Davis
in Limelight Again
Raymond Davis, the always entertaining
and upbeat player with a fan base all
his own, had been having an off year compared
to 2003, when Card Player ranked him 17th.
Tonight he determined to re-focus and
play his A game. His dedication paid off,
because, despite a lack of cards and being
down to $2,100 with 11 players left, he
skillfully played his way to victory in
event 26 of Legends 2004, $1,000 no-limit
hold'em. "I'm serving notice that I'm
back," he declared. "I don't want to let
my fans down."
It
was a grueling marathon that went past
10:30 a.m. After a while the object of
the tournament became, not so much to
win as to knock out Paul Darden. With
seven players left he gave notice that
there would be no deals. Once he departed
in fourth place, the three weary finalists
instantly made a chip-count deal. At the
end, Davis had 217,000 chips while Salah
Alsayegh, who works in the Kuwait Ministry
of Information, had 109,000 and poker
player Ba Tran had 109,000.
The
final table didn't get underway until
nearly 7 a.m. Play started with $300 antes
and blinds of $1,000-$2,000. The big chip
leader with $151,300 was Immanuel Sebag
of London, a company director with a World
Series second in Omaha and a British Open
championship in pot-limit Omaha this year.
He collected the bulk of his chips midway
through the tournament when he made about
eight sets in two hours.
A
false hope that this table would end fast
was kindled when two players were knocked
out in the first two hands. On the first
hand, attorney Allen Patatanyan, who finished
second in the Hustler Casino's championship
event last month, moved in for $27,000
with pocket 8s. Tran called with A-K and
flopped an ace. On the second hand, Kim
Cheu Lim, winner of the $300 7-stud event,
opened for $8,000 with pocket kings. Davis
moved in with pocket 10s, and Lim called
for the rest of his $33,800. Davis then
spiked a 10 on the river to break Kim's
limbs.
On
hand six, Davis took the lead and never
lost it. He had J-4 suited, and a flop
of J-4-2 gave him top two. Sebag bet $8,000
with pocket queens and Davis moved in
for $64,000. After very long hesitation,
Sebag called. He couldn't help, and Davis
surged ahead with $133,000.
When
limits went to $1,500-$3,000, Davis still
led with $120,500 while Hayden had moved
to second with $100,500. On hand 42, Sebag,
who hadn't been able to do anything, busted
out. With a flop of Kh-Kd-6h, he moved
in with a flush draw, made it on the turn,
then lost when Can Hua, who had Q-6, filled
with a river 6. Darden now announced his
no-deal policy. Pass the Red Bull, please.
Another
30 hands dragged by with repeated unchallenged
all-ins. Finally, with blinds at $2,000-$4,000,
property manager Fran "Irish Mike" Pilkington
moved in for $22,000 with A-9. Can Hua
called instantly, and a suspicious Davis
also called. When Hua moved in on a flop
of 10-5-3, an alarm bell went off, and
Davis made a great laydown of pocket jacks.
Hua had pocket kings, and now six were
left.
Three
hands later, photographer/poker player
Hayden pushed in he $30,000 with A-9.
Davis called with Kc-7c, beat her when
a 7 turned, and now had close to $200,000.
"Just doing my job," he said.
With
$1,000 antes and $3,000-$6,000 blinds,
Davis was high man with $176,000, Darden
low with $37,000. Hand 133 was Hua's last.
After Alsayegh opened for $12,000, Hua
made a $68,000 move with K6. Bad timing.
Alsavegh had pocket aces and was now very
close to Davis in chips.
Davis
wrapped things up and moved into a big
lead again when he removed Darden and
his chip-count objection on hand 142.
Darden moved in for $40,000 with Q-J,
Davis called with Kc-5c and won when the
board came 8-7-5-10-2.
BIOGRAPHY
"I'm serving notice that I'm back," Raymond
Davis declared after his big victory tonight.
"Change that: I've never been away." Last
year the poker pro had nine major wins
and 18 final tables. This year he's had
lots of final tables, but hadn't performed
well once he got there. "Tonight I re-focused
my game," he said. "Basically, I tried
to stay out of the way. I didn't get a
hand all night and relied totally on skill,
which is something I've never done before."
Davis
said he picked his spots tonight and wasn't
overly aggressive as he usually is. "I
picked my spots. If I gambled, I wanted
to gamble on my own terms." Davis said
he felt good throughout the tournament,
though he thought he might be through
when he was down to $11,000. He fatalistically
moved all in five times in succession
and then got to the final table in average
shape.
Max Shapiro
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