Dan Schmiech Beats Gabe Kaplan to Win WSOP Bracelet
[Update: Check out Dr. Pauly's latest sounds bytes over at the Lord Admiral Poker Podcast and hear what's on Phil Hellmuth's iPod from the man himself.Be sure to visit the World Series of Poker live blog from Dr. Pauly. More photos are now in the 2005 WSOP Photo Gallery. Complete World Series of poker tournament results can be found at Poker Player Newspaper.]
Dan Schmiech had been getting pummeled by Gabe Kaplan consistently the day before, but he patiently waited at the final table and got his revenge when he beat Gabe Kaplan heads up to win his first WSOP bracelet. In his second year at the WSOP, Dan Schmiech has two cashes and one bracelet, which is not too bad for a guy who plays a lot of internet poker. Dan Schmiech outlasted a final table that included a former professional athlete, an actor, a mother of four, the son of a famous poker player, a law student, a small business owner, a magazine publisher, and a seasoned tournament veteran who's seeking his first bracelet.
There were 269 players in the $5K Limit event competing for a prize pool of $1,264,300. Here are the final table seat assignments and chip counts:
Seat 1: Joe Sebok (San Francisco, CA) $184K
Seat 2: Annie Duke (Portland, OR) $150K
Seat 3: James Kwon (Chicago, IL) $227K
Seat 4: Gabe Kaplan (Los Angeles, CA) $290K
Seat 5: Dan Schmiech (Houston, TX) $219K
Seat 6: Young Phan (Irvine, CA) $144K
Seat 7: Luke Neely (Austin, TX) $94K
Seat 8: Jeff Shulman (Las Vegas, NV) $38K
Seat 9: Greg "FBT" Mueller (Vancouver, BC) $89K
Here are some random facts about our final table players:
Early on and with a shortstack, Jeff Shulman doubled up with pocket aces against Young Phan's A-3. Shulman had $80K in chips and created a little breathing room for himself. Greg Mueller was the first player eliminated from the final table. On the flop if Ks-7c-4s, Phan bet out. Mueller raised and Phan reraised. Mueller called the rest of his chips and was all in. Phan flipped over 8-8 and Mueller showed 9-9. Mueller was in the lead until Phan caught a runner-runner straight to knock him out. Greg Mueller won $25,285 for 9th place. James Kwon continued to be the chipleader. Gabe Kaplan put a wicked bad beat on Young Phan. Gabe Kaplan had 10-3 and flopped bottom pair. Phan had A-3 and also flopped bottom pair, but with a better kicker. The river was a ten and "Mr. Kotter's" three outer sent Young Phan home in 8th place. He won $37,930. Annie Duke and her As-Qs caught a runner runner flush to knock out Jeff Shulman. He flopped top pair with KJ. Jeff "Happy" Shulman was not too happy to be eliminated in 7th place. He won $50,570.
Welcome Back, Mr. Kotter! Gabe Kaplan doubled up three times inside of fifteen minutes. He survived all in attempts each time and was still alive. That seemed to be the momentum he needed to start his run. Joe Sebok went on a rush too. He scooped a big pot and moved into the chip lead. Luke Neely was short stacked and busted by Annie Duke. He finished in 6th place and won $63,215. Annie Duke doubled up on two hands, once against Gabe Kaplan and the other time with James Kwon, when her Hiltons held up against pocket Jacks.Joe Sebok's rush ended and he found himself the short stack once again. His pocket Kings doubled up against Gabe Kaplan's Big Slick. That would be one of the last major pots he'd win. Joe Sebok was eventually knocked out in 5th place by Annie Duke. Joe had pocket 3's to Annie's K-7. Annie flopped a King and Joe's hand failed to improve. Joe Sebok won $75,860.
After a couple hours of four-way play, Gabe Kaplan took over the chip lead with $640K after he won a monster pot from James Kwon who only has $200K remaining. Annie Duke was shortstacked and moved all in preflop with Q-J. Dan Schmiech called with A-2 and his hand held up to eliminate Annie Duke, who won $88,500 for fourth place.
James Kwon moved all in with A-J. Dan Schmiech called with Ah-5h and caught some of the flop with a pair of fives. Kwon's hand did not improve and he was eliminated in 3rd place. He won $113,785. When play reached heads up, Dan Schmiech held a 2 to 1 chip lead over Gabe Kaplan. After 16 hands of heads up play, Gabe Kaplan was eliminated in second place. He won $222,515. Dan Schmiech won his first bracelet and $404,585. He started the final table with a decent amount of chips and never gave any of them up.
"I hit a great rush of cards and everything fell in place at once," Dan Schmiech explained about his play at the final table. Congrats to Dan!
Phil Ivey wasn't going to play in Event #27 $5000 Pot Limit Omaha with Rebuys. He was sleeping at the time that the event was scheduled to start. Barry Greenstein noticed he was not registered, so he woke him up with a phone call. Barry knew that Pot Limit Omaha is one of Phil's better games and insisted that Phil get over to the Rio to play. Phil Ivey mainly concentrates on cash games these days and he chose to play a light tournament schedule this year. It's a good thing that Phil Ivey woke up and answered Barry Greenstein's phone call because he picked up his fifth WSOP bracelet.
This was an important final table for Phil Hellmuth. Every time he enters a WSOP event, he has a legitimate shot at making history. He's been racking up different WSOP records and has been trying to make it to as many final tables as possible. He's also been battling Berry Johnston for the most career WSOP cashes. With nine bracelets, Phil Hellmuth is currently tied for second most WSOP bracelets with Doyle Brunson. They both trail Johnny Chan by one after Chan won his 10th a few days ago. 
Davood Mehrmand knocked out E.C. Cohen. On the flop of Qh-Jd-2s, E.C. Cohen moved all in with Jh-9c-6c-2h. Mehrmand called with Ad-As-Qs-3s. Davood Mehrmand caught trip aces on the river and scooped the pot. E.C. Cohen finished in 9th place and won $52,555.
Surinder Sunar was busted when Allen Cunningham flopped a straight. Surinder finished in 5th Place and won $122,635. Allen Cunningham's attempt to win his second WSOP bracelet this year came to a halt when he was eliminated by Phil Ivey. On a flop of Qd-10d-4d, Cunningham moved all in with As-Qh-Qs-5h and a set of Queens. Ivey flipped over Ac-Kd-Qc-6d for a flush. His hand held up and Allen Cunningham finished in fourth place. He won $140,150. Three players are left and Phil Ivey is running over the table.
Davood flopped an open ended straight draw and Ivey showed top pair. Davood's hand failed to improve. Davood Mehrmand hung on and played tough for several hours. He was up against two tough players. Robert Williamson is considered one of the best PLO players in the world and Phil Ivey is one of the toughest cash game players to beat in Las Vegas. Davood won $194,210 for his efforts. Phil Ivey had over a $900K chip lead.
After winning a big pot on the previous hand, Phil Ivey flopped a straight. Robert Williamson moved all in and he had only two outs to help him. Unfortunately, he did not catch any of them and was eliminated. Robert won $353,115 for his runner up finish. Phil Ivey won $635,603 for first place and collected his fifth WSOP bracelet. 
The poker boom is affecting women from all walks of life. From grandmothers to college students and from celebrities to homemakers, the number of women who are playing poker is increasing every day. With the advantages that online poker rooms provide and the plethora of televised poker programs available, women are being exposed to poker on a grand scale, particularly No Limit Texas Hold'em.
Jen Creason from 
I met Kim and Lupe from 
Once it got down to four players the tournament directors gave the option to the ladies of quitting for the night. After fifteen grueling hours of poker the remaining players agreed at around 4:00am to stop play and resume action on Monday afternoon. 
ennifer Tilly called Carolyn Ancheta's all in bet. Carolyn had K-J and Jen showed A-7. The flop was A-8-7 and Carolyn's hand failed to improve. She won $43,680 for third place. We reached heads up play and Jen continued to have a clear chip advantage.
The World Series of Poker held the final four table for the Championship of Ladies' No-limit Hold'em, event #26. The record field of 601 ladies sat down to play some hold'em poker in the $1,000 buy-in event. The large size of the field forced the scheduled one-day event into two days of play. The entrants had been cut down to four players when a halt was called at a little after 4:00 this morning and a weary group of players, crew, media and fans headed for the gate. The final four returned to play for the championship at three this afternoon. Event #26 was offering a total prize pool of $546,910 with $158,335 going to the winner. Jennifer Tilly emerged the Ladies' champion and goes home with the money and the coveted 2005 gold World Series of Poker bracelet. 
Johnny Chan won his tenth World Series of Poker bracelet and proved why he is considered one of the best poker players in the world. He was tied with Doyle Brunson and Phil Hellmuth who won nine bracelets a piece. After his victory early on Monday morning, Johnny Chan holds the record for most WSOP bracelets along with the honorable distinction of becoming the first player ever to win ten. 
With the fields of players swelling to record numbers at this years WSOP, it seemed impossible than Chan, Brunson, or Hellmuth could make a final table, let alone win another bracelet. Once again Johnny Chan defied the odds. He's been a fighter his entire life and came from behind to win once again. 
Ivo Donev was the first player eliminated from the final table in 10th place. He won $11,730. Phil Laak got his game rolling when he doubled up with pocket aces against Ashok Surapaneni's Big Slick. Johnny Chan crippled Humberto Brenes when his AK failed to improve against Chan's 66. Humberton Brenes finished in 9th place after he was busted by Richard Osborne. Humberto won $19,550. Ashok Surapaneni moved all in with A-10 against Frank Kassela's Hilton Sisters. Surapaneni didn't catch any cards and he was knocked out in 8th place. He won $29,325.
Robert Osborne must be a fan of pocket nines. He moved all in with them on two consecutive hands. He was seriously shortstacked on the first hand and pushed. Phil Laak called with 8-7o and flopped a 7 with an ace high on the board. Laak caught an eight on the turn to take the lead. On the river, an ace fell which paired the board and gave the lead back to Osborne. On the next hand, he doubled up against Rich Harroch's Big Slick. 
Phil Laak, with his sneakers off and his hooded sweatshirt half on and half off, knocked out Tony Hartmann in 6th Place. Laak flopped a set with pocket tens and Hartmann moved all in with the Hilton Sisters. Hartmann's hand failed to improve and he was eliminated. Hartmann won $48,175. Johnny Chan was third in chips out of five remaining players.
Johnny Chan said, "Zero."
Then the hand of the tournament occurred. Johnny Chan raised preflop. Frank Kassela reraised. Johnny Chan moved all in with the Hilton Sisters. Kassela called with pocket aces. Chan slowly counted out his chips. He was covered by Kassela. The flop was: K-K-Q. The railbirds went a little crazy. The turn and river did not help Kassela and Johnny Chan cracked Aces with pocket Queens! Johnny Chan moved into the chiplead after he crippled Kassela.
The tournament directors made an executive decision to postpone heads up play until the $2,500 NL event was completed. The plan was to move the heads up match to the official TV table so that they could provide better coverage of Johnny Chan's attempt at history for the TV audience. 
On the 16th hand of heads up play, Phil Laak raised to $30K. Johnny Chan reraised to $92K. Laak agonized over the call and eventually moved all in. He flipped over K-J. Johnny Chan showed... the Hilton Sisters! Although Laak flopped a Jack, his hand did not improve and Johnny Chan's pocket Queens held up. He won his 10th World Series of Poker bracelet in just three attempts at this year's WSOP.
Farzad Bonyadi was seeking his third WSOP bracelet when he signed up for Event #24. He had to outlast a field of 1056 tough players, who were competing for a prize pool worth over $2,428,800.
Larry Watson was the first player eliminated from the final table. Joe Zappia moved all in with A-10 and Larry Watson had pocket 8's. Zappia flopped a ten and his hand held up. Larry Watson was finished in 9th place and won $48,575. K.J. Jordan pushed all in with Kd-Qd. Lars Bonding called with pocket fives. On the turn, Jordan picked up a flush draw but it missed on the river. K.J. Jordan was eliminated in 8th place and won $72,865. Robert Doyle doubled up with AK against Joe Zappia's AQ. On the next hand, Mayen Grigorian doubled up against Lars Bonding. 
Mayen Grigorian's short stack was eliminated by Lars Bonding's big stack when he caught a flush on the river. For fifth place, Mayen won $145,730. Robert Doyle was shortstacked and moved all in with 7-5o. Bonyadi called with Kc-10h. Doyle flopped a pair, but Bonyadi caught a King on the turn to take the lead. Doyle was knocked out when his hand did not improve on the river. He finished in fourth place and won $170,015. 
Without a doubt, writer Hans Christian Andersen is the most famous person from Odewse, Denmark. However, the residents of Odewse are cheering on a new hero, Jan Sorensen, after he won his first World Series of Poker bracelet. The former professional athlete beat the reigning world champion, Joe Awada, along with a field of 192 players, all of whom competed for a prize pool of $902,400 in Event #23 $5,000 Seven-card Stud. 
Joe Awada knocked out the first player at the final table. Tom McCormick was short stacked and had to move all in. By fourth street McCormick showed a King high with three clubs and he was drawing dead by the time Awada picked up a full house on fifth street. Tom McCormick finished in 8th place and won $27,070.
John Phan held onto his short stack for a while, but eventually was knocked out in 4th place by Keith Sexton. John Phan won $72,190 for 4th. Keith Sexton moved into a huge chip lead after that pot. 
The 2005 World Series of Poker continues to set records every time an event is played. Record crowds, record prize money, record player registrations, even record prices for bad fast food. The huge entry fields make the path to a final table more elusive than ever, requiring players to demonstrate their ability to play mistake free poker for long hours. Player stamina and physical conditioning becomes a factor of increasing importance as the events often continue into the early morning hours. Tournament officials have changed schedules from two day to three day affairs for most of the events providing some relief to the long hours at the tables. Players still have to survive the large fields to get a seat at one of the 44 final tables. 
Mark Seif made history tonight after he won his second World Series of Poker bracelet inside of one week. Last Friday he won Event #15, the $1,500 Limit Hold'em Shootout, to collect his first bracelet. This Friday he emerged victorious in the $1,500 NL Hold'em event. His feat was astonishing because he had to endure two tough fields including 2013 players who signed up for Event #22, which ended up being the third largest field in the history of the WSOP. With the ridiculous amount of entrants playing in all of this year's WSOP, making multiple final tables is impressive. But winning two bracelets is a major accomplishment. More astonishing is the fact that Mark Seif won back-to-back WSOP tournaments. This was the first event he played in since he won his first bracelet last week. 
Play at the final table started out tentative. Whoever raised preflop picked up the pot right away. It wasn't until twenty-five minutes into the final table before any of the players saw a flop. The crowd let out a sarcastic round of applause when the dealer laid out the first flop of the day. 
Bill Gazes and his Big Slick doubled up against Greg Raymer's 77. Gazes caught an Ace on the turn and a King on the river to prevail. With a shortstack, Greg Raymer moved all in with 33. Webber Kang called with AJ and flopped a Jack to take the lead. Raymer's hand didn't improve and the Fossilman was knocked out in 6th place. He won $119,450.
Insanity broke out at the Rio when three out of the four remaining players moved all in preflop. Bill Gazes had AK. Webber Kang pushed with pocket tens. And Minh Nguyen moved all in with pocket Jacks. Railbirds flocked from all over the room to catch a glimpse of the biggest hand of the tournament. Players in other events left their seats to take in the action at the TV table. With the audience buzzing with anticipation, tournament director Johnny Grooms announced the flop of J-10-6 and the room exploded with a rowdy reaction from the audience. Although Kang and Nguyen both flopped sets, Minh was ahead and Bill Gazes picked up a gutshot draw. The turn and river didn't help anyone and Minh Nguyen won a monster pot in one of the most exciting hands I have seen so far at this year's WSOP. 
After an hour of heads up play, Minh Nguyen finally moved into a slight chip lead. That lead didn't last too long and Mark moved back into a 2 to 1 margin. On the final hand, Mark Seif raised preflop and Minh reraised. Seif moved all in with KK and Minh called with A-10. Seif's pocket Kings held up and he won his second bracelet. Minh Nguyen won $329,975 for second place and Seif collected $611,145.
Todd Brunson had to live in the ominous shadow of his father for his entire life. Tonight, he finally made his own mark and won his first WSOP bracelet in Event #21 $2,500 Omaha 8 or Better. He outlasted a difficult field of 359 players who were competing for a prize pool of $825,700. He also beat out a final table with accomplished players that included a couple of bracelet winners. 
Here are some random facts about the final table players... More than half the table is from Southern California. Larry Reynolds is a CEO and has won a major Omaha 8 tournament at the Bike in Los Angeles. Nat Kow was originally from Thailand and he's currently a professional poker player. He won a bracelet in 2000 for Omaha Hi/Lo. Ben Lang is originally from South Africa. He's an entrepreneur and this is his second event he's ever playing in. Allen Kessler has won several tournaments at the Bike and also has several WSOP cashes under his belt. Todd Brunson won more than ten major tournaments and wrote a chapter on Seven-card Stud Hi/Lo in Super System 2. Glenn Cozen is a surgery center manager. He was the runner up at the Main Event in the early 1990s. Tom Fischer is originally from St. Louis. He won two WSOP bracelets in the 1980s. Allyn Jaffrey Shulman is originally from Brooklyn, NY. She's a criminal defense attorney. Manelic Miwaya emigrated from the Dominican Republic. He's a debt collection manager in Florida.
Todd Brunson added more chips to his stack when he knocked out Ben Lang. Todd had A-Q-7-2 and scooped the pot winning both the high (with aces up) and the low with A-2-4-6-7. Ben finished in 8th place and won $24,770. Allen Kessler's ace high nut flush was good enough to send Glen Cozen to the rail. Glen Cozen was eliminated in 7th place and won $33,030.
Tom Fischer was knocked out in 3rd place when he moved all in preflop with Jd-8d-8h-3h. Todd Brunson called and showed As-Ac-10s-6c. Fischer had plenty of outs and unfortunately missed a flush and straight draw. Todd eliminated him in third place. Tom Fischer won $66,055. We've reached heads up play and Brunson had a small margin over Allen Kessler.
Brian Wilson almost didn't play in the event. He had been sick. But great players manage to defy the odds and overcome obstacles. He beat out a difficult final table which included a few bracelet winners to take home his first WSOP bracelet. He also got a little luck and came from behind to beat out John "Gentleman" Gale.
Here are some interesting facts about our final table players... Joe Sebok is an aspiring poker player from Northern California. He's a self admitted internet geek and graduated from UC-Berkely with a degree in Psychology. He's also Barry Greenstein's son. Cyndy Violette has one gold bracelet and this is her second final table this year. Steven Lui is known as "Lucky" around Las Vegas. He's originally from Hong Kong. Brian Wilson is into real estate and he also likes hockey. He's a proud graduate of the University of Illinois. Derek LeForte represents Canada. He's a part-time dealer and enjoys jui-jitsui. Allen Cunningham, won a bracelet earlier this year. Originally form California, he dropped out of UCLA where he was seeking a degree in engineering. John Gale is a Management Consultant from London. He's married with four kids and enjoys horse racing. He's also won an event on the WPT. Tony Cousineau was a professional sports bettor before he started playing poker full time. He's a graduate of the University of Arizona. Burt Boutin is a stockbroker from Las Vegas with three kids.
John Gale and Brian Wilson were involved in a huge hand. They were both all in preflop. Gale had AJ and Wilson showed 66. The flop: 4-7-8. Gale caught a Jack on the turn to take the lead, but Brian Wilson caught his gutshot on the river when a five spiked. Wilson doubled up but Gale still held a $500K chip lead. On the next hand, both players were all in preflop once again. Gale showed pocket tens and Wilson had 44. Gale got kicked in the junk when a 4 flopped. His hand did not improve and Wilson doubled up on Gale in consecutive hands. Wilson went from almost dead to the chip lead. The players had to take a break after the excitement of two of the most exhilarating hands at the final table.
All of this year's WSOP gold bracelets have been won by men. Few ladies have even made a single final table. Kathy Leibert got to a final table and so has 
To see these ladies competing on equal footing with the men would be comparable to tuning into to your favorite sporting event and finding a female on the pitcher's mound or dropping back to throw a long one. Of course, we all know that 'throwing like a girl' will never get you on the mound or in the huddle; but, these poker ladies throw cards as well as anyone and they have been successfully bluffing men and taking their money a hell of a lot longer than we've been playing poker.
The World Series of Poker event #22 began play today at the Rio Hotel here in Las Vegas. The third largest tournament in the history of the World Series of Poker sat down at the noon hour to begin the quest that ends with a gold bracelet and a huge pile of cash. Among the poker faithful, seat #6 at table #44 to be exact, was Paul McGuire or Dr.Pauly as he is lovingly known to his many fans and readers. Some know him as the master blogger living at 
Wandering around the two hundred tables packed with ten thousands of players I came across Mike Matusow and Phil Hellmuth sitting side by side. What are the odds of these two drawing consecutive seat numbers out of a field of two thousand plus? While shooting some photos of the two multi-bracelet winners I listened in on the conversation which went something like this:
"This one is for Charlie," Barry said as a round of applause filled the room.
Chad Brown lost a 3 to 1 chip lead in last year's $1,500 Seven Card Stud event to Ted Forrest. This year, his fate was similar. The actor turned professional poker player attempted to win his first bracelet in the $2000 Stud HiLo event. He fought a field of 279 players who were competing for a prize pool of $513,360 and came up short after losing to North Carolina's Denis Ethier.
Seat 1: Jennifer Harman (Las Vegas, NV) $50K
Here are some interesting tidbits about the players at the final table... Quinn Do is originally from Vietnam and he also cashed in the Limit Shootout. Chi Gang plays a lot in the LA casinos and this is the first year he's played at the WSOP. Captain Tom Franklin is a producer from Gulfport, MS and has won 3 bracelets. He also loves karaoke. Rodeen Talebi is professional poker player from Texas. This is his second final table this year. Sammy Arzoin is a professional poker player from New York. He has a 27th place finish in the main event. Mike Davis is a CEO of a grocery chain in Washington State. This is his first year at the WSOP. Tony Nasr is known as TNT. He's originally from Lebanon and he lists "man of all trades" as his profession. This is his first final table. Noah Boeken is a 24 year old poker player from Amsterdam. He won the EPT Copenhagen event. Spencer Sun is a computer programmer from Novato, CA.
The 2005 World Series of Poker played out to a championship on Saturday evening at the Rio Hotel here in Las Vegas. Fans crowding the final table were treated to a few hours of great poker, arguably some of best of any seen at this year's WSOP. The final table roster for the ten players making the cut in this Shoot Out format $1,500 buy-in limit Hold'em tournament follow:
The river was a 7 and Anthony's Ace had won his first WSOP bracelet and $269,100 in prize money. Secon place finisher, Paul Kroh, goes back to Northern Nevada with $146,380. Phil Gorden, host of 
The 2005 World Series of Poker continues to attract record crowds and set records every day. The enormous fields for the events have created schedule and timing problems that could not have been anticipated requiring solutions to be created on the fly. The published schedules of two day events are now mostly three day affairs, and even with the extra day final tables typically continue into the small hours of the morning. Last evening, event #15, a $1,500 buy-in Limit Hold'em Shoot Out, played the final table for thirteen hours before a winner was declared. The final table heads up play would probably have continued into 2006 WSOP had not the two taken a short break and had a private conversation. They returned to the table about even in chips and then in less than seven minutes and five hands Mark Seif had all of Bill Shaw's chips and the championship.
The problems of the very large fields of players, especially in limit and split-pot contest, often means very long hours at the table. I have been looking at World Series of Poker players through a camera viewfinder for many years and this gargantuan 2005 gathering is beginning to show in the faces of the players and staff alike. Wandering through the tournament tables will always produce a number of player portraits that exhibit the results of extreme fatigue. Professional poker players pride themselves on their ability to put in long hours at the tables sitting in a waiting room reject chair while never losing the finely honed edge of their "A" game. The things I'm seeing and hearing at this year's big poker show indicate that player stamina has become the primary ingredient in winning. Some are calling it the "Last player standing tournament." One of the players commented that if you can stay awake you can win a bracelet.
It was another exciting day at the Rio. We reached the final table at one of the most intense tournaments I have covered to date. 595 players were battling for a total prize pool of $541,450 in the $1000 Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo event. Cyndy Violette won last year's event and she was on the rail to sweat her good friend Mike Wattel.
Men The Master was knocking back Coronas at a steady pace. Giacomo D'Agostino was knocked out first in 8th place. Men the Master was next in 7th place. Marie St. Michael took 6th place. Peter Phillips finished in 5th place. Jonathan Paul came in 4th. In 3rd place, it was Al Ruck. 
There were 450 players who signed up for the $1500 Limit Hold'em Shootout. The prize money was $621,000. The shootout is an interesting format. You have to beat all the players at your table in order for you to advance to the next level. During day one, the first round lasted too long so the tournament directors decided to have Round 2 consist of nine tables of five players instead of five tables of nine players. All the players at the final table started with $75K in chips. Kathy Leibert is the defending champion in this event.
M.J. Partin was the first player to be knocked out. He finished in 9th Place and collected $12,420. Samrane Siharath was knocked out by Mark Seif's AA. He took 8th place and won $18,630. Kathy Leibert was eliminated in 7th place. She collected $24,480 for her work. I was rooting for Kathy to repeat this year and she was disappointed that she could not win back to back bracelets.
Mark Seif and William Shaw played heads up for about ninety minutes before they took a short break. When they came back, Mark Seif went on a rush to win his first WSOP bracelet. William Shaw took second place. He won $93,770. Mark Seif took down $181,330 for the victory. He's a former attorney who decided to play poker full time. Congrats to Mark.
No one has more major tournament wins than T.J. Cloutier's astounding number of 58 victories. Without a doubt, he might be the best player of all time who never won the main event at the World Series of Poker. This past year was not an easy one for T.J. Cloutier. He battled back from serious health problems including a heart attack and a blood clot in his brain. He also fought off a field of 466 of the toughest players in the world and emerged victorious to pick up his 6th WSOP bracelet. 
Seat 1: Dustin Woolf (Los Angeles, CA) $233K
Our chipleader Neal Wang is self-employed. T.J. Cloutier has 46 cashes at the WSOP and has won five gold bracelets prior to this year. "Johnny World" Hennigan won a bracelet at last year's WSOP. Hieu "Tony" Ma was born in Vietnam. He's nicknamed "TTT" which is short for "Tony the Tiger." Tony Ma won one WSOP bracelet. Originally from Brooklyn, NY, John Bonetti is retired. He has won three gold bracelets. Steven Zoine, a contractor, is married with two kids. He has only read one poker book and it was written by T.J. Cloutier.
He eventually would get knocked out by T.J. Cloutier and finished in 10th place. Gavin Smith won $24,090 for his efforts. 
A few orbits later, T.J. Cloutier moved all in with AA. John Hennigan called with A-10s and T.J.'s aces held up. Johnny World Hennigan was knocked out by T.J. and finished in 6th place. He won $109,510. 
When the 7 spiked on the river for a straight, the crowd went a little crazy. Steve Zoine won $352,620 for second place. He played stellar poker for three long days. It took a river suck out to prevent him from winning his first WSOP bracelet. T.J. won $657,100 and his sixth gold bracelet.
Josh Arieh was looking to add a second WSOP bracelet to his collection after a third place finish at last year's main event. He survived a field of 212 players and had to beat out three other bracelet winners at a tough final table in order to accomplish his goal. The Pot-Limit Omaha with Rebuys event had a prize pool of $1,180,080 with 395 rebuys. First place paid out $381,600.
Seat 6: Chris "Jesus" Ferguson (Pacific Palisades, CA) $109K... The former World Champion has won five bracelets. With the toss of a single card, he can slice bananas and pickles.
Max was one of the shortstacks and he doubled up within the first orbit. Josh Arieh raised preflop and Max reraised from the blinds. Doug Lee thought for a while and called. Arieh folded. All clubs fell on a flop of Q-9-4. Max moved all in for the remainder of his chips. Since it was only about $6K more, Doug Lee called. Max flopped a King high flush with Kc-Tc-Kx-4x. Doug Lee was drawing dead with A-K-J-3. Max doubled up and did exactly what he needed to do if he wanted a shot at his first bracelet.
Jesus eliminated Arturo Diaz in 6th place. Arturo Diaz was all in by the turn and lost to Jesus' set of 6's. Diaz won $57,820. Josh Arieh retained the chip lead and Max Pescatori became the shortstack with five players remaining.
The crowd was definitely pro-Jesus. For Arieh, his wife was in the crowd along with Erick Lindgren and a few friends rooting him on. Early on in their heads up match, Jesus won a big hand against Josh. On a flop of A-5-8, Jesus moved all in with a set. Josh called with 3-4-6-9. Jesus showed 8-8-7-2. turn and river didn't help Josh and Jesus took down the big pot. Arieh lost the chip lead and Jesus gained momentum. He was looking good with $785K in chips to Josh Arieh's $420K.
"I love my freedom," Edward Moncada said a few moments after he slapped his first WSOP bracelet on his wrist. "That's why I move around a lot." 
Seat 2: Edward "Bolivia" Moncada (No known residence) $125K... He's a part-time janitor and part-time poker player who's been all over the map the last few years.
"Shah Ajay began the final table as the chipleader. The first player from the final table was knocked out within the first orbit. Yoshitaka Oku pushed all in with pocket Kings. Edward Moncada called with A8 and he hit an unbelievable flop of: 8-8-3. Yoshi was eliminated in 9th place and won $19,870 for his efforts. Marco Traniello doubled up when he won a coin flip. His pocket sevens held up against Edward Moncada's A-10.
"Freddy Deeb was still the chipleader until he doubled up Shar's 88. Freddy Deeb called with KQ. In one of our homegames in New York City, my buddy F Train nicknamed KQo the "Kournikova," because KQo looks nice but never wins, just like Anna Kournikova.
He pushed all in and Cossio quickly called. Freddy won $59,615. Cossio moved into the chiplead with $386K.
"Steve Hudak was not about to give up. With KT he doubled up against Edward Moncada's J7s. Although Moncada flopped a flush draw, he didn't catch any cards. Moncada's chiplead dwindled to a 2 to 1 difference. Steve Hudak was back in the hunt.
I took a few minutes during the dinner break and hiked for about fifteen minutes to reach the area of the Rio Casino where the overhead floats do seven shows nightly. The colorful skyfloats are 
The roster lists players from a number of countries including England, Belgium, Japan, the republic of Texas and, of course, the US. The event will be filmed for a September 6, 2005 broadcast on the ESPN network. The winner of the event will receive a gold 2005 WSOP championship bracelet and $298,070 in cash. Mike Sexton, host of the WPT poker series, went out on the TV final table bubble receiving $10,930 for his efforts.
The schedules are being changed on the fly to accommodate the exceptionally large fields so published dates and times are subject to change.
It's been over a week since the Vegas Poker Blogger invasion and the stories are some of the most entertaining reading on the internet. Rather then re-invent the wheel I direct you to 
Even Erik Seidel's wife didn't think he could win his 7th bracelet. "I never thought he'd make another final table ever again with so many more people playing," she said a few minutes after he won the $2,000 No Limit event where he outlasted 1402 other players. She honestly thought he would never win another bracelet due to the record number of players entering events at the World Series of Poker.
"This is a very special win," he added, "It's been an incredible journey. Seems impossible to win with so many players. Every year it gets harder and harder to win."
Indeed, 
Bill Blanda was the first one eliminated. He ran into Perry Friedman's pocket nines and won $51,630 for ninth place. Chris Wunderlich went out next when he moved all in preflop with AK and Paul "The Hammer" Sexton called with JJ. Chris was bounced in 8th place when Paul Sexton flopped a full house. Chris Wunderlich won $77,445.
Cyndy Violette found pocket kings again. She reraised all in and since Morgan Machina had a monster stack, he called with A8. His hand did not improve and Cyndy doubled up. Her run continued when she pushed all in preflop with 10d-8d. Morgan called with KT. She doubled up when an 8 spiked on the river and the pro-Cyndy crowd went a little crazy. On the very next hand, she moved all in with AQ. Paul Sexton called with K9. She flopped an ace and doubled up again. 
The tenth event at this year's World Series of Poker had 569 entrants sign up. The prize pool for the $2,000 buy in Limit Hold'em event was $1,046,940. Just like the first Limit Hold'em event that ran until 4 AM, this tournament proved to be another grueling marathon. The final three players competed for over five hours without eliminating anyone. In the end, at around past 3 AM, Reza Payvar from Los Angeles, CA won $303,610 for a first place prize and a WSOP bracelet. That was his first final table at the WSOP.
WSOP Event #9, $2,000 buy-in No-Limit hold'em attracts a record field of 1403 entrants. late this afternoon we have a female player, Cyndy Violette, leading the remaining twenty-something players in the chip count. Dr. Pauly will live blog the final table at 
I heard a rumor making it's way along press row that one of the chip leaders in the 2005 World Series of Poker Stud Event never played a hand of Stud before this tournament. That's the sort of drunken rumors that become urban legends. Regardless, it's a great Las Vegas story that will be told by taxi drivers and bored poker dealers for decades to come, "Did I ever tell you about the guy who played Stud for the first time then proceeded to win a WSOP bracelet?"
At the end of Day 1, Abe Almalhi held the chip lead with $86,100. At one point Max Pescatori was the chipleader, but unfortunately "The Italian Pirate" got knocked out in 25th place. Last year's winner Ted Forrest was also a casualty on Day 2.
When it was heads up, Kirill was outchipped immensely. He hung on but eventually was anted down. With such a shortstack, he had to go all in eventually. Kirill's pair of 5s did not improve and lost to Cliff's pair of aces. The young Russian won $108,775 for second place and Cliff "Johnny Bax" took home $192,150 and a gold bracelet. Congrats to Cliff for immortalizing himself as "that guy who never played Stud before and won a WSOP bracelet."
Mike Gracz from Raleigh, North Carolina outlasted a field of 826 players to win the largest rebuy tournament in the history of the World Series of Poker. Mike Gracz is fresh off his win on the Party Poker Million Cruise where he pocketed $1.5 million for his victory. Today, he captured his first WSOP bracelet and $594,460 for first place.
At the end of Day 1, Shane Schleger was the chip leader with $250,300. By the end of Day 2, CT Law and Chuck Thompson were both at the top of the leader board. David Pham had a decent sized stack and he appeared to be the favorite when the final table began.
Mike Gracz made some amazing calls along his way to his victory. One hand that sticks out was when he made a gutsy call with 99 against a river bluff. David Pham raised $25K preflop and Gracz called. The flop was K-7-4 and both players checked. When a 5 fell on the turn, Pham bet half the pot and Gracz called. The river was an ace and Pham bet about $70K which would have put Gracz all in. He thought for a while and called. Mike Gracz sniffed out a bluff from Pham who showed QT. What a call!
He didn't hit any of his outs and Mike Gracz eliminated Shane. He won $132,110 for fifth place.
After two hours of heads up play, Mike Gracz won his first WSOP bracelet. On a flop of 8-5-J he moved all in. TC Law took a few minutes to ponder his decision. He finally called and showed QJ. Mike Gracz had Q8s and was way behind. One of his friends on the rail asked for an 8. The crowd went a little crazy when an 8 spiked on the turn. TC Law played great over the last three days. He got his money in the pot when he had the best hand. Alas, he was outdrawn. TC Law finished in second place and won $311,555. 
The World Series of Poker offered something for everyone today. Hold'em, stud, cash games, super satellites, single table satellites, screaming matches, take-it-outside threats and Quick! Call security. You cannot have this many mega-egos in one room and expect everything to go smoothly all the time; in fact, I think we have been lucky not to see fireworks before now. I know why they outlawed sidearms at poker games. The simple version of today's drama goes something like this; professional player David Levi made a comment to an opponent that had signaled a raise by giving a thumbs-up, then the player went on to comment a string bet. David said that where he's from a thumbs-up is the same as the single finger salute. The player then replied with, "The finger means f**k you." David then came back with "f**k you" and both players ended up with a ten minute time out, just like kindergarten. Is this the end of the story? Oh, hell no. For whatever reason which will remain completely clouded in obscurity, Chris Tsiprailidis decided to confront the opponent close up and got out of his seat to do so. 
Between Chris and the other player was professional player Paul Darden who had seen about enough and decided to put in his opinion. The confrontation between Chris and Paul resulted in Chis asking Paul to step out into the corridor and settle the problem; which, lucky for Chris, Paul very wisely rejected after his friend, Cody, talked to him for a few moments and defused the situation. Security had been called and arrived to help sort things out. Chris left the tournament area in the Pavilion but did return to complete play in the event. This all happened in the stud event!
Chuck Thompson (9) $544,000
The event will play the final table on Friday. Late this evening the nine lucky finalists had not been determined and play continues. The Friday event #9 will be a $2,000 buy-in No-limit Hold'em tournament that is expected to draw a major crowd of players. Friday promises to be another action filled day at the biggest show in all of pokerdom, the World Series of Poker.
The confidence: When Isaac was asked about the exact point during the tournament when he thought that he could win it all, he mentioned, "As soon as I knocked out Greg Raymer." Whenever you eliminate the reigning World Champion, that's a huge ego boost, especially to a guy who does not have a tremendous amount of experience playing against professionals.
Day 2 began with 13 players left on 3 tables. It started yesterday with 548 players. The action is fast due to the tables being short handed. Andrew Black started Day 2 as the chipleader. He pushed all in preflop with KK. Isaac Galazan called with A-T and rivered an ace. That was a big hand for Isaac and it help propel him to the final table.
Two players were eliminated fairly quickly once the final table began. Isaac Galazan knocked out David Barnes with pocket tens. David flopped a nut flush draw with AJs. He also had two overcards but could not catch any of his outs. Sixth place paid $50,415.
Harry was a shortstack and with Q9, he pushed all in. Isaac quickly called with KJ. The flop was all rags: 8-5-4. When a 5 hit the turn, Isaac emphatically asked the dealer and said, "One more, Love!" Harry's cards were still alive. He needed one of his six outs to double up. The river didn't help him and Harry ended up coming in second place. He won $163,850. After he amassed a huge chiplead, I figured that Harry would be a lock for first place. However, the night belonged to Isaac Galazan. He came from behind to win his first WSOP title.
Award winning writer, Dr. Pauly, has a complete write-up of the event with behind the scene details and views of the people that make it to a final table. Don't miss his daily 2005 WSOP final table analysis and insight into the world of high dollar tournament poker.
More photos are now in the 
By the dinner break, Minneapolis Jim Meehan moved into the chip lead with $191K. Minneapolis Jim Meehan looks like an old time poker player. His facial expressions are priceless and you can often find an unlit cigarette dangling from his mouth. He had been swigging down several Heinekens for the duration of the tournament. At one point he said to the other players at the final table "I'm so good, I send chills up and down my own spine."
Minneapolis Jim Meehan eventually finished in 6th place. A few moments later, Dan Heimiller was knocked out in 5th place. They played four handed for almost an hour before Bahram Kianfar was eliminated. At that point Pat Poels' chip stack grew to over $655K.
The 2005 World Series of Poker continues to set records everyday and Monday was no exception. In fact, two records went into the books today. The $1,500 Limit Hold'em event attracted a field of 1049 players, passing the 
Just after 4 AM on June 7th, history was made at the Rio casino in Las Vegas. Eric "Efro" Froehlich became the youngest ever bracelet winner at the World Series of Poker. He turned 21 on February 9th. 
The 2005 World Series of Poker crowned two champions today. The first was in event #2, a $1,500 buy-in No-limit Hold'em tournament that had a field so large it had to be expanded to three days. The event attracted 2305 players gathering a total prize pool of $3,180,900. The final table, filmed for later broadcast on ESPN, began at 2:00 pm and played for more than six hours before only one was left. 
Shortly after the presentation of the prize money and bracelet, Phil Hellmuth came over to congratulate Allen. Phil was playing in event #4, a $1,500 buy-in Limit Hold'em tournament. The starting field of 1049 was nearing the prize payout level of 100 players. Should Phil Hellmuth make it into the money he would hold the record for most cashes in the WSOP, 48. He currently is sharing the record of 47 money finishes with Berry Johnston. A few minutes later Phil stopped by to say he had made it into the money and now owned another WSOP record. Congratulations to Phil for this accomplishment.
The turn brought another Ace and the match was over. Layne finished second and received $185,855. Thom goes away with a gold WSOP bracelet and $369,535 for his come from behind win. Well known professional poker player Tony Ma was eliminated in the number three spot receiving $118,240.
The 2nd annual blogger tournament is now history, with 
This, at least for me, was the highlight of the gathering. I had a chance to meet new bloggers, including a 
Today's event #3, a $1,500 Pot-limit Hold'em tournament began at noon with 1071 players taking their seats. A record number of entrants for another WSOP event. The 
Some of the unknowns will become well knowns when their journey ends with a WSOP championship bracelet. Nothing boosts the reputation or ego of a poker player more than winning a World Series of Poker event and event #3 will crown a Pot-limit Hold'em champion on Sunday. First place money is $369,535 plus a gold bracelet.
Allen Cunningham (4), Marina del Rey, California, $728,000
The World Series of Poker Event #2 goes into the record book as the largest poker tournament ever outside of the 
Almost everyone that is someone in the professional poker world was there to be a part of history and perhaps carry away some of the $3,180,900 prize pool. The winner is slated to receive a gold 2005 WSOP champion's bracelet and $725,405 in prize money. The event began to a packed, standing room only crowd with every seat taken and then the attrition factor took over and the mass of humanity was constantly shrinking. Tables were being broken down and players assigned to fill empty seats in a continuous pseudo assembly line process.
The 2004 reigning world champion of poker, Greg Raymer, remained in the hunt wearing the most sought after prize in all of pokerdom, a platinum WSOP World Champion bracelet.
The combined prize pool will approach and may even top the 
Just before five o'clock this morning Andy finally completed his mission to collect all the poker chips when his A,5o ruled and Danilo Flores of San Leandro, California, a poker dealer at the Oaks Card Club went out in second place. Third place was taken by Thang Luu, a craps dealer at Harrah's here in Las Vegas. Fourth place finisher was a young dealer from Victoria, Canada, Simon Matthew. The event paid 63 places from the record $297,900 prize pool with Andy Nguyen collecting $83,390 for the win. Danilo Flores takes down $43,195 and Thang Luu goes away with $23,830. Simon will return to Canada with an additional $20,855. Read the excellent detailed event report from Tournament Media Director, Nolan Dalla, at 
The cards went into the air at high noon today to begin the 2005 World Series of Poker at the Rio All-Suite hotel and casino here in Las Vegas. A brief introduction of tournament officials and a welcome to everyone from Tournament Director, Johnny Grooms, and then the much anticipated command to "shuffle up and deal" announced the official start of the 2005 WSOP. Today's event is limited to casino employees and is a $500 No-limit Hold’em contest to determine the best poker player working in the casino industry. Our good friend, fellow blogger and Poker Room Manager for Sam's Town Hotel & Casino, Dick Gatewood, is playing in this year's event. He also played in the 2004 tournament and we hope he does better this year. We begin last year's coverage of the 2004 WSOP with a photo of Dick playing in the employee event and will continue the tradition this year.
The winner of today's event will have a nice payday, the dollar amount as yet undetermined until the final number of entrants is known. The winning casino employee will also go home with one of the coveted WSOP gold champion bracelets.
More photos are now in the 
The atmosphere in the Rio's Pavilion was quite festive and filled with anticipation. This is the one everyone wants to win. Nothing helps the career and ego more than owning one of the gold WSOP bracelets that go to each event winner. 
The World Series of Poker kicks off six weeks of championship poker tomorrow, Thursday, June 02, 2005 with a No-Limit event for casino employees. Friday brings us to the first open-to-all event, a $1,500 buy-in No Limit Hold'em tournament. The number of entrants will be capped at 2000 and late this evening more than 1100 seats had already been sold. Those wishing to compete in this or any of the events need to get their player's badge, register and pay for the events they want to enter; otherwise, the event may be sold out. Even with 200 tables there are more players than seats so don't get shutout, register early.