Fallsview $2,500 Event Final Table

If I am ever going to win a bigger than one day tournament, I will look back at the past two days and recall just what it took for Gavin Smith to win Fallsview's $2,500 event this morning.

Day two play began at noon on January 11. By late afternoon, the field was down to two tables, and by mid evening, the final table was set.

However, in a battle of epic proportions, the table remained active for around ten hours of play, and the event did not actually end till 7.30 AM this morning, January 12, when Gavin Smith finally bested Narinder Khasria.

Narinder, Gavin, and (Mak) Siamak Soleimanian, duelled three handed for over five hours - quite extraordinary, and then heads up play between Gavin and Narinder lasted around two and half hours.

The chip stacks ebbed and flowed and as a spectator it was utterly compelling. In the interests of integrity of reporting I must confess I vacated the playing area at 6 AM - much as I wanted to see it till the end, I could not keep my eyes open any longer.

There were many moments of high drama - especially when it got three handed, after Mark Zajdner's pocket kings were outflopped by Gavin Smith's pocket 4's.

If not for two tough beats, Mak might well be the champion and the toast of the Fallsview Poker room. He had qualified near the bottom of the list for day 2 (proving my position was not as ridiculous as it seemed) and worked his way all the way to the final table, where a key showdown hand with his quad sixes propelled him to the chip lead.

Gavin Smith was down to a relatively short stack when he shoved all in from the button with KJ offsuited, and Mak called with AQ suited. The river spiked a king though, and Gavin survived and revived his chances.

On Mak's exit hand, his stack was now covered by Gavin's when they got it all in again. This time Gavin had A10 and Mak had AK and a ten hit the board and Mak hit the rail.

Narinder had his own dramatics on a couple of occasions. He doubled up on Gavin early in heads up when HIS 4's flopped a set and beat Gavin's pocket 9's.

Later, he was all in again with 107 suited against AJ suited. The board had KJ8A9 and the river completed a gut shot straight for Narinder, besting Gavin's top two pair, and extending the play once again during heads up.

The most spectactular exit was probably perpetrated on Aadam Daya (5th) by Narinder. Short stacked Aadam shoved from the button with KQ offsuit. Narinder looked down at his cards in the big blind and found two aces ! Saying, "well I guess I have to call", he flipped open his aces to a forlorn looking Aadam.

The railbirds all stand and crane their necks in unison whenever there is a final table all-in confrontation, and what a treat they got here.

The flop came J104 rainbow, breathing life into Aadam's dominated KQ as now he had an open ended straight draw.

Sure enough, the next card was an ace on the turn, converting the losing hand into a Broadway straight, while improving Narinder's hand to three aces.

The river card was an unbelievable fourth ace, and the crowd roared and groaned as Aadam went from hero to zero in a few short seconds, and Narinder was joyously smiling from ear to ear, as his quad aces took down the pot and eliminated Aadam.

The top five places were as follows :

1st Gavin Smith $188,743

2nd Narinder Khasria $94,371

3rd Siamak Soleimanian $47,186

4th Mark Zajdner $37,749

5th Aadam Daya $25,795

It is clear luck plays a major part in the outcome of a poker tournament - everyone in the late stages of a tournament has won hands they were "supposed to lose" - ie they were in tough against an opponent's hand with better odds to win, but the lesser hand prevailed.

In this case, each player of the final four had more than one such hand - so one could argue the luck evened out.

Sometimes the luck factor is not so relevant on a hand - the pot may be small, or neither player maybe be facing elimination if the result goes against him.

However, it certainly seemed like the high luck factor hands had lots of drama and import when they came up at this final table.

For sure, the most experienced poker player won in the end - but he would be the first to admit, any of the final three could have won this thing, and had their chances.

They all played well, and they deserve their big payday.