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| World Poker Tour (WPT) Articles 2006 Legends of Poker Tournament Report Event #20 |
| Ha Diep Books Solid No Limit Win |
Event #20, $1,000 No Limit Hold’em, lured in 363 entries by offering a
“player’s structure” of $3,000 in starting chips and hour-long rounds. There
is a lot of play with this structure and we proved that. The 10-handed final
table was set at 7:45am—a long 15 hours into the tournament. With a
$363,000 prize pool, all players were eyeing the $136,125 first place payout.
Play was very deliberate a there were only 4 showdowns in the first 60
minutes of play. There was some early discussion of a chip count deal but
too many of the players wanted a chance at first place money.
The first showdown hand came at hand #4. Chip leader, Ha Diep, a student
at UCI, raised from early position and found a re-raise from Makram Merhom
in the big blind. Ha re-raised all-in and got called instantly. Makram showed
AA and Ha was in bad shape with his underpair, QQ. A flop of Q-A-9 gave
both players a flopped set and Ha needed a one-outer. The turn and river
were no help (10-5) and Makram strengthened his stack through the chip
leader.
On hand #8, Jianhua Zhou raised preflop all-in and was called by chip leader
Ha Diep. Jianhua showed AK and Ha was slightly ahead with 55. The flop
favored Ha with a 2-2-8 but the turn King shifted the lead to Jianhua who
needed a win to survive. The river 3 gave Jianhua the pot and he lived to
fight another hand. Ha has just doubled up two short stacks in the first 8
hands of the final table.
On hand #22, Jianhua Zhou raised from late position and Tony “TNT” Nasr,
re-raised all-in with his pocket Aces. He was called by Jianhua Zhou with
pocket Kings. The board was 5-6-J-Q-4 and the Aces held up. Tony
completed a much needed double-up. Tony was dressed in a PokerBlue
sponsored loud suit and was giving away a $200 bounty (PokerBlue will add
$200 to your account) for anyone who knocks him out. Tony was all-in often
but he survived every single one.
After a 10-minute break between rounds, the players had just played for 90
minutes without a single elimination from the 10-handed table. They
requested a chip count calculation and when the numbers were returned it
was 9:45am. As the payouts were read to the players, one unnamed players
said, “If anyone asks for $1 more than the chip count calculation, there is no
deal and we play.” I think that did it because there was no discussion, just a
unanimous decision to accept the deal. Ha Diep, who entered the final table
with the chip lead, ended the tournament with the chip lead and booked his
1st tournament win.
- Jay “Bugsy” Siegel
BIOGRAPHY
Ha Diep, an undergrad at UCI, took time out of his summer vacation to play in
the Legends of Poker event before school starts up again next week. Ha’s a
cash game player who occasionally plays tournaments. His typical game is
the restricted buy-in $300-$500 No Limit Hold’em game at The Bicycle
Casino. Ha has been playing poker for serious money for the last 3 years.
He does not play on-line and prefers the face-to-face competition of live play.
Ha’s strategy for this tournament was just to survive. He found himself short
stacked about halfway through the tournament when he pushed all-in with
AJ and ran into QQ. Ha delivered a bad beat to the Queens and then went
on to accumulate chips. Ha entered the final table with about one-third of
the chips in play. He doubled up some short stacks but maintained his chip
lead until the deal was made and he was declared the winner. This is Ha’s
first tournament win and he accepted the Legends ring humbly and proudly.
Congrats Ha! Hours of solid play and a timely double-up earned you the well-
deserved title.
“player’s structure” of $3,000 in starting chips and hour-long rounds. There
is a lot of play with this structure and we proved that. The 10-handed final
table was set at 7:45am—a long 15 hours into the tournament. With a
$363,000 prize pool, all players were eyeing the $136,125 first place payout.
Play was very deliberate a there were only 4 showdowns in the first 60
minutes of play. There was some early discussion of a chip count deal but
too many of the players wanted a chance at first place money.
The first showdown hand came at hand #4. Chip leader, Ha Diep, a student
at UCI, raised from early position and found a re-raise from Makram Merhom
in the big blind. Ha re-raised all-in and got called instantly. Makram showed
AA and Ha was in bad shape with his underpair, QQ. A flop of Q-A-9 gave
both players a flopped set and Ha needed a one-outer. The turn and river
were no help (10-5) and Makram strengthened his stack through the chip
leader.
On hand #8, Jianhua Zhou raised preflop all-in and was called by chip leader
Ha Diep. Jianhua showed AK and Ha was slightly ahead with 55. The flop
favored Ha with a 2-2-8 but the turn King shifted the lead to Jianhua who
needed a win to survive. The river 3 gave Jianhua the pot and he lived to
fight another hand. Ha has just doubled up two short stacks in the first 8
hands of the final table.
On hand #22, Jianhua Zhou raised from late position and Tony “TNT” Nasr,
re-raised all-in with his pocket Aces. He was called by Jianhua Zhou with
pocket Kings. The board was 5-6-J-Q-4 and the Aces held up. Tony
completed a much needed double-up. Tony was dressed in a PokerBlue
sponsored loud suit and was giving away a $200 bounty (PokerBlue will add
$200 to your account) for anyone who knocks him out. Tony was all-in often
but he survived every single one.
After a 10-minute break between rounds, the players had just played for 90
minutes without a single elimination from the 10-handed table. They
requested a chip count calculation and when the numbers were returned it
was 9:45am. As the payouts were read to the players, one unnamed players
said, “If anyone asks for $1 more than the chip count calculation, there is no
deal and we play.” I think that did it because there was no discussion, just a
unanimous decision to accept the deal. Ha Diep, who entered the final table
with the chip lead, ended the tournament with the chip lead and booked his
1st tournament win.
- Jay “Bugsy” Siegel
BIOGRAPHY
Ha Diep, an undergrad at UCI, took time out of his summer vacation to play in
the Legends of Poker event before school starts up again next week. Ha’s a
cash game player who occasionally plays tournaments. His typical game is
the restricted buy-in $300-$500 No Limit Hold’em game at The Bicycle
Casino. Ha has been playing poker for serious money for the last 3 years.
He does not play on-line and prefers the face-to-face competition of live play.
Ha’s strategy for this tournament was just to survive. He found himself short
stacked about halfway through the tournament when he pushed all-in with
AJ and ran into QQ. Ha delivered a bad beat to the Queens and then went
on to accumulate chips. Ha entered the final table with about one-third of
the chips in play. He doubled up some short stacks but maintained his chip
lead until the deal was made and he was declared the winner. This is Ha’s
first tournament win and he accepted the Legends ring humbly and proudly.
Congrats Ha! Hours of solid play and a timely double-up earned you the well-
deserved title.
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