Big
Pot Gets Luong a Win
Pro player Gio Luong beat some tough
players at the final table to win the
29th event of Legends 2004, the Mariani/Buss
charity event, in a five-hour marathon.
It was structured with alternating 30-minute
rounds of stud and hold'em. The key hand
came when Luong, starting with just 10-3
in a hold'em round, made a full house
to beat pocket aces and a flush. He hauled
in a huge pot, took an overwhelming lead
and was unstoppable after that.
Ten
percent of the $201,100 prize pool went
to the L.A. Lakers Youth Foundation. The
Bicycle Casino added 10 percent and Lyle
Berman and Mike Sexton, though not playing,
each added $300 to bring the total to
$30,700. Jerry Buss lasted about three
hours, his son Jimmy somewhat farther,
while Frank Mariani broke at the third
table.
One
of the two final tables included Glenn
Cozen, who finished second in the 1993
WSOP championship event; "Friends" superstar
Matthew Perry; and the Robin Hood of Poker,
Barry Greenstein, who was being sweated
by Phil Ivey. The other table included
Men "The Master" Nguyen, Harry Thomas
Jr., Hasan Habib and Greenstein's prot�g�,
Mimi Tran. Perry, also on the Celebrity
Poker TV show, finished 12th when Luong's
pocket aces beat his jacks. He will play
in the $5,000 championship event.
The
final table assembled when Greenstein
busted out in ninth place in a hold'em
round. He had K-10 and Robert Goldfarb,
starting with 6-4, flopped a straight.
Action started with $1,000-$2,000 limits,
25 minutes remaining.
Nguyen
was left with about $8,000 when Thomas
made aces-up. When the round changed to
stud, $200 antes, $300 low-card and $1,000-$2,000
limits, Thomas finished the job, again
with aces-up.
A
few hands later, Tran took a slight lead
when she showed quad kings against Habib.
Habib then went out in spectacular fashion
on hand 31. He started with pocket queens
against Cozen's pocket kings, check-raised
all-in when he made a set on sixth street,
and was out when Cozen caught a third
cowboy on the river.
When
the round reverted to hold'em, an eyeball
count showed Goldfarb in the lead with
about $43,000, with Tran, Cozen and Gioi
Luong all very close behind. Cozen, who
builds and owns surgery outpatient centers,
took a big hit when he started with pocket
kings against Goldfarb's pocket 10s and
a river king gave Cozen a set and Goldfarb
a straight. Some 50 hands later it went
to hold'em again at $2,000-$4,000 limits,
with Thomas holding a slight lead. Cozen
went out four hands into the new level.
He was all in from the small blind with
A-4 and lost to Thomas' pocket queens.
Back
to stud, $300 antes, $500 low-card, $2,000-$4,000
limits. Now Luong was the leader with
about $70,000. Poker player Andy Bloch,
who started lowest-chipped and had survived
several all-ins, was next out. He had
the lead with queens until Thomas busted
him with a club flush. Luong and Thomas
weren't far apart with about $70,000 each,
while Goldfarb and Tran were in the $30,000
range.
The
big hand came in the next $3,000-$6,000
hold'em round. In three-way action, Luong
had 10-3, Tran had Qd-Jd and Thomas had
pocket aces. A flop of Qs-10d-3d gave
Tran top pair and a flush draw. She flushed
on the river, but was drawing dead because
Luong had filled on fourth street. He
now had a huge lead with about $140,000,
while Tran was down to $4,000.
Tran
hung in for nearly an hour. Close to the
end of the next round, $3,000-$6,000 stud,
Luong caught a third 9 on sixth street
and put Tran all in. Her 10s-up fell short,
and the tournament was down to three.
A deal was discussed and nixed. Luong
now had $146,500 to $32,500 for Thomas
and $30,500 for Goldfarb. The end was
near. Five minutes into the next $4,00-$8,000
hold'em round, Goldfarb was all in with
A-J. Luong had 6-5, flopped a six, and
it was heads up. Three hands later, at
nearly 10 a.m., Thomas had his chips in
with A-6. Luong, with Q-9, once again
outdrew his opponent by flopping a queen
and locking up his win.
BIOGRAPHY
Local pro Gioi Luong has been playing
poker for 10 years, but tournaments for
only the past year. He's done extremely
well in tournaments during 2004, making
some 14 final tables, all in limit or
no-limit hold'em, except for one 7-stud
cash-out at the Commerce Casino's LAPC.
These final tables include a win at the
Hustler Casino's Grand Slam III a second
at Commerce's Cal State and a second and
sixth at prior Legends events. His win
tonight is his biggest tournament cash-out
ever.
In
cash games, Luong prefers $40-$80 limit
hold'em. In tonight's split game structure,
he obviously was more comfortable with
hold'em, but said he was OK with stud
as well. Tonight, he said he was never
in trouble and had plenty of chips throughout.
And once he won that huge three-way pot,
he knew it was just a matter of time before
he coasted to victory.
Max Shapiro
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