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 Lucky
Chances Casino hosted one of the most entertaining World Poker Tour season one episodes. On one of the first hands dealt,
Vince Burgio was dealt pocket fours and folded
them because he was first to act.
Antonio Esfandiari was dealt pocket sixes
and raised the $16,000 blind to $82,000. Tommy Garza then folded pocket tens. I thought this was going to be a boring,
tight tournament.
I was wrong.
Paul Darden was the winner, but Antonio Esfandiari
was the star of the show. Antonio dueled with former World Champion
Phil Hellmuth and outplayed him from start to
finish. Antonio moved over the top of Phil several times and Phil looked as if he could not figure out what to do.
Antonio Esfandiari, otherwise known as "The Magician", played great.
It was definitely fun to watch him put Phil on tilt. On one hand, Phil
raised on the button with 32 offsuit and Antonio moved all in with Q5 of
diamonds. Tommy Garza folded his AQ and Phil had no choice but to fold his
garbage. Antonio showed his hand to Phil after he folded and we could
almost see the steam coming from Phil's ears (and this was only in the
first few minutes of the show).
I was surprised to see Tommy fold both these hands. In
No Limit Holdem you
only get so many opportunities with low chips and Tommy folded two key
hands: pocket tens and AQ. Tommy then tried to make a move on the button
when he raised all-in with K8, but unfortunately for him, Paul Darden had
AK in the small blind and called his bet. Tommy became the first person eliminated.
Antonio continued to work his magic when he moved all-in after Phil raised
on the button with Q6 of hearts. Antonio had A9 of spades in the small
blind. Phil looked totally disgusted and folded his hand again. On the
next hand, Phil moved all-in with K5 and started pacing behind the table.
Antonio was holding A5 and he looked like he wanted to play, but folded his hand.
Chris Bigler
ended up calling with A3. An ace came on the turn, which made Phil end up
drawing
dead, but Phil had more chips than Chris so he was still in the tournament.
The next hand shown, Vince moved all in with JT and Phil called with
pocket sevens. Phil had the best the whole way and even managed to hit a
seven that he didn't need. Vince had more chips than Phil, so he was still
in the tournament. The following hand, Vince moved all in with 98 on the
button, and Phil moved all in after Vince with KT. Antonio called both
all-ins with A8 clubs. He could have taken both players out in one hand,
but Phil flopped the King and turned the ten. Phil jumped for joy,
throwing his hands up and yelling: "Yes!". Vince was quietly
eliminated in fifth place.
I found it strange that the show was edited so that we were not shown many
hands played by Paul Darden. He managed to keep the lead during the whole
tournament, which shows he must have won some pots along the way, but we
didn't see many. They did however, include an interview with Paul
and I liked what he had to say. "I watch the great players, such as Phil
Hellmuth and Phil Ivey. I just try to follow suit. I am a student watching
the teachers. If you really want to be good, pay attention. My strength is
to try to play my opponents hand not mine because I have my cards, my
cards are easy to play. I try to put myself in their hand and play at me."
I think Paul hit the nail on the head with his comments. First, tournament
players need to always see themselves as students. Top players know that
there are always things to learn and considering that the game is always
changing (especially with the growing fields of tournament entries)
players need to adjust their game. Second, in No Limit Holdem, it is all
about playing the players. It is not about the cards. These were two
key reasons for Paul's success in this tournament.
 The
next confrontation featured Phil again strangely choosing to do battle
with Antonio when he tried to make a move on Antonio's blind. He moved
all-in for $172,000 with KJ. While Antonio is thinking about what to do,
Phil started talking: "I hope he calls, but doesn't
outdraw me". I
honestly think that Antonio was getting reads off Phil. He decided
to call Phil's all-in bet with KQ. The flop came 853, turn 7 and river a
Queen. This was followed by the part of the program I didn't like, where
Phil went to Antonio and said, "show some class and shake my hand" because
Antonio showed nothing but class the whole tournament. In contrast,
Phil did not shake Vince's hand when he knocked him out. Not only
that, but Phil did a little jump, shout, and almost a dance when he won.
Antonio deserved to beat Phil. He outplayed Phil from the get go and Phil
could not figure out a counter-strategy. Phil seemed to be playing as if
he was showing off for the camera. He looked like he played hands that he
knew people would talk about after the show aired, like
raising with 32.
After Phil was eliminated, Chris only had about 130,000 in chips. He moved
all-in with JT and Antonio called him with pocket sevens. The board came
Q33, but the ten hit on the turn to double Chris up. Later, Paul made a
great move when Chris held pocket jacks. Chris raised the $20,000 big
blind to $70,000 and Paul called with 43 of clubs. The board came KQ9 and
Paul led out and Chris had to fold his hand. He earned that pot.
After eliminating Phil, the Magician was not involved in many pots. One of
the few was when he raised with KJ and Paul raised all-in with pocket
Jacks. The board came T82, the turn was an Ace and the river was a nine,
eliminating Antonio in third place. I was rooting for him because he
played so well in the beginning -- and it was so much fun to watch him stick
it to Phil. Antonio's day in the World Poker Tour winner circle did come though at the
Commerce Casino in the second season.
Chris played great when it got to three players. He moved all-in numerous
times. Sometimes, he had legitimate hands (pocket fives) and sometimes he
was just making a move (98 suited). However, he lost a lot of money when
he called the small blind with 74 against Paul's 84. The flop was
873 and Paul bet out $50,000. Chris raised him $120,000 more. Paul thinks
for awhile and called the bet. The turn was a king and Paul
checked. Chris
checked behind him. The river was a three giving both of them two pair.
Paul bet $150,000 and Chris called him. The pot was over $700,000 and this
gave Paul a huge lead.
The end came when Paul was dealt K7 offsuit in the small blind and raised
the pot to $162,000. Chris moved all-in for $48,000 more with AQ of
spades. Of course Paul called because the pot was so big. The flop
came Q83, turn 4, and river 3 and Chris doubled up. However, that did not
help him on the next and final hand. Chris was dealt K2 offsuit and
raised. Paul called him with the Q8 of diamonds. The flop was AT5 with two
diamonds on the board. Chris moved all-in and Paul quickly called. The turn
was a jack of diamonds and Paul was declared the Gold Rush, Lucky Chances winner. |
