Local
Wins 1st Last Chance
The first of five $100 no-limit hold'em"
Last Chance" tournaments rounding off
Legends 2004 was launched tonight and
drew 303 entrants. It was a quickie that
lasted only 22 hands and ended in a four-way
chop. The man who had the most chips at
the end and was declared the winner was
Steve Elghanayan, an easy-going local
pro who plays nooners and other moderate-sized
side games and tournaments.
He
started as the chip leader, and after
dropping down, went on a rush in the late
stages, with his aggressiveness and fearlessness
aided in no small part by a goodly supply
of Miller Lites.
These
events, 7:15 p.m. on weekdays and 4:15
p.m. on weekends, will culminate in a
$10,000 added playoff on September 5.
Tonight's
event was the third in one day, following
the Ladies Poker Party (day 2) which started
at 12:15, and then and the Championship/WPT
filmed event which got underway at 5 p.m.
When
the final table began, blinds were $1,000-$2,000,
with $300 antes. On the first hand, Chris
Cervantes opened for $7,000 and Richard
Bakovic moved all in. After an eternity
of thinking, Cervantes called and turned
up A-Q. Bakovic had Q-Q, and after the
board came J-9-3-9-4, we lost our first
player, and Bakovic had taken over the
lead. Bakovic is a professional fisherman,
who owns a fishing boat in Alaska. Two
hands later, Jacky Lee was down to $2,400
after he opened for $10,000 with A-J and
Ed Padilla moved in for $23,000 with Qd-Qd,
winning when the board came 9-8-2-2-3.
On
the next hand, the blinds went to $1,500-$3,000
with $3,000 antes, and Lee immediately
went south. He moved in for his last couple
of chips with pocket 9s. Poker player
Robert Campbell was in the big blind with
a not-very-promising 7-3, but it only
cost him $500 to call. He promptly flopped
two pair, and Lee cashed out ninth.
A
third player was lost in action after
only six hands. Steve Colasurd had A-10
and he pushed in all his $15,500. Bakovic
had pocket kings and he re-raised all
in as well. Bakovic then flopped a set,
and Colasurd went out in eighth place.
A few hands later, Campbell had the kings
as he went against Elghanayan, who had
moved in with J-9. Elghanayan got very
lucky and jumped around in excitement
when a jack flopped and another one came
on the river to rescue him.
Kory
Mathewson was next to move in. He had
Ks-8s and $10,500. Elghanayan called with
A-9 and flopped an ace. A river 8 was
too little, too late for Mathewson, and
he cashed out in seventh place.
Veteran
player Bill Henson took a hit on hand
13 when his pocket 9s ran into Amir Naderi's
pocket aces. On the next hand, Henson
moved in from the small blind for $6,500
with A-J. Bakovic called with Q-10 and
when a queen fell on the river, Henson
fell out of the tournament, ending up
sixth.
The
last player to go out was Naderi. He moved
in for $28,000 with pocket 8s, and Ed
Padilla went all in for $37,000 with K-Q.
Padilla, who is the food and beverage
manager at the Bicycle Casino, promptly
flopped a king, and Naderi ended up in
fourth place.
A
chip count deal was discussed over the
next few hands, and an exploratory chip
count was finally agreed to. At that point,
Elghanayan led with $129,500, followed
by Bakovic with $93,500 and Padilla with
$67,000, while Campbell was scraping the
barrel with $13,500. After back-and-forth
discussions, the bigger stacks agreed
to give up something for Campbell, and
the deal was struck. However, Padila,
food and beverage manager at the Bicycle
Casino, wants it known that he was "forced"
into this arrangement. Forced or willing,
it was over and Elghanayan had won the
first Last Chance event.
BIOGRAPHY
After
he had gone out to celebrate with another
Miller's, Steve Elghanayan was a happy
but not entirely eloquent interviewee.
However, certain facts were ascertained.
He is 48 and has been playing poker for
39 of those years. He's won a number of
tournaments at local casinos, including
lowball at Commerce, stud hi-lo here and
7-stud at Hollywood Park. His favorite
game is lowball, and he splits his poker
time about equally between tournaments,
such as nooners at the Bike, and cash
games.
He's
good friends with another pro player,
Binh Do, though it was hard to tell from
the conversation who had coached the other.
His style of play? Normally passive, Binh
Do helped out and explained, but aggressive
when he's had a few. Elghanayan said that
he was never in trouble tonight and had
chips all the way through.
Max Shapiro
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