Sunar
Wins in Weird Finish
The conclusion of Legends 31, the
All-Around Points Playoff, was more an
economic summit than a poker tournament.
With three players left, James Mena had
the lead and in line to win the top prize
of a 2003 Hummer listed at $53,500. Which
he didn’t really want and instead
asked for offers from Mike Sexton and
Surinder Sunar. Thrown into the complex
mix were the resale value of the car,
the California state tax liability, the
value of the seats in the Championship/WPT
event for the second and third spots,
Sexton’s commitment as a WPT commentator
and the fact that Mars was at its closest
rendezvous with earth in 60,000 years.
After lengthy negotiations, a deal was
made and Sunar was declared the winner.
And don’t ask this writer for details
because he couldn’t explain them
if he tried. Let’s just say that
all three are top-notch players who had
lots of chips and any of them could easily
have won the tournament had it been played
out.
The
points playoff was a $100 + $20 buy-in
event which anyone with 10 or more points
could enter. All entrants received $300
in chips plus 10 times their points total.
This was a departure from prior years
where the point leader automatically won.
With this format, anyone with 10 points
could theoretically win. At the same time,
the more points a player accumulated,
the greater advantage he or she had. Interestingly,
the highest points finishers at the final
table were Spring Cheong and Rocky Enciso,
only in 32nd and 72nd place respectively.
Initially,
the game was H.O.S.E., with 20-minute
alternating rounds of limit hold’em,
Omaha hi-lo, 7-card stud and stud hi-lo.
At the final table the players got down
to business, playing 40-minute rounds
of no-limit hold’em.
The
final 10 started with $100 antes and blinds
of $300-$600. Lowest-chipped Cheong went
out on hand eight with A-10 in the small
blind after Sexton moved her in with pocket
fives and made a six-high straight. Six
hands later, Ben Tang moved in for about
7k with pocket fours and Mena pushed in
his much larger stack with pocket eights.
Eights won, eight were left.
In
early going, Mena used his large stack
as a cudgel, re-raising all in three times
to pick up a lot of chips. After blinds
went to 4-8k, Toto Leonidas got totaled.
He made a 4k raise all in holding Qd-4d.
Sunar made a somewhat reluctant call with
A-J and hit two pair.
At
the break, Mena still led with about 35k
followed by Rusty Mandap with about 25k.
Phi Nguyen was shortest-chipped with about
2k, and he went out on the first hand.
He was in the $1,200 big blind with Ad-2d.
Mena, with pocket nines, raised Nguyen’s
last chips and won when blanks came. Mena,
who could not seem to lose a hand, now
claimed his third victim. Enciso raised
4k with K-J and Mena put him all in for
about 7k more with A-10. Encino made two
pair on a flop of K-J-10, but then a queen
on fourth street gave Mena a straight.
On
hand 47, Sexton made it 3k to go and Mandap
called. “Let’s gamble,”
said Tony Cousineau, raising his last
$900 with A-7. Sexton had K-J and bet
out when a K-9-4 flopped. Mandap folded
and Cousineau folded his tent after a
four and three came.
With
1-2k blinds, Mena took his first big hit
when he raised to 5k with A-5, called
Sunar’s all in-raise of 13.8k more
and lost when Sunar, with K-Q, made three
queens. He was now about even with Mena,
and took a slight lead two hands later.
But a few hands after that, after Mena
again raised to 5k with Qs-Js, Mandap
moved in for about 28k more with Ks-10s.
Mena called, busted Mandap and regained
the lead when a jack flopped. Negotiations
began, and the rest is history.
BIOGRAPHY
Surinder Sunar is one of Europe’s
top players, though he has yet to win
a World Series bracelet. He came very
close this year when he finished second
to Johnny Chan in the $5,000 no-limit
hold’em event, cashing out for $112,000.
Other major cash-outs include about $100,000
for winning the British Open and $150,000
for a second at the Taj’s U.S. Open
championship. Sunar, a native of India
now living in London, is a former electronic
engineer. Having lost some of his patience
for tournaments, he now plays mostly side
games, limiting his tournament play largely
to championship events.
Tonight,
he said, he was never in trouble during
the tournament. He mostly was “cruising”
during the earlier H.O.S.E. rounds because
limit games are not his cup of tea, and
he came into his own once he started playing
the no-limit he prefers.
Max
Shapiro
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