CAN
HUA RUNS LAST CHIP ANTE
INTO $184,815 WIN IN NO-LIMIT!
In an astounding "chip and a chair" performance,
L.A. pro Can Hua anted his last $1,000
chip with six players left, and within
17 hands had multiplied that chip 200,000
times over to take the lead and go on
to victory in the 18th event of LAPC XIII,
$1,500 no-limit hold'em.
It
was a tough final table that lasted nearly
seven hours, with four different players
holding substantial chip leads at various
times. When he got heads-up, Hua, who
had more than 400,000 of the 666,000 chips
in play at one time, had fallen back and
Ben Johnson had about a 3-2 lead. But
Hua used his greater experience, repeatedly
coming over the top and forcing Johnson
to lay down his hand, as he retook the
lead and eventually all the chips.
Hua
has numerous tournament victories including
7-stud wins at Legends, the World Poker
Open and the Cal State poker championship,
and a hold'em win at Winnin' o' the Green.
Johnson, who teaches chess 10 hours a
week and plays poker the rest of the time,
mainly online, has a cash-out at a Borgata
main event.
The
final table started with $300 antes and
1-2k blinds, 23:56 left. Hon Le had the
lead, slightly ahead of Paul Phillips,
a dot.com zillionaire and poker pro who
won the Bellagio's Five Diamond championship
in December and was just on the cover
of Card Player. A good deal of Hon Le's
chips came with three tables left when
he made a nut flush on the river, knocking
out Lee Salem and George Marlowe, both
of whom had sets.
Eric
Haber, a hedge fund manager, finished
10th after blinds went to $1,500-$3,000.
He had pocket 4s, and Hon Le, with pocket
7s, flopped a set. Hon Le then eliminated
Ryan Russ, moving him in after Russ raised
to 10k. Russ had the better hand, A-J
to Q-10, but that meant nothing to the
Kamikaze Kid, who proceeded to make a
straight, increasing his lead to about
175k.
On
hand 34, Gioi Luong, still in a race with
Van Pham for the best all-around points
lead, re-raised Jorge Walker and went
all in with pocket jacks. Walker, who
plays small- limit weekly tournaments,
had K-10 and won when a king flopped.
When blinds went to 2-4k with $500 antes,
Hon Le still led with a bit over 200k,
followed by Phillips with 116k and Johnson
with 92k. A big hand then came down. On
a flop of 7-5-2, Phillips bet 15k, Hon
Le re-raised for 30k more and Phillips
called. When a 6 turned, Hon Le moved
in and Phillips called for his remaining
66.5k. He then turned up pocket 5s for
a set and Hon Le mucked without waiting
for the river. After picking up a couple
more pots, Phillips led with about 270k.
After
major chip swings, when new blinds of
3-6k and 1k antes kicked in, Phillips
still lead with 230k while Walker was
second with 155k and Johnson third with
110k. A low-chipped Guy Calvert then finished
seventh when he went all in with 7c-6c
and lost to Phillips' ace-high.
On
hand 83, Hua was left with one chip after
he moved in for 40k with A-6 and ran into
Jimmy Cha's pocket 10s. On the next hand,
he used it for his ante and won with K-Q.
Two hands later he put his remaining 4k
and split the pot when a straight hit
the board. Going all in three more times,
he continued to win and pile up chips.
But while Hua was going up, Hon Le was
going out. He three-bet a pot with Ad-8d
and Walker busted him with pocket 9s.
On
hand 102, Hua took down a big pot with
A-Q against Walker's As-9s to move past
the 200k mark. Jimmy Cha went out not
long after that when Walker, again with
pocket 9s, beat his Ad-Kd. Then Hua neared
the 300k mark when he re-raised Johnson's
30k raise 80k more on a Q-9-4 flop and
Johnson folded.
After
blinds went to 5-10k with 2k antes, one-time
chip leader Phillips was all in one time,
survived, stayed alive by repeatedly moving
in and taking blinds and antes. He finally
succumbed on hand 147. Phillips moved
in yet again with K-5 and Hua called with
As-Ks. Phillips made two pair, but Hua
made a flush on fourth street. He now
had 401k to 142 for Walker and 122 for
Johnson.
A
few hands later, fortunes were reversed.
After folding a couple of times in big
pots, Hua was lowest chipped with about
150k while Johnson had the 400k. Then
when
blinds became 8-16k with 2k antes, Hua
and Johnson were about tied in the 270k
range while Walker was low man. He went
out on hand 166, moving in for 68k with
pocket deuces. Johnson called with A-7
and ended up with four bullets.
The
heads-up match lasted some 25 hands. Time
and again Johnson would make a moderate
raise, then fold when Hua played back
at him.
"I was looking for something at least
marginal to play," Johnson said later.
Whether Hua had something marginal, superior
or inferior, nobody knew. On the final
hand, deciding he had to play something,
Johnson called Hua's 50k raise with Q-4.
When Hua bet 20k into a Q-6-5 flop, Johnson
moved in. But Hua did have something,
Q-J, and a jack on the turn ended it.
A chip, a chair and lots of heart.
-- by Max Shapiro
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