Las Vegas Pro Wins Doyle Brunson Five Diamond Classic

By Case Keefer, LAS VEGAS SUN

Despite missing the entire first day of the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic, Daniel Alaei won the tournament Saturday at the Bellagio.

Alaei, a Las Vegas professional, outlasted a final table stacked with five other professionals to win the $1.4 million prize in the World Poker Tour event.

The result was especially impressive considering Alaei's chip stack was blinded off all day Monday when he opted to skip out on day one's action after paying the $15,000 buy-in.

"I signed up to play and some guys were starting up a big cash game," Alaei said. "So, I played in that over the tournament for the rest of the day."

Alaei is a revered cash game player and regular in Bobby's Room, the high stakes lounge in the back of the Bellagio poker room.

He said those experiences helped him snag his first World Poker Tour title.

"I'm more used to the swings and dealing with big money changing hands," Alaei said. "That makes me more comfortable. I think that has to be an advantage."

Alaei had to beat Atlanta pro Josh Arieh heads-up to win the tournament. It was no easy task, as Arieh also is a notable player with two World Series of Poker bracelets and nearly $5 million career winnings in live tournaments.

Arieh also entered the heads-up match with a chip advantage. Although Alaei fought to take a lead momentarily, Arieh doubled up when he pushed all-in with ace-seven against Alaei's ace-queen.

A seven on the turn gave Arieh new life.

"Once he doubled up with ace-seven over ace-queen, I thought we were going to play for a while," Alaei said. "But then the next thing you know, it was over. That's poker, you can never tell."

Less than 20 minutes later, Arieh pushed all-in after a flop of 10-2-5 with pocket sevens. Alaei called with 10-8, giving him top pair.

Alaei's lead held on to give him the victory.

"It was not an easy call for me," Alaei said. "If he had a 10, I was pretty much dead."

Alaei was a terror to opponents as Saturday's session wound down. Alaei used pocket kings to knock off Faraz Jaka, who started the day as the chip leader and finished in third place. Before that, Alaei landed ace-king to send Shawn Buchanan home.

Scotty Nguyen, one of poker's most recognizable faces and who started the day in second place, exited in fifth when his pocket nines met Jaka's pocket kings.

Nguyen said he had no regrets about the tournament and was happy how he played against a loaded field.

"Everybody is a good player these days," Nguyen said. "You've got to respect that. All these young kids these days, they come in to play and they have nothing to fear. They have nothing to lose, only gain."

Alaei gained the most Saturday. He's now earned nearly $4 million in live tournaments for his career.

And Alaei now owns a World Poker Tour championship to go along with his two World Series of Poker bracelets. He said winning the title was the ultimate award.

"This is great," Alaei said. "I've been wanting one of these for a while. I was one of my only friends who didn't have one."