Poker Tournament Results

Legends of Poker - WPT Season 4

Nam Le

Tournament Report

Nam Le Wins in Late Rush Tonight's $300 no-limit event was anything but predictable. First it seemed that Albert Quintero, a car wash owner, would hose it. He started the final table with an enormous lead of 167,500 chips, building to more than 200,000. Then, Arizona pro Anthony Reategui beat him in a $145,000 pot and surged into an even bigger lead. Next, after a massacre with four players gunned down in seven hands, Reategui got heads up with Nam Le with a nearly 2-1 advantage. After five hands, Le slipped into a slight lead, and two hands later the Huntington Beach pro had all the chips and the title. Just missing the final table was PokerStars marketing VP Dan Goldman. Short-chipped, he had to call a raise all in with 6-4 and missed an open-end straight draw. Blinds at the final table started at $2,000-$4,000 with $500 antes, 35:55 left. On the first deal the rich got richer. John Lau moved in for $30,000 with pocket queens. Quintero called with A-K, turned an ace and now had 200k. Luis Villalobos finished ninth when he raised his last $12,000 with A-J. Alan Myerson, with K-9, filled when three 4s and a king hit. On hand 20, Mike Sadeghian threw in his last $6,500 with Q-5. He got two callers and Nam Le broke him with a paired 7. Next to depart was Myerson. He moved in for $7,000 with Ad-2d, missed a flush and lost to Reategui, who also paired a 7. Blinds were now $3,000-$6,000 with $1,000 antes. Quintero was still way ahead with $208,500, while Jim Phan was on life support with $5,500, then $2,500. But Phan made a quick recovery, tripling up by flopping a straight, then doubling through by flopping two pair, eventually climbing to $40,000. Mark Bryan, a mortgage broker, was in trouble throughout the final table, all in many times. On hand 35, he was down to $1,000 when Sang Pham turned A-2 into a straight. But after three more all-ins, Bryan recovered. Hand 41 was the big one. Reategui, kept betting with 9-9 while Quintero kept calling with 4-4 on a flop of J-7-3 and a 6 turn card. The 9s held up, and suddenly Quintero was down to about $80,000 while Reategui had roughly $240,000. The slaughter started right after blinds went to $4,000-$8,000 with $1,500 antes. First, Pham pushed in his $7,500 with K-J and Le beat him with pocket 4s. A hand later, Phan moved in for $40,000 with A-2, missed a wheel draw, and finished fifth when Reategui, with A-4, flopped a 4. Next it was Quintero's turn. He committed with Ad-4d and couldn't catch Reategui's pocket jacks. And then Bryan moved in for $13,000 with Q-7. 'I'm game,' said Reategui. 'I'm in,' said Le. Le, with K-2, did the job when a king flopped. Heads-up, Reategui, who won a WSOP no-limit shootout this year, had about 325k to 171 for Le. After three hands, Le moved into a slight lead when Reategui made a $30,000 bluff into a board of K-10-2-6-K, then mucked when Le called. On the final hand, Reategui had K-Q and had what looked like a good flop of Q-J-8. But Le, with J-8, had two pair. When a 7 turned, Nam bet 40k and Reategui moved in for 166k. Le had him just covered and that ended the evening. (As a footnote, the saddest record of Legends 2005 thus far is held by Chris Grigorian, who said he has finished three times on the bubble. Come on Chris, break the bubble.) --Max Shapiro BIOGRAPHY Nam Le has been playing full time for about a year and a half, mostly tournaments, but also $100-$200 limit side games. His biggest tournament cash-out was $152,000 for finishing sixth in the Bellagio's Five Diamond event last year. He also has wins at Commerce's Holiday Bonus tournament and in $300 no-limit event at the Hustler's Grand Slam last month. He's had three cashes in nine WSOP tries. Tonight, while he was never 'desperate,' he never had many chips until he won a big pot with 13 players left when he flopped a set of 5s against pocket 7s. His style of play depends on the players, and he felt this final table was on the passive side, which made his choices easier. In the hand where he picked off Reagesui's bluff and took the lead, he disclosed that he had pocket 9s. 'I would have called no matter what,' he said.