Amir
Vahedi Pulls Off Stunning Comeback,
Wins Marathon Final Table
In
poker, it all comes down to money management.
It's how you manage your money.
--
Amir Vahedi
A
near record number of entries began play
on Tuesday, May 6th as the $1,500 buy-in
No-Limit Hold'em tournament played down
to the final 21. Those players returned
for day two, then played two full hours
before the final table contestants were
finally determined.
Once
at the final table, Mike Cox made a speedy
exit, followed by Tony Ma. Dealt A-K from
middle position, Ma moved "all-in" and
was horrified to see chip-leader Brian
Strahl move over the top with A-A. The
aces held up, effectively knocking Ma,
the two-time bracelet winner, out of the
tournament.
Soon
thereafter, 1991 World Champion Brad Daugherty
would take a much worse beat. Daughterty
took A-Q up against Amir Vahedi's A-J
and was distressed to see the board bring
a jack. When a life-saving queen failed
to materialize for Daugherty, that meant
a $14,000 payday for the Las Vegas pro,
in eighth place. That hand was also the
first in a series of miracles for Vahedi.
Next,
Ruston Eleogram was short stacked and
moved "all-in" with K-Q against Jeff Rothstein,
holding A-K. Eleogram caught his queen
on the flop, but unfortunately, Rothstein
caught an ace as well, and it was all
over for the engineer from Pahrump, NV.
He took $18,000 for 7th place.
A
huge hand developed when Cleve Haley made
a tough call with K-Q, with a king showing
on board. Amir Vahedi moved "all-in" with
K-x which was called by Haley after a
four-minute deliberation. After Haley
showed his hand which was a pair of kings
with a queen kicker, Vahedi flashed a
king and folded. The pot gave Haley close
to $260K and put him at a 2 to 1 chip
advantage over next-closest, Brian Strahl.
Just when it looked like Vahedi would
be the next player out, everything changed.
After Vahedi tripled-up with trip deuces,
he doubled-up with K-10 vs. T.J. Cloutier's
A-J. Suddenly, Vahedi was right back to
where he started with close to $80K. From
that moment on, it was as though lightning
struck Vahedi, as he consistently increased
his chip position and made things difficult
for his opponents. But what was really
incredible is that to be in his position,
three things had to happen: Vahedi had
to have 2-2 hold up against two overcards,
K-10 had to beat A-J, and Vahedi's A-J
had to top Daugherty's A-Q. Talk about
long odds.
Russian
Kirill Gerasinov wasn't so fortunate.
He finished second in the final event
on the World Poker Tour and was primed
to make a good showing in this event,
as well. He took A-10 of hearts up against
Haley, who called an "all-in" bet with
2-2. The tiny pair of deuces held up,
sending Gerasinov back to Moscow with
a lot of rubles from his Las Vegas trip.
Tournament
pro T.J. Cloutier came into day two with
nearly $60K in chips, but saw his aggressiveness
mowed down by a number of over-the-top
re-raises by his opponents -- particularly
Cleve Haley and Jeff Rothstein. Cloutier
bled away $10K to $15 at time betting
at pots with (unknown) hands, and was
forced to lay them down time and time
again when he couldn't call a large re-raise.
Finally down to just a few thousand, Cloutier
went "all-in" with K-5 and failed to make
a pair. Rothstein held pocket jacks and
blew Cloutier away, putting the three-time
gold bracelet winner out in 5th place.
Down
to four players, the chip counts stood
as follows: Haley-- $370; Strahl -- $170K;
Rothstein -- $110K; and Vahedi -- 100K
Heading
into the eighth hour of play, Brian Strahl
made a bizarre play, trying to steal pre-flop
from Amir Vahedi (with Q-Q). Strahl (with
J-9 of diamonds) was in a nearly hopeless
situation when a queen flopped, which
catapulted Vahedi into the co-chip lead
with Haley. Strahl, who had played masterfully
all day, made one error -- and fittingly
was next to go out of the tournament.
Strahl's
final hand came when he was dealt 7-7.
Down to just $40K, his raise was matched
by Rothstein -- with A-7. The situation
didn't look good for Rothstein, essentially
drawing to the ace. However, he caught
not one, but two aces to crush Strahl
and put him out in 4th place, good for
$42,000.
With
three players remaining, Haley enjoyed
a 2 to 1 chip lead against his two remaining
opponents. The next big hand came when
Amir Vahedi raised "all-in" with K-K.
Incredibly, Cleve Haley said "let's gamble"
and called with A-J. The kings held up,
giving Vahedi the huge pot and put him
into the chip lead for the first time.
Amazingly, Vahedi had been down to just
$20K a few hours earlier, and clawed his
way back to seize control of the final
table.
Haley
got some of those chips back -- and severely
crippled Jeff Rothstein -- when he caught
two pair on the flop to his Q-9 against
Rothstein's 6-6. The hand put Rothstein
perilously close to the felt.
Rothstein
went out a short time later when he moved
in with his remaining chips on A-4 and
might as well have been standing in front
of a speeding freight train. Vahedi slammed
down A-A and took what was left of Rothstein's
chips, giving the New York City C.P.A.
$70,000 for third place.
Down
to the final two players, the chip counts
stood as follows: Vahedi $693K to Haley's
$103K.
Entering
the ninth hour of play, Haley doubled-up
to $200K, then held on for another 30
minutes. The final hand of the long day
came when Vahedi raised Haley "all-in"
with A-4. Haley made a crying call with
K-3 but failed to make a pair, which meant
Vahedi was the winner.
Cleve
Haley was certainly an interesting character
to observe at the final table. He constantly
made references to "gambling it up" against
his opponents and clearly enjoyed some
advantages as someone who does not rely
on poker for his income. However, in the
end it was the tournament experience of
Vahedi that paid off handsome dividends
-- $270,000 to be exact, for first place.
The winner, Amir Vahedi was ecstatic after
his victory. Prior to the win, Vahedi's
best finish had been a fourth place showing,
although he did win an event at the World
Poker Open back in January. Vahedi, who
was born in Iran started playing poker
in 1996. This was clearly his biggest
win both in terms of prestige and prize
money.
-- by Nolan Dalla
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