 |
 |
|
 |
 |
|
WORLD SERIES OF POKER 2003
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.
"When I come here I am working. I am not here just for fun," Vahedi said afterward. "This is my business. For me, this is work. I play tournaments for a living, and believe me - there is no tougher job in the world. There is also nothing more rewarding to me than winning this gold bracelet."
|
      |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Online Games | Learn to Play | Columnists | Features | Betting Info | Book a Trip! Home | Las Vegas Review-Journal | Advertise With Us | Contact Us | Privacy Statement Send questions and comments to webmaster@casinogaming.com Copyright © Stephens Media Interactive, 1997 - |