Iraqi-Born Habib Khanis Storms to Victory in $1,000 Buy-In Limit Holdem Event
Habib Khanis, who arrived in the United States from his native Iraq twenty years ago, topped a highly competitive field of 258 entrants and won the $1,000 Buy-In Limit Holdem event at the 2004 Jack Binion World Poker Open. Khanis plays regularly in the San Diego area, where he now resides. Although Khanis has a number of previous tournament victories and final table appearances to his name, including major events held at the Commerce Casino and Oceans 11 in California, this was Khanis' biggest win to date.
The nine finalists took their seats on Day Two, with local favorite Alan Katzen of Memphis holding a commanding chip lead. In fact, Katzen had a 3 to 1 or better chip advantage over all but one player, Khanis – who would later become Katzen’s nemesis and was second in chips.
Thirty minutes after play began, Vinnie Vinh was eliminated after he suffered a couple of beats in the early rounds. Vinh was down to just $10K in chips when he was dealt A-J versus Ayaz Mahmoud's A-Q. Vinh's hand was totally dominated, and when a Queen flopped, Vinh might as well have been slapped in the face. The outcome of the hand was all purely academic when a second Queen fell on the turn, giving Mahmoud trip queens to Vinh's no pair. $3,726 was paid to Vinnie Vinh for ninth place.
Limits increased to $3K-6K. One key early hand took place when Habib Khanis won a critical pot at Todd Taylor's expense when his 4-4 scooped a $45K pot when four clubs were dealt and Khanis' 4c completed the flush.
A short time later, Ayaz Mahmoud made a pre-flop raise with 10-10 and Rodney Hobbs tried to isolate the "all-in" player by re-raising. The strategy worked. Hobbs (with K-7 suited) got heads-up against Mahmoud and he was able to see all five cards for the bargain price of a single re-raise. Hobbs' spiked a King on the river when the final board showed A-J-J-4-K. Mahmoud, making his second final table appearance at this year's JBWPO, collected $4,657 for eighth place.
Dave Brown came into Day Two low on chips and made his last stand of the night with K-J. Brown, a union electrician (with IBEU Local 176 in Joliet, IL, he proudly pointed out) was "all-in" against Alan Katzen's A-J. The electrician was "shocked" to see the flop come A-A-4. Brown's bid to stay on the job was rejected when two blanks fell on the turn and river, which put the loyal union member out in seventh place, with $5,822.
One of three players from Houston to make it to the final table, Peter Vilandos went out next when he was very low on chips and put in his last bet with K-2 after the flop came A-Q-2. Unfortunately, Habib Khanis flopped a pair of Aces, which in the end, left Vilandos “walking back to Houston” in sixth-place with $8,150.
Alan Katzen remained firmly entrenched as the chip leader when play became five-handed. Limits increased to $4K-8K. Rodney Hobbs, a retired jeweler from Alabama, then made a raise with 8-8 and kept right on betting until his last chip was in the pot. Todd Taylor managed to flop a set of 6s on the hand, which meant Hobbs was denied the chance to add some additional jewelry to his collection -- the coveted JBWPO gold and diamond bracelet. Hobbs took fifth-place, good for $10,479.
About two hours into play in the finale, Oscar San Miguel went all-in with A-2 after an Ace flopped. Unfortunately, chip leader Alan Katzen had A-K, which gave him a much better kicker. San Miguel then picked up a straight draw on the turn, but when the board paired on the river, Katzen's King on he side played as the fifth card. San Miguel, a trial lawyer from Austin, TX had his motion to stay at the final table denied, and he was sentenced to fourth place, with a $13,972 verdict.
Katzen had a 4 to 1 chip lead over both of his two remaining opponents. He made a courageous call with pocket 3s, when the board amazingly showed five over-cards. On the hand, Habib Khanis made a river bet with nothing, and Katzen snapped off the bluff perfectly, and won the large pot.
However, Katzen suffered his first major setback of the evening when he flopped an open-ended straight draw, with 8-6 versus Habib Khanis' K-K. The flop came J-7-5 and both players put in three bets each on third-street. Two blanks came on the last two cards, and when Katzen led out with a bluff, Khanis quickly called with the big pair and nearly doubled-up on a single hand.
A few hands later Todd Taylor flopped trip 6s against Katzen and took another couple of stacks from the chip leader. Within just a 15-minute span, Katzen had gone from a seemingly insurmountable chip lead to nearly a dead heat in a three-player showdown, where the outcome was wide open.
But after the limits increased again, this time to $6K-12K, it was Taylor who took a bad beat when his top-pair, Ace-kicker lost to Khanis' two-pair 7s and 6s. $70K in chips was redistributed on the hand, and Khanis had the chip lead for the first time. But that too, was short-lived. Katzen regained the chip lead after he won a couple of big pots against Taylor, who by this time had become perilously short-stacked. Taylor finally went out when he was in the big blind with 10-8 and failed to make a pair. Taylor, who plays poker professionally, received $22,122 for third place.
It was fitting that the two finalists included the same two players with the largest stack sizes coming into Day Two. With Katzen holding about a 2 to 1 chip advantage, the two rivals fought back and forth for 15 minutes until Khanis went on a monster-run and dominated that last few hands of the tournament. All it took was a few key hands to completely dislodge Alan Katzen from his formidable position.
The final hand of the night was dealt nearly five hours after play at the final table started. Alan Katzen was dealt 6s-5s. Habib Khanis was dealt 10-9 off-suit. The flop came 9-3s-2s. Katzen had a flush draw, an inside straight draw, and a straight-flush draw and he bet his hand aggressively. Khanis felt confident he had the best hand with top pair -- 9s. By the turn, all of Katzen's remaining chips were in the pot. The fourth card paired the 3s, no help to either player. Now, Katzen was down to a single card and needed help to survive. When a non-spade Queen fell on the river, Katzen had missed his draw and was knocked out. Meanwhile, Khanis was jubilant for having won his first championship at the Jack Binion World Poker Open.
To his credit, Alan Katzen played remarkably well, especially for someone who was making his first major tournament final table appearance. Katzen, how plays locally in cash games here in Tunica and was cheered on by an enthusiastic group of family members and well-wishers, received $44,243 as the runner up.
But the night clearly belonged to Habib Kahnis, who played brilliantly over the tournament's two-day span. Afterward, Khanis congratulated Katzen for his competitiveness, turned to the final table and gazed upon the gold and diamond bracelet and $86,157 in prize money. When asked which meant more -- the championship title or the cash -Khanis, ever the diplomat said "I’ll take both."
Final Table Started: 4:00 pm CST
Final Table Ended: 8:50 pm CST
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