Poker Tournament Results

Legends of Poker / WPT Event Season 8

Raul Rosales

Tournament Report

Raul Rosales Takes Down the 2009 Legends of Poker Event #19 – the $545 No Limit Hold’em Tournament The 2009 Legends of Poker had its nineteenth overall event at the Bicycle Casino’s newly remodeled Events Center. The $545 buy-in No Limit Texas Hold’em Deepstack tournament was a 2-day event which began with a total of 226 players and a prize pool of $99,610. In addition to a first prize of $33,125 the winner also received a championship ring, and a WPT seat worth $10K. Final table play began at level 16 with antes at $3K and blinds at $8K/$16K. Dung Le entered the final table as the chip leader holding $969,000 of the $3,842,000 chips in play. On the 9th hand we had our first elimination. Calvin Ma started the action by raising two off from the button to a total of $35K with A-6, Chester Burnett re-raised all-in with pocket 7’s, and Calvin called. The flop came 10-Q-8 and gave the early lead to Chester but an A on the turn would give Calvin top pair and bring an early end to Chester’s day and as the 4 of clubs hit the river Chester was finished in 10th place worth $1,325. On the 21st hand Calvin Ma raised to a total of $35K with A-5 from middle position and was re-raised all-in to a total of $125K by Adam Weinraub in the big blind with 8-7, Calvin then called the all-in. The flop offered no help to Adam as it came J-4-K and the A on the turn and the 5 on the river gave Calvin two pair and was enough to knockout Adam in 9th place worth $1,490. On the 34th hand Augie Loya opened the action by raising all-in for $40K in late position with Q-6, he was re-raised by Raul Rosales to a total of $80K, Calvin Ma re-raised again this time to a total of $185K, and as Raul began to fold he said to Calvin, “I hope you have it.” Calvin gave a re-assuring nod and flipped over pocket A’s. The flop came 7-10-5 helping no one but keeping Calvin in the strong lead and that lead only increased with an A on the turn giving him the set and with a 6 on the river Augie was pushed out of the tournament in 8th place good for $1,990. On the 43rd hand Calvin Ma opened the action by raising to a total of $80K, Alvin Zeidenfeld re-raised all-in for $448 total, Kenneth Smith called all-in from the big blind for $180K, and Calvin folded exposing pocket 5’s. Alvin turned up pocket A’s while Kenneth Smith turned up K-Q suited clubs. The door was shut before it was even opened when the flop came Q-2-A giving Alvin a set of Aces, and reducing Kenneth’s chances severely. If the flop was bad the Q on the turn was worse reducing Kenneth’s outs to the case Queen in the deck. The Queen remained elusive as a 7 hit the river eliminating Kenneth in 7th place taking home $2,490. On the very next hand Alvin Zeidenfeld raised to a total of $45K under the gun with K-Q suited. The short stack Mike Heshmati re-raised all-in with A-2 from the button and Alvin called. The flop came 8-8-Q giving the lead to Alvin with two pair and leaving Mike hoping for an Ace. The Q on the turn was not the Ace Mike was looking for as Alvin improved to a full house and with a 4 on the river Mike’s day was ended as he left the tournament in 6th place worth $3,480. Just three hands later on the 47th hand we had our final elimination of the day. Gerald Limber opened the action from the small blind as he raised all-in, Alvin Zeidenfeld instantly called from the big blind turning over A-K. Gerald looked somewhat taken aback as he had to turn over 9-3. The flop came 2-7-8 which helped no one and kept Alvin in the lead and the K on the turn gave Alvin the lock on the hand. As a 5 hit the river Gerald was knocked out in 5th place earning him $4,480. The remaining 4 players discussed a chip count and after the staff ran the numbers the players were in agreement to a deal. Raul Rosales was declared the winner of the Legends of Poker sixteenth event earning him the championship ring, a WPT seat worth $10K, and the first place prize of $35,130. -- Matt Snodgrass BIOGRAPHY Raul Rosales also known as “Spanky” has been playing competitive poker for the last four years. He is also a former professional bowler though he considers himself an amateur bowler at this point. His favorite games are Texas Hold’em both limit and no-limit and Omaha and Raul also prefers cash games most of the time though he also enjoys satellite play as well as tournaments. His strategy at the final table was more or less “tight is right.” He carefully chose his spots looking for premium hands, and it appears that the tight strategy was the right one.