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Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2007
Phan earns fans with WSOPC prelim win
Young Phan wins Event 4 of the World Series of Poker Circuit event in Tunica.
By Sarah Polson
Five events have wrapped up on the World Series of Poker Circuit event at the Grand Casino in Tunica as the series moves toward the main event which begins Sept. 11. Most notable from the first five events is a win by Young Phan, who came in second in WSOP circuit main event last season.
Phan took down Event 3, $500 No-Limit Hold'em, to take home $40,348. He came in second to Men "The Master" Nguyen last year at the Caesars Indiana WSOPC main event, which led him to comment that he seems to do well when he travels farther from his California home.
The 47-year-old Phan has been playing poker for 21 years. His experience paid off as he headed into the final table with the chip lead and managed to hang on to it for a win.
He did find a challenge when he went heads-up with Steve "Turbo" Powell, but Phan had noted from a prior table Powell's aggressive, dangerous style of play.
"You never saw me gamble," he said. "I wouldn't go all-in with pocket fives (as Powell did on the final hand)."
The winner of the first event of the circuit series doesn't have the experience that Phan has - in fact the $300 No-Limit Hold'em event was his first tournament - but Bobby Lassie Sr. had what it takes to pocket the $35,009 top prize.
Lassie is the current world record holder of the Outlaw Street Racing Association, and he's only been playing poker for two years. It took him a little longer than his 5.49-second drag racing record to pull in this win, but he still managed to pull out in front of the 401-player field.
It came down to Lassie versus McDonald Ledbetter, and eight hands into heads-up play it was all over. On the final hand Ledbetter moved all in on the button with Ac-4s, and Lassie called with As-9s.
The board didn't improve Ledbetter any, and Lassie claimed his first tournament win.
Event 2, $500 No-Limit Hold'em , also saw a race-car driver speed to victory. Danny Griffith, who raced cars semi-professionally for 14 years, has mainly been a home-game player during his five years of poker experience. This WSOPC event was his first major tournament aside from a second-chance event.
Griffith bested a field of 249 players to claim the $37,481 top prize. The Little Rock, Ark., native came up against Madison, Alabama's Richard Johnson in heads-up play.
Griffith enjoyed a modest lead going into heads-up play, and play started out relatively cautiously, with Griffith slowly increasing his lead. Then he dragged in a pot of 100,000-plus, and with just queen-high, won a couple more. When the level ended, Griffith was up 423,000 chips to 78,000 for Johnson.
When play resumed in the next level, it took only two more hands to end it. On the final hand Johnson opened for 20,000 with K-J, Griffin raised 40,000 with Q-8, and Johnson moved in. The board came A-6-2-8-2, and the paired eight ended play.
Jumping to Event 4, Gene Chiappetta isn't a race-car driver, nor does he have the years and years of poker experience that Young Phan has, but the cooking oil company owner still managed to slip his way through a field of 158 players to win the $300 Limit Hold'em event.
The 44-year-old spends a lot of time away from his home of Huntersville, N.C., honing his poker skills in Atlantic City. His two years of play paid off with his $14,894 first-place prize.
He actually earned his win through slick deal-making rather than finishing out the tournament. When play got down to three-handed, the remaining players came to a compromise, leaving Chiappetta, who had the chip lead, with first place, Dr. Douglas Evans with second and Hubert Baxley with third.
Event 5 saw an even bigger deal made at the final table that left Charles Edwards from Lynchburg, Tenn., the winner after the final eight players all agreed to a deal to end play.
This $500 Pot-Limit Omaha event drew only 73 players, but Edwards had no problem collecting a win in the game he says he specializes in. He's been playing in home games and some tournaments for 10 years, and he plans to make Omaha his official game from now on.
He likes it because the flop presents multiple chances for draws to straights and flushes, and in his opinion, Pot-Limit Omaha is more skill and less luck than Hold'em.
Stay tuned to PokerListings.com as we continue to bring you the results from the WSOPC in Tunica. We'll also be there next week to bring you updates, photos, reports and more live from the Grand Casino.
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