Nice Guys Finish First (2007 WSOP MAIN EVENT)

While everyone’s hopes for a “name” champion were denied, Jerry Yang’s prayers were answered
BY JONATHAN GROTENSTEIN

THE BIG ONE HAS COME AND GONE. One hundred and fifty hours of poker, and several hundred people are richer. Some much richer. For the sixth year in a row, a guy no one has ever heard of has been crowned world champion of poker, and we’re no closer to solving the age-old question (in poker years, anyway) of whether it’s a game of luck or skill.

But maybe we’re asking the wrong question. This year’s tournament demonstrated that success is governed by cosmic principles too profound for human reason. How else do you explain Jon Kalmar, a down-on-his-luck gambler whose plans to quit poker for a “real” job were delayed by his failure to book an earlier flight back to England, giving him time to play one last super-satellite, the start of a wild journey that would make him a millionaire? Or fellow final tablist Hevad “Rain” Khan, a college dropout whose God-given talent manifests itself in the ability to play nearly four dozen online sit-n-gos at the same time? The most literal suggestion of poker’s deep and abiding mystery was saved for last, when Jerry Yang, a 39-year-old social worker with relatively little poker training or experience, defeated the second-largest field in the game’s history, assisted, in large part, by his unshakable and very vocal belief in the Lord Almighty.

These stories reflect what the Main Event has lost and gained in its 38-year history. Benny Binion’s brainchild is no longer an exhibition of the world’s finest poker. Nor is it a forum for the best to shine.
It’s reality television. It’s a random story generator. And, for those who believe, it’s a place where miracles can happen.

***
The 2007 Main Event capped what was, by nearly any numerical standard, the most successful World Series of Poker in its history—hardly a forgone conclusion, given the anticipated effect of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. But this year’s WSOP kept the Rio’s Amazon Room and its adjacent cavernous hallways bustling from June 1 until the wee hours on July 18, enticing a record 54,288 players to compete for a record $159,796,918 in a record 55 events.

The “first” day of the $10,000 No-Limit Hold ’Em Championship was divided into four separate flights. The doors opened just before noon on July 6, allowing the 1,287 “Day 1A” players to file into the Amazon Room, an enormous hall whose grandeur shot way up this year with the addition of billboard-sized photos, hung from the ceiling, of the past world champions (with the mysterious exception of 1985 winner Bill Smith), gazing down at the aspirants below.

Ten minutes after comedian George Wallace provided the traditional “Shuffle up and deal,” the tournament claimed its first casualty. Poor Matt Jansen’s exit, appropriate to the Main Event’s uniquely bat-shit logic, came attached to pocket aces, cracked by a suited K-Q that defied the 118-to-1 odds associated with flopping a flush.

Entry swelled to 1,545 on the second day (Day 1B), and Day 1C drew 1,743 players, exceeding the capacity of the Amazon Room. About 80 players were escorted through the 110-degree heat into the nearby Poker Pavilion, eight additional tables in an air-conditioned tent whose Series-long climate issues (earning it the nickname “Poker Sauna,” until an overzealous cooling system turned it into the “Poker Igloo”) had more or less been worked out.

The fourth and final “first” day attracted more players than any other, the 1,783 entrants elevating the final 2007 tally to 6,358. While it failed to match the record set by last year’s Internet-fueled 8,773-player field, neither the players nor organizers expressed much disappointment at putting on the second-largest tournament in poker history. It was announced that 621 players would cash in a prize structure slightly flatter than in years past. Still, it would award at least a million dollars to each of the top five players, culminating in an $8.25-million payday for the champion.

The larger-than-expected turnout forced the subdivision of Day Two into two parts. Day 2A’s 1,037 participants were supposed to play five levels, until organizers realized that the players were knocking one another off too quickly, creating the possibility that the bubble might burst prematurely. The day was called to an early end, 12 hours in, after the field had dwindled to 350. This decision, in turn, meant capping the length of Day 2B at the same 12 hours. The devil is in the details, as they say, and these are the kinds of devils tournament organizers will only face more of in the future.

The plan proved effective, however, preserving a 797-player field for the start of Day Three, the seventh day of the tournament. The bubble burst shortly before the dinner break, as an Ohioan named John Sigan could only gape in horror as his opponent spiked a gutshot straight on the turn. Play ended at around midnight with Dario Minieri, a 22-year-old online player from Rome, Italy, sitting behind $2.4-million in checks, almost $1-million more than the closest of the 336 players still in pursuit.

Day Four winnowed the field down to 112, leaving only two women—Maria Ho and Kelly Jo McGlothin—and two former champions—Scotty Nguyen and Huck Seed. Of the four, only Nguyen would survive to reach Day Six, when the last 36 players were reduced to final nine.

Nguyen would come tantalizingly close to making the final table, until a couple of expensive encounters with chip leader Philip Hilm eliminated the 1998 world champion. Nguyen’s 11th-place finish was good for nearly a half-million dollars, but bad for anyone hoping for a famous winner. It took another two hours to eliminate Steven Garfinkle in 10th place, leaving Lee Watkinson as the final table’s only recognizable pro.

Day Seven—the 11th day of the tournament—kicked off shortly after noon on July 17 with exactly the kind of international flair that Jack Binion used to dream of. Only three American-born players made the final table, sharing space with players hailing from Denmark (chip leader Hilm), Canada and England (Tuan Lam and Kalmar, nipping at his heels), Russia (blossoming pro Alex Kravchenko, who won his first WSOP bracelet this year in $1,500 Omaha High-Low), South Africa (Raymond Rahme, the table’s eldest statesman at age 62), and, seated behind the second-shortest stack, the table’s shortest player, 5’3” Laotian immigrant Yang. Each player had his own fan club in the stands, more often than not equipped with a representative flag and nationalist song.

Despite the lack of star power, it was a table that looked ready for business. Seven of the nine players were dressed in black. Most wore baseball caps, sunglasses, and hastily applied sponsor-patches—a sure sign of the NASCAR-ification of poker, with clumsier execution. But it became evident early—and often—that business would flow through Jerry Yang.

Yang, an almost exaggeratedly deliberate thinker, came out firing, taking down the first two pots and four of the first eight. What began as pesky play, however, morphed into something far more formidable on the day’s ninth hand.

With blinds of $120,000/$240,000 and $20,000 antes, Lee Childs, a 35-year-old aspiring pro from Virginia, led out with a raise to $720,000 from under the gun. Yang, next to act, made it $2.5-million to go. All folded back to Childs, who called the bet, then immediately sought to re-assert his control with a $3-million bet at a raggedy flop: 7c-4d-2c. Yang responded with an all-in raise, a play that shook the previously relaxed Childs. With over $20-million in the middle, Childs backed down, folding two queens face up after much deliberation.

“I didn’t know where I was,” Childs would later say. “I wasn’t sure, so I went ahead and let it go.”
Yang, equipped with a wife, six kids, and barely two years of poker experience—he’d earned his entry via a $225 satellite at Pechanga Casino, a short drive from his home in Temecula, California—continued his relentless assault, raising and re-raising before the flop on nearly every hand, wresting the chip lead from Hilm. On the 15th hand, Hilm decided to fight back, suckering Yang with an all-in check-raise into a king-high board on the turn, setting himself up to take down the nearly $11-million in the middle. The problem, of course, was that Yang actually had a hand he could call with—his Ad-Ks gave him top pair with top kicker, a favorite to hold up over Hilm’s middle-pair and flush draw. The river fired a blank, and Hilm, who began the day the biggest stack, became the first player sent to the rail, eliminated in ninth place.

Everyone seemed to be at a loss to explain whether Yang was really lucky or really good. A further deepening of the mystery arrived less than 10 minutes later, when Yang found himself in an all-in showdown before the flop with Watkinson, the most experienced and skilled player at the table. Yet here Watkinson was, all of his chips exposed to a larger stack, against Yang’s As-9d, a hand that most players wouldn’t have called his all-in bet with, but a hand that had his Ac-7h dominated. And the words that flowed rapidly out of Yang’s mouth were combining to form an honest-to-God prayer:

“Lord, you have a purpose for me today. I will glorify your name, Lord. With the money I make, I will glorify your name. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, let me win this one.”

The board failed to improve Watkinson’s hand, and he was out in eighth place. He said, in regard to the man who eliminated him, “[Yang] felt like he was on a mission and blessed … He was going to catch everything.”

Yang didn’t catch everything. But his aggressive use of a big stack, a better-than-average run of starting hands, and, most memorably, his frequent and passionate appeals to a divine power, allowed him to run over the table. Over the next 12 hours, Yang kept the accelerator firmly pressed to the floor, single-handedly eliminating four of the next five opponents. As the clock neared 3 a.m., a very tired Rahme misplayed his pocket kings, attempting to check-raise Yang on the flop despite an ace on the board. Yang, buoyed by a weak ace and the apparent grace of God, made the call. Now only Tuan Lam stood between Yang and the answer to his prayers, and Yang had him outchipped by more than 4-to-1.

If there were any lingering doubts as to whether Yang was a deserving champion, they were erased during heads-up play. While Lam played, as he had throughout the final table, with surprising passivity, Yang continued his near-maniacal assault, raising before the flop every single time he found the button in front of him. Still, poker is a strange game, and the last hand, a virtual coin flip, had the potential to rewrite an ending that had seemed set in stone for most of the day.

Shortly before 4 a.m., Yang, with nearly $104-million in front of him, made his routine raise from the button, inspiring Lam to re-raise all in with his remaining $23-million. The copious aggression demonstrated by Yang throughout the day was never exhibited in haste—he’d often take several minutes to make a decision. On this hand, however, Yang responded with surprising alacrity, taking less than two seconds to call Lam’s bet.

Lam cheered when the cards were turned over—he seemed to like his Ad-Qh against Yang’s pocket eights—and the flop only re-affirmed his suspicions, producing the Qc to go along with the 9c and 5s. With nearly $45-million in the pot, a win by Lam would reduce Yang’s chip lead to less than 2-to-1. As Lam triumphantly waved a Canadian flag, the dealer turned over a 7d, creating a few more outs for Yang, who could now catch a six for a straight.

Yang, of course, was focused on prayer. It took the 6h on the river to snap that focus, and Yang screamed with joy, leaping into the arms of an equally excited family member.

“Jer-ry! Jer-ry! Jer-ry!” chanted the crowd. Yang shakily accepted the bracelet coveted by so many, requiring help to fasten it around his wrist. As he sat down for a post-game interview with ESPN’s Norman Chad, he took his sunglasses off for the first time, finally revealing the kind and gentle features that had been hidden underneath. To no one’s surprise, he began the interview with an extended thanks to God, leaving the sardonic Chad to poke at the issue that lurked just below the surface:

“Is this possibly the most poker the Lord has ever watched over?”

The crowd erupted in laughter, a collective release of the nervous tension—countless prayers have been uttered before the turn of a card, but never with such frequency or naked sincerity, at least not for these stakes. Yang smiled broadly, waiting patiently for the laughter to fade. “You know,” he finally responded, “I can only speak for myself. And I know the Lord was watching me. That I know for sure.”
His words, spoken with quiet power, left even Chad convinced that what had just transpired very much resembled a miracle. “Congratulations, Jerry,” he said in parting. “It was a blessed day.”

***
There had been a good deal of talk, throughout the day, as to which player at the final table would most benefit the game with a victory. Many argued for Kravchenko, pointing to the potential to lure more Russians into the game, or “Rain” Khan, a charismatic Internet prodigy who once had to send PokerStars a videotape of his online play as proof that it was he, not a “bot,” who was playing 43 screens at the same time.

As the dust settles, however, it seems more and more difficult to imagine anyone but Jerry Yang to put a face on the tournament. He had pledged, upon making the money, to tithe 10 percent of his winnings to those less fortunate. It was hardly a vague promise; he came to the final table armed with the names and contact information of the three charities that, in the next several days, would be receiving donations totaling nearly $900,000. In a political climate where poker players have been accused, by at least one member of Congress, of rampant moral degeneracy, Yang, whose social work (until he quits his job, most likely in favor of full-time philanthropy) revolves around the counseling of foster children, seems, by any standard, a virtuous man. It’s pretty much impossible to imagine that even a dollar of his winnings will go toward a drug habit or a night in the Champagne Room.

“I’m going to go out on a limb here,” declared misty-eyed ESPN Pay-Per-View analyst Phil Gordon at the conclusion of the final table, “and say that Jerry Yang is the most humble winner of this event in the history of the tournament.”

Poker, it seems, is changing gears.

Jonathan Grotenstein is a writer living in Los Angeles. He is the co-author of All In: The (Almost) Entirely True History Of The World Series Of Poker, and has collaborated on books with Phil Gordon and Scott Fischman.

The World Series of Celebrities

WSOP celebrity sightings were once limited to Chill Wills—the distinctive voice of Frances the Talking Mule—and, in later years, Gabe Kaplan and Telly Savalas. Nowadays, it seems, you can’t throw a rack without hitting a star in the head. Here are some of the notables who entered this year’s event, with the caveat that, in some cases, the term “star” has been loosely applied.

Kirk Acevedo (actor, Oz, Band Of Brothers)
Jason Alexander (actor, Seinfeld)
Hank Azaria (actor, multiple voices on The Simpsons)
Jose Canseco (steroid-enhanced baseball star/author of Juiced)
Shannon Elizabeth (actress, American Pie)
Salvatore “Sully” Erna (rock star, lead vocalist of Godsmack)
Brad Garrett (actor, Everybody Loves Raymond)
Janet Jones (actress, American Anthem, married to Wayne Gretzky)
Tobey Maguire (actor, Spiderman)
Norm McDonald (comedian, Saturday Night Live)
A.J. McLean (singer, former Backstreet Boy)
Nelly (rapper, three-time Grammy winner)
Todd Phillips (director, Old School, Starsky And Hutch)
Ray Romano (actor/comedian, Everybody Loves Raymond)
Rick Salomon (producer and “actor,” 1 Night In Paris)
Sam Simon (writer/producer, The Simpsons, Cheers)
Antonio Tarver (boxer, former light heavyweight champion)
Jennifer Tilly (actress, Bound, Bullets Over Broadway)
Rick Tocchet (former hockey player)
Montel Williams (TV host, The Montel Williams Show)

Stars Are Born

History will only remember the winners, but here are some other previously unknown players who turned in memorable performances at the 2007 Main Event:

Dario Minieri: The 22-year-old Roman wunderkind was already an online legend, having become the first player to earn enough frequent player points on PokerStars to purchase a Porsche Cayman. He wasn’t able to hold onto the enormous chip lead he carried into Day Four, but finished a respectable 96th, good for $67,355.

Hal Lubarsky: The second of two legally blind players in this year’s Main Event, Lubarsky—whose cards were whispered to him by an assistant—fought his way to 197th place, earning $31,398.
Jack Ury: The tournament’s oldest player at 94—his grandson was also in the field—survived until the second day despite severely impaired vision and one deaf ear. He also made the most entertaining misread of the tournament when he called an all-in bet with what he loudly declared to be a straight. The dealer gently pointed out that he, in fact, only had a pair of sixes, but they were still good enough to make his opponent muck.

Dangling The Carats

This year’s WSOP bracelets were designed by Swiss luxury timepiece company CORUM, who put an emphasis on comfort and feel, so that wearing a World Series bracelet would feel much like wearing a top-of-the-line wristwatch.

“We wanted to make a championship bracelet that is wearable,” said CORUM President Michael Wunderman. “My goal was to retain the original iconic styling of 18-carat gold and diamonds while making it thoroughly modern.”

The Final Table

Seat 1 Raymond Rahme $16,320,000
Seat 2 Alex Kravchenko $6,570,000
Seat 3 Lee Childs $13,240,000
Seat 4 Jerry Yang $8,450,000
Seat 5 Lee Watkinson $9,925,000
Seat 6 Tuan Lam $21,315,000
Seat 7 Philip Hilm $22,070,000
Seat 8 Jon Kalmar $20,320,000
Seat 9 Hevad Khan $9,205,000
The Final Results

1. Jerry Yang $8,250,000
2. Tuan Lam $4,840,981
3. Raymond Rahme $3,048,025
4. Alex Kravchenko $1,852,721
5. Jon Kalmar $1,255,069
6. Hevad Khan $956,243
7. Lee Childs $705,229
8. Lee Watkinson $585,699
9. Philip Hilm $525,934

46 DAYS, 45 BRACELETS (2006 WSOP)

Your Comprehensive Guide To The 2006 World Series Of Poker
Compiled by Eric Raskin

ALL THAT GLITTERS IS NOT GOLD, and all that is not won by Gold still can glitter. Yes, Jamie Gold is the big story coming out of the 61/2-week odyssey in the desert that was the 2006 World Series of Poker. But there were 44 other tournaments played out at the Rio during that month-and-a-half, 44 other bright, shiny bracelets handed out, and plenty of compelling stories.

There were the two multiple bracelet winners, William Chen and Jeff Madsen. There was the breaking and re-breaking of a couple of “youngest ever” records. There were the redemption-filled wins of famous runners-ups Sam Farha and David Williams (not to mention Jason Lester, John Gale, Lee Watkinson, and Ralph Perry). There was Chip Reese’s grueling triumph in the HORSE tournament. There was Phil Hellmuth’s extraordinary push for number 10. And, of course, there was some guy named Gold who took home a tidy little $12-million check.

Bottom line: There was a hell of a lot going on, and every last bit of it is detailed below.

Event #1
$500 Casino Employee No-Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 1,232
Winner: Chris Gros
Payday: $127,616
Runner-up: Bryan Devonshire
Payday: $66,582

Memorable hand: It’s nearly impossible to win a poker tournament without a little luck, and for Caesars Palace dealer Gros, his most noteworthy stroke of luck came when he eliminated R.J. Wright in third place. On a flop of 6-2-2, Wright pushed all in with A-5, and Gros called with K-Q. A three on the turn changed nothing, but the king on the river sure did, propelling Gros into heads-up play.

Event #2
$1,500 No-Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 2,776
Winner: Brandon Cantu
Payday: $757,839
Runner-up: Phong Ly
Payday: $416,816

Memorable hand: With the chip stacks almost dead even about 20 minutes into heads-up play, Cantu raised pre-flop with A-K, Ly called with a suited J-4, and they both caught a piece of the A-J-6 flop, Cantu making top pair and Ly making middle pair. Ly pushed all in after a harmless seven on the turn and Cantu called, and the river brought a queen. Cantu doubled up to $4.1-million in chips, while Ly was left with the proverbial chip and a chair—just a lone $10,000 chip and a chair that would become unoccupied just a couple of minutes later.

Other noteworthy finishers: Carlos Mortensen, 9th; Jennifer Harman, 11th; David Ulliott, 24th; Phil Gordon, 46th; Greg Raymer, 63rd; Phil Hellmuth, 67th

Running Numbers:
1: Number of previous live poker tournaments in history with more entrants (the 2005 WSOP Main Event)
50: Career WSOP cashes by Hellmuth after this event, making him the all-time leader

Event #3
$1,500 Pot-Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 1,102
Winner: Rafe Furst
Payday: $345,984
Runner-up: Rocky Enciso
Payday: $180,508

Memorable hand: Pocket aces (the best starting hand in Hold ’Em) are always preferable to 7-2 (the worst starting hand in Hold ’Em), right? Not when the board reads Q-7-7-3, which was what was showing when Furst got all of his money in with rockets against chip leader Can Kim Hua’s 7-2. Furst had two outs in the deck that could save him from finishing in sixth place … and a miracle ace on the river did precisely that, allowing Furst to survive, double up, and, eventually, take the title. Hua, meanwhile, was eliminated just three hands later.

Other noteworthy finishers: John Juanda, 8th; Dewey Tomko, 10th; Victor Ramdin, 20th; Michael Mizrachi, 54th; Chris Ferguson, 61st

Event #4
$1,500 Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 1,068
Winner: Kianoush Abolfathi
Payday: $335,289
Runner-up: Eric Buchman
Payday: $174,938

Memorable hand: Abolfathi’s first knockout blow of the day was his most important because he started as one of the short stacks and needed to accumulate chips in a hurry. That he did. The 29-year-old Iranian-born, L.A.-based student held K-Q and cracked Matthew Elsby’s A-A by making trip kings on the river, giving him the chip stack he needed to make a run at the bracelet.

Other noteworthy finishers: Josh Schlein, 3rd; Joe Cassidy, 20th; Phil Ivey, 21st; Young Phan, 28th; Phil Gordon, 42nd

Running Numbers:
8: Abolfathi’s starting chip position, out of nine, at the final table
1: Women at the final table (Michele Lewis), one more than any of the first three events at the ’06 WSOP
0: Previous bracelet winners at the final table

Event #5
$2,500 Short-Handed No-Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 1,068
Winner: Dutch Boyd
Payday: $475,712
Runner-up: Joseph Hachem
Payday: $256,800

Memorable hand: The final hand of this tournament was one of the most dramatic of the entire World Series—especially because the two players involved were both stars, one of them the defending world champion looking for that legitimacy-establishing second bracelet. After two hours of intense heads-up play, Hachem pushed all in with A-Q and pumped his fist when Boyd called and turned over A-5. The flop came A-K-9. The turn was a jack. Hachem was one card away from taking his largest chip lead of the tournament. And then a five fell on the river, and just like that, the cocky, controversial, colorful Boyd had bagged his first bracelet and nearly a half-million dollars.

Other noteworthy finishers: Daniel Negreanu, 8th; Gavin Smith, 12th; Freddy Deeb, 21st; Kathy Liebert, 26th; Erick Lindgren, 31st; Mike Matusow, 33rd

Event #6
$2,000 No-Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 1,919
Winner: Mark Vos
Payday: $803,274
Runner-up: Nam Le
Payday: $401,647

Memorable hand: Having come back from a 3-to-1 chip deficit at the start of heads-up play to build a 2-to-1 lead, Vos caught a queen on the flop while holding Q-J and bet out. Le called. Vos bet again on the turn. Le called. Another queen came on the river, and Vos moved all in. Le, holding just pocket sixes, was certain Vos was bluffing, so he called. Just like that, the 23-year-old Vos became the third Australian ever to win a WSOP bracelet, joining Joe Hachem and Gary Benson in that exclusive club.

Other noteworthy finishers: Carlos Mortensen 9th; Billy Baxter, 20th; Jennifer Harman, 47th; Cyndy Violette, 58th; Johnny Chan, 84th

Event #7
$3,000 Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 415
Winner: William Chen
Payday: $343,618
Runner-up: Yueqi “Rich” Zhu
Payday: $184,409

Memorable hand: Chen, whose new book The Mathematics Of Poker is due out this fall, ought to have a chapter on the mathematics of calling with middle pair, which is exactly what he did on the final hand of the tournament. Chen had A-4, Zhu 10-5, and the flop of 7-4-3 gave them both something to work with. With an inside straight draw (and two overcards, as it turned out), Zhu pushed all of his remaining chips in on a semi-bluff, and Chen made the call. Two blanks later, the math genius from the Philadelphia suburbs had his first WSOP bracelet.

Other noteworthy finishers: Jeffrey Lisando, 9th; Barry Shulman, 11th; Phil Hellmuth, 13th; Darrell Dicken, 21st; John Phan, 23rd

Event #8
$2,000 Omaha High-Low
Number of entries: 670
Winner: Jack Zwerner
Payday: $341,426
Runner-up: Florante “Rusty” Mandap
Payday: $176,813

Memorable hand: On the final hand, Mandap had a starting hand with great high and low potential (A-A-10-3), but the board of 6-5-3-7-2 (with three hearts) did him no good. It did “Action” Zwerner plenty of good, however. The 58-year-old former Las Vegas casino executive held A-8-7-4 with two hearts, making him a flush and a better low to scoop the pot and claim the title.

Other noteworthy finishers: Jeff Madsen, 3rd; Daniel Negreanu, 7th; Huck Seed, 11th; Andy Bloch, 23rd; John Juanda, 28th

Running Numbers:
14: Years since Zwerner had last played in the World Series
97,552: Dollars earned by Madsen for his third-place finish—about 6.8% of what he would go on to earn over the course of the WSOP

Event #9
$5,000 No-Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 622
Winner: Jeff Cabanillas
Payday: $818,546
Runner-up: Phil Hellmuth
Payday: $423,893

Memorable hand: With play three-handed, the ballsy 22-year-old Cabanillas pulled off a bluff against Hellmuth that would pave the way to victory several hours later. There was about $400,000 in chips already in the pot, and with the board showing Q-J-9-7-6, Cabanillas pushed in his remaining $600,000. Hellmuth took his time. He ran through all of the scenarios in his mind. He considered all of the possibilities. And he finally mucked his cards. Cabanillas could have mucked his too, but he didn’t, showing everyone his A-K that failed to connect with the board. If his intent was to put Hellmuth on tilt, then it worked, because a chair-slamming tirade from “The Poker Brat” followed. Fortunately, Hellmuth was better behaved when he congratulated Cabanillas on his win at the end of four hours of heads-up play.

Other noteworthy finishers: Marcel Luske, 4th; Isabella Mercier, 5th; Jean-Robert Bellande, 21st; Marco Traniello, 46th; Rene Angelil, 49th

Running Numbers:
9: The seat Hellmuth sat in at the final table
9: The number of bracelets Hellmuth had won prior to this event
9: The number of bracelets Hellmuth had won after this event

Event #10
$1,500 Seven-Card Stud
Number of entries: 478
Winner: David Williams
Payday: $163,118
Runner-up: John Hoang
Payday: $110,920

Memorable hand: The final hand was memorable for how bad both players’ hands were. Williams held (6s-4s) Ks-3h-4c-Jd (8h), good for just a pair of fours—but good enough, as it turned out. Hoang had a lousy ace-high with his (Ad-8s) 4c-5s-9d-3c (10c), making former Main Event runner-up Williams a WSOP bracelet winner for the first time.

Other noteworthy finishers: “Miami” John Cernuto, 5th; Johnny Chan, 7th; Jim McManus, 14th; John Hennigan, 18th; Humberto Brenes, 19th

Running Numbers:
$3,336,882: Amount by which Williams’ haul for second place in the ’04 Main Event exceeded his payday for his first bracelet
14: Previous bracelet wins by the eight players at the final table

Event #11
$1,500 Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 701
Winner: Bob Chalmers
Payday: $258,344
Runner-up: Tam Ho
Payday: $135,396

Memorable hand: With just three players remaining, Chalmers won a key pot with the absolute nuts, holding the case ace on a board of A-A-4-4-A. Warren Woolridge came into that hand with the chip lead, but “Big Red” Chalmers took over the lead there and never looked back, eliminating Woolridge soon after and taking out Ho after just 28 minutes of heads-up play.

Other noteworthy finishers: Doug Saab, 5th; Jan Sjavik, 6th; Matthew Hilger, 19th; Joe Sebok, 23rd; Steven Diano, 43rd

Event #12
$5,000 Omaha High-Low
Number of entries: 265
Winner: Sammy Farha
Payday: $398,560
Runner-up: Phil Ivey
Payday: $219,208

Memorable hand: Though this wasn’t an event ESPN planned on filming, they wised up when they saw who the final two were—and we’ll have to wait for the TV broadcast to know what Ivey was holding on the final hand. Whatever it was, it was second best to Farha’s jacks over sevens, and Ivey mucked his cards, giving Sammy his second career bracelet and first in 10 years.

Other noteworthy finishers: Kirill Gerasimov, 3rd; Mike Caro, 14th; Gavin Smith, 22nd; Andy Bloch, 23rd; Andrew Black, 25th

Event #13
$2.500 No-Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 1,290
Winner: Max Pescatori
Payday: $682,389
Runner-up: Anthony Reategui
Payday: $356,040

Memorable hand: There were several unforgettable hands that Pescatori won late in the final table, including one in which he made a gutsy and brilliant call on the river with only king high, and one in which he and Justin Pechie both flopped sets and “The Italian Pirate” made quads on the river. But the best was saved for last. On a 10-7-6 flop, Reategui moved all in with Q-10, and Pescatori called with J-8. The turn was no help to Pescatori, who needed either a jack for top pair or a nine to fill his straight. The river was a nine, and on the same day Italy won the World Cup, one of its top poker exports collected his first bracelet.

Other noteworthy finishers: Corey Cheresnick, 5th; Mike Matusow, 7th; David Chiu, 15th; Erick Lindgren, 22nd; Scott Fischman, 46th

Event #14
$1,000 No-Limit Hold ’Em (with re-buys)
Number of entries: 752
Winner: Allen Cunningham
Payday: $625,830
Runner-up: David Rheem
Payday: $327,981

Memorable hand: Early in heads-up play, Rheem held the chip lead and had a chance to eliminate Cunningham and end the tournament—but it wasn’t a great chance, as his A-Q was an underdog to Cunningham’s pocket ladies. Rheem needed an ace but didn’t get it, and Cunningham took a chip lead he would never again relinquish, finally finishing Rheem off after three hours of one-on-one play.

Other noteworthy finishers: “Captain” Tom Franklin, 3rd; Andy Bloch, 8th; Kenna James, 17th; Amir Vahedi, 24th; John Juanda, 25th; Michael Gracz, 27th

Running Numbers:
1,670: Total number of re-buys
5: Number of players to have won four bracelets before turning 30 (Cunningham, Stu Ungar, Phil Hellmuth, Layne Flack, and Phil Ivey)
10: Minutes ninth-place finisher Alex Jacob lasted at the final table

Event #15
$1,000 Ladies No-Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 1,128
Winner: Mary Jones Meyer
Payday: $236,094
Runner-up: Shawnee Barton
Payday: $123,178

Memorable hand: Lady luck definitely helped out the lady who would go on to win this event on a key hand during heads-up play. After a flop of 9-7-2, Meyer took a $200,000 stab holding A-10, and Barton, holding top pair with K-9, raised $700,000 more to put Meyer all in. Holding just two overcards, but apparently suspecting a bluff, Meyer called. Barton was two cards from being crowned champion. And then an ace spiked on the river, giving Meyer a huge lead that she would ride to victory a few hands later.

Running Numbers:
527: Increase in players in this event over 2005
33: Place in which actress (and former Mrs. Tom Cruise) Mimi Rogers finished

Event #16
$10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha
Number of entries: 218
Winner: Lee Watkinson
Payday: $655,746
Runner-up: Mike Guttman
Payday: $360,659

Memorable hand: Watkinson finished second in this event two years ago—and would have had to settle for a worse finish this year if not for the perfect river card falling when play was seven-handed. Early chip leader Jani Vilmunen held 8-7-6-5 and Watkinson held one of Omaha’s best starting hands, A-A-Q-Q. The flop came J-6-5, and the turn brought another six, giving Vilmunen a full house. But a queen came on the river to make a better full house for Watkinson, and he raked in a monstrous pot that would prove key in propelling the animal rights activist to victory.

Other noteworthy finishers: Hasan Habib, 5th; Mickey Appleman, 9th; Barry Greenstein, 13th; James McManus, 14th; Patrik Antonius, 15th; William Chen, 19th; Daniel Negreanu, 20th

Event #17
$1,000 No-Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 2,891
Winner: Jon Friedberg
Payday: $526,185
Runner-up: John Phan
Payday: $289,389

Memorable hand: On the final hand, Phan tried to make a pre-flop steal by going all in with Q-4 suited, and Friedberg called with A-7 suited. Phan got no help from the 10-9-3-2-7 board, and the unknown Friedberg beat the pro for the bracelet. Coming into heads-up play, Friedberg held a 4-to-1 chip lead over “The Razor,” and the humble champion acknowledged afterward how critical that was. “I think I needed a 4-to-1 chip lead to beat John … I was scared to death to play him heads up and, even at 4-to-1, I was scared to play against him.”

Other noteworthy finishers: Humberto Brenes, 7th; Carlos Mortensen, 10th; Jason Stern, 31st; Greg Mueller, 47th

Running Numbers:
1: Number of previous live poker tournaments in history with more entrants (the 2005 WSOP Main Event)
30: Percent of the total chips in play held by Michael Pomeroy at the start of the final table
13: Years since Brenes last won a bracelet (he won two in 1993)

Event #18
$2,000 Pot-Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 590
Winner: Eric Kesselman
Payday: $311,403
Runner-up: Hyon “Skip” Kim
Payday: $164,291

Memorable hand: There’s only one hand better than the pocket kings Kevin Ross pushed all in with pre-flop when play was four-handed … and Kesselman had it. Ross raised to $40,000 in chips with his cowboys, Kesselman re-raised to $100,000, Ross re-raised all in, and Kesselman wasted no time calling with his aces. The pocket rockets held up, and Ross went home in fourth place. Not too long after, Kesselman, who’d never before cashed in three years of testing his luck at the WSOP, cashed to the tune of more than 300-grand and a gold bracelet.

Other noteworthy finishers: James McManus, 6th; Joe Hachem, 15th; Daniel Alaei, 29th; Jason Lester, 36th; Men Nguyen, 44th

Event #19
$1,000 Seniors No-Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 1,184
Winner: Clare Miller
Payday: $247,814
Runner-up: Mike Nargi
Payday: $129,293

Memorable hand: Calling an all-in bet with Q-8 suited is a somewhat iffy proposition, but it was the right move for Miller, as she was about 50-50 against her opponent Nargi’s underpair (threes). Nargi still led after the 10-4-2 flop, and still led after the six on the turn. But he no longer led after an eight hit on the river, making the 61-year-old Miller the winner of this 50-and-over tournament.

Other noteworthy finishers: Ron Rose, 6th; Jon Vorhaus, 9th; Jay Heimowitz, 38th; John Bonetti, 68th; Shirley Williams, 81st

Running Numbers:
0: Previous women who won the WSOP seniors event
40: Position in which Shelby Miller finished, 39 behind his wife

Event #20
$50,000 HORSE
Number of entries: 143
Winner: Chip Reese
Payday: $1,784,640
Runner-up: Andy Bloch
Payday: $1,029,600

Memorable hand: Much of the final table is detailed elsewhere in this magazine (see page 78), but the final hand of play prior to the start of the final table was as fascinating as anything that happened afterward. With five players each on two tables, the game was Omaha Eight-Or-Better, and Robert Williamson III was eliminated on one of the tables. Meanwhile, on the other table, Patrik Antonius was involved in a large pot with Reese. The young Fin was completely pot committed, with just $13,000 left in front of him (the next shortest stack was $351,000, and the largest was more than $1.7-million), yet he folded on the river, knowing that would put him at the final TV table. It was truly a fascinating play to ensure survival.

Other noteworthy finishers: Phil Ivey, 3rd; T.J. Cloutier, 5th; Doyle Brunson, 8th; Robert Williamson III, 10th; Gavin Smith, 11th; Barry Greenstein, 12th

Running Numbers:
21: Hours Day Two lasted
7 and 6: Hours and minutes that the Reese-Bloch heads-up match lasted

Event #21
$2,500 Short-Handed No-Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 740
Winner: William Chen
Payday: $442,511
Runner-up: Nath Pizzolatto
Payday: $238,280

Memorable hand: The final hand was a classic case of one player getting just the card he was hoping for on the river, only to find out it was the worst possible card that could have hit. With a board of J-7-5-10, Pizzolatto held 6-8, needing either a nine or a four to make a straight. Chen held K-Q, needing either a nine or an ace to make a straight. The nine came, giving Pizzolatto his straight but giving Chen the nuts. Pizzolatto bet out, Chen raised all in, and Pizzolatto called and handed Chen his second bracelet of the 2006 WSOP.

Other noteworthy finishers: Harry Demtriou, 6th; Phil Gordon, 16th; Kenna James, 29th; Farzad Bonyadi, 51st; Tony G., 68th

Running Numbers:
5: Consecutive years with at least one player winning multiple bracelets
23: Players before Chen who won at least two bracelets in a single year
2: Number of heads-up hands Chen and Pizzolatto played

Event #22
$2,000 No-Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 1,579
Winner: Jeff Madsen
Payday: $660,948
Runner-up: Paul Sheng
Payday: $330,485

Memorable hand: Normally, J-7 isn’t much of a starting hand, especially when your opponent has you dominated with A-7. But J-7 is a hell of a good hand when the flop comes 10-9-8, and it’s especially handy when the turn brings a six, making your opponent an inferior straight. This is precisely what happened on the final hand of the tournament, with Madsen holding the J-7 and Sheng the A-7, and Sheng got all of his money in on the turn, only to receive the bad news. He needed a jack on the river to chop, and it didn’t come, making U.C. Santa Barbara film student Madsen the youngest bracelet winner in history.

Other noteworthy finishers: Julian Gardner, 3rd; Alex Brenes, 27th; Jeff Shulman, 65th; Dave Colclough, 92nd; Men Nguyen, 142nd

Running Numbers:
21, 1, 9: Madsen’s age in years, months, and days at the time of his victory
3: Consecutive years in which the record for youngest WSOP winner has been broken

Event #23
$3,000 Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 341
Winner: Ian Johns
Payday: $291,755
Runner-up: Jerrod Ankenmen
Payday: $150,586

Memorable hand: On what would be the final hand of the tournament, Johns’ A-3 completely missed the 9-5-2 flop. But it didn’t miss the turn (a trey) or the river (an ace), and his two pair was better than the hand that Ankenmen mucked, giving Johns the title. It was the capper to an amazing story for the 21-year-old Johns. Just a few years ago, he was playing poker online and his bankroll was down to $6, and he promised his then-girlfriend he would quit if that bankroll ran out. It never did, and heading into the 2006 WSOP, he had more than a half-million dollars in his poker bankroll. Now he’s up over three-quarters of a million.

Other noteworthy finishers: Carlos Mortensen, 17th; Barry Greenstein, 21st; Marco Traniello, 25th; Scott Lazar, 31st

Running Numbers:
2: Consecutive events won by 21-year-olds
2: Players over the age of 30 at the final table

Event #24
$3,000 Omaha High-Low
Number of entries: 352
Winner: Scott Clements
Payday: $301,175
Runner-up: Thor Hansen
Payday: $155,443

Memorable hand: Not to diminish Clements’ fine win, but the real story coming into this table was Phil Hellmuth’s bid for a record-tying 10th bracelet, something he seemed in position to do when he came into the final table second in chips (behind Clements). But Hellmuth could never get anything going, and the hand that eliminated him pretty well summed up his day. Hellmuth was dealt A-Q-6-5, which put him narrowly behind his opponent’s A-K-6-3 in terms of both the high and the low. The board of 10-8-8-3-8 didn’t connect with either player, sending Hellmuth home in sixth place.

Other noteworthy finishers: Brent Carter, 3rd; Andrew Black, 11th; Chad Brown, 17th; Allen Cunningham, 18th; Huck Seed, 24th

Event #25
$2,000 No-Limit Hold ’Em Shootout
Number of entries: 600
Winner: David Pham
Payday: $240,222
Runner-up: Charlie Sewell
Payday: $124,488

Memorable hand: Runner-up Sewell had a tough trip to Vegas, as he was involved in a serious car accident and hit by a taxi cab as a pedestrian prior to participating in this event. His luck mostly turned around at the poker table, but it ran out on the final hand. Sewell pushed all in with A-8 and Pham made the automatic call with pocket jacks. The jacks held up, and “The Dragon” had himself his second career bracelet.

Other noteworthy finishers: Roland de Wolfe, 3rd; Kathy Liebert, 11th; Yosh Nakano, 12th; Mike Sexton, 20th; Josh Arieh, 48th; Todd Brunson, 49th; James Woods, 56th

Event #26A
$1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha
Number of entries: 525
Winner: Ralph Perry
Payday: $207,817
Runner-up: George Abdallah
Payday: $109,644

Memorable hand: Perry, the Russian-born veteran who finished third in the 2002 Main Event, had a large chip advantage at the start of heads-up play, but he didn’t have the advantage midway through the final hand. With a flop of 10-7-3, Abdallah’s Q-10-4-3 gave him two pair, while Perry had just a pair of tens with his K-J-10-2. Abdallah moved all in, and Perry called. The turn brought a nine, giving Perry a double belly-buster straight draw. And the river delivered an eight, completing a come-from-behind jack-high straight for Perry and giving him his first career bracelet.

Other noteworthy finishers: Russ Salzer, 9th; David Williams, 19th; Juha Helppi, 20th; Berry Johnston, 21st; David Ulliott, 35th

Event #26B
$1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha (with re-buys)
Number of entries: 158
Winner: Eric Froehlich
Payday: $299,675
Runner-up: Sherkhan Farnood
Payday: $165,274

Memorable hand: On the final hand, both players held pocket pairs—7-7-Q-6 for Froehlich and a superior K-K-6-3 for Farnood. But the flop put Froehlich in the lead, as the 10-7-5 board gave him trip sevens. Theturn and river were both jacks, making the 22-year-old “E-Fro” a full house and giving him his second career WSOP title.

Other noteworthy finishers: Chau Giang, 3rd; Bruno Fitoussi, 5th; Davood Mehrmand, 11th; Tony G., 13th; Jeffrey Lisandro, 15th

Running Numbers:
472: Total number of re-buys
0: Multiple bracelet winners in history younger than Froehlich (for a few days, anyway)
2014: Year in which Froehlich will win his 10th bracelet, based on his current pace

Event #27
$1,500 No-Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 2,126
Winner: Mats Rahmn
Payday: $655,141
Runner-up: Richard Toth
Payday: $333,729

Memorable hand: All of the final three players were European, and after Irishman Padraig Parkinson was eliminated in third place, that left Hungarian Toth and Swede Rahmn. The final hand between them was a fascinating one. The J-10-9 flop hit Toth’s J-8 pretty hard, but he still trailed the pocket kings of Rahmn. The Swede led out for $150,000 with his overpair, Toth moved all in for $500,000 more, and Rahmn called. Toth needed a seven, eight, jack, or queen, but couldn’t find any of what he needed on the turn or river, making Rahmn the champ.

Other noteworthy finishers: Hoyt Corkins, 30th; J.C. Tran, 36th; Michael Mizrachi, 67th; David Sklansky, 74th; T.J. Cloutier, 152nd

Event #28
$5,000 Seven-Card Stud
Number of entries: 182
Winner: Benjamin Lin
Payday: $256,620
Runner-up: Shawn Sheikhan
Payday: $171,080

Memorable hand: Sheikhan just couldn’t seem to catch a break once heads-up play began, and the final hand of the night typified that. Through six streets, “Sheiky” led with (9-6) K-A-K-J, while Lin had (9-9) 6-8-10-5. On seventh street, Sheikhan picked up a meaningless deuce. Meanwhile, Lin was dealt a not-so-meaningless seven, completing a ten-high straight and making the 31-year-old Washington, D.C. accountant a WSOP champion.

Other noteworthy finishers: Cyndy Violette, 3rd; Allen Kessler, 4th; “Miami” John Cernuto, 5th; Mike Caro, 8th; David Singer, 13th; David Grey, 14th

Running Numbers:
20: Years since Caro’s last WSOP final-table appearance
3: Consecutive years in which Violette has made a WSOP final table

Event #29
$2,500 Pot-Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 562
Winner: John Gale
Payday: $374,849
Runner-up: Maros Lechman
Payday: $197,768

Memorable hand: Reigning world champion Joe Hachem rarely gets his money in with the worst hand, and the hand that saw him eliminated in fourth place was no exception. Hachem moved all in with K-9 on a flop of K-4-3, and Gale called with A-3, needing to spike a five-outer. He did just that on the river, catching an ace to oust Hachem and capture the chip lead with three players remaining.

Other noteworthy finishers: Alex Jacob, 5th; Alex Brenes, 19th; Lee Watkinson, 30th; Daniel Negreanu, 38th; Mike Sexton, 47th

Event #30
$5,000 Short-Handed No-Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 507
Winner: Jeff Madsen
Payday: $643,381
Runner-up: Erick Lindgren
Payday: $357,435

Memorable hand: While 21-year-old Madsen’s second bracelet win was obviously the big story, he wasn’t involved at all in the tournament’s best hand. Jonathan Gaskell was the chip leader coming into the final day, and he looked to be in great shape with pocket kings against Lindgren’s A-K when they got all the money in pre-flop. The first four board cards missed “E-Dog,” but the river brought an ace, eliminating Gaskell in fifth place. Lindgren got lucky there, but his luck didn’t follow him to heads-up play, where his A-J would ultimately lose to Madsen’s Q-9.

Other noteworthy finishers: Vanessa Rousso, 8th; Paul Wasicka, 12th; John Juanda, 17th; Robert Williamson III, 21st; Jennifer Tilly, 41st; Phil Hellmuth, 44th

Running Numbers:
6: Previous times multiple players have won two or more bracelets in a single year
5: Days Eric Froehlich’s record as the youngest two-bracelet winner in history lasted
6th: Madsen’s chip position, out of six, when the final table began

Event #31
$2,000 No-Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 2,050
Winner: Justin Scott
Payday: $842,262
Runner-up: Farzad Rouhani
Payday: $429,065

Memorable hand: Capping a final-table performance so dominant that Jamie Gold would have been jealous, Scott, as he did all day, got the cards he needed to win after all the money went in. The extremely short-stacked Rouhani pushed all in with pocket eights and Scott made the call with Q-6, but even when Scott was an underdog, it seemed like he was a favorite. Sure enough, the 22-year-old caught a queen, and Rouhani was history.

Other noteworthy finishers: Tony Bloom, 16th; Dan Harrington, 23rd; John Spadavecchia, 42nd; Alex Brenes, 43rd; Jennifer Tilly, 99th

Running Numbers:
37: Percent of the chips in play held by Scott at the start of the final table
13-to-1: Chip advantage held by Scott entering heads-up play
7: Players at the final table busted by Scott

Event #32
$5,000 Pot-Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 378
Winner: Jason Lester
Payday: $550,764
Runner-up: Alan Sass
Payday: $284,256

Memorable hand: Veteran Lester waited a long time to win his first bracelet, and the hand that clinched it for him was the highlight of the tournament. Lester, holding 9-7, flopped top pair on a 9-3-2 board, and Sass got frisky and pushed all in with 6-4 and an inside straight draw. Lester called, Sass didn’t find the five he needed, and Lester, who famously finished fourth in the historic 2003 Main Event, finished three spots higher than that in this one.

Other noteworthy finishers: Kirill Gerasimov, 9th; Nam Le, 10th; Chau Giang, 12th; Cyndi Violette, 16th; Nick Schulman, 19th; Erik Seidel, 34th

Event #33
$1,500 Seven-Card Razz
Number of entries: 409
Winner: James Richburg
Payday: $139,576
Runner-up: Carlos Mortensen
Payday: $94,908

Memorable hand: Razz isn’t a kid’s game, it’s an older person’s game that requires great patience, and there wasn’t a player under the age of 38 at the final table. Richburg last reached a WSOP final table back in 1991 (the first year in which the Main Event paid its winner $1-million), and he made this return trip count, polishing off former Main Event champion Mortensen with one of the better Razz hands, a 9-8 low (3-4-6-8-9-3-6). Mortensen mucked his hand, and since Razz doesn’t make the TV cut, we’ll never know what he had. But we know it was only second best. Or perhaps, since this is Razz, we should say “only second worst.”

Other noteworthy finishers: Cliff Josephy, 4th; “Miami” John Cernuto, 7th; Eric Froehlich, 10th; Perry Friedman, 14th; Eskimo Clark, 33rd

Event #34
$1,000 No-Limit Hold ’Em (with re-buys)
Number of entries: 754
Winner: Phil Hellmuth
Payday: $631,863
Runner-up: Juha Helppi
Payday: $331,144

Memorable hand: Hellmuth was one card away from heartbreak in his pursuit of that elusive 10th career bracelet. Midway through heads-up play, Helppi raised to $90,000 pre-flop, and Hellmuth moved all in for his last $480,000 with pocket fives. Helppi called with Ah-6d, and the race was on. The flop came Kd-Jd-5d, giving Hellmuth a set—but giving Helppi a flush draw. The Qd on the turn made Helppi his flush. “The Poker Brat” needed the board to pair. And pair it did, as the river brought the Qh, doubling Hellmuth up and propelling him to a historic victory that would come about 30 hands later.

Other noteworthy finishers: John Spadavecchia, 4th; Ralph Perry, 8th; Tony G., 9th; Joe Bartholdi, 23rd; Patrik Antonius, 70th

Running Numbers:
1,691: Total number of re-buys
48: Re-buys by Daniel Negreanu
42: Hellmuth’s age, making him the youngest player to reach 10 bracelets

Event #35
$1,000 Seven-Card Stud High-Low
Number of entries: 788
Winner: Pat Poels
Payday: $172,091
Runner-up: Greg Dinkin
Payday: $102,542

Memorable hand: After a little more than an hour of heads-up jousting, Poels won a big pot with a phenomenal hand—quad kings. The eventual victor had A-K-2-5 showing, while Dinkin had 8-3-8-3 showing. Little did Dinkin know that Poels had three kings face down. The hand put Poels in the pole position with around $1,000,000 in chips, while Dinkin was left with only $190,000—and he would be left with about $190,000 less than that just a couple of hands later.

Other noteworthy finishers: Jeff Madsen, 3rd; Dan Heimiller, 9th; John Juanda, 24th; Cyndy Violette, 31st; Annie Duke, 33rd

Event #36
$1,500 Limit Hold ’Em Shootout
Number of entries: 524
Winner: Victor Perches
Payday: $157,338
Runner-up: Arnold Spee
Payday: $78,679

Memorable hand: It wasn’t the hand that ended the competition, but it was the hand that, for all intents and purposes, determined the winner. With just two players remaining, Perches was betting and raising all the way with 7-6 after two sevens flopped, and former WPT champ Spee, holding pocket nines, kept calling. When the final board read 7-7-4-3-Q, Perches had himself a huge pot and a nearly insurmountable chip lead. With the victory that came soon after, Perches became the first WSOP bracelet winner born in Mexico.
Other noteworthy finishers: Todd Witteles, 12th; Mike Caro, 20th; Andy Bloch, 26th; Chris Moneymaker, 28th; Eric Froehlich, 32nd; Howard Lederer, 33rd

Event #37
$1,500 No-Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 2,803
Winner: James Gorham
Payday: $765,226
Runner-up: Osman Kibar
Payday: $420,870

Memorable hand: At a final table full of guys you’ve never heard of, the final hand of the last big Hold ’Em event before the Main Event was a good one. Gorham limped from the small blind with 7-6 suited, and Kibar correctly raised with pocket kings. Gorham took a chance and made the call—and was glad he did when the 10-6-6 flop hit. Kibar bet out, and Gorham smooth called. A seven came on the turn, making Gorham a full house, and Kibar picked the wrong time to push all in with his overpair. Kibar was dead to a king and the river brought a queen, allowing San Diego’s Gorham to emerge victorious from this massive field.
Other noteworthy finishers: Joe Awada, 14th; Johan Storakers, 60th; Julian Gardner, 80th; Phil Laak, 89th; Berry Johnston, 108th; T.J. Cloutier, 120th

Event #38
$5,000 No-Limit Deuce-To-Seven Lowball (with re-buys)
Number of entries: 81
Winner: Daniel Alaei
Payday: $430,698
Runner-up: David Williams
Payday: $256,091

Memorable hand: Any hand on which two players are eliminated is memorable, and early in the final table, Williams eliminated Allen Cunningham (in sixth) and Eliyahu Levy (in seventh) on the same hand. Levy pushed all in pre-draw, all three players drew one card, and Cunningham went all in after drawing. Williams called immediately and showed an excellent 8-6-5-4-2. That narrowly edged out Cunningham’s 8-7-6-5-2, and Levy paired up on the draw for a lousy 8-6-4-4-3.

Other noteworthy finishers: Men Nguyen, 4th; Greg Raymer, 5th; Allen Cunningham, 6th; Layne Flack, 8th; Mike Matusow, 12th; Johnny Chan, 21st

Running Numbers:
159: Total number of re-buys
7: Places that paid, the least of any tournament at the ’06 WSOP

Event #39
$10,000 No-Limit Hold ’Em Championship
Number of entries: 8,773
Winner: Jamie Gold
Payday: $12,000,000
Runner-up: Paul Wasicka
Payday: $6,102,499

Memorable hand: Wasicka’s fold on the final hand before heads-up play began will be debated for months to come. On a flop of 10c-6s-5s, Michael Binger bet $3.5-million and massive chip leader Gold re-raised enough to put the other two players all in. Wasicka, holding 7s-8s for an open-ended straight-flush draw, said “This is sick” several times, and ultimately folded. Binger called off the rest of his chips with Ah-10h. Gold showed that he was behind with the 3c-4s, holding just an open-ended straight draw. The turn was a seven, making Gold’s straight, and the river was the Qs, meaning Wasicka would have won the pot with a flush if he’d stayed in. That would have meant he’d have gone into heads-up play with Gold with more than 40 percent of the chips, instead of being outchipped about 6-to-1. Woulda, coulda, shoulda. One guy who left the final table with no wouldas, couldas, or shouldas was Jamie Gold, who put on a big-stack clinic to win the richest poker tournament of all-time.

Other noteworthy finishers: Allen Cunningham, 4th; Humberto Brenes, 36th; Annie Duke, 88th; Daniel Negreanu, 229th; Joe Hachem, 238th

Running Numbers:
56: Percent increase in the field size over last year
60: Percent increase in the first-place payout over last year
1045: Percent increase in the field size in the three years since Chris Moneymaker won

Event #40
$1,000 No-Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 1,100
Winner: Praz Bansi
Payday: $230,209
Runner-up: Anh Lu
Payday: $120,120

Other noteworthy finishers: Fabrice Soulier, 4th; Jim Worth, 16th; Davood Mehrmand, 29th; Bill Gazes, 61st

Event #41
$1,500 No-Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 1,007
Winner: Paul Kobel
Payday: $316,144
Runner-up: Tyler Andrews
Payday: $164,947

Other noteworthy finishers: Ralph Perry, 3rd; Lonnie Heimowitz, 12th; Mel Judah, 19th; Steve Dannenmann, 26th; Phil Hellmuth, 44th

Event #42
$1,500 No-Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 362
Winner: Jim Mitchell
Payday: $153,173
Runner-up: Stuart Fox
Payday: $79,061

Other noteworthy finishers: Todd Witteles, 4th; Davood Mehrmand, 15th; Barry Greenstein, 29th

Event #43
$1,500 No-Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 420
Winner: Kevin Nathan
Payday: $171,987
Runner-up: J.C. Tran
Payday: $92,301

Other noteworthy finishers: William Chen, 7th; Randy Holland, 8th; Tom McEvoy, 11th; Clonie Gowen, 19th; Max Pescatori, 34th

Event #44
$1,500 No-Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 481
Winner: Kevin Cover
Payday: $196,968
Runner-up: Joseph Brandenberg
Payday: $105,707

Other noteworthy finishers: Davood Mehrmand, 12th; Joanne “J.J.” Liu, 17th; Mel Judah, 23rd; Chris Tsiprailidis, 27th

Event #45
$1,500 No-Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 494
Winner: Anders Hedriksson
Payday: $202,291
Runner-up: Maureen Feduniak
Payday: $108,564

Other noteworthy finishers: Phil Hellmuth, 3rd; Lee Markholt, 5th; David Chiu, 20th; Doyle Brunson, 21st; Cyndy Violette, 24th

Running Numbers:
8: Total cashes by Hellmuth at the ’06 WSOP
57: Total career WSOP cashes by Hellmuth, the all-time record

One-Man Show (2006 WSOP MAIN EVENT)

Jamie Gold Didn’t Just Win The 2006 World Series Main Event—He Dominated It
BY SCOTT THARLER

Photo by IMPDI

SUPERSTITIOUS POKER PLAYERS ARE A LITTLE LEERY of holding a chip lead early in a multi-day tournament. Leading late is a good thing, and being well above average in the chip counts early on is certainly nice, but traditionally, in the World Series of Poker Main Event, those who hold the lead early rarely make it to the end. It’s almost like a curse.

Apparently Jamie Gold isn’t superstitious. He was toward the top of the chip count from the get-go and led everyone from the end of Day Four of the eight-day tournament on, without interruption.

It’s almost unheard of to hold onto a lead like that for so long and ultimately win it all, but then again, not everyone has 10-time bracelet winner Johnny Chan for a tutor. Gold, a former Hollywood talent agent and current producer, had approached Chan in Los Angeles several years ago about doing a reality show. As they began to work together, Chan was happy to answer a few poker questions here and there. And before he knew it, Johnny Chan had a protégé.

Gold took Chan’s valuable advice, along with his own experience having cashed in 15 major poker tournaments, and headed to Vegas. As Gold’s stack multiplied, popular pros fell by the wayside.

One of them was the reigning champ, Joe Hachem, who made an impressive run all the way to 238th place, out of a record-crushing field of 8,773. It might not sound so impressive, but consider the fact that he had to outlast over 50 percent more competitors than he did to win the whole thing in 2005. It wasn’t quite as spectacular as Greg Raymer’s run to 25th place last year in his effort to defend his title, but it was proof of Hachem’s ability just the same.

Just ahead of Hachem, superstar Daniel Negreanu had one of his best Main Event showings in a while, finishing 229th. Annie Duke broke the top hundred with a great run to 88th place. And Costa Rica’s Humberto Brenes skillfully worked his way all the way up to 36th.

Italian Jeff Lisandro, who final tabled one event and cashed in the top 20 in a few others, got all the way up to 17th. But by 2:17 a.m. on Wednesday, August 9, when Fred Goldberg was eliminated in 10th place, there was only one well-known pro left: Allen Cunningham. Cunningham is not Mr. Charisma, but he has been one of the most consistently successful younger poker players in the world.

If Cunningham, last year’s WSOP Player of the Year, could win The Big One, it would give hope to hundreds of pros that it wasn’t just a lottery, a luckfest, a big crapshoot. But Cunningham found himself in a tough spot at the final table: second in chips, at a huge deficit to the leader, and with seven other opponents who’d be more than happy to see Cunningham’s seat vacant.
The Final Table

Seat Player Chip Count

1 Richard Lee 11,820,000
2 Erik Friberg 9,605,000
3 Paul Wasicka 7,970,000
4 Dan Nassif 2,600,000
5 Allen Cunningham 17,770,000
6 Michael Binger 3,140,000
7 Doug Kim 6,770,000

8 Jamie Gold 26,650,000

9 Rhett Butler 4,815,000

Dan Nassif used vacation time away from his job as an account exec in St. Louis to play in this, his second World Series. The 33-year-old’s biggest previous cash was for $80,000. Given that the lowest final table payout would be over $1.5-million, even coming in as the table’s short stack, he was sure to break that personal record and come out way ahead for his Vegas vacation.
This was also the second WSOP for Michael Binger, who just a few months earlier earned a PhD in physics from Stanford. His career ambitions in theoretical physics will take him into a world of subatomic particles. But before philosophizing about quarks and neutrinos, the 29-year-old would have to overcome a huge chip deficit.

Rhett Butler, a 44-year-old insurance agent from Rockville, Maryland, is married with three children. He’s been playing poker for 25 years, since back in his college days at James Madison University. But this would be his first time ever cashing in a poker tournament.

Doug Kim, the youngster at the table, won his way in through a $650 satellite on PokerStars less than a week before the Main Event started. The 22-year-old financial consultant from Hartsdale, New York, recently graduated from Duke University with an economics degree. The economics of the final table, however, saw him trailing five players in the chip counts and needing some cooperative cards to have a shot at winning.

Paul “Kwickfish” Wasicka used to tend bar and manage a restaurant. Although the 25-year-old started playing poker only a couple of years ago, he’d already cashed in six major tournaments, including a near final table finish in Event 30 at this year’s Series. The Westminster, Colorado, resident arrived at the final table in middle chip position, but with slightly more proven abilities than most of his adversaries, ESPN

Pay-Per-View broadcaster Phil Gordon labeled him the darkhorse to possibly win it all.
Erik Friberg’s nickname, “Lilar,” means “gambler” in Swedish. That makes sense, since the 23-year-old from Stockholm plays professionally online. In the past few years, Scandinavia has grown to be a force in the poker world, with the Swedes doing particularly well.

Richard Lee found himself as one of the more formidable stacks at this, his first-ever final table, with almost $12-million in chips. Although born in Honolulu, Hawaii, the 55-year-old investor now calls San Antonio, Texas, his home.
Having earned his fourth WSOP bracelet this year, 29-year-old Cunningham has quietly and steadily become one of the most accomplished and respected professionals in poker. Cunningham came to the table with almost $18-million in chips. But despite his strong reputation and chip position, he couldn’t be called a favorite. Along with carrying the burden of representing all of the world’s poker pros, Cunningham also had to overcome the big stack at the table, who had 50 percent more chips than him.

With over one-fourth of the chips in play, overwhelming chip leader Gold was on a mission, and had the stack to achieve it. The 36-year-old Malibu, California, resident had dedicated himself to winning the world championship for his dad, who’s afflicted with ALS. But even $26-million in chips and Chan’s tutelage don’t make for a walk in the park. Gold knew everyone at the table would be looking to take chunks out of his stack. To win, he’d have to mix up his game, keep the pressure on his opponents, and stay focused on the task at hand.

The final table action kicked off shortly after 2 p.m. Las Vegas time on Thursday, August 10, starting at Level 32 with the posting of $20,000 antes and $80,000/$160,000 blinds. On the very first hand, Kim raised it to three times the big blind. Gold re-raised a million more, took down the first pot, and the carnage began.

Just four hands and 17 minutes later, short stack Nassif made his move, raising pre-flop from the button with Big Slick. Gold called and checked in the dark the flop that came 2-3-5. Nassif went all in, and Gold called instantaneously and turned over his pocket deuces. To beat Gold’s ducks, Nassif needed a four. Instead, the turn brought an ace, the river a ten, and Nassif became Gold’s first victim of the day.

Cunningham, meanwhile, was playing like the pro he was, building his stack by winning smaller hands. The first time he played out of the blinds was from the button into what became a five-way limped pot. The flop came 8h-9h-9d, creating all sorts of possibilities. Gold bet a million, and Friberg and Cunningham both called. Cunningham bet $2-million each on the turn and river, and Gold check-called both. Cunningham turned over 9-7 for trips, and Gold flipped up 9-10 for trips with the better kicker and took down a pot worth about $12-million. That was the kind of tournament it had been for Gold.

Partway through Level 33 ($20,000 antes, $100,000/$200,000 blinds), the young Swede Friberg found himself all in before the flop with jacks up against the chip leader’s queens. Not only did the board not help Friberg, it unnecessarily hurt him with a queen on the river. Just over three hours into the action, Friberg became Gold’s second victim.

Shortly after, Binger doubled up through Cunningham. Cunningham remained his normal composed self, despite having lost a couple of big confrontations. Binger was doing a nice job building his way up, until … He found himself all in pre-flop against Gold, who turned up pocket kings. The crowd gasped, but then roared as Binger showed pocket kings as well. Two hearts on the flop gave Binger a backdoor flush draw, but running clubs dashed the chance for a monster suckout and the two split the pot.

After having won a bunch of pots—including several from Cunningham by attacking his big blind—Kim went all in with nines after a 4-4-3 flop. He got a call from Wasicka, the pre-flop raiser, who had queens. And two cards later, after a big up-and-down battle, Kim was out in seventh place.

Just a few hands into Level 34 ($40,000 antes, $120,000/$240,000 blinds), Cunningham and Binger clashed again, this time in a battle of the blinds. Cunningham had gone all in from the small with pocket deuces. After a couple minutes in the tank, Binger (who was covered) made the call with A-6. Binger flopped top two pair, dodged a gutshot draw on the river, and doubled up again through Cunningham, who couldn’t seem to win a big pot.

A short time later, Lee found himself in the small blind in a raising war with Gold in the cutoff. Eventually, Lee went all in, and Gold called. Just as had been the case when Gold busted Friberg, Gold had pocket ladies to Lee’s pair of jakes. The queens held on, and Lee—who had been the second biggest stack and was assured of a lot more prize money if he’d played more conservatively—walked out in sixth place.

That gave Gold a stranglehold on the lead, with over $51-million in chips, more than all four of his remaining opponents combined. Meanwhile, Wasicka had fought his way into second place, just ahead of Cunningham. Binger was in fourth place, and Butler, who’d done little more than post the antes and blinds the first seven hours of play, was down to just over $3-million.

Lee’s departure left Wasicka in first position to the left of the dealer, so “Kwickfish” decided to move over. He promptly doubled up Butler. But then a few hands later, the unthinkable happened: Wasicka handed Gold his first big loss of the night.

Wasicka had raised Gold’s big blind. After a flop of K-Q-2, Gold check-raised Wasicka, who came over the top for all his chips and quickly got called. They both had top pair. Unfortunately for Wasicka, his king came with a 10, whereas Gold had been slowplaying Big Slick. When the 10d hit on the turn, the crowd erupted. No ace or jack came on the river, and Wasicka doubled up to around $18-million.

In Level 35 ($50,000 antes, $150,000/$300,000 blinds), Binger found himself all in again against Gold. And again they turned over the same hand—in this case K-10—and split the pot. After that, nothing terribly exciting transpired for a while, until it was Gold and Butler in a battle of the blinds. Gold had limped in from the small, Butler raised all in, and Gold called. Butler’s pocket fours had the lead over Gold’s K-J, until a jack flopped. A tiny gutshot hope was squelched on the river, and at 12:45 a.m., Butler walked out in fifth with his first tournament poker paycheck, more than $3.2-million.

Down to four-handed, the players switched up their games. Wasicka took some pots. Cunningham was up and down, taking big pots from Gold, but then making tough laydowns to Wasicka and Gold. Over the next couple hours, Gold just seemed to be streamrolling the other three—in quirky ways, folding out of turn and holding out his cards suggestively when it was on his opponents to act.

Just after 2 a.m., Gold limped in from the button, Cunningham raised the rest of his $6-million all in from the big blind, and Gold, seeing an opportunity to vanquish his most imposing adversary, called. It was Gold’s K-J of diamonds up against Cunningham’s pocket tens—a fairly close race, until Gold flopped a king. Cunningham’s whole tournament life and all the expectations of a known pro possibly surviving a Main Event field of thousands were snuffed out by blanks on the turn and river.

Just like that, Gold vaulted to over $62-million in chips—essentially, all the chips of every player from all 208 tables in three out of the four flights from Tournament Day One.

As three-handed action got underway, Binger and Gold seemed to enjoy a fairly steady banter back and forth.

That is, until Gold bluffed Binger out of a pot on the river. Binger appeared visibly rattled. Gold continued to win a few pots, occasionally showing a card or two. Meanwhile, Binger got aggressive, taking stands and winning pots out of position.

With Gold and Wasicka having limped ahead of him, Binger raised his own big blind and got two calls. The flop came 10c-6s-5s, Binger fired in $3.5-million, Gold declared all in, Wasicka thought long and hard and folded, and Binger called. Binger had A-10 for top pair, top kicker, and Gold had 3-4, an open-ended straight draw. When a seven fell on the turn, the crowd reacted as if they’d been punched in the gut. Binger, who was drawing dead on the river—which happened to be the queen of spades—went out valiantly in third place just after 3 a.m.

But it was the hand Wasicka folded that was more intriguing than the one Gold won with or the one Binger lost with. Wasicka revealed that he’d folded a 7-8 of spades—for an open-ended straight flush draw—that would’ve turned into a winning flush on the river. Had he called, he would have had more than 40 percent of the chips entering heads-up play. Instead, he was down 7-to-1. But as Wasicka said afterward, he was just looking to get heads up with Gold, no matter the stack sizes, and try to outplay his opponent and win it.
Wasicka’s bid lasted seven hands. After he won the first, it was all Gold. The eventual champion was relentless.

On the final hand, Gold limped, Wasicka raised to $1.3-million, and Gold called. The flop came Q-8-5,

Wasicka bet out $1.5-million, Gold announced all in, and then he talked Wasicka into calling. Wasicka turned up a pair of tens. Sure enough, Gold had the queen and he triumphantly turned it up, along with a nine. After an ace on the turn, a four on the river, and about 131/2 hours of poker, Wasicka went out in second and Gold became the new world champion.

Gold had personally ousted everyone at the table but Kim. He played aggressively while rarely putting much of his big stack at risk. And after he won, he admitted that he was relieved to have beaten Wasicka, because he was the only one Gold felt he couldn’t figure out.
Did he mean the only one out of his eight foes at the final table, or the only one out of the 8,772 others in the entire field? The way Gold dominated, from early in the tournament until the very finish, he very well might have meant the latter.

WHERE THE MILLIONS WENT
1st Jamie Gold $12,000,000
2nd Paul Wasicka $6,102,499
3rd Michael Binger $4,123,310
4th Allen Cunningham $3,628,513
5th Rhett Butler $3,216,182
6th Richard Lee $2,803,851
7th Doug Kim $2,391,520
8th Erik Friberg $1,979,189
9th Dan Nassif $1,566,858
10-12 $1,154,527
13-15 $907,128
16-18 $659,730
19-27 $494,797
28-36 $329,865
37-45 $247,399
46-54 $164,932
55-63 $123,699
64-72 $90,713
73-81 $65,973
82-126 $51,129
127-189 $47,006
190-252 $42,882
253-315 $38,759
316-378 $34,636
379-441 $30,512
442-504 $26,389
505-567 $22,266
568-621 $20,617
622-666 $19,050
667-720 $17,730
721-774 $16,493
775-819 $15,504
820-865 $14,597
866-873 $10,616

The Rio Rundown (2007 WSOP)

Your Comprehensive Guide To The 2007 World Series Of Poker
BY ERIC RASKIN

PHOTO BY IMPDI

THERE ARE TWO DIFFERENT APPROACHES to absorbing the World Series of Poker. One is to follow every minuscule detail as it happens, refreshing your Internet browser every 30 seconds for a month-and-a-half and freaking out every time Phil Hellmuth makes it into the money. The other is to sit back and wait, enjoy the delayed and edited broadcasts on ESPN, and then look back when it’s all over and try to make sense of the madness.
We at ALL IN have no choice but to take the former line of attack, as we can’t do our jobs properly if we aren’t in tune with every daily development at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. But we also choose each year to utilize the latter methodology. After all 55 events were over, after all 55 bracelets had been handed out, we took a step back, looked at the results through a wide-angle lens, and asked ourselves,

“What does it all mean?”

Records fell, stars emerged, bank accounts swelled, and we were reminded that in a game that combines skill and luck as poker does, there’s always a yin and a yang. It’s just that this year, nobody’s talking about the yin.
So here’s an exhaustive look at the whole Series, from the young (Event #1) to the Yang (Event #55):

Event #1
$5,000 Mixed Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 451
Winner: Steve Billirakis
Payday: $536,287
Runner-up: Greg Mueller
Payday: $328,554

Memorable hand: With Billirakis holding a not-quite 2-to-1 chip lead in heads-up play, and with the game Limit Hold ’Em, the flop conspired to cripple Mueller. “FBT” limped with K-3 and Billirakis checked with 8-7, and the K-7-7 flop couldn’t have been more perfect for him. The eight on the river didn’t hurt either, and Mueller was down about 5-to-1 afterward. Two hands later, the historic first event of the ’07 Series was over.

Other noteworthy finishers: Steve Paul-Ambrose, 4th; Kirk Morrison, 7th; David Grey, 27th; Johnny Chan, 31st; Todd Brunson, 38th

Running Numbers:
21, 11 Billirakis’ age in years and days at the time of his victory, making him the youngest bracelet winner ever
28 Days by which Billirakis broke Jeff Madsen’s record

Event #2
$500 Casino Employee No-Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 1,039
Winner: Frederick Narciso
Payday: $104,701
Runner-up: Charles Fisher
Payday: $66,392

Running numbers:
27 Place in which Narciso, a dealer at the Orleans, finished in this event in 2006

Event #3
$1,500 No-Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 2,998
Winner: Ciaran O’Leary
Payday: $727,012
Runner-up: Paul Evans
Payday: $282,367

Memorable hand: It should have been all over for the short-stacked O’Leary just 28 hands into the final table, when he called off all his chips pre-flop with 9-9 and found himself up against Evans’ K-K. But a nine on the turn proved that the luck of the Irish is alive and well and kickstarted an incredible comeback.
Other noteworthy finishers: Alex Jacob, 3rd; Michael Binger, 29th; Erick Lindgren, 109th; Greg Raymer, 131st; Chris Moneymaker, 233rd

Running Numbers:
2 Number of previous live poker tournaments in history with more entrants (the 2005 and 2006 WSOP Main Events)
5 Number of all-ins O’Leary survived at the final table
34 Percent of chips in play held by eventual third-place finisher Jacob at the start of the final table

Event #4
$1,500 Pot-Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 781
Winner: Michael Spegal
Payday: $251,957
Runner-up: Gavin Smith
Payday: $$155,446

Memorable hand: The final hand was a classic race—Spegal’s A-10 suited beating Smith’s 5-5—but it was a split pot earlier in heads-up play that provided the greatest drama. On a board of A-8-6-3-8, Smith made the maximum bet, Spegal raised the size of the pot, and Smith, after a minute of thinking, called off all of his chips. Spegal turned over 8-4 … and Smith turned over the same hand, meaning there would be no elimination and no double-up.

Other noteworthy finishers: Jon Friedberg, 3rd; Marco Traniello, 9th; Jean-Robert Bellande, 21st; Freddy Deeb, 45th; Katja Thater, 62nd

Event #5
$2,500 Omaha High-Low / Seven-Card Stud High-Low
Number of entries: 327
Winner: Tom Schneider
Payday: $214,347
Runner-up: Edmond Tonnellier
Payday: $118,456

Memorable hand: Schneider was a huge chip leader (more than double his next closest competitor) from the start of the final table right through to the finish, and it was the last hand of Day Two, on which he eliminated Josh Arieh in ninth place, that set the final table and gave Schneider all the extra chips and momentum he would need. The game was Omaha, and Arieh’s trip fours on a 9-7-4-4-J board were beaten by Schneider’s full house, fours over jacks.

Other noteworthy finishers: Annie Duke, 3rd; Chris Ferguson, 4th; David Benyamine, 6th; John Phan, 8th; Scotty Nguyen, 10th

Event #6
$1,500 Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 910
Winner: Gary Styczynski
Payday: $280,715
Runner-up: Varouzhan Gumroyan
Payday: $177,627

Memorable hand: Styczynski was trailing almost 2-to-1 in heads-up play when a situation arose in which Gumroyan held the nuts on the turn but, because this was a Limit game, couldn’t price out Styczynski and stop him from making the nuts on the river. With a board of Ah-Kh-Js-Qs, Gumroyan (10s-2s) checked, Styczynski (Qh-8h) bet, Gumroyan raised, and Styczynski called. The river was the 7h, giving Styczynski the nut flush. Gumroyan bet, Styczynski raised, and Gumroyan made the mistake of re-raising, allowing Styczynski to re-raise again. Gumroyan called and just about doubled Styczynski up, giving him a lead he wouldn’t relinquish.

Other noteworthy finishers: James Gorham, 5th; David Sklansky, 13th; Robert Goldfarb, 64th; Jim Meehan, 76th; Thor Hansen, 82nd

Event #7
$5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha w/ Re-Buys
Number of entries: 145
Winner: Burt Boutin
Payday: $825,956
Runner-up: Erik Cajelais
Payday: $483,755

Memorable hand: Veteran pro Boutin came into heads-up play trailing, but doubled through Cajelais on the very first hand to take a commanding lead. On a flop of Ah-8s-2s, the players got it all in, Boutin holding top pair and the nut flush draw with As-Ks-Qh-6c, and Cajelais having flop a set with 8h-8d-5c-5d. The turn was the 3s, giving Boutin his flush, and there would be no re-suck for Cajelais.
Other noteworthy finishers: David Ulliott, 3rd; Minh Ly, 5th; John Juanda, 7th; Humberto Brenes, 8th; Robert Williamson III, 10th

Running Numbers:
421 Total number of re-buys
10 Players among the 18 money finishers who already owned WSOP bracelets

Event #8
$1,000 No-Limit Hold ’Em w/ Re-Buys
Number of entries: 844
Winner: Michael Chu
Payday: $585,774
Runner-up: Tommy Vu
Payday: $364,761

Memorable hand: In a close heads-up match, Chu blew it wide open by doubling through infomercial star Vu on the fourth hand, winning an almost 50-50 post-flop race. With a 9-8-3 board, Chu bet with J-10, Vu raised him all in with 8-6, and Chu quickly called with his open-ender and two overcards. The turn was a five, and the river brought a seven, completing Chu’s straight.

Other noteworthy finishers: Shane Schleger, 5th; Michael Gracz, 6th; Amir Vahedi, 7th; Kristy Gazes, 31st; Antonio Esfandiari, 39th

Running Numbers:
1,814 Total number of re-buys
0 Re-buys made by Chu

Event #9
$1,500 Omaha High-Low
Number of entries: 690
Winner: Alex Kravchenko
Payday: $228,446
Runner-up: Bryan Devonshire
Payday: $140,336

Memorable hand: Just a couple of hands before ending the tournament, Kravchenko won a huge pot worth about one-quarter of the chips in play when he made an ace-high straight and Devonshire missed both his flush draw and his low draw. The Russian won three-quarters of the next pot and scooped the following pot to clinch the bracelet.

Other noteworthy finishers: Jordan Morgan, 7th; Todd Brunson, 20th; Robert Mizrachi, 40th; Roland de Wolfe, 50th; Kirill Gerasimov, 53rd

Event #10
$2,000 No-Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 1,531
Winner: Will Durkee
Payday: $566,916
Runner-up: Todd Terry
Payday: $353,875

Memorable hand: With four players remaining, Justin Bonomo, the only “name” player left, was the chip leader, but that changed suddenly when he picked up kings and Durkee had aces and they got it all in pre-flop. The board came Q-5-2-4-8, making Durkee a huge chip king and leaving Bonomo short-stacked.

Other noteworthy finishers: Justin Bonomo, 4th; Stan Weiss, 6th; John Murphy, 12th; Clonie Gowen, 64th; Phil Hellmuth, 104th

Event #11
$5,000 Seven-Card Stud
Number of entries: 180
Winner: Chris Reslock
Payday: $258,453
Runner-up: Phil Ivey
Payday: $143,820

Memorable hand: Reslock, who has now defeated the formidable duo of Ivey and John Juanda in heads-up play to score his two most significant tournament wins, had a big chip lead from the start of heads-up play and put the five-time bracelet winner away on a hand where Ivey got his last chips in on Sixth Street. Reslock had (10-10) 4-10-K-2 for a set of tens; Ivey had two pair with (7-7) 8-Q-8-9. Reslock’s final card was a meaningless jack, but Ivey also drew a blank, allowing Reslock to win the battle of New Jerseyans.

Other noteworthy finishers: David Oppenheim, 3rd; Ted Lawson, 6th; Marco Traniello, 8th; Cory Zeidman, 14th; Johnny Chan, 18th

Event #12
$1,500 Shorthanded No-Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 1,427
Winner: Jason Warner
Payday: $481,698
Runner-up: David Zeitlin
Payday: $269,778

Memorable hand: Down 3-to-1 in chips during heads-up play, Zeitlin was dealt pocket aces and played them too slow, allowing Warner’s 7-6 to catch up on a 6-Q-10-6-4 board. Zeitlin saved a few chips by flat-calling on the river instead of coming over the top, but just the same, this hand essentially wiped out his hopes of a comeback.

Other noteworthy finishers: Joe Awada, 8th; J.C. Tran, 15th; Fred Goldberg, 27th; Erik Seidel, 40th; Jeremy Roenick, 66th

Event #13
$5,000 Pot-Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 398
Winner: Allen Cunningham
Payday: $487,287
Runner-up: Jeffrey Lisandro
Payday: $294,620

Memorable hand: It’s just not fair to be as good as reigning ALL IN Player of the Year Cunningham is and be lucky also. After a full 80 hands of heads-up dueling, Cunningham called Lisandro’s all-in push with a modest K-9 and found himself up against pocket queens, but a king on the turn bailed Cunningham out and secured the mild-mannered superstar his fifth career bracelet.

Other noteworthy finishers: Humberto Brenes, 3rd; Jason Lester, 4th; Gavin Griffin, 7th; Joe Sebok, 11th; Chris Ferguson, 13th; Scott Fischman, 16th

Running Numbers:
3 Consecutive years in which Cunningham was won a bracelet
6 Other players who’ve won bracelets in three consecutive years
2 Players who reached the five-bracelet plateau at a younger age than Cunningham

Event #14
$1,500 Seven-Card Stud
Number of entries: 385
Winner: Michael Keiner
Payday: $146,987
Runner-up: Nesbitt Coburn
Payday: $80,876

Memorable hand: Capping off a marathon 17-hour final day—which had tournament officials considering extending it to a third day until the remaining competitors insisted on playing it out—Keiner finally crippled Coburn by making Broadway to beat a modest pair of sixes, and just a few minutes later, at about 8:00 a.m.,it was over.

Other noteworthy finishers: Barry Greenstein, 4th; Greg Raymer, 6th; Ted Forrest, 14th; Paul Darden, 27th; Bill Chen, 36th

Event #15
$1,500 No-Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 2,628
Winner: Phil Hellmuth
Payday: $637,254
Runner-up: Andy Philachack
Payday: $394,594

Memorable hand: What could be more memorable than the hand that made history? A short-stacked Philachack picked up A-10 suited and pushed, Hellmuth looked down at A-3 and made the almost-automatic call, and the poker gods had his back, laying down a flop of 9-3-4. The turn was a queen, the river a jack, and Hellmuth was king.

Other noteworthy finishers: Scott Clements, 5th; Fabrice Soulier, 7th; Ut Nguyen, 8th; Joe Bartholdi, 42nd; James Van Alstyne, 123rd;

Running Numbers:
11 If you don’t know what that number means, then we can’t help you
59 Career WSOP cashes for Hellmuth after this event, tops on the all-time list
21, 3 Age in years and days of 224th-place finisher Alan Keating, which, according to WSOP records, makes him the youngest player ever to cash

Event #16
$2,500 H.O.R.S.E.
Number of entries: 382
Winner: James Richburg
Payday: $239,503
Runner-up: Walter Browne
Payday: $131,790

Memorable hand: Razz was the game when the title was determined, and the hand that took Richburg from a modest 3-to-2 chip lead to a dominating 7-to-1 lead came when he won a huge pot with 7-6-4-3-A with three of those cards hidden, coercing Browne into making a crying call.

Other noteworthy finishers: Chris Bjorin, 3rd; Tom Schneider, 4th; Robert Mizrachi, 6th; Darrell Dicken, 10th; Blair Rodman, 21st; David Williams, 31st

Event #17
$1,000 Ladies No-Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 1,286
Winner: Sally Ann Boyer
Payday: $262,077
Runner-up: Anne Heft
Payday: $166,177

Memorable hand: Heads-up play between Boyer and Heft was an absolute all-in-fest, but the real thriller was the hand that saw Boyer eliminate Randi Calabro in third place. Boyer moved in from the small with pocket sixes and Calabro insta-called with A-Q suited, a perfectly reasonable call that became instantly regrettable when Boyer made quad sixes on the flop. Calabro cashed to the tune of $106,177 for third place, providing decent consolation for the fact that she was fired from her job for not showing up to work that day.

Other noteworthy finishers: Katja Thater, 5th; Vanessa Selbst, 8th; Mary Jones, 16th; Susie Isaacs, 35th

Running Numbers:
0 Larger ladies-only live poker tournaments in history
1 Previous cashes greater than Boyer’s by a woman in WSOP history (Tiffany Williamson in 2005 Main Event)

Event #18
$5,000 Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 257
Winner: Saro Getzoyan
Payday: $333,379
Runner-up: Geoff Sanford
Payday: $200,511

Memorable hand: Getzoyan turned a slight lead into a massive chip advantage early in heads-up play when he and Sanford capped the betting before the flop with a pair of quality starting hands—Sanford holding A-Q, Getzoyan pocket tens. The flop came J-J-7, Sanford bet, and Getzoyan called. The turn was a four, and again, Sanford bet and got called down. They both checked the deuce on the river, and the eventual winner dealt his eventual runner-up a serious blow.

Other noteworthy finishers: Thor Hansen, 4th; Ayaz Mahmood, 12th; Max Pescatori, 15th; Liz Lieu, 19th; Eric Froehlich, 20th

Event #19
$2,500 No-Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 1,013
Winner: Francois Safieddine
Payday: $521,785
Runner-up: John Phan
Payday: $330,846

Memorable hand: “The Razor” keeps taking the wrong end of the blade at these WSOP final tables. Now a two-time World Series runner-up, the final hand saw Phan dealt the cards you dream of—pocket aces—only to have to endure a nightmare river. Safieddine moved all in with pocket fours and Phan, of course, called. The J-8-2 flop changed nothing, and same with the five on the turn. But Safieddine hit his two-outer on the river, and it was all over.

Other noteworthy finishers: Devin Porter, 4th; Humberto Brenes, 7th; Mike Matusow, 11th; Greg Mueller, 21st; Dan Harmetz, 40th

Event #20
$2,000 Seven-Card Stud High-Low Eight-Or-Better
Number of entries: 340
Winner: Ryan Hughes
Payday: $176,358
Runner-up: Min Lee
Payday: $97,461

Memorable hand: This one wasn’t about one hand; it was about a series of hands at the final table that saw 2004 world champion Greg Raymer completely collapse in a span of about a half-hour. With four players remaining, Raymer was the “super stack,” meaning he had more chips than his three opponents combined. But he could hardly win another hand, losing multiple pots to each of the other three men at the table until Hughes surprisingly sent “Fossilman” packing in fourth place.

Other noteworthy finishers: Ted Forrest, 10th; Dan Heimiller, 16th; Mike Wattel, 20th; John Juanda, 21st; Jeff Madsen, 25th

Event #21
$1,500 No-Limit Hold ’Em Shootout
Number of entries: 900
Winner: Donald Baruch
Payday: $264,107
Runner-up: Jared Davis
Payday: $149,263

Memorable hand: With three players left, all about even in chips, Baruch made an aggressive all-in move on Daniel Negreanu that maybe, just maybe, spelled the difference between his winning this bracelet and allowing “Kid Poker” to pick up his fourth WSOP win. With a flop of 10d-7s-5s, Baruch checked his 10s-2s (top pair and flush draw), Negreanu bet out with Qs-10h (top pair, better kicker), and Baruch raised all in. Negreanu went into the tank and eventually folded. Had he called, or had Baruch just flat-called, who knows how the tournament might have turned out.

Other noteworthy finishers: Erick Lindgren, 8th; Fred Goldberg, 9th; Erik Seidel, 10th; Barry Greenstein, 10th; Vince Van Patten, 10th

Running Numbers:
0 Previous major tournament cashes by Baruch
50 Percent increase in participants over the same tournament last year

Event #22
$5,000 No-Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 640
Winner: James Mackey
Payday: $730,740
Runner-up: Stuart Fox
Payday: $448,892

Memorable hand: Mackey, the third-youngest bracelet winner in history at 21 years and four months, finished off the fastest final table of the ’07 WSOP (just two hours, 35 minutes) when he pulled a move he must have learned from Doyle Brunson, pushing all in with 10-2 offsuit. The short-stacked Fox called with K-4, but tens on the turn and river gave Mackey trips and nearly three-quarters of a million bucks.

Other noteworthy finishers: Michael Binger, 3rd; Nick Schulman, 6th; Tex Barch, 8th; Phil Laak, 11th; T.J. Cloutier, 23rd

Event #23
$1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha
Number of entries: 576
Winner: Scott Clements
Payday: $194,206
Runner-up: Eric Lynch
Payday: $119,508

Memorable hand: Considering Clements came into heads-up action with $1,635,000 in chips and online star “Rizen” Lynch had a mere $100,000, it’s no surprise that it was all over after one hand. Clements held K-9-9-8, Lynch Q-7-2-2, and Rizen took the lead on the Q-4-3 flop. But the turn was another three and the river a nine, making Clements a full boat to clinch his second WSOP Omaha title in as many years.

Other noteworthy finishers: Will Durkee, 4th; Andrew Black, 7th; Hilbert Shirey, 11th; Johnny Chan, 20th; Burt Boutin, 22nd

Event #24
$3,000 Seven-Card Stud High-Low Eight-Or-Better
Number of entries: 236
Winner: Eli Elezra
Payday: $198,984
Runner-up: Scotty Nguyen
Payday: $110,731

Memorable hand: Elezra and Nguyen could both barely see straight by the end of their booze-blasted, fan-friendly, 64-hand-long heads-up showdown, and one overplayed hand by Nguyen toward the end makes you wonder whether the cocktail waitress was the real enemy for “The Prince.” There were bets and calls on every street and Nguyen could only show a pair of queens at the end, not nearly good enough to beat Elezra’s aces and kings.

Other noteworthy finishers: Dutch Boyd, 3rd; David Sklansky, 5th; Thor Hansen, 6th; “Miami” John Cernuto, 10th; Marcel Luske, 13th

Running Numbers:
250,000 Dollars won by Elezra for a side bet on whether he’d win a bracelet in ’07
10 Previous bracelets won by the eight players at the final table

Event #25
$2,000 No-Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 1,619
Winner: Ben Ponzio
Payday: $599,109
Runner-up: David Hewitt
Payday: $373,985

Memorable hand: The final three players were all virtually dead even in chips when Justin Rollo got impatient and moved all in with A-3 suited at the wrong time, running into Ponzio’s pocket queens. The board provided no help, Rollo was eliminated on the very next hand, and the doubled-up Ponzio had all the ammo he needed to win the bracelet some 35 hands later.

Other noteworthy finishers: Ken Einiger, 8th; Jason Stern, 57th; Amnon Filippi, 77th; Liz Lieu, 89th; Shannon Elizabeth, 150th

Event #26
$5,000 H.O.R.S.E.
Number of entries: 192
Winner: Ralph Schwartz
Payday: $275,683
Runner-up: Bill Gazes
Payday: $153,408

Memorable hand: The tournament ended during a round of Omaha High-Low, with Schwartz taking a raggedy starting hand and scooping the pot. His 2-3-5-8 made both a straight and strong low hand on the Q-6-3-4-2 board, besting Gazes’ K-K-7-6 on both fronts. Making the hand extra memorable, as it played out, Gazes challenged Schwartz to a heads-up cash game, and Schwartz turned him down, saying, “Nah, after this, I think I’m gonna go party.”

Other noteworthy finishers: Phil Ivey, 4th; Robert Mizrachi, 5th; Alex Kravchenko, 9th; Gavin Smith, 21st; Doyle Brunson, 22nd

Event #27
$1,500 No-Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 2,315
Winner: David Stucke
Payday: $603,069
Runner-up: Young Cho
Payday: $382,357

Memorable hand: Loose plus loose equals excitement, and an overly aggressive push by David Weinger three-handed was met by a debatable call from Stucke, creating the key hand of the tournament. On a board of 9d-9s-4s, Weinger put out a feeler bet with Kh-10d, Stucke made an enormous raise with Qs-5s, and Weinger tried the ol’ all-in move with nothing. Stucke made the call on the draw and found that he was actually a 53 percent favorite to win with 15 outs, and he hit the 6s on the turn to eliminate Weinger.

Other noteworthy finishers: Sabyl Cohen, 11th; Bruce Van Horn, 35th; David Williams, 50th; Nam Le, 101st; Lee Watkinson, 107th

Event #28
$3,000 No-Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 827
Winner: Shankar Pillai
Payday: $527,829
Runner-up: Beth Shak
Payday: $328,683

Memorable hand: You don’t see this every day. Or every year. Or every century. With eight players remaining at the final table, Brett Richey made a standard raise in early position, Shak made an enormous all-in re-raise from the cutoff, and Phil Hellmuth excitedly called off the rest of his chips. After some deliberation, Richey made the call too, only to learn that his pocket kings were third best. That’s right, he had K-K, and both Hellmuth and Shak had A-A (something Richey should have been able to deduce from both players’ rather blatantly ecstatic behavior). The 10-7-3-8-4 board provided no help to Richey, and he was eliminated, while Shak and Hellmuth each increased their stacks.

Other noteworthy finishers: Perry Friedman, 7th; Edward Moncada, 13th; Norm McDonald, 20th; Evelyn Ng, 25th; Steve Dannenmann, 35th

Running Numbers:
0 Previous WSOP events entered by Pillai
10 Players at the final table when the last day’s play began, instead of the usual nine, because organizers wanted to make sure Hellmuth was there for the start of the TV table
39 WSOP final tables for Hellmuth after this event, tying him with T.J. Cloutier for the most all-time

Event #29

$1,500 Razz
Number of entries: 341
Winner: Katja Thater
Payday: $132,653
Runner-up: Larry St. Jean
Payday: $73,311

Memorable hand: Being able to turn over 2-4-5-7-8 in Razz is usually a good thing. But not when your opponent holds 2-3-4-5-8. When St. Jean called off the last of chips on Seventh Street, he almost certainly thought a double-up was coming his way, but Thater held the superior hand and secured the victory for herself and for all poker-playing women.

Other noteworthy finishers: O’Neil Longson, 3rd; Eskimo Clark, 4th; Mark Vos, 6th; Men Nguyen, 7th; Jennifer Harman, 22nd

Running Numbers:
3 Years since the last woman (Annie Duke) won a bracelet in an open event
10 Years since the last woman (Linda Johnson) won the WSOP Razz championship

Event #30
$2,500 Short-Handed No-Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 847
Winner: Hoyt Corkins
Payday: $515,065
Runner-up: Terrance Chan
Payday: $287,345

Memorable hand: Corkins, who was the chip leader since the end of Day One, was probably the most skilled player at the final table—but “The Alabama Cowboy” is not above relying on a little luck to put him over the top. With four players left, Alan Sass raised with Big Slick and Corkins re-raised all in from the big with A-10, leaving himself highly vulnerable to a loss that would dramatically alter the leader board. The 7-8-9 flop increased Corkins’ outs, the ace on the turn changed nothing … and then a ten on the river provided the suckout, sucking Sass right out of the tournament in fourth place.

Other noteworthy finishers: Steve Billirakis, 16th; Mimi Tran, 17th; Erick Lindgren, 20th; Vinny Vinh, 22nd; Erik Seidel, 40th

Event #31
$5,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 392
Winner: Daniel Schreiber
Payday: $425,594
Runner-up: Mark Muchnik
Payday: $230,300

Memorable hand: Early in the first game of the best-of-three finals, Schreiber incredibly won 16 hands in a row, and it was the second of those 16 hands that was the key. On a J-10-10 flop, Schreiber bet and Muchnik called. Schreiber, holding A-Q, wasn’t thrilled about that call—until a king on the turn made him Broadway. Schreiber collected big bets on both the turn and river to take down a huge pot.

Other noteworthy finishers: Vanessa Selbst, 3rd; Shannon Shorr, 5th; Toto Leonidas, 5th; Paul Wasicka, 9th; Scotty Nguyen, 17th

Running Numbers:
12 Consecutive major heads-up wins for Wasicka, combining this event with the NBC Heads-Up Championship in March
8 Days shy of his 22nd birthday when Schreiber won, making him the fifth-youngest bracelet winner ever

Event #32
$2,000 Seven-Card Stud
Number of entries: 213
Winner: Jeffrey Lisandro
Payday: $118,426
Runner-up: Nick Frangos
Payday: $65,902

Memorable hand: The heads-up match between top pros Lisandro and Frangos was just about to get interesting, with the short-stacked Frangos mounting a comeback by doubling up on the previous hand, when Lisandro had the good fortune of being dealt rolled-up aces, plus another ace on fifth street, to easily outdistance Frangos’ face-up pair of jacks and secure his first bracelet.

Other noteworthy finishers: Daniel Negreanu, 5th; Howard Lederer, 9th; Mel Judah, 10th; Cory Zeidman, 14th; Marcel Luske, 22nd

Event #33
$1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha w/ Re-Buys
Number of entries: 293
Winner: Alan Smurfit
Payday: $464,867
Runner-up: Qushqar Morad
Payday: $279,595

Memorable hand: In the best heads-up battle of this year’s WSOP, there were quite a few noteworthy hands, but none could top the one that ended the event. On a flop of J-8-6, Smurfit and Morad got it all in, and Smurfit showed Q-J-8-2 for two pair, while Morad flipped up 10-9-9-6 for a pair of nines and an open-ender. The turn was a six, putting Morad in the lead with trip sixes, but Smurfit came back on the river and hit his four-outer, landing an eight to make a full house.

Other noteworthy finishers: Chau Giang, 5th; Brandon Adams, 6th; Erick Lindgren, 10th; Michael Binger, 15th; Allen Cunningham, 18th

Running Numbers:
880 Total number of re-buys
9th Chip position in which Smurfit entered the final table
167 Hands in the heads-up battle between Smurfit and Murad

Event #34
$3,000 Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 296
Winner: Alexander Borteh
Payday: $225,483
Runner-up: Brandon Wong
Payday: $135,615

Memorable hand: Ah, suited connectors. They’re wonderful when they hit—especially when your opponent completely misplays his big overcards. Wong raised with A-Q on the button and Borteh called with 5d-6d. The 6-4-2 flop was perfect for Borteh, but he checked it, and so did Wong. Borteh bet when a seven hit on the turn, and Wong called. The river was a five, giving Borteh two pair, and he set out a bet—and incredibly, with a four-card straight on the board, Wong called with ace-high. That pot crippled Wong, and one hand later, it was over.

Other noteworthy finishers: David Pham, 4th; Chad Brown, 11th; Max Pescatori, 14th; J.J. Liu, 15th; Phil Hellmuth, 25th

Event #35
$1,500 No-Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 2,541
Winner: Ryan Young
Payday: $615,955
Runner-up: Dustin Dirksen
Payday: $381,381

Memorable hand: You have to love a flop like Q-7-6 rainbow if you’re holding pocket kings, which is precisely why Raj Jain called off all of his chips in the face of an all-in raise from Young. But as it turned out, Young was holding 7-6, good for two pair, and another six on the river made him a full house that eliminated Jain in seventh place.

Other noteworthy finishers: Nam Le, 3rd; Aaron Kanter, 18th; Phil Gordon, 28th; J.C Alvarado, 37th; John Juanda, 61st

Event #36