The
Man From Spirit Mountain Wins
Vanndy Yem, who went to the last table
with the least chips, ended up three hours
later with all the chips. The final table
was reached at 12:35 A. M. The limits
were $1,000 and $2,000 and the fireworks
started immediately when Aaron Lashlee
raised the pot and was called by Stephen
Vitalich. Aaron flopped top pair and bet
out, unfortunately for him Stephen flopped
a set of fives and raised. Aaron was the
first casualty and the final table was
down to nine.
Masud Hussain was the next to be eliminated.
He was holding A-K against pocket fours
for Jeremy Weisdorfer. Masud flopped a
king and had the lead until old man river
produced a four.
Si Mei Sun was knocked out in eightth
place. Si came to last table second in
chips but lost a monster pot when her
pocket aces ran into a set of jJacks.
After losing that pot her chips were low
and a few hands later she went all in
with A-10, only to run into two queens.
Si Mei Sun was our eithth-place finisher.
Seventh Place went to Michael Byrne who
came to the last table short stacked and
never was able to get into the running.
He was impressive in his playing of the
short stack but tonight wasn’t his
night.
The next causality was Stephen Vitalich.
Stephen with only $2,500 made a stand
with J-10. He was called by Jeremy Weisdorfer
who held As-8s, and ended up making a
spade flush.
Fifth place went to Lyn McGonagle, who
called all in on her big blind. She was
down to her last $1,500. She was eliminated
by Tricia Frick.
When the final four was reached Jeremy
Weisdorfer had a commanding lead; he held
$48,000 of the $88, 000 total. Kevin and
Vanndy held about $17,000 apiece and Tricia
had the remaining $5,000. The limits by
now were $2,000 and $4,000. The scenario
for the rest of the tournament began to
unfold as Jeremy and Vanndy played several
large pots with Vanndy gaining a slight
lead.
Kevin Huynh, a dealer at the Commerce
Casino, ran into a run of “no cards”
and watched his stack dwindle down to
$6,000. He finally picked up A-2 in the
little blind. raised the pot and was called
by Vanndy. Vanndy held A-4. The flop came
A-J-8, the turn was a nine, and what looked
like would become a split pot didn’t
happen because the last card was a four.
A three-outer did in Kevin.
At three handed, Tricia was nursing the
short stack and doing a good job of it
until finally she got her last $7,500
in with a 10d-7d. She had the best hand
as she looked at Jeremy’s 9-8. The
flop brought bad news when a nine hit,
then nothing else to help Tricia. Then
there were two.
The chip count at this point was almost
dead even. It looked like it would take
some time to get a winner but that’s
not the way it happened. The pot that
vrtutally decided the tournament came
up when Vanndy raised, making it $6,000
and Jeremy re-raised making it $9,000.
The flop was 10-8-6 with two hearts. Vanndy
bet and was raised. The turn brought the
king of hearts, Vanndy bet, Jeremy called,
the river was a black jack. Vanndy bet
and was called. Vanndy showed a flush
and now had Jeremy down to $2,000. Two
hands later it was all over when Vanndy
held A-Q against Jeremy’s Jack Nine.
Nothing came, the ace-high stood up and
we had our first champion at Legends of
Poker 2003.
BIOGRAPHY
Vanndy
Yem is a thirty-four year old employee
of Spirit Mountain Casino in Oregon. Vanndy
has been dealing poker for seven years.
He is also a pretty darn good player.
He has wins from the Orleans Open, The
Peppermill in Reno plus many wins at the
casinos and clubs in the Northwest. Vanndy
came to this country about twenty years
ago from Cambodia. He is married and has
two daughters. He lives about twenty minutes
from Spirit Mountain in Salem, Oregon.
His favorite games to play are first Hold-em
and second Omaha hi-lo.
Max Shapiro
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