Stirring
Victory for Wong
Charlie Wong, a pro for only three
months, seemed to have his first tournament
win locked up with two-thirds of the chips
and three players left. Then he got heads-up
with Mary Dale, who owns a collectibles
business. Playing as coolly as a seasoned
pro, she took several pots in a row to
take a big lead herself. As the give-no-quarter
match continued, Wong slowly moved back
up. After more than 20 raise-and-fold
hands, there was finally a showdown. Wong
crippled Dale and five hands later got
the rest of her chips to take down the
23rd event of Legends 2004, $500 pot-limit
hold'em.
Blinds
at the final table started at $1,000-$2,000,
allowing an opening raiser to bet anywhere
from $4,000 to $7,000. After one hour,
30 hands and 12 all-ins, 10 players were
still left. At last, with $1,500-$3,000
blinds, Peter Lee opened for $10,500 with
pocket jacks. Huong Doan moved him in
for $10,000 more and made quad kings.
Three
hands later we lost our second player.
Oregon logger Dennis Waterman had hung
in after starting with only $5,500. He
moved in for the fourth and last time
with A-K and finished ninth when he couldn't
overcome Wong's pocket queens.
Alexandra
Vuong is a cook for Barry Greenstein.
He was sweating his prot�g� and remarked
that she wasn't aggressive enough, but
might be a bit feistier tonight because
she had just given up smoking. Down to
$1,000, she put it in with 8c-7c against
Dale's 5-5, virtually a 50-50 match-up.
The 5s held up, and Vuong finished eighth.
By
the time blinds went to $2,000-$4,000,
Doan, who had been the most aggressive
raiser at the table, had won (or stolen)
enough chips to take the lead with $68,000.
Wong and Randy Gil, who owns a phone systems
business, were virtually tied for second
place with about $43,000 each. Playing
against Russ Floyd, Doan tried another
move, betting $5,000 into a board of Q-Q-A-5.
He moved all in for $19,500 and she folded,
playfully slapping his hand. "You've been
stealing from me all night. I'm going
to call the L.A.P.D. on you," he chided
her.
Can
Hua was one away from the button when
he pushed in his last $7,500. "I have
a bad hand," he said when Gil called from
the big blind. Hua's K-5 was indeed bad
against Gil's A-J, and even worse when
Gil caught two more aces. Floyd, who owns
a sportsbook business and a couple of
World Poker Challenge titles, was next
out in perhaps the key hand of the night.
He had 10-8 in the small blind, Wong K-5
in the big blind. On a flop of K-10-4,
Floyd moved in for about $40,000. Wong
called and covered him, winning after
a 5 turned to give him two pair. Floyd
finished sixth and Wong now had the lead
with about $110,000.
Peter
"The Poet" Costa, who owns several major
titles, went all in for $8,000 with Q-6.
"Oh, God," he groaned, when Dale showed
pocket kings. Four left. Three hands later,
with blinds of $3,000-$6,000, Wong opened
for $21,000 with A-6, then busted Doan
when she moved in for $26,000 more with
K-Q. He now had all but about $85,000
of the $233,000 in chips.
Dale
then doubled up against Wong when she
beat his pocket deuces holding A-6 and
made aces full. Finally it got heads-up
when Gil, with K-10, moved in for $16,000
on a flop of Q-10-2. Dale had the remaining
10s for a set. She was now close to even,
then picked up the next two pots with
uncalled bets and took a big lead with
about $150,000.
After
a string of no-flop hands, Wong was close
to even again. On hand 100 he raised with
K-Q, she re-raised $36,000 with K-J and
he moved in. When the board came A-9-4-7-Q
she was down to about $30,000. Five hands
later she was all in with Q-9. Wong, had
Ah-8h and paired his ace to nail down
his victory.
BIOGRAPHY
Charley
Wong, 31, used to be a restaurant manager
while playing poker off and on for three
years. Three months ago he turned pro.
He still plays mainly cash games, $20-$40
up to $40-$80 limit hold'em and no-limit
once in a while, to pay for his tournaments.
He's played five events so far, and had
one earlier cash-in here at Legends. His
style of play, he said, is to adjust to
the table and get more aggressive when
play gets short-handed. On the big hand
when he took most of Dale's chips with
K-Q, he said he almost didn't call her
re-raise, but decided he couldn't wait
for a better hand.
Wong
said he got in trouble with three tables
left, and was all in three times. His
big error there, he said, was giving a
player with a weak hand a free card and
allowing him to catch a card. Now with
this win under his belt, he plans to increase
his tournament schedule.
Max Shapiro
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