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October 12th 2006
German chef wins EPT Baden
With all the uproar surrounding the passage of the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act you could be forgiven for thinking that poker had been wiped off the face of the earth.
Well snap out of it buddy! Poker, while not quite as healthy as it was two weeks ago, is far from fatally wounded. It sustained a body blow, sure, maybe even a slight maiming, but there’s still plenty of life in the old girl yet.
Take the most recent instalment of the thriving third season of the European Poker Tour, for example. Austria’s Casino Baden (as expected) drew a slightly smaller crowd than the more glamorous recent stops in London and Barcelona, but even so nearly 330 players turned out, twice the number of participants from 2005, when Finnish star Patrik Antonius won the €218,990 first prize.
In among those 330 runners were a host of former winners and poker celebrities. Patrik Antonius was back to defend his crown, while London’s popular winner Vicky Coren was hoping to secure a historic back-to-back victory. More former winners were present in the form of Mats Iremark and Noah Boeken, while European poker stars Rob Hollink, Marcel Luske, Jeff Lisandro, Andy Black, Dave Colclough, Juha Hellpi, Julian Thew, Ben Grundy and the Hendon Mob were also on display.
While the poker celebrities performed exceptionally in the last two EPT events, with at least one well recognised player making the final table, Baden saw a host of less familiar names make the final nine.
None of these players were novices however, and regulars on PokerStars will have spotted a few familiar names, such as Italian Dario Minieri (who’s played so much on that site he accumulated enough player points to get a Porsche), and American Ben Johnson (who’s had a phenomenal run on Star’s as late.)
Both players proved they could translate their online game onto the flesh and blood felt of the Casino Baden, making it into the top three. Neither, however, could overcome the German chef Thang Doc Nguyen, who with four left simply marched to the title.
By all accounts Nguyen passed under the radar for much of this tournament, carefully avoiding the rollercoaster ride that so many other players climbed onto. He played a steady, almost faultless game throughout, continuing to pick his moment right to the end.
With four players remaining Nguyen finally struck for home. First he sent home Daniel Dodet, when his flopped straight held up against Dodet’s nut flush draw.
Next, Nguyen crippled the hyper aggressive Dario Minieri, who had once held the chip lead. Now with a much smaller stack Minieri pushed all-in with AJ but found Nguyen lurking with AQ.
That left the German chef heads-up with Ben Johnson and enjoying a 2:1 chip lead. It was a healthy lead, but one double up was all Johnson would need to reverse positions. After a bit of jostling the two players finally got their chips in the middle and it was make or break time. Johnson re-raised Nguyen all-in with K3. It was a case of bad timing, as Nguyen had 44 and after some considered deliberation Nguyen called. A four on the turn gave him trips and though it also gave Johnson a flush draw with one card to come the river was a harmless 9c.
Nguyen jumped in the air and yelled with delight at the biggest moment in all his time playing poker. Yet a few moments later Nguyen offered some perspective on his victory when he said he would not be giving up his day job. He might, however, treat himself to a nice holiday.
1st Thang Doc Nguyen (Ger) €487,397
2nd Ben Johnson (USA) €251,560
3rd Dario Minieri (Ita) €125,780
4th Daniel Dodet (Bel) €110,057
5th Sasa Biorac (Ger) €94,335
6th Rodion Cherednichenko (Rus) €78,612
7th Jonas Molander (Swe) €62,890
8th Peter Eichhardt (Swe) €47,167
9th Andrea Balla (Ita) €31,445
Ed note: sign-up on PokerStars for your chance to qualify for the next leg of the European Poker Tour.
Submitted: 12/10/2006 12:35:48
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