Everything But The Big One (2005 WSOP)

Your Comprehensive Guide To The 2005 World Series Of Poker
Compiled by Eric Raskin

PHOTO BY IMPDI

THINGS HAVE CHANGED JUST A WEE BIT since 1970, when the World Series of Poker started. What once was a six-man competition has evolved into a six-week odyssey involving thousands upon thousands of players and millions upon millions of dollars. This year, the World Series of Poker spanned 45 events, and ESPN elected to televise a record 14 of them, showing quite clearly that the $10,000 No-Limit Hold ’Em Championship isn’t the only thing fans care about.
Over the next several pages, we’re giving you an in-depth recap of 41 of those events. We’ve left out Events 38 and 40, both satellites to the Main Event; Event 41, the charity media event (in which yours truly was momentarily on top of the world after flopping quad jacks less than an hour into the tournament, only to eventually end up on the rail with no cash for my charity); and Event 42, the Main Event itself. (You’ve read plenty of coverage of that eight-day-long tournament already.) But everything else is in here. And it’s in here in more detail, with more analysis, than you’ll find anywhere else. Every bracelet winner has a story, and the following pages tell those tales.

Event #1
$500 Casino Employee No-Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 662
Winner: Andy Nguyen
Payday: $83,390
Runner-up: Danilo Flores
Payday: $43,195
You can take the World Series out of Binion’s … but you can’t take Binion’s out of the World Series. Nguyen, a 43-year-old poker dealer employed by Binion’s Casino, outlasted seven other poker dealers and a craps dealer at the final table to claim the first bracelet of 2005.

Event #2
$1,500 No-Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 2,305
Winner: Allen Cunningham
Payday: $725,405
Runner-up: Scott Fischman
Payday: $352,125

Memorable hand: The hand that denied Fischman back-to-back victories in this event (he won the first of two bracelets last year in this same competition) and elevated Cunningham to victory started inconspicuously enough, with Fischman limping in with 5-4 and Cunningham checking with 6-3. The flop came 10-6-3, Cunningham bet $100,000 with his two pair, and Fischman called with his open-ended straight draw. The turn was a 4, Cunningham bet $250,000, Fischman raised all in for about $800,000 more, and Cunningham, after a long pause, made the call. The river card was an ace, making Cunningham the champ.

Other noteworthy finishers: David “Devilfish” Ulliott, 3rd; Liz Lieu, 5th; An Tran, 7th; Phil Hellmuth, 24th; Greg Raymer, 86th

Running Numbers:
1 Number of previous World Series events ever with more entrants (the 2004 Main Event)
5 Number of minutes that heads-up play lasted
3, 2, 1 Previous bracelets won by top three finishers Cunningham, Fischman, and Ulliott, respectively

Event #3
$1,500 Pot-Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 1,071
Winner: Thom Werthmann
Payday: $369,535
Runner-up: Layne Flack
Payday: $185,855
Memorable hand: Werthmann, a 35-year-old telecommunications company owner from Detroit, was a major underdog to five-time bracelet winner Flack—especially when Flack built a 3-to-1 chip lead over him. But in a crucial hand, Werthmann got all in after the flop with 8-6 and board of 6-3-2, and Flack called with A-9 and a spade draw. Flack didn’t pair up or catch that fifth spade, vaulting Werthmann into the lead for the first time.
Other noteworthy finishers: Al Krux, 13th; Hoyt Corkins, 25th; Nick Frangos, 27th; Jennifer Harman, 28th; Marcel Luske, 53rd

Event #4
$1,500 Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 2,305
Winner: Eric Froehlich
Payday: $361,910
Runner-up: Jason Steinhorn
Payday: $182,040

Memorable hand: Capping off a wild, back-and-forth, three-hour heads-up match, Froehlich made a king-high flush on the river, put Steinhorn all in, and got the call. When Froehlich turned over his cards, Steinhorn just smiled and knocked his knuckles on the table.

Other noteworthy finishers: Todd Witteles, 3rd; Annie Duke, 16th; David Chiu, 25th; Phil Hellmuth, 42nd; Gavin Griffin, 95th

Running Numbers:
95 Days that Froehlich had been legally allowed to gamble before winning his first bracelet
387 Days that Gavin Griffin reigned as the youngest bracelet winner ever
47 Money finishes by Hellmuth at the WSOP, setting the all-time record (temporarily)

Event #5
$1,500 Omaha Hi-Low Split
Number of entries: 699
Winner: Pat Poels
Payday: $270,100
Runner-up: John Lukas
Payday: $139,870

Memorable hand: The most important hand of this event didn’t come during heads-up play, or even at the final table, or even on the final day. On the first day, eventual winner Poels was short-stacked, all in, and heading for the exits when he spiked an ace on the river to stay alive.

Other noteworthy finishers: Dan Heimiller, 5th; “Minneapolis” Jim Meehan, 6th; Minh Nguyen, 9th; Michael Mizrachi, 35th; Phil Ivey, 54th

Running Numbers:
300 Chip count that Poels dropped to at one point on Day One, when blinds were at 100 and 200
3 Consecutive final tables in this event for Meehan

Event #6
$2,500 Short-Handed No-Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 548
Winner: Isaac Galazan
Payday: $315,125
Runner-up: Harry Demetriou
Payday: $163,850

Memorable hand: In the first “shootout” (six to a table instead of nine) in World Series history, Galazan won most of the major pots, including, of course, the final one: Demetriou, on the button, moved all in with a mediocre Q-9, hoping to steal the blinds, but Galazan looked down at K-J and made the call. The board went 8-5-4-5-2, and the man who calls himself “The General” took the title.

Other noteworthy finishers: David Singer, 4th; Antonio Esfandiari, 5th; Andrew Black, 10th; Mel Judah, 11th; John Juanda, 17th

Event #7
$1,000 No-Limit Hold ’Em (with re-buys)
Number of entries: 826
Winner: Mike Gracz
Payday: $594,460
Runner-up: C.T. Law
Payday: $311,555

Memorable hand: Final table chip leader Chuck Thompson folded his first 20 hands of the day, then finally decided to raise with a lousy 8-3. David “The Dragon” Pham called with A-8, and wouldn’t you know it, the flop came 8-4-3, rewarding Thompson for his seemingly pointless gamble. Thompson bet $40,000, Pham raised to $120,000, and Thompson re-raised all in for another $354,000, forcing Pham to fold.

Other noteworthy finishers: David Pham, 4th; Phil Gordon, 8th; Barry Greenstein, 20th; Annie Duke, 32nd; David Williams, 34th

Running Numbers:
1,495 Total number of re-buys in the event
81 Percent favorite Gordon was with his pocket aces against Pham’s pocket tens, only to get eliminated on a bad beat

Event #8
$1,500 Seven-Card Stud
Number of entries: 473
Winner: Cliff Josephy
Payday: $192,150
Runner-up: Kirill Gerasimov
Payday: $108,775

Memorable hand: Seriously short-stacked, Gerasimov decided to take a stand early in heads-up play with rolled up fives, and “Bax” Josephy called him with a pair of fours, an ace, and a king. Another ace came Josephy’s way on sixth street, and the Russian didn’t catch the five he needed to pull out the win.

Other noteworthy finishers: Minh Nguyen, 7th; Yevgeny Kafelnikov, 9th; Max Pescatori, 25th; Chris Ferguson, 31st

Running Numbers:
14 Months Josephy had been playing poker before winning the bracelet
0 Stud tournaments Josephy had previously played in
5 Minutes of Stud instruction Josephy got from friends Scott Fischman and Brett Jungblut prior to playing in the tournament

Event #9
$2,000 No-Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 1,403
Winner: Erik Seidel
Payday: $611,795
Runner-up: Cyndy Violette
Payday: $295,970

Memorable hand: It had to have been the quickest all-in call ever. Paul Sexton was holding Q-J and looked in great shape when the flop fell Q-J-6, especially with Morgan Machina holding only an 8-5. Another jack came on the turn, giving Sexton a full house. A bluffing Machina bet 50,000, Sexton raised to 150,000, and Machina re-raised all in, thinking Sexton was weak and he’d get him to fold. Quite the opposite, as Sexton called almost before the words “all in” had left Machina’s mouth.

Other noteworthy finishers: Perry Friedman, 3rd; Marcel Luske, 21st; Chau Giang, 27th; Mike Mizrachi, 40th; Tobey Maguire, 54th

Running Numbers:
7 Bracelets won by Seidel, putting him just two behind the all-time leaders—at least for a few days
3.2-to-1 Chip lead held by Machina over his closest competitor when five-handed play began
3 Consecutive all-in plays Machina lost against Violette over the next five hours

Event #10
$2,000 Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 569
Winner: Reza Payvar
Payday: $303,610
Runner-up: Toto Leonidas
Payday: $160,185

Memorable hand: Three-handed play lasted more than 4_ hours, and no hand typified the grueling three-way duel better than John Myung’s final Houdini act before finally being eliminated in third place. Myung went all in with J-5 against Payvar’s pockets tens, and he was dead to a jack when the flop came 8-6-6 and the turn brought a three. But a jack rolled in on the river, miraculously pairing Myung up and keeping him alive for a little while longer.

Other noteworthy finishers: “Miami” John Cernuto, 4th; Alan Goehring, 35th; Daniel Negreanu, 36th; Jeffrey Lisandro, 45th; Max Pescatori, 53rd

Running Numbers:
6 Hours it took for the final two eliminations at the marathon final table
0 World Series events Payvar played in 2004, when his father was battling cancer

Event #11
$2,000 Pot-Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 540
Winner: Edward Moncada
Payday: $298,070
Runner-up: Steven Hudak
Payday: $159,970

Memorable hand: The third hand of heads-up play was the crucial one, as Moncada doubled up and took a commanding lead. Holding pocket nines, Hudak raised pre-flop to $48,000, but Moncada, with J-5 suited, called and hit a tremendous flop of J-8-5. Moncada bet $50,000, Hudak raised to $246,000, and Moncada went all in for $178,000 more. Hudak called, emerged with a straight draw and a diamond draw after the queen of diamonds hit on the turn, but couldn’t complete the bad beat, as a harmless four fell on the river.

Other noteworthy finishers: Freddy Deeb, 5th; Marco Traniello, 7th; Mike Sexton, 10th; Phil Gordon, 27th; T.J. Cloutier, 44th

Running Numbers:
8 Number of countries represented at the final table
30 Percentage of Moncada’s winnings that went to his backers

Event #12
$2,000 Pot-Limit Omaha (with re-buys)
Number of entries: 212
Winner: Josh Arieh
Payday: $381,600
Runner-up: Chris Ferguson
Payday: $210,460

Memorable hand: The final hand was noteworthy because the two players’ hole cards were so similar. Arieh held K-9-3-2, and “Jesus” had K-10-9-3. The flop came 7-5-2, giving Arieh a mighty pair of deuces, and Ferguson suddenly needed a 10 or a runner-runner straight to win. Instead he got an ace on the turn, a jack on the river, and a second-place finish.

Other noteworthy finishers: David Colclough, 7th; Doug Lee, 8th; Erik Seidel, 9th; Michael Mizrachi, 15th; John Juanda, 17th

Running Numbers:
395 Total number of re-buys in the event
$2,118,400 Difference between what Arieh earned for finishing third in the 2004 Main Event and what he earned for finishing first in this event
14 Number of previous bracelets won by the nine men at the final table

Event #13
$5,000 No-Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 466
Winner: T.J. Cloutier
Payday: $657,100
Runner-up: Steven Zoine
Payday: $352,620

Memorable hand: Cloutier, the king of getting sucked out on at the World Series, never would have won his sixth bracelet if not for a nasty suckout of his own when play was six-handed. With a flop of 5-3-2, Cloutier moved all in with A-Q (two overcards and a straight draw), and Neal Wang, after a long deliberation, called with pocket nines. Cloutier needed a four, a queen, or an ace to survive. The turn was a meaningless 3. But a queen fell on the river, semi-miraculously doubling up the 65-year-old living legend.

Other noteworthy finishers: John Bonetti, 3rd; John Hennigan, 6th; Todd Brunson, 8th; Jennifer Harman, 16th; Isabelle Mercier, 33rd

Running Numbers:
19 Consecutive years Cloutier has cashed at the World Series
1 Players ahead of Cloutier (Greg Raymer) on the all-time WSOP money list following this win

Event #14
$1,000 Seven-Card Stud High-Low Split
Number of entries: 595
Winner: Steve Hohn
Payday: $156,985
Runner-up: Mike Wattel
Payday: $88,800

Memorable hand: On the 193rd hand of heads-up play (yes, you read that correctly), and after overcoming a 9-to-1 chip deficit, Hohn’s hand of J-J-8-6-7-5-2 won him both the high and the low after Wattel moved all in with a pair of sevens and a straight draw and missed all of his outs. It was an overwhelmingly meaningful win for veteran pro Hohn, who had previously finished second and third in this event, but had never won a WSOP bracelet.

Other noteworthy finishers: Men Mguyen, 7th; Russ Salzer, 9th; Paul Darden, 12th; Huck Seed, 13th; Barry Greenstein, 36th

Event #15
$1,500 Limit Hold ’Em Shootout
Number of entries: 450
Winner: Mark Seif
Payday: $181,330
Runner-up: William Shaw
Payday: $93,770

Memorable hand: This shootout event (in which one player emerges from each table and advances to the next round, where everyone starts with the same chip count) ended when Shaw (a musician who has played drums with the Rolling Stones) was short stacked and moved all in with a horrendous 9-3 and found himself up against Seif’s K-Q suited. The flop came A-J-2, Seif called for a ten to complete his straight, and his call was answered. Shaw was drawing dead, and Seif had his first bracelet.

Other noteworthy finishers: Kathy Liebert, 7th; “Minneapolis” Jim Meehan, 10th (tie); Humberto Brenes, 10th (tie); Brett Jungblut, 19th (tie); Tom McEvoy, 28th (tie)

Event #16
$1,500 No-Limit Hold ’Em Shootout
Number of entries: 780
Winner: Anthony Reategui
Payday: $269,100
Runner-up: Paul Kroh
Payday: $148,380

Memorable hand: By far the most thrilling hand of the tournament came with six players remaining, when Ted Lawson, Kenny Robbins, and Reategui all went all in, and it turned out all three had pocket pairs. Robbins had kings, Lawson had jacks, and Reategui had nines, and a nine on the turn allowed the 29-year-old from Phoenix to eliminate two foes at once.

Other noteworthy finishers: Phil Gordon, 3rd; Ted Lawson, 6th; Erick Lindgren, 9th; Yevgeny Kafelnikov, 14th (tie); Annie Duke, 53rd (tie)

Running Numbers:
7 Players at the final table whom Reategui personally busted
12-to-1 Chip lead enjoyed by Reategui when heads-up play began

Event #17
$2,500 Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 373
Winner: Quinn Do
Payday: $265,975
Runner-up: Chi Chang
Payday: $137,265

Memorable hand: The final hand, played between two WSOP rookies, was one to remember in large part because it was already over before the turn was even shown. Short-stacked Chang moved all in preflop with Jd-9h, and Do had Ac-7c. The flop of Qc-3c-2c gave Do the nut flush, and that was that, as the Vietnamese-born, Seattle-bred 29-year-old didn’t need to see the turn or river to know he’d won a bracelet.

Other noteworthy finishers: Tom Franklin, 5th; Noah Boeken, 9th; Carlos Mortensen, 19th; David Plastik, 22nd; Steve Zolotow, 35th

Event #18
$2,000 Seven-Card Stud High-Low (Eight Or Better)
Number of entries: 279
Winner: Dennis Ethier
Payday: $160,682
Runner-up: Chad Brown
Payday: $89,838
Memorable hand: The hand that eliminated Bonnie Rossi in sixth place was an absolute heartbreaker. She went all in and made a 6-high straight and a 6-low, seemingly enough to double her up—until Ethier showed that he had made a 7-high straight and a better 6-low.

Other noteworthy finishers: Jennifer Harman, 3rd; Tom McCormick, 8th; Howard Lederer, 14th; Mel Judah, 21st; Jean-Robert Bellande, 22nd

Running Numbers:
2 Number of women at the final table, the first such occurrence at the ’05 Series
10 Total number of WSOP final tables reached by Tom McCormick without ever winning a bracelet

Event #19
$1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha
Number of entries: 293
Winner: Barry Greenstein
Payday: $128,505
Runner-up: Paul Vinci
Payday: $70,680

Memorable hand: The story of this tournament was Greenstein dedicating his victory to terminally ill cancer patient Charlie Tuttle and, as always, donating all of his winnings to charity. But the hand of the tournament took place before the final day of play even began and did not involve Greenstein. The final hand of Day One cut the field from 11 to nine, as both Jay Heimowitz and Phil Hellmuth were eliminated by eventual fifth-place finisher Tim Martz. Hellmuth raised pre-flop with As-Kh-8c-7s, and Martz and Heimowitz called (the latter putting himself all in). The Kc-8d-7h flop looked good to Hellmuth, so he raised all in, and Martz again called. Heimowitz became a non-factor when his dominated hand was revealed, but Martz was alive with Kd-Jh-Jc-9d. The turn was the 10d, giving Martz a straight, and the Jd on the river made him a flush. To the surprise of no one, Hellmuth let fly with some colorful language better suited for HBO than ESPN.

Other noteworthy finishers: Toto Leonidas, 4th; Paul Maxfield, 6th; Chris Ferguson, 7th; Julian Gardner, 15th; Casey Kastle, 22nd

Event #20
$5,000 Pot-Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 239
Winner: Brian Wilson
Payday: $370,685
Runner-up: John Gale
Payday: $204,440

Memorable hand: There were several memorable hands in which WSOP rookie Wilson made successful moves with a lousy 5-4 in the hole, and there was a fantastic moment when he staved off elimination by spiking a five to make a straight on the river. But the biggest hand of all came when Wilson was trailing in heads-up play, went all in with pocket fours, and got called by Gale’s pocket tens. Wilson looked headed for the rail until the J-8-4 flop vaulted him into the lead. The turn was another eight, meaning Gale could win with a ten or another eight, but the river was a king, doubling Wilson up and giving him the chip lead.

Other noteworthy finishers: Allen Cunningham, 4th; Tony Cousineau, 5th; Cyndy Violette, 7th; David “Devilfish” Ulliott, 14th; Erik Seidel, 16th

Event #21
$2,500 Omaha High-Low Split
Number of entries: 359
Winner: Todd Brunson
Payday: $255,945
Runner-up: Allen Kessler
Payday: $132,110

Memorable hand: Kessler, severely short-stacked, moved all in pre-flop with Ac-Jh-10c-5d, and Brunson, who finished fifth in this event a year earlier, called with 9d-6c-2c-2d. The flop of Ks-10h-3c gave Kessler the lead with a pair of tens, but the 4d on the turn gave Doyle’s son a gut-shot straight draw. Brunson needed one of the three remaining fives to win the tournament, and sure enough, the 5c hit on the river, making a six-high straight that took both the high and the low.

Other noteworthy finishers: Tom Fischer, 3rd; Allyn Jaffrey-Shulman, 6th; Max Pescatori, 19th; Juan Carlos Mortensen, 33rd; Scotty Nguyen, 34th

Running Numbers:
9 Bracelets Brunson now needs to win to catch up to his father
0 Other father-son teams in which both father and son own WSOP bracelets
10 Minutes Ben Lang was suspended from play for after dropping the F-bomb at the final table

Event #22
$1,500 No-Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 2,013
Winner: Mark Seif
Payday: $611,145
Runner-up: Minh Nguyen
Payday: $329,975

Memorable hand: This one has to go down as one of the most thrilling hands of the entire 2005 World Series. With four players remaining, Nguyen moved all in with pocket jacks, Webber Kang called with pocket tens, and Bill Gazes, after much internal debate, called with A-K. The crowd was going absolutely nuts, creating a Main Event final table atmosphere. The flop came out J-10-2—giving Kang a set, Nguyen a higher set, and Gazes a straight draw. The turn card was a six and the river a nine, and Nguyen took the monster pot, eliminating Kang and crippling Gazes.

Other noteworthy finishers: Greg Raymer, 6th; David “Devilfish” Ulliott, 9th; Chris Ferguson, 25th; Evelyn Ng, 67th; Michael Mizrachi, 68th

Running Numbers:
4 Players at the final table who owned bracelets
6 Days between Seif’s two WSOP victories
0 Other players who won multiple bracelets at the 2005 Series

Event #23
$5,000 Seven-Card Stud
Number of entries: 192
Winner: Jan Sorensen
Payday: $293,275
Runner-up: Keith Sexton
Payday: $162,430

Memorable hand: After more than an hour of back-and-forth heads-up play, former professional soccer player Sorensen finally put the ball in the net against Sexton. The Dane started with a pair of nines (one was showing, one was hidden) and ended up with a full house, nines over sevens, good enough to trump the face-down kings that Sexton started out with but couldn’t improve upon.

Other noteworthy finishers: Chip Jett, 3rd; John Phan, 4th; Joe Awada, 5th; Tony Cousineau, 10th; David Colclough, 12th

Event #24
$2,500 No-Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 1,056
Winner: Farzad Bonyadi
Payday: $594,960
Runner-up: Lars Bonding
Payday: $317,625

Memorable hand: “Freddy” Bonyadi may have captured his third bracelet and joined the WSOP millionaires’ club, but he played no role whatsoever in the most interesting hand of the event. With five players remaining, Mayan Grigorian, playing with an extremely short stack, raised all in from the small blind with a lowly 10c-2c, hoping to steal, but got called by an even worse starting hand from Bonding, 7d-5h. Grigorian held a small lead after the Ad-Qd-8h flop, and he was still ahead and looking to double up when the turn brought the 8d. But when the Kd fell on the river, it gave Bonding a diamond flush, sending Grigorian packing.

Other noteworthy finishers: Ram Vaswani, 17th; Huck Seed, 25th; John Juanda, 26th; Marco Traniello, 67th; Yevgeny Kafelnikov, 76th

Event #25
$2,500 Pot-Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 425
Winner: Johnny Chan
Payday: $303,025
Runner-up: Phil Laak
Payday: $156,400

Memorable hand: The highly entertaining heads-up duel between the stoic Chan and the manic Laak concluded when “The Unabomber” raised all in with K-J, and Chan called with Q-Q. The flop of J-5-5 wasn’t bad for Laak, but he still needed a king or a jack to double up. But the turn and river were both tens, giving the legendary Chan the better two pair and the championship.

Other noteworthy finishers: Jerri Thomas, 5th; Humberto Brenes, 9th; Paul Wolfe, 14th; Michael Mizrachi, 23rd; Blair Rodman, 28th

Running Numbers:
10 Bracelets won by Chan, making him the first to reach double digits
93 Minutes between the elimination of Richard Osborne in third place and the start of heads-up play, due to ESPN’s spur-of-the-moment decision to record and televise Chan vs. Laak

Event #26
$1,000 Ladies No-Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 601
Winner: Jennifer Tilly
Payday: $158,335
Runner-up: Anh Le
Payday: $83,540

Memorable hand: Many in Hollywood have tried to become World Series of Poker champions, but none succeeded until Tilly steamrolled the field in this event. The historic hand that clinched the bracelet—on just the 21st hand of the second and final day of play—saw Le raise all in with K-J and get a call from Tilly with A-7. The board went 10-6-5-8-4, providing no help to Le and allowing the one-time Oscar nominee to win the bracelet with ace-high.

Other noteworthy finishers: Cecilia de Mortensen, 4th; Kathy Liebert, 52nd

Event #27
$5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha (with re-buys)
Number of entries: 134
Winner: Phil Ivey
Payday: $630,685
Runner-up: Robert Williamson III
Payday: $350,380

Memorable hand: Some might say the best hand was when Ivey cut the field from seven to five by eliminating two players at once with a flush. But we prefer the final hand of the tournament. With a flop of 8-7-4, Williamson raised, Ivey re-raised enough to put RWIII all in, and Williamson made the call. The Texan had A-8-2-2 for top pair with an overcard, but Ivey showed 10-6-5-4, meaning he’d flopped an eight-high straight. The turn was a four, pairing the board, and meaning Williamson needed one of the two remaining deuces to win with a full house. Instead the river was a three, and Ivey became the youngest player ever to win five bracelets.

Other noteworthy finishers: Davood Merhmand, 3rd; Allen Cunningham, 4th; Surinder Sunar, 5th; Eddie Scharf, 7th; Phil Hellmuth, 8th

Running Numbers:
229 Total number of re-buys in the event
20 Number of previous bracelets won by the nine men at the final table
4 Consecutive years in which Williamson has reached the final table in this event
0 Dollars Richard St. Peter took home for 10th place, making the ESPN-televised final table but not making it into the money

Event #28
$5,000 Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 269
Winner: Dan Schmiech
Payday: $404,585
Runner-up: Gabe Kaplan
Payday: $222,515

Memorable hand: It’s hard to win a tournament without the benefit of a lucky suckout or two, and Schmiech definitely got lucky when he eliminated James Kwon in third place. Kwon went all in with A-J, and Schmiech called with A-5, putting Kwon in excellent position to double up. Until the flop came, that is. The 7-5-4 flop put Schmiech in the lead, the turn was a three, and the river was a 10, giving the eventual champion a commanding chip lead entering heads-up play against the erstwhile Mr. Kotter.

Other noteworthy finishers: Annie Duke, 4th; Jeff Shulman, 7th; Amir Vahedi, 10th; Men Nguyen, 21st; Phil Laak, 22nd

Event #29
$2,000 No-Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 1,072
Winner: Lawrence Gosney
Payday: $483,195
Runner-up: Jarl Lindholt
Payday: $258,000

Memorable hand: The hand that eliminated J.C. Tran in fifth place was the most noteworthy hand of this tourney, as Tran went all in with the better cards—Ks-Js vs. Lindholt’s Kc-8c—but got wiped out when Lindholt flopped a flush with Ac-5c-2c. The only way Tran could be saved was if the board made a runner-runner straight flush to chop the pot—giving him a one-in-1,000 shot at winning. No such luck, as the turn was a ten and the river a queen.

Other noteworthy finishers: Dustin “Neverwin” Woolf, 4th; Barry Greenstein, 25th; Chad Brown, 34th; David “Devilfish” Ulliott, 39th; Chris Ferguson, 64th

Running Numbers:
3 Number of British players at the final table
9 Events at the 2005 WSOP that had 1,000 or more entrants

Event #30
$1,500 Seven-Card Razz
Number of entries: 291
Winner: O’Neil Longson
Payday: $125,690
Runner-up: Bruno Fitoussi
Payday: $70,275

Memorable hand: The most interesting hand was probably the one that determined who would challenge Longson in heads-up play, as Al “Sugar Bear” Barbieri took a shot against Longson with A-10-7-6-3, and ended up losing to the eventual champion’s A-8-6-5-4 and going home in third place. That allowed Fitoussi, the manager of the famous Aviation Club de France, to sneak into the final two.

Other noteworthy finishers: Mike Wattel, 5th; Mickey Wernick, 6th; Blair Rodman, 10th; Marco Traniello, 16th; Brett Jungblut, 19th

Running Numbers:
3 Bracelets Longson has won in his career
2 Bracelets Longson has won since turning 70
18 Hours that Day Two of the event lasted

Event #31
$5,000 Short-Handed No-Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 301
Winner: Doyle Brunson
Payday: $367,800
Runner-up: Minh Ly
Payday: $203,715

Memorable hand: It wasn’t quite the hand that Brunson made famous and ultimately saw named after him, but it was damned close. “Texas Dolly” won his record-tying 10th bracelet by moving all in with just a 10-3 offsuit (the 10-2 is of course known as the “Doyle Brunson”), and was the clear underdog when Ly called with K-Q offsuit. But the flop came 9-8-3, pairing up the 73-year-old legend, and the turn and river fired off a couple of blanks—a four and then a five—to give Doyle the championship.

Other noteworthy finishers: Scotty Nguyen, 3rd; Layne Flack, 4th; Men Nguyen, 8th; Chris Ferguson, 11th; John Juanda, 17th

Running Numbers:
4 Days that Johnny Chan reigned as the only 10-bracelet winner
10 World Series final tables reached by fourth-place finisher Layne Flack
5 World Series bracelets won by Flack

Event #32
$5,000 Omaha High-Low Split
Number of entries: 224
Winner: David Chiu
Payday: $347,410
Runner-up: Russ Salzer
Payday: $191,610

Memorable hand: For the first time ever, the Omaha High-Low Split event’s prize pool exceeded $1-million, and Chiu, now a four-time bracelet winner, was the lucky beneficiary. After dominating nearly every hand of his 40-minute heads-up duel with Salzer, Chiu ended matters by getting Salzer to go all in against his nut flush. Chiu had Ac-Kc-5c-3h, giving him better high and low cards against Salzer’s Ah-Qh-6c-5h. The flop fell Qd-Jc-9s, Chiu bet, and Salzer called. The turn was the 4c, Chiu bet again, and Salzer called again. The river was the 7c, completing Chiu’s flush, and the Chinese veteran bet enough to put Salzer all in. Salzer called, and that was that.

Other noteworthy finishers: Allen Cunningham, 7th; Chad Brown, 10th; Ted Lawson, 11th; Marcel Luske, 17th

Event #33
$3,000 No-Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 1,010
Winner: Andre Boyer
Payday: $682,810
Runner-up: Matt Glantz
Payday: $364,620

Memorable hand: With seven players remaining at the final table, Ken Blanton picked a bad time to slow-play pocket aces, as he limped in and allowed Dennis Perry to see the flop from the big blind with his 8-4. Blanton was an 86-percent favorite to win at that point, but when the flop came J-8-4, the odds swung dramatically. Perry put in a moderate bet, Blanton moved all in, and Perry called. The turn was a ten, leaving Blanton with eight outs: the two remaining aces, the three remaining jacks, and the three remaining tens. The river was a queen, and Blanton was sent to the rail for trying to get cute with his powerful starting hand.
Other noteworthy finishers: Steve Zolotow, 13th; Dewey Tomko, 33rd; Rene Angelil, 50th; Julian Gardner, 69th; Liz Lieu, 72nd

Event #34
$1,000 Seniors No-Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 825
Winner: Paul McKinney
Payday: $202,725
Runner-up: Bob Hume
Payday: $106,230

Memorable hand: The final hand of this two-day affair was all about the kicker, as McKinney put Hume all in with A-J, and Hume called with A-4 suited. Hume got neither the four nor the clubs he needed (the board read A-Q-2-Q-3), and their heads-up battle was over after two back-and-forth hours.

Other noteworthy finishers: Robert Redman, 4th; Carol Bollinger, 9th; Peter Alson, 37th; “Minneapolis” Jim Meehan, 52nd; T.J. Cloutier, 57th

Running Numbers:
50 Minimum age to enter this event
80 McKinney’s age, making him the oldest bracelet winner ever
76 Previous record-holder Johnny Moss’ age when he won his final bracelet
3 Bracelet winners at the 2005 World Series over the age of 70

Event #35
$10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha
Number of entries: 165
Winner: Rafi Amit
Payday: $511,835
Runner-up: Vinny Vinh
Payday: $282,280
Memorable hand: With Amit and Vinh sporting almost identical chip stacks, Amit won a key heads-up hand that gave him a commanding lead that he would never relinquish. Vinh held A-10-8-5 and liked his hand enough to call an all-in bet when the 9-8-8 flop gave him trip eights. But Amit pushed all in for a reason. He was holding J-9-9-4 for a full house. The turn card was a five and the river a two, both blanks, allowing eventual winner Amit to scoop a massive pot.
Other noteworthy finishers: Todd Brunson, 6th; Erik Seidel, 8th; Julian Gardner, 10th; John Gale, 11th; Max Pescatori, 13th
Running Numbers:
10 Minutes Amit sat out during heads-up play for a profanity penalty
210,000 Chips Vinh picked up by collecting blinds during those 10 minutes
11 Europeans among the 18 money finishers

Event #36
$3,000 Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 406
Winner: Todd Witteles
Payday: $347,385
Runner-up: Daryl Mixan
Payday: $179,290

Memorable hand: The final hand not only earned Witteles a bracelet, but it gave him unofficially the best start to a World Series career ever. Having finished in third place in Event #4—Witteles’ first ever WSOP tournament—he somehow improved upon that result in this, his second ever WSOP tourney. Witteles (better known to some by his online handle, “Dan Druff”) had a commanding chip lead and got Mixan to move all in with a board of K-8-7-10 with one card to come. Mixan had K-6 for top pair, but Witteles had 10-7 for two pair. Mixan had outs—a six, eight, nine, or king would save him—but the river brought a queen, giving the title to the man who uses a Head & Shoulders bottle as a card protector.

Other noteworthy finishers: Cyndy Violette, 7th; Eddy Scharf, 10th; Mark Gregorich, 21st; Daniel Negreanu, 22nd; Kenna James, 31st

Event #37
$1,000 No-Limit Hold ’Em (with re-buys)
Number of entries: 894
Winner: John Heneghan
Payday: $611,015
Runner-up: Paul Deng
Payday: $324,305

Memorable hand: Heneghan (not to be confused with John “Johnny World” Hennigan) held a chip lead for nearly the entire final table, and had almost a 3-to-1 lead entering heads-up play, but Deng gradually hacked away at that lead—until Heneghan nipped his momentum in the bud on the dramatic final hand. Looking at a flop of Kc-Jd-4d, Deng pushed all in with 10d-5d (a flush draw), and Heneghan called with J-10, good for middle pair. The turn was the 8c and the river was the 7s, and Heneghan’s jacks held up.

Other noteworthy finishers: Freddy Deeb, 6th; Barry Greenstein, 7th; Joe Hachem, 10th; David “Devilfish” Ulliott, 16th; Howard Lederer, 17th

Running Numbers:
1,584 Total number of re-buys in the event
1 Re-buys made by winner Heneghan

Event #39
$5,000 No-Limit Deuce-To-Seven Draw Lowball (with re-buys)
Number of entries: 65
Winner: David Grey
Payday: $365,135
Runner-up: John Hennigan
Payday: $217,110

Memorable hand: Grey made an excellent decision with five players remaining that enabled him to stay alive and, eventually, build up enough chips to earn a bracelet. Grey moved all in before the draw for his last 75,000 in chips with Q-10 high (a reasonably mediocre hand in Kansas City Lowball), and got called by Mark Weitzman. Weitzman elected to draw a card, so Grey stood pat with his Q-10 high, a move that paid off big time when Weitzman paired up on the draw, giving Grey the best low hand.

Other noteworthy finishers: Dewey Tomko, 3rd; Russ Salzer, 6th; Jeffrey Lisandro, 7th

Running Numbers:
139 Total number of re-buys in the event
3.5-to-1 Chip lead Hennigan held over Grey at the start of heads-up play

Event #43
$1,500 No-Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 863
Winner: Ron Kirk
Payday: $321,520
Runner-up: Adam White
Payday: $168,520
Other noteworthy finishers: Erik Seidel, 6th; Marcel Luske, 10th; John Gale, 18th; Men Nguyen, 28th

Event #44
$1,000 No-Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 971
Winner: John Pirez
Payday: $220,935
Runner-up: Eli Balas
Payday: $120,835
Other noteworthy finishers: Robert Williamson III, 11th; Reza Payvar, 32nd; Ted Lawson, 42nd; Surinder Sunar, 50th; Humberto Brenes, 53rd

Event #45
$1,000 No-Limit Hold ’Em
Number of entries: 758
Winner: Willie Tann
Payday: $188,335
Runner-up: Matt Smith
Payday: $98,675
Other noteworthy finishers: Chau Giang, 28th; David Plastik, 48th; Arnold Spee, 49th