Soldier
Guns Down Field
Stephen Savioli, an army PFC on a
weekend pass, mowed down the final table
and captured the fifth and final Last
Chance no-limit hold’em event of Legends
2004. It was the first live tournament
ever for Savioli, who is an Arab linguist
student at the Presidio in Monterey. Once
he got the chip lead he played his normal
ultra aggressive style, and nothing remained
standing under his onslaught. When he
got heads-up with Craig Yoshida, he had
a chip lead of about 12-1, and the tournament
quickly ended
Savioli,
an avid online player, got a lucky break
when he won a key hand by accident. On
hand 24 he attempted to raise to $9,000
with As-4s, only to realize that Yoshida
had already raised the same amount, so
he was forced to simply call. He later
said he would not have called a raise.
Steve Tourouk also called, and then Abram
Assatoury went all in for $500 more. Along
with the antes, there was now $40,000
the pot. On a flop of Q-s-10d-5s Savioli
bet $10,000, got heads-up with Assatoury,
who had just 8h-6h, and won with ace-high.
The
final table started with $300 antes and
$1,000-$2,000 blinds, 6:42 remaining.
Eric Shimp had the chip lead with $67,100.
Earlier, at the first break, an unfortunate
thing happened. A player was caught going
to the rest room with his chips in his
pocket. He was disqualified and the chips
confiscated. This is one of the strictest
no-no’s in tournament poker, and this
it was the third time at Legends 2004
that the rule had to be enforced.
On
the third hand, Edward Cunamam moved in
under the gun for about $11,000 with A-8.
Hamid “Captain” Mohammadi also moved in
for slightly more with A-Q. Tourouk, covering
them both, called with pocket queens.
The ladies stood up, and Mohammadi stood
down in ninth place, while Cunamam, a
dental and medical assistant, finished
10th.
Limits
rose to $1,500-$3,000 with $500 antes.
Another 16 hands went by without too much
happening except that Shimp’s starting
chip lead was evaporating. Then, on hand
20, Tourouk opened for $8,000 with Ad-5d
and Chris Caruso, a semi-pro returning
to tournament play after a three-year
absence, moved in for $15,000 with pocket
kings. An ace turned and now seven were
left. On the next hand, one more seat
was emptied. Steven Phimmasane went all
in for $12,000 with Ac-10c and Bryan Chan
called with Qs-Qd. The queens were sufficient,
but when four spades hit the board, Chan
also had a flush and Phimmasane settled
for seventh place.
Then
came the big hand where Savioli made his
accidental call with As-4s resulting in
s Assatoury, a baker, getting cooked and
ending in sixth place while Savioli took
the lead.
By
hand 25, Shimp was down to about $30,000
after posting his big blind and holding
J-4. A flop of J-10-9 gave him top pair
and he bet $5,000. Tourouk, a salesman,
had made two pair with 10-9 and put Shimp
in. When a 10 came on the river, Tourouk
filled and Shimp, a plasterer, got plastered.
With four left, the chip count was: Savioli,
$111,500; Tourouk, $104,500; Chan, $62,000;
and Yoshida, $39,500. The players agreed
on a save, and action continued.
Blinds
went to $2,000-$4,000 with $1,000 antes.
It was now Savioli all the way. First
he got Chan to abandon a a $36,000 pot
by raising him all in on the flop. One
hand later he eliminated Tourouk. Savioli
had 8-4 and a flop of 8-7-6 gave him top
pair and a gut-shot straight draw. He
bet $8,000. Tourouk, with 7-5, had second
pair and an open-ender. A 5 on the turn
gave Savioli his straight, and we were
down to three players.
A
few hands later, Chan raised with A-6,
Savioli re-raised with K-Q and Chan moved
in for $35,000. The board came K-Q-6-10-7
and Savioli’s two pair left Chan, a mortgage
broker, in third place.
Heads-up,
Savioli had about $300,000 to around $25,000
for Yoshida, who is in the finance department
of a car dealership. It couldn’t last
long and it didn’t. In four hands, Yoshida
was all in with 10s-8s. Savioli was the
underdog with 5s-4s until a board of K-3-2-5-A
gave him a wheel and a win.
BIOGRAPHY
Stephen
Savioli is 21 and first got turned onto
poker when he read David Sklansky’s “Theory
of Poker.” Whenever he can he takes a
break from the Army language school to
come to L.A. to play, cash games until
now. He plays online a lot, preferring
no-limit hold’em and pot-limit Omaha hi-lo,
which he feels not many players know how
to play well. He likes no-limit hold’em
because it fits his style, which is “real
aggressive. In no-limit, he said, you
can make the other guy have to make a
decision, but in limit there’s no finesse.
Tonight
he got his chips by “chopping away” and
avoiding going all in. He won despite
a lack of cards, getting pocket kings
once. Explaining that accidental call
hand, he said he would have mucked it
had he been aware of a raise. On the flop,
he bet because he felt he had to protect
his flush draw and didn’t want to be up
against three other hands.
Max Shapiro
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