Volume 31 • Number 12 • May 5, 2000
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2000 Champion

JENNIFER HARMAN


Event #13 Results
DEUCE-TO-SEVEN (no limit)
$5,000 Buy-in
$5,000 in chips
1. Jennifer Harman$146,250
2. Lyle Berman$81,250
3. Steve Zolotow$48,750
4. Bruce Corman$32,500
5. Lamar Wilkinson$16,250

Total Prize Pool: $325,000
Number of Entrants: 30 (35 rebuys)


Entries to Date: 2,647
Prize Money to Date: $5,327,500

NO EXPERIENCE REQUIRED

By Mike Paulle

Is it possible to win a World Series bracelet after only a few minutes coaching for a game you've never played before? Evidently it is.

There were 30 entrants and 35 rebuys in the $5,000 Deuce-To-Seven for a total prize pool of $325,000. Five players were paid.

Potentially, Deuce-To-Seven can be the most expensive game of the Series. A $5,000 buy-in with rebuys that is No Limit can run much more than the Championship Final that is guaranteed to be only $10,000. Since there are so few players in this event, (it's played in one day, not two) we can list all the entrants: Mickey Appleman, Bill Baxter, Jim Bechtel, Lyle Berman, Chris Bjorin, Doug Booth, Marc Bouchard, Johnny Chan, Bruce Corman, Allen Cunningham, Tony Davis, Freddy Deeb,. Annie Duke, Tom Franklin, Sam Grizzle, Christoph Haller, Jennifer Harman, Phil Hellmuth, Jim Hoeppner, Howard Lederer, O'Neil Longson, Vince Musso, Huck Seed, Erik Seidel, Richard St. Peter, An Tran, Lamar Wilkinson, Hertzel Zalewski, Simon Zhang and Steve Zolotow.

How would you like to go up against this lineup with no experience in a $5,000 buy-in game? No Problem!

THE FINAL TABLE 56 mins left of 80. $200 ante, $600/$1,200 blinds, $2,400 minimum opening.
PlayerHometownChip Count
Seat 1 Lamar WilkinsonPacheco CA$23,800
Seat 2 Simon ZhangSan Francisco CA$30,200
Seat 3 O'Neil LongsonSalt Lake City UT$31,600
Seat 4 Bruce CormanNottingham UK$25,400
Seat 5 Lyle BermanMinneapolis MN$139,200
Seat 6 Jennifer HarmanLas Vegas NV$49,100
Seat 7 Steve ZolotowNew York NY$35,700
With 30 entries and 35 rebuys the average player spent more than $10,000 in this event. So making it to the 7-seat Final Table without getting paid is especially tough. Simon Zhang caught an Ace (a 'high only' card in Deuce-To-Seven) on his one card draw all-in against Jennifer Harman. Simon says you win when Jennifer turned over a 10 6.

Finishing 6th, which was one out of the money, the all-in O'Neil Longson mucked his hand when Steve Zolotow showed him a 9 8.

Cardroom owner Lamar 'Wil' Wilkinson had no cards for hours but managed to get paid in 5th by continually throwing away marginal hands. When Wil went all-in finally, he had a chance on his one card draw against Steve Zolotow. Steve Z took one card, also, and caught an Ace. Any card that doesn't pair him would win the hand for Wilkinson. Drawing to a six, Wil drew a six and was 86'd for his pair.

Another player who couldn't find a hand to open with for hours was Bruce Corman. You know you are running bad when you go all-in on a one-card draw and can't beat a two-card draw. Bruce caught a Queen and 4th place, Jennifer Harman drew two cards and still came up with a J 9.

It was desperation time for Steve Zolotow. The stacks across from him dwarfed his chips. Steve went all-in drawing two cards. Lyle Berman drew one. Zolotow made a nice hand with a Jack low. But Lyle had a 10 low to send the famous Steve Z out in 3rd.

She was never supposed to get this far, surely she had no chance to win! Jennifer Harman is a highly confident player. But could even her confidence extend to a game she'd never played in tournaments before? How confident can you be and still be reality-based? Harman got a few minutes of instruction from Howard Lederer before beginning. Perhaps Lederer can sell us the tape of this instruction, it worked miraculously well.

Lyle Berman is a three-time bracelet winner. He's an expert at this game and has played thousands of hours in head up Deuce-To-Seven for enormous amounts of money. Jennifer can't beat Lyle Berman as a 4-1 chip dog! What are the odds?

If Jennifer Harman didn't beat Lyle Berman at his own game with no experience, we wouldn't have a story. Instead we have a great story as after over an hour of back and forth where each player in turn took a commanding lead, Jennifer Harman won the hand of the night. Absolutely equal in chips, Lyle went all-in with a pat 10 8. Jennifer called and drew one to an 8. When she turned over an 8 5, Lyle had only one chip left which he lost in the next hand. Jennifer Harman had done the near-impossible. She got her first gold bracelet with no experience required.

Internet coverage of the 2000 World Series of Poker is brought to you as a service of ConJelCo with the full and active cooperation of Binion's Horseshoe. ©2000 Binion's Horseshoe • some portions © 2000 ConJelCo