John
Juanda: Nice Guys Finish First
John
Juanda is the proverbial calm in the midst
of any storm. Everyone's favorite "Mr.
Nice Guy," the modest, friendly, 31-year-old
Indonesia native has always been an imperturbable
model of decorum at the table. Now, with
numerous tournament wins under his belt,
the stock-trader/part-time player is under
no financial pressure, has nothing to
prove to anyone, and more so than ever,
is very much in control of himself and
his game. He proved that convincingly
tonight as he steadily and surely came
back from a serious deficit to win event
#21 -- the $2,500 buy-in seven-card stud
eight-or-better event.
Many
observers expected Juanda, who started
in a tie for the chip lead, to win the
event. Juanda certainly did. When a friend
called his cell phone moments after the
match ended and asked if he had won, Juanda
replied, "What do you think?"
This
is bracelet number two for Juanda. His
other major wins have included the Hall
of Fame, Legends, California State Poker
Championship and the Jack Binion World
Poker Open championship event. Though
a number of his titles have been in stud,
he thinks that no-limit hold'em might
be his best game.
The
tournament had 140 entrants and a $325,500
prize pool. Second-day action got underway
with $500 antes, a $1,000 low-card bring-in
and $3,000-$6,000 limits. Starting with
hand four, Huck Seed played five out of
six hands, each time folding on fourth
or fifth street and blowing off considerable
chips in the process.
Larry
St. Jean put in his last $5,000 with a
7-low and ace-high, losing when Ralph
Perry made a 6-4 low and a pair of treys.
The table now was down to the normal figure
of eight for stud, and the final table
was really, officially, underway.
Seed was the next player to go all in.
He started with pocket jacks, made aces
up, and then hit a spade flush on the
river to scoop Judah, who started with
split 7s and made a set. Perilously low,
Judah went all in and got a split against
Seed, making a low to Huck's kings-up.
On hand 22, Judah went all in again with
Qc,7c,/3c and ended up with nada. Al Korson
showed him 10s and 4s and the two-bracelet,
millionaire's club Londoner cashed out
in eighth place for $6,520.
Only
four hands later, another player was sent
to the sidelines. Dean Shulman, making
his third final table appearance, started
with 5-8/4 in three-way action. He went
all in on sixth street with a pair of
deuces and one card short of a low. Seed,
meanwhile, folded on the river showing
5-3-3-K, with only $3,000 left. Shulman
missed his low and fell victim to Perry,
who scooped with kings-up. Seventh place
paid $9,760.
Seven-stud
hi-lo can be an excruciatingly slow game,
but this one was moving right along. By
hand 30 the field was down to five. Seed
had anted himself down to $1,000 and put
it all in when a deuce made him the low-card
bring-in. He had a buried 6-7 and caught
a 4 on fifth street. But he missed his
low while Juanda, starting with A-6/5,
scooped with a paired ace. Huck got $13,020
for sixth place.
That
was the third hand in a row for Juanda,
and he now went on to win a total of six
out of seven hands. They were all small
pots, mostly picked up when he completed
the bet and wasn't called, but the chips
began to add up. Another nine hands went
by with almost no action. Then, on hand
44, Jimmy Jimmy made three 8s. But Juanda,
showing four clubs on board, hit the ace
of clubs on the river and now took undisputed
possession of first place with more than
$120,000.
Next,
Jimmy Cha put his last chips in holding
Q-2/A-5-2. He caught a queen for two pair,
but it wasn't good enough. Korson had
5-6/5-2-A, then caught another ace and
a 5 to blow Cha away with 5s-full. Finishing
5th, the La Habra businessman cashed out
for $16,280.
On
hand 73, though, there was a big transfer
of chips as Korson took a hit. The boards
weren't impressive, but a sizeable pot
developed when the Sheik showed 5-Q-8-2
against Korson's 8-10-6-4. Korson folded
when the river was bet, and the Sheik
took the lead again.
Korson
dipped down to about 28k, then later recovered
at Juanda's expense. Juanda is a player
who is willing to gamble if he feels he
has even a small edge, and this frequently
results in wider-than-average shift swings.
That, apparently, is what happened on
this hand. Korson raised with a door-card
ace and Juanda re-raised with a 7. Then
Juanda raised with a fourth-street queen
and Korson re-raised with a 4. Juanda
finally gave it up with Korson caught
another ace on fifth street. Perry and
Sheikhan now were tied with about $115,000
each, while Juanda was down to $69,000
and Korson had $50k.
But
a couple of hands later, the Sheik started
with buried aces and virtually buried
Korson by catching a third bullet and
scooping. Korson, showing K-10-2-J, mucked
his hand. He was now down to only $3,500.
Juanda finished him off on the next hand
when he started with 2-3/K and made treys
and deuces. Korson, starting with A-7/K,
missed his inside straight draw and cashed
out for $19,520 in fourth place.
The
Sheik still held a big chip lead of about
$155,000 to about $110,000 for Perry and
$84,000 for Juanda. As Juanda proceeded
to pick up some chips, the Sheik observed
that he always seemed to get good cards.
"I have to," Juanda explained. "I don't
play as well as you do." As another dozen
or so hands went by, and Juanda kept inching
up, he offered his opponent another explanation:
"You always call me with nothing."
With
the hand count past the 100 mark, it was
close to a three-way tie, with each player
in the $115K to $120K range. Some 20 hands
later, when the players took a 10-minute
break, it was even tighter, with $121,000
for Juanda, $119,000 for Sheikhan and
$116,000 for Perry.
Returning
to the table, the finalists were now playing
for $1,000 antes, with a $2,000 bring-in
and $6,000-$12,000 limits. A few hands
later, things took a dramatic turn for
the worse for Juanda. He started with
kings against Sheikhan's deuces, and got
trounced with the Sheik made two pair.
Juanda was now down to $60,000 to $190,000
for Sheikhan and $60,000 for Perry.
"He�.got
lucky," Juanda later analyzed. "However,
I was still comfortable because the limits
were really small and there was lots of
play left." Proving his point, Juanda
made a speedy recovery on hand 136. Starting
with split 6s, he made jacks-up to edge
Perry's 9s-up and change the chip count
dramatically:
Sheikhan $185,000
Juanda 115,000
Perry 51,000
Juanda
continued to move up and by hand number
152, when he scooped Perry with just a
pair of 6s, he had regained the chip lead
again. A couple of hands later, Sheikhan
made a somewhat questionable fold. Showing
7-5, Perry bet his last $4,000. The Sheik,
with A-J on board, folded his tent. Perry
then showed his 6-3 hole cards. He had
a terrific starting hand, but still had
only a 7-high to that point, and the Sheik
had passed up a chance to bust him with
a very small investment.
Perry
managed to hang on for another 10 hands.
Then, starting with A-5/3, he put his
last $9,000 in on fifth street and could
make nothing more than two 9s. Juanda
began with a great low starter-6-7/5 and
ended up making queens and 5s. Perry took
home $32,540 for third place while Juanda
increased his lead to $209,000 to $142,000
for the Sheik.
Three
hands into the heads-up match, the Sheik
began to get emotional. He won a hand,
but got mad when, holding two aces, he
neglected to bet sixth street or the river
and missed a bet or two. He banged the
table very hard, sending a chip flying,
as Tournament Director Matt Savage gave
him a sideways look meaning, "That was
close to a penalty."
A
few hands later, Sheikhan check-raised
showing 3-7-K, but at the showdown couldn't
beat Juanda's 10s and 5s. John now had
regained the lead, and from then on it
was a rout. Juanda won just about every
hand as the Sheik kept folding in frustration.
As Sheikhan folded yet again, on fifth
street, Juanda flashed his hole cards
to Savage. "Now what?" the Sheik demanded.
"Just showing my hand to Matt," Juanda
said innocently.
THE
FINAL HAND: By the time Juanda won yet
again, this time with pocket aces, he
had run his count to a bit over $300,000
against about $47,000 for Sheikhan. The
next hand, number 183, ended it. Juanda
showed 8-A-6-K and three spades. Sheikhan
had 2-4-A-6 and three diamonds. Juanda
bet the river, and Sheikhan had exactly
enough to call: $12,000. John turned up
2-3-8 and two spades for a flush and 8-6
low. The Sheik, missing his low draw and
possibly a flush draw as well, simply
mucked his hand, and the match was over.
-- by Max Shapirio
and Nolan Dalla
|
