Slam-Bam
Victory for Phan
It was 9 a.m. and half the field was
still left. It looked like the 14th event
of Legends 2004, $300 no-limit hold'em,
would last until Thursday. Suddenly, Bang!
Bang! Bang! Bang! John Phan, a pro Long
Beach who has been having a great year,
knocked out all four of his opponents
in four hands, and it was all over.
The
final table didn't get going until after
6 a.m. Blinds were $2,000-$4,000 with
$500 antes and 38 minutes left. Stephanie
McRiley arrived at the table shortest-chipped
with $15,500. Philip Butler finished her
on hand four when he opened for $12,000,
she moved in from the big blind and her
Q-9 couldn't catch his A-9.
On
hand 14, Raymond Davis was down to $6,500
after he moved in for $32,500 with A-9
suited and Richard Tatalovich beat him
with pocket queens. A hand later, Davis
had the big blind with 10-7. Peter Nam
put him in for his last $2,000 with A-K,
and eight were left when the board came
Q-6-6-A-J.
When
blinds went to $3,000-$6,000, Butler,
Nam and Phan led the pack, all in the
$100,000 range. Then Butler moved to the
front with about $160,000 when he knocked
out Brian Belen. Belen moved in for $14,000
from the button with A-2. Butler made
a loose call from the big blind with 5-3
and spiked a 5 on the river.
A
few hands later Emiliano Calitis Jr. pushed
in his $42,000 with pocket jacks. Tatalovich
had A-K. "I'm not happy about calling
with this hand," he said. He felt happier
when a king flopped and a lot happier
when an ace turned. Calitis was dead to
a jack for a set or a queen for a straight,
missed and finished seventh. A couple
of hands later Butler raised to $24,000,
then folded when Tatalovich moved in.
Tatalovich now had the lead with close
to $150,000. He then picked up a couple
more pots with raises and began closing
in on $200,000.
At the next break, on hand 39, Tatalovich
was still in the lead with $197,000, followed
by Pham, $106,000; Nam, $105,000; Butler,
$93,000; Hudak, $61,000; and Ron Faltinsky,
$47,000. On hand 40, Tatalovich had 10d-8d
and moved in when a flop of 9d-7d-4 gave
him an open-end straight flush draw. Phan
called for $42,000 with K-9. After Tatalovich
turned up his hand, Phan called for a
deuce of spades and a deuce of hearts
and got...a deuce of spades and a deuce
of hearts! It doesn't get much spookier
than that.
Faltinsky,
card-dead at the final table, finally
picked up a few chips in three-way action
when he was all in from the big blind
for $12,000 and his K-Q won when a king
flopped. He and Tatalovich, incidentally,
are both nutritional supplement distributors.
Butler, a psychotherapist, psychoanalyzed
himself after he busted out on hand 50.
Down to $37,000, he decided to call all
in with 8-7 after Phan raised with K-9.
"I should have waited," he decided after
the board came Q-Q-J-K-2.
After
Faltinsky won with pocket kings, the game
tightened considerably with the chip count
ranging from about $140,000 for Tatalovich
to $110,000 for Phan. A save was made
and play continued.
Blinds
went to $8,000-$16,000 with $2,000 antes
as 9 a.m. (yawn) was approaching and half
the table still left. Then everything
exploded. On hand 68, Phan moved in with
Ac-Jc and Nam, an investment banker, called
with 10s-9s. The flop came 10c-8c-4-K-9c
and Phan had his flush and about $280,000.
Next hand: Faltinsky moved in with pocket
6s. Phan called with K-J and hit a king
on the river. Next hand: Phan raised to
$34,000 with A-2 and Tatalovich moved
in with A-Q. A deuce flopped and now only
Hudak, a real estate investor, was left,
with $70,000 to Phan's $538,000. Hudak
moved in blind looking to either double
up or go bust, and Phan called. Hudak
had Q-4, Phan had A-2. Two more aces came
and, in an eye-blink, event 14 was in
the books.
BIOGRAPHY
Bon
"John" Phan, who describes himself as
an aggressive player, has been playing
poker since he was 16 and full time when
he turned 21. He splits his time between
$80-$160 limit hold'em and no-limit cash
games and tournaments. This has been a
good year for him. He won a $3,000 no-limit
event at the Bellagio, took two bracelets
at the World Poker Open and chopped a
no-limit event at Commerce's LAPC. Tonight
he was down to $800 after the rebuy period
ended, but moved steadily up and was never
in trouble.
How
did he make that amazing call of two running
deuces by suit? "I sometimes get this
instinct, when I can call the exact cards,"
Phan explained. When he knocked out four
players in a row, he said, he wasn't just
playing on momentum or instinct, but had
reasonable playing hands, even though
he needed a big draw-out when he had A-2
to Tatalovich's A-Q.
Max Shapiro
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