Shoaib Makani Dominates Final Table And Wins $500 No-Limit Wire to Wire

Business Development Manager, 25, Got Experience Playing in London

Stateline, NV—Everything went right tonight for Shoaib Makani, as he scored an easy victory in the second event of the WSOP Circuit tour at Harveys Lake Tahoe, $500 no-limit hold'em. He arrived at the final table with the chip lead, steadily built it and coasted to an easy victory that brought him $39,677. "It was a good situation and an ideal final table," he said. "I got good cards, and when I was behind I got help."

Shoaib, 25, lives in Palo Alto, California, and is a business development manager for start-up businesses in the Bay Area. He started playing poker for pennies when he was a kid, and then got serious when he was in college. He spent several years in London, attending the London School of Economics, and then working for Googol there. During that time he regularly frequented the Gutshot Poker Club where he was a regular tournament winner. Now employed full-time, he can only manage about one tournament a month, and also plays smaller no-limit cash games in casinos and at home games.

His style, he said, is initially to play tight and wait for hands, then get aggressive as bubble time approaches, and, when he has enough chips, "put on the gas but not go crazy."

This event attracted 314 players vying for a prize pool of $152,290. Sixteen players survived day one. The final nine was reached after 90 minutes of play the next day when Sherman Ohori's pocket 9s were crushed by Makani's pocket aces. Action started with blinds of 3,000-6,000 and 500 antes, 16 minutes left. Makani led with 615,000 chips.

Here were the final table chip counts:

SEAT 1: Tooraj Agahi – 183,500 Chips

SEAT 2: Shoaib Makani – 615,000 Chips

SEAT 3: J.T. Anderson – 541,000 Chips

SEAT 4: Anthony Winters – 99,500 Chips

SEAT 5: Robert Pinney – 85,500 Chips

SEAT 6: George Cook – 248,000 Chips

SEAT 7: Merle Avila – 42,500 Chips

SEAT 8: Ray Eberlin – 108,500 Chips

SEAT 9: Roger Byrne – 266,000 Chips

Everyone was still on board when blinds went to 4,000-8,000 with 1,000 antes. First out soon after, on a very bad beat, was Anthony "Banks" Winters. He moved in with pocket kings and Makani, with plenty of chips, called with J-9. The board came 10-J-3-Q-8, giving Makani a straight as he broke the "Banks" and left him in ninth place, worth $2,589. Winters is 29, from San Leandro, California and owns a hydrophonics gardening business. He's played 10 Circuits and has a cash in a $1,500 prior Circuit tournament.

On the next hand, Robert "Creek" Pinney moved in with pocket treys and got called by Merle Avila. The board produced a full house when it came 2-2-5-2-5, while Pinney's pair gave him a higher full. I won't say Pinney was up a creek because two puns in two hands is two much, but he was done when Avila turned over pocket kings. For eighth, Pinney picked up $3,579. Pinney, 42, is a truck driver turned "poker grinder" from Chico, California. He's played poker since age 5, and seriously for five years. His poker highlight was winning four Omaha high-low events in seven days.

Just a couple of hands later there was another vacancy. This time, George Cook pushed in his last 60,000 with A-Q. Once again Makani played sheriff, calling with Kd-10d, and outrunning Cook (no, I won't write that his goose was cooked) when a 10 flopped and Makani's pair held up. Cashing seventh, Cook pocketed $4,797. He is 49, from San Francisco, and owns and operates a transmission shop. This is his fifth Circuit. Last year he won a second-chance event here.

At this point, Makani had taken a commanding lead with 1 million of the 2.2 million on the table.

There were a couple of all-in escapes, and six players were still left when blinds went to 5,000-10,000 with 1,000 antes. Finally, Merle Avila was all in with Ah-6h against two opponents. The board of 9-5-10-K-Q didn't hit anybody, and Ray Eberlin's pocket 7s were enough to dispatch Avila in sixth place, which paid $6,396. Avila, 52, is an architect from Sebastopol, California. This is his second Circuit, and his poker highlight was playing in the WSOP main event this year. He also enjoys tennis and collecting Sebastopol memorabilia.

Blinds now inched up to 6,000-12,000 with 1,000 antes. Halfway through the level, Makani raised with Jh-10 and Roger Byrne re-raised all in with A-Q. The board came K-3-4-J-6, and Makani, pairing his jack, knocked out yet another player. Byrne, 63, is from Houston, Texas and works in sales. He started playing while in junior high school, this is his third Circuit, and his prior highlight was a 10th in this event last year.

Right after that, Eberlin, holding Ac-9c, moved in for 105,000. J.T. Anderson called with pocket 4s, they held up when the board came 3-8-6-10-3, and Eberlin took home $10,813 for fourth. Eberlin, 45, is a local boy from Stateline. He's a contractor, has entered six Circuits, and also likes to ski and mountain bike.

One hand before the level ended, on a raised pot the flop came 2-2-4. Tooraj Agahi tried an all-in move with 10-9 and ran into trips when Makani turned up a 9-2. He couldn't find miracle cards and finished third, worth $16,067. Agahi, 47, originally from Tehran, now lives in Stateline where he is a business owner. This is his third Circuit and he has a third in a prior WSOP event here. He learned poker by "practice, practice, practice," enjoys boating and golfing and is proud of putting two daughters through college.

Heads-up, just as blinds went to 8,000-16,000, Makani enjoyed better than a 2-1 lead over Anderson. On the fifth hand, Makani took down a big pot with a bigger kicker after both players paired their 8. Anderson now was down to 220,000. On the next hand, Makani opened for 55,000 with Jh-10h, and Anderson moved in with Kh-3h. The board came As-Ac-8s-Jd-6s, and the paired jack allowed Makani to outrun his final opponent and lock up this tournament.

Anderson took down $23,986 for second. He is a 54-year-old poker player from Carthage, Texas who before that was in the oil field service business. He learned poker from his dad, has had several WSOP and Circuit cashes, and this is his third final table.

--Max Shapiro

World Series of Poker Commissioner – Jeffrey Pollack

Director of Poker Operations for Harrah’s Entertainment – Jack Effel

Harveys Lake Tahoe Poker Room Manager - Vince Contaxis

Harveys Lake Tahoe Full Services Games Manager - Steve Schorr

Harveys Lake Tahoe Tournament Director - Janis Sexton

To view a complete list of results for Event 2 of the 2008 World Series of Poker Circuit Event at Harvey's Lake Tahoe, click on the link below:

2008 Harvey's Lake Tahoe WSOP Circuit Event #2 Results