luong bet and Levi raised all in. A 10
on fourth street paired Shoten and gave
him a big pot. Levi, meanwhile, while
cashing out fourth, picked up 38 points
to move into the lead in the all-around
points race.
It had taken 51 hands to eliminate the
first seven players, but 55 more would
be needed to bust the last two. Two hands
later, Shoten, in the small blind, turned
9-2 into a straight to beat Luong and
threaten him for the lead, with about
110k to Luong's 135k.
Son was now down to the cloth, but began
an amazing comeback. He survived four
all-ins, twice with full houses, once
with a straight and another time with
a paired-ace split. As Luong kept doubling
him up, Son moved up to about 50k before
Luong finally struck back at the 2-4k
level by making three sixes. "At last
I didn't get rivered," he sighed.
Son then escaped a fifth time by catching
a king to his K-5. The approximate count
stood at: Luong, 175k; Shoten, 50k; Son,
37k. But then Son went on a rush. When
he beat Luong's A-Q by making a flush
with Qs-Js five hands later, he had zoomed
to about $115,000 to Luong's $95,000.
Then
Shoten put the brakes to Son in the very
next hand, perhaps the key pot of the
night. Son had K-10, flopped a 10 and
then caught a king on the turn. Shoten,
hanging on with pocket queens, made a
set on the river, raised all in and suddenly
went from 50 to 100k. Then Luong got in
a good punch on the next hand, nailing
Son with a king-high straight and leaving
him with 25k.
Now Luong turned super-aggressive, raising
repeatedly and daring Son to call him.
"I've already doubled you up 10 times,"
he said. As hand 90 approached, Luong
was near the $200,000 mark. Finally, Son,
in the big blind, went all in for his
last $1,800 holding pocket sevens. "No,"
he cried, as the flop came A-Q-3 and Shoten
beat him with Q-4.
Heads-up, Luong had a 185-75k lead, with
limits at 6-12k. On hand 95, Shoten got
crippled. With a board of 10-7-4-6-5,
Luong bet. After long hesitation, Shoten
called and Luong showed him 4-3 for a
straight.
Shoten hung on for 11 more hands. Finally,
holding K-Q, he called all in when Luong
raised with A-8. The board came 9-8-6-A-Q,
and Luong had finally wrapped up his win.
Max Shapiro
|
