Bad
Beats Don't Stop Song
Repeatedly in tonight's $500 no-limit
hold'em shootout event, at the first table
and the last, Kevin Song was plagued by
a run of bad beats. But the genial pro
hung in, came back from being lowest chipped
three handed, and finally came out on
top in event number seven of Legends 2004
after a deal with runner-up "Miami" John
Cernuto.
Hollywood
was again represented at the tournament
tonight. Tobey Maguire was back, and this
time "Spiderman" crawled to heads-up in
the first qualifying round. Actor Vince
Vaughn also played yesterday and today.
The tournament began with 220 players.
The 22 table winners started over again
at three tables with $1,500 each When
the final table started, blinds were still
only $50 and $100, with 20:22 left. On
the ninth hand, Tony "The Mailman" Tolentino
moved in for $375 with Ah-10h. Kevin Goodling
had pocket kings and The Mailman was stamped
"cancelled."
Irene
Kristal, a dietician, lasted three more
hands. Holding 8d-7d, she moved in for
about $800 with the board showing Qd-10h-3d-4s.
Dan Alspach called with Ac-10c. Kristal
missed her flush draw and finished ninth.
Just three hands after that, contractor
Kevin Goodling, holding K-5, moved in
with a board of Kh-9h-6d-2h. He was drawing
dead because Amir Vahedi, with 5h-3h,
already had a flush.
Blinds
became $100-$200. One of the few times
Song drew out came when he was all in
for $3,500 with a paired 6 and made two
pair on the river to outrun Alspach's
paired 10. Alspach lasted until hand 39.
Holding Kd-2d, he flopped a flush draw
and missed, while Song flopped two pair
and filled. Vahedi busted the next hand.
He moved in with A-J and lost to casino
executive James Brown's A-K.
When
blinds went to $100-$200 with $25 antes,
a rough count had Song leading with around
$10,500, followed by Brown, $8,500; Ben
Tang, $6,500; Al "Sugar Bear" Barbieri,
$5,000 and Cernuto, $2,000. Cernuto started
his comeback when he bet a hand on the
river and Song folded. Then, on hand 52,
he moved in for $2,850. A very long time
went by. Barbieri almost called for the
clock until he was informed that the action
was on him. It might have been a tournament
first: a player putting a clock on himself.
"Sugar Bear" quickly called with pocket
9s and lost to Cernuto's pocket queens.
Tang,
a pro from Arizona, busted on hand 56.
He had 8-8, opened for $800, got raised
by Song $2,000 more and moved in for a
total of $6,500. Song, with pocket jacks,
just had him covered, won with a flopped
set and took the chip lead with close
to $16,000. Later, Song took one of his
bad beats when he called with A-J and
then Cernuto, all in with A-10, flopped
a 10.
Later,
Brown moved in and Barbieri mused about
a tough decision. "You know it's on you,"
Song jokingly reminded him, in case Barbieri
was considering calling the clock on himself
again. Barbieri finally called with pocket
jacks. Brown had pocket 8s, flopped a
set and Barbieri, a one-time Legends champion
playing this tournament for the first
time in five years, was out in fourth
place. On the next hand, Song suffered
another beat on the river. He had moved
Cernuto all in holding pocket 6s. Miami
John had A-J and rivered a jack.
When
blinds went to $200-$400 with $75 antes,
Song trailed with about $6,500 while Cernuto
and Brown were in the $13,000-$14,000
range. Brown then took a big hit when
he moved in on the river with trip 5s
and lost to Song's 5s full. With about
$14,000, Song now was roughly even with
Cernuto. Song finally busted Brown on
hand 68. This time he didn't worry about
another bad beat. He was about a 93 percent
favorite with A-A to Brown's A-7 and made
a full house when the board came A-9-4-2-2.
Heads-up,
Song had about $19,000 to $14,000 for
Cernuto. They played four hands without
much change, then agreed to a deal.
BIOGRAPHY
Kevin
Song, who comes from Korea, began playing
poker around 1990 and tournaments in 1995.
He has numerous titles and cash-outs,
including a 1997 World Series bracelet
in $2,000 limit hold'em, a U.S. Poker
Championship victory in 7-stud hi-lo in
2000 and a second in a $1,500 hold'em
shootout event in this year's WSOP. He
recently returned to tournament action
after a three-year absence while he built
a retail business.
At
tonight's first table, he said he would
repeatedly build his stacks, only to have
all-in players double up on him three
times with bad beats. "But it's part of
the game," he noted. "I was very comfortable
because those players played like little
girls and wouldn't come over the top.
The veteran pro continued to keep his
composure when the same pattern repeated
at the final table. He said he was also
uncomfortable with the structure, restarting
with few chips and small blinds, but was
able to adjust there as well.
Max Shapiro
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