1996 World Series of Poker

Seven Card Stud (Limit)

$5,000 Buy-in
Entries: 65
Total Prize Money: $325,000


1995 Champion: Tony DeAngelo

1996 Champion: Henry Orenstein




The Winners

1. Henry Orenstein $130,000
Verona, NJ
2. Humberto Brenes $74,750
Miami Lakes, FL
3. Cyndy Violette $39,000
Atlantic City, NJ
4. T J Cloutier $22,750
Dallas, TX
5. Donald Clarke $19,500
Dumont, NJ
6. Roger Moore $16,250
Eastman, GA
7. Mike Sexton $13,000
Las Vegas, NV
8. Mike Shichtman $9,750
New York, NY

The Showdown

Binion's Horseshoe, May 10, 1996 - Henry Orenstein, a 72-year-old toy inventor, former chess player, and concentration camp survivor from Verona, New Jersey, defeated 64 opponents last night to win the 20th event of the 27th annual World Series of Poker at Binion's Horseshoe Hotel and Casino. For his first-place finish in the $5,000 buy-in limit Seven Card Stud competition, Orenstein was awarded $130,000 and a custom-designed 14- karat gold bracelet to commemorate his victory.

"I'm so excited and very happy," he said. "I got lucky, but I also played some hands well." This is the first World Series of Poker title for Orenstein, who finished eighth in the $10,000 buy-in no-limit Hold em championship competition last year and placed 12th in that same event in 1993. A poker player for 10 years - "I absolutely love the game," he said - Orenstein also is the author of I Shall Live, an account of how he survived the Nazi concentration camps.

Placing second in the $5,000 buy-in limit Seven Card Stud event and winning $74,750 was Humberto Brenes, a 45-year-old dedicated tournament player from Miami Lakes, Florida. The owner of a television station in his native Costa Rica, Brenes holds three World Series of Poker titles and has now racked up 21 in-the-money finishes at the Horseshoe s annual tournament. With total earnings of $813,509, he ranks 21st on the roster of all-time World Series money winners. Brenes has played poker since childhood.

Cyndy Violette, a 36-year-old professional poker player from Atlantic City, New Jersey, won third place and $39,000. This is the third time she has finished in the money at the World Series, and with total earnings of $45,040, she ranks 11th on the women s list of all-time money winners. Violette began playing poker 14 years ago.

The 1996 World Series of Poker continues at the Horseshoe through May 16. The $2,500 buy-in no-limit Texas Hold em event begins today at noon, followed by the $5,000 buy-in limit Texas Hold em competition on May 11.

More than 4,000 entrants -- representing at least 20 countries -- are expected to participate in this year s World Series, and the total money distributed is anticipated to be in excess of $11 million.


Internet Coverage of the 1996 World Series of Poker is brought to you
by Binion's Horseshoe
and ConJelCo
©1996, Binion's Horseshoe. Some portions ©1996, ConJelCo. All Rights Reserved.
Next Event. Previous Event

Page last modified: 5-10-96