Can
Kim Hua Wins Second JBWPO Championship
in Record Time
The
first Seven-Card Stud event at the 2004
Jack Binion World Poker Open was history-making
for at least two reasons. First, Can Kim
Hua became only the second player ever
to win two titles in the same year, in
the tournament's five year history. Just
two days ago, Kim Hua won the Omaha High-Low
event. Second, Kim Hua ran over the final
table in record time for a JBWPO event.
It took less than two hours for the 46-year-old
Californian to completely roll over the
final table and earn his second victory
in just three days.
Down
to eight players, the final table started
with limits at $1500-3000 and antes at
200. Starvros Karabinas, a retired physician
from Austin, TX was the first player to
make an exit. Karabinas started off with
split Kings and ended up with (K-6) K-A-2-J
(9). Unfortunately, his opponent, John
Oetker, caught a second pair on seventh-street
and showed (10-10) J-9-7-5 (9). Karabinas
took $1,552 for eighth place.
A short time later, Can Kim Hua and John
"Gandi" Cain got into a raising war when
Kim Hua started with (K-K) 6 versus Gandi's
(Q-6) Q. Gandi managed to catch running
jacks for two pair � Queens and Jacks
-- but when Kim Hua caught a second Ten,
he ended up with Kings over Tens -- the
winning hand. Gandi, who deals here at
the JBWPO and was playing in his first
major poker tournament, added $2,328 to
his poker bankroll for seventh place.
The next player was eliminated just three
minutes later. David Borchest, who started
the day with a precarious chip lead ($24,500
versus Kim Hua's $23,500), saw nothing
go right at the final table. He was down
to half of his original stack when he
was dealt his final hand of the night
-- (6-3) 3-7-Q-J (x). John Oetker made
a straight when he showed (5-4) 3-2-8-A
(x). Oetker started off with an outside
straight flush draw, which left Borchest
as the clear underdog. The straight effectively
destroyed Borchest, who had made final
tables at the Taj Mahal, Foxwoods, and
the World Series of Poker. He received
$3,104 for sixth place.
Oetker
knocked out yet another player when he
topped Bill Byers, from Florida, who was
short-stacked throughout his too brief
55-minute stay at the final table. Byers
was forced to move his last chip into
the pot with (9-5) Q-3-K-4 (A), with no
pair. Oetker spiked a pair of 8s on the
last card to win the hand. Byers, who
has previous final table appearances here
at the JBWPO, collected $3,880 for fifth
place.
Another
Floridian followed Byers out the door
when Andrew "AJ" Kelsall, who plays live
cash games for a living, was eliminated
in fourth place. AJ started with (K-4)
4-Q and was "all-in" on fourth-street.
Kim Hua began with (7-6) 7-8 and was delighted
with the turn of events on the following
rounds. Kim Hua caught a second pair.
Then, he spiked a 10 to make a straight.
His (7-6) 7-8-9-9 (10) bested AJ's final
board, which showed (K-4) 4-A-Q-10 (Q).
AJ Kelsall, who finished sixth in last
year's JBWPO Limit Holdem event, won $4,656
for fourth place.
Frank Kitchens, from Oxford, GA, nursed
his small stack along until finally, he
was grinded down to just a few chips.
His final board showed (7-5) 5-A-Q-7 going
into seventh-street. Kim Hua showed (A-4)
5-4-4-Q, good for trip Fours. Kitchens
desperately needed a Five or a Seven to
top Kim Hua's three-of-a-kind, but rolled
over a disappointing Nine on the final
card, failing to improve his two-pair.
Kitchens' chance to win was fried, but
he did manage to cook a $7,760 payday
for third place.
Heads-up
play featured two previous JBWPO winners.
John Oetker won the $500 buy-in Limit
Holdem event last year. And, Can Kim Hua
won his first gold and diamond bracelet
a few days ago. The chip counts stood
as follows:
Kim
Hua -- $90,400
Oetker -- $51,500
Over
the next forty minutes, Kim Hua used his
nearly 2 to 1 chip advantage to sledgehammer
his seemingly defenseless opponent. Oetker,
who enjoyed a nice rush of cards during
the first hour of play, repeatedly looked
down and saw miserable starting hands,
which Kim Hua continuously picked-off
with third-street raises. His stack slowly
decreased to the point he was a 7 to 1
dog.
When
the final hand was dealt, Oetker was down
to just $21K in chips which were tossed
into the pot on fourth-street. Oetker
had (A-5) 5-10 versus Kim Hua's (J-J)
8-7. Oetker took the lead when he caught
a second 10 on fifth-street. But on the
sixth card, Kim Hua was dealt another
8, making two pair -- Jacks over 8s. Oetker
desperately needed another Ten or Five
to survive, but failed to catch his miracle.
John Oetker, added a second-place finish
to his impressive career at the JBWPO.
He collected $15,520.
With his impressive victory in record
time, Can Kim Hua, of Rosemead, CA, becomes
only the second player to ever win two
gold and diamond bracelets within the
same year. He joins 1998 World Series
of Poker champion Scotty Nguyen (who accomplished
his feat in 2000) in the record-books.
With fifteen events still to go at this
year's tournament, it's certainly conceivable
that the very talented Can Kim Hua could
win an unprecedented third title in the
coming weeks.
When
asked what he'd do with a "third" gold
and diamond bracelet, Kim Hua said he
now has two -- one for each wrist. "I
suppose I'll have to put the next one
around my ankle," he said.
-- by Nolan Dalla
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