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| EVENT #18 | 5/8/98 |
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| SEVEN CARD STUD (Limit) $5,000 | |
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| TOTAL PRIZE MONEY - $520,000 | PRIZE MONEY TO DATE - $8,322,000 |
| ENTRIES IN THIS EVENT - 104 | TOTAL ENTRIES TO DATE - 3,539 |
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The Final Table How they finished Live From the 'Shoe The Play-by-Play |
 FAMILY REUNION For only the second time in World Series history, a brother and sister make the Final Table. Probably no surprise that it's the same brother and sister. FAMILY FEUD Jerri Thomas was down to the nub. She went all-in with split 10's, and didn't improve. Men Nguyen didn't have to improve his Queens. Jerri was a muffin in 19th. John Hoang couldn't believe his eyes when Mickey Appelman showed him an 8 high straight flush. That hand took all but one of John's chips, which was lost as an ante in the next hand. Hoang finished 18th. There is one more to eliminate before the money. Now it gets complicated. Try to hang in there. Joe Gualtieri was having a bad time. He had been chip leader at his table when the quarter chips came off, so he bought them all to speed things up. About an hour later, Joe noticed there was a quarter chip in his stack of 100's. He called Jeff Vanderlip over to tell him about it. As Jeff was putting the chip away, Gualtieri said he wanted the quarter chip exchanged for a $100 chip. Vanderlip said that wasn't allowed. Any quarter chips found after the race-off, were out of play. Gualtieri became livid. He said that he'd been stiffed by one of the players at the table. Someone had taken one of his $100 chips in exchange for a $25 one, and he wanted compensation. First Steve Morrow, then Jack McClelland came over to try and calm Gualtieri down. Ranting about how unprofessional his treatment was, Gualtieri wouldn't calm down. Next, while still on tilt, Gualtieri got into an argument with Howard Lederer, over a hand that Howard mucked. Gualtieri had asked to see it before Lederer pitched it. Joe thought that the dealer should have tried to find it in the muck and show it to him. Finally, completely beside himself, Gualtieri used some abusive language, that got him a 20 minute penalty. This is all leading to the the elimination of the last player before the money. A morose Gualtieri is sitting at the next table, seeing his stack evaporate, while Thomas and Hoang are done in. When Gualtieri returns, only he and Phyllis Kessler are short stacked. They are at the same table. In the hand that decides who gets paid, Phyllis Kessler can't throw away hidden Kings, even though she knows that Gualtieri only has one chip left. She raises all-in against Men Nguyen. Now Joe Gualtieri has a decision to make. If he calls, and loses to Kessler, he finishes one out of the money. If he folds, and Kessler wins, he'll only have one chip left, and will surely finish 17th. If he calls and Men Nguyen wins, he will split the 16th money with Phyllis Kessler. Gualtieri calls all-in. Kessler has Kings, Nguyen has Jacks and Gualtieri has deuces. No one improves through 6th street. On the river Nguyen catches a second pair to win the hand. Kessler and Gualtieri split the $5,200 16th place money, $2,600 each. WE ARE FAM-IL-Y Larry Kantor doesn't show his all-in hand when Roy Flowerday spreads Kings up. Kantor isn't singing as he goes out 11th. Mike Sexton just can't quite get there in this year's World Series. He too pitches his hand when Flowerday shows him 9's up. Mickey Appleman had stacked a lot of John Hoang chips when he made a straight flush earlier. Now on the bubble to make the Final Table, Mickey finds himself on the wrong end of Don Barton's quads. The family table is set. The relatives and friends:
Prize Money
Two years ago Howard Lederer and his younger sister Annie Duke were at the Final Table of a Pot Limit event. Then they finished 9th and 6th. Now they were back in a Family Reunion. They were to do only a little better this time. Paul Begun didn't. Well, they'd only just Begun when Paul finished. He was short stacked and caught no pair. Andy Blumen didn't have any pair either, he had trip 9's. Paul had Begun to warm his seat when he had to leave it, in 8th place. Annie Duke just had a baby. When Roy Flowerday turned over his Kings full, Annie looked like she just had a cow. She had threes full, and caught Queens full on the river, but had been drawing almost dead, and didn't know it. The Family Reunion was spoiled when Sis had to leave in 7th. When you invite a lot of guests over, and prepare food and drink, it's not polite to ask them to leave just because you have to. So when Howard Lederer missed on his up and down straight draw, and Humberto Brenes showed a pair of 3's, Howard let the party go on without him. Lederer went over to Jack to recoup some of his money for 6th place. With the hosts gone, it was time for some serious partying. This was Andy Blumen's third Final Table of the World Series. He finally looked relaxed enough to make a run at a title, but a few expensive beats left him low stacked. Andy thought it was a Blumen shame he couldn't catch even one pair, and his Ace high lost to a rivered King high straight from Humberto Brenes. Even though he brings enough chips to these Final Tables, Andy can't seem to blossom when it really matters. Blumen wilted to 5th. Humberto Brenes was lucky to be here at all. He barely missed being eliminated the previous day. Once here with only $4,000, though, he made a terrific run. Doubling up three or four times on all-ins. His luck finally ran out. Brenes' Kings were shown an A high straight by Don Barton, and Humberto, who tried to invite HIS poker playing brother Alex to the Family Reunion, but couldn't, picked up a nice piece of change with 4th place. It wasn't to be a Flowerday for Roy. A dominating presence early, Flowerday saw his stack wither, like spring flowers in the summer heat. Don Barton was the source of that heat in Roy's last hand. Barton caught a second pair and Roy didn't, which sent Flowerday to the mortuary in 3rd. At the beginning of heads up play, Don Barton had a $285,000 to $235,000 lead on Jan Chen. The money had already been locked when there were more players, so Barton and Chen were primarily playing for the bracelet. As we see repeatedly, deals change momentum. In a monstrous pot, Barton had his Queen high flush snapped off my Chen's King high flush. Barton put his case $23,000 in the pot with a pair of 7's, Chen called and saw a Queen come on the river to give him a pair of Queens and the title. The guests had eaten all the food and drunk all the booze. It was time to call an end to the Family Reunion. FINAL RESULTS
$5,000 7 Card Stud
SUPER SATELLITES (Patty Hughes and Rudy Lotief) The No-Limit Super Satellites start each evening at 8:40 PM in the Satellite area. The Entry Fee is $220 for $200 in Tournament chips and there are unlimited $200 re-buys during the first hour, if you have less than $200 in Tournament chips. You may also make a single or double add-on at the end of the re-buy period. Blinds start at $5/$10 and increase every 20 minutes. Available monies will be converted into non-negotiable, non-transferable, non-refundable seats in the $10,000 World Championship event, with at least $5,000 in cash and $500 Lammers being divided among the final table players. LADIES WSOP SUPER SATELLITE #2 Saturday 9 May 1998 GO ALL-IN AND WIN Which is tougher to win, an open event with men, or an all women super satellite? Ask Maria Stern. Tonight, 66 players bought 116 re-buys bringing the prize pool to, $7,280. The following were the rewards for making the final table:
The Final Table:
Joan D'Agastino brought insufficient funds to the Final Table, and was out quickly. That left everyone in the money, but one would have to go seatless. All the women were wearing bracelets, but one had her name on it, as a World Series Event champion. That bracelet was owned by Maria Stern, who won last year's $1,500 7 Card Stud title. That was an open event with 257 players, the vast majority of whom were men. This was a 7 Card Stud event too. The buy-in was $50 and the re-buys were $40. Last year's title was worth $140,000 for Maria Stern, the winner tonight would get a $1,000 seat in the Ladies event the next day. When I saw this lineup, I actually felt sorry for these women, who would have to play against one of the best 7 Card Stud players in the world. I would have bet my rent money on Maria. I would have been homeless. In turn, Sandra Sterling, followed by Mary Clifford and Victoria Tagle went all-in, only to win the pots they contested. Suddenly, it was Maria Stern who was in trouble. Throwing in her last few chips, Maria was out kicked by Jan Fisher's A K Q high to Stern's A K J high. Maybe Maria Stern will go back to beating up on men, it's more profitable and might even be easier. The winners for the Ladies Super Satellite #2 were:
Jan Fisher WSOP SUPER SATELLITE #23 Saturday 9 May 1998 A CHORUS LINE We had nine NEW dancers make the grade tonight, a record for this year's World Series. They are going to get to dance their hearts out, starting Monday in the Big One. Tonight, 248 players bought 263 re-buys bringing the prize pool to, $102,200. The following were the rewards for making the final table:
Some of the "names" who competed were:
Mallie Hoyer None of these esteemed players made the final table. With nine Championship seats being given away at the Final Table, the action was at the second table. Pat Callahan had reason to hope. He had J J for his all-in hand in the big blind. J P Massar hated to have to bet, but did with A Q of Spades. An Ace on the turn sent Callahan home in 15th. Bill Rothchild may sound rich, but he is poor in seats. His 8's came up against Judge Boothe's Kings. Rothchild was Judge'd a loser in 14th. All-in for the big blind, Dave Alan couldn't pair and left 13th with a King high to Jim Mascher's Ace high. The exact same thing happened to Jeff Theda. Only John Goodfellow did pair, with his Ace deuce. An Ace flopped and Jeff flopped into 12th. Last year Mel Judah made over $500,000 in the World Series. This year he can't get arrested. He hung on valiantly with no chips for the last two hours. If Judah doesn't win a Super, or a one table tomorrow, he may have to pull $10,000 off the wad he collected last year and pay to get into the Big Dance. Mel was all-in for the big blind with the computer hand Q 7. The computer crashed and so did Judah when Martin Canavon showed Q J and caught a Jack on the river. Since they were giving away ten prizes, Patti Hughes and Rudy Lotief decided to make the Final Table ten handed. The Final Table:
J.P. Massar tried to save everyone the aggravation of playing a hand at the Final Table, by suggesting a $300 payout by nine players to anyone who didn't want to play in the Championship event. Jim Mascher didn't feel the need to part with any money so the deal was off and play was on. It was over quickly. Frank Edinger went all-in with A 8, Ronnie Williams had an A K. An 8 never came. A Chorus Line had passed auditions and were now ready to strut their stuff. The winners for Super Satellite #23 were:
C. Xanthos SINGLE TABLE SATELLITES (Becky Kerber, Barbara Lotief and Terry Vanderlip) Single Table Satellites are run continuously 21 hours every day (8:00 AM until 5:00 AM) and usually last around 90 minutes. There are featured Satellites each day for the next day's event, as well as other Satellites depending on demand. Single Table Satellites for the $10,000 Main event and for the next no-limit Holdem event are spread frequently. Binion's charges $10 per player in a Satellite. For the $1,010 buy-in Single Table $10,000 Satellites, ten players start with $4,000 each in chips. The blinds start at $25/50 and increase every 20 minutes. The winner gets a non-transferrable seat in the Championship Event. LAS VEGAS WEATHER The Temperature sign atop Binion's Horseshoe read 80 degrees at 3:00 PM on Saturday afternoon. The sky was partly cloudy, sunny, blue and hazy. The wind was out of the SW at 10 to 20mph most of the day. $10,000 CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL DAY ESPN will be doing TV coverage of the Final Table of the $10,000 Championship event, and it is scheduled to be aired on 12 July. The Final Table will be held in the Special Events room (which has been the location of the 20 table Poker room during the 1998 WSOP) and Vince Van Patten will be the Celebrity Host for the telecast. Bleachers will surround the Final Table in the Special Events room, and a large screen TV will be set up in the Tournament Pavilion. Jim Albrecht says "We expect to exceed the record 312 entries of last year."
CHINESE POKER IS ALIVE AND WELL rgp'er J.P. Massar, who won a $10,000 seat in last night's Super Satellite, has been a regular in a $25 per point Chinese Poker game in the high limit area, that is being spread most evenings. LIVE INTERNET COVERAGE Won't happen this year. Last year's attempted live internet coverage didn't work out too well, and Jim Albrecht says "We'll have to wait until the technology catches up, before we try it again." 1998 WSOP vs 1997 WSOP Things are starting to wind down a bit at the 1998 WSOP, which is the normal pattern of the past. Many players have come, lost their stakes, and are now on the rail, or have gone back home. The long lists for games that were prevalent a week ago are much shorter now, and there actually was an empty table in the main Poker room around 6:00 PM today. Jim Albrecht said that overall, the 1998 WSOP is about "flat" from last year. The Tournament Prize Pool is down, but has been picking up the last couple of days. Supervisor John "Scoff" Sheffield said that the high-limit side action is down from last year, and Jimmy Stefan said things were about the same as last year in the main Poker room. Super Satellites are up, and Single Table Satellites are about the same. A Survey of 26 players in the high-limit side action games, showed six believing that the side action area was busier this year, eight feeling that it was slower, and twelve who thought it was about the same. McCLELLANDisms Humberto Brenes had several vocal supporters among the onlookers at Saturday's Final Table. At one point, Jack quipped that Humberto's friends were from Miami, the capital of Cuba. PRESS ONLY One section of bleachers, around the Final Table area is reserved for the Press, and has a prominent sign so stating. Last year this section was scrupulously policed to keep non-Press persons out, and was almost empty every day. This year there isn't much of an attempt to exclusivize it for the Press, and our Mike Paulle often finds it difficult to squeeze in edge-wise, when his hopping around takes him to the Final Table area. LENGTH OF FINAL TABLE
TOTAL PRIZE MONEY First 16 Events: $8,322,000 (1998) vs $8,484,000 (1997) WSOP FINAL TABLE DEALS It is likely that a Deal was made when they got down to four players at today's $5000 7 Card Stud Final Table.
Formal, official Deals at the WSOP are done in private, under the supervision and guidance of Jack McClelland, WSOP Tournament Co-ordinator. Deals represent a reallocation, or split of the announced remaining prize pool, that is agreeable to all remaining players. All remaining players do not have to participate in an official Deal, as long as all remaining players give their consent. All pay outs by Binion's, and the tax reporting will reflect the Deal allocation, but press releases and official WSOP earnings reflect the scheduled, announced pay outs. Jack McClelland tries to immediately squelch any "Deal talking" in the Final Table area, and will stop the playing clock and allow a "Deal break" at any time. A normal Deal will probably allocate the bulk of the remaining prize pool equally (or unequally, relative to chip count, perceived ability, bargaining skills etc.) between the remaining participants, with a small portion (perhaps 10 % or so) and the Title going to the eventual winner. Some deals may earmark some of the un allocated portion to the eventual second or third place finisher, in addition to the allocation for the first place money. Binion's attempts to prevent private Deals, which are unenforceable and may present tax complications, by the participants. Binion's probably would prefer a Deal free environment all together, but recognizes that a top heavy pay out structure is conducive to Deals, and has arrived at the current procedure as the best solution. PLAYER CONDUCT Any player abusing employees or other players, either verbally or physically (swearing, throwing cards, etc.) or disrupting the tournament will be penalized. The following will be the MINIMUM penalty imposed:
FIRST OFFENSE - 20 minutes away from the table.
(Blinds and/or antes to be forfeited)
The WSOP Floorpeople will be strictly enforcing the rules, with zero tolerance. Every player starts each Event with a clean slate as far as penalties are concerned. SCOREBOARD
TOURNAMENTS Jack McClelland is assisted by Steve Morrow and Jeff Vanderlip as Assistant Tournament Coordinators. The 1998 WSOP continues the two-day format that was inaugurated last year, for most of the tournaments. Also, all two-day events start one level lower than in past years, and each level at the Final Table has been lengthened from 60 minutes to 80 minutes. Limit Holdem and Omaha events have two new levels of betting. First day play continues until the field is reduced to the Final Table, and Final Table play begins at 4:00 PM on the second day. In addition to the money and a gold bracelet, each winner of a 1998 WSOP Event will get free rooms at next year's WSOP. If you win more than one Event, you can roll subsequent hotel accommodations over to later years. The extra betting levels added to this year's WSOP Events, and the longer duration of levels at the Final Table, "promised increased playability and a higher expected return for the skilled player." If "skilled player" equates to well known "world class player", then the the higher expected return for the skilled player has not been happening. Except for a few scattered exceptions, the 1998 WSOP has been dominated by lesser lights and relatively unknown players. POKER ROOM Shift Supervisors Jimmy Stefan, John Buchanan, Tony Shelton and Cathy Wood run the Poker room where the lower limit games are played. Games being spread on 30 April:
SIDE ACTION Shift Supervisors John "Scoff" Sheffield, Kathy Hudson and Marshall Kassoff run the higher limit games on the south end of the Tournament Pavilion. Games being spread on 30 April:
$10,000 CHAMPIONSHIP ENTRANTS Updated Through 8:00 PM Saturday 9 MAY 1998
Alphabetized:
John Aglialoro  Jan Chen, who had to learn the hard way that "tournaments are a matter of survival," conquered another WSOP record field to capture his first gold bracelet and the $5,000 Seven Card Stud title. For the 60 year-old Taiwanese-born competitor, it was the second final table finish this year and brought his earnings to $230,800.
"I'll probably retire pretty soon, and it's my dream to be a professional poker player then and sustain my lifestyle," Chen said. "I told my kids (all Harvard graduates, after attending public school in Princeton, N.J.where he still lives) I hope they'll be proud of me as a poker player." Chen said "I'd like to pay all respect to the other players. They play as well as I do, and the majority of players who come to the World Series have a chance to win as I did." Chen took his title after overcoming a slight heads-up chip disadvantage against Don Barton, steamrolling to victory in just 20 minutes. In the key hand, Chen made a K-J high flush to beat Barton's Q-J flush. He was finally victorious much less dramatically, pairing a queen on the river while Barton didn't improve a pair of sevens. "I really wanted that gold bracelet, but Jan was a worthy and very very tough opponent," said Barton, a 48 year-old real estate broker who has now cashed three times this year, seven times overall and has won $198,768. A tournament circuit regular for the last year, Barton was all-in only once in the entire tournament before finishing runner-up, which was his best-ever payday. Third place went to Rhodesia (Zimbabwe)-born Roy Flowerday, 59, a geologist and former South African gold mine owner who has now cashed five times since 1990 for a total win of $115,137. "I'm disappointed, but the World Series is great fun," he said. Flowerday was eliminated when his starting deuces didn't improve against Barton's two pair. Most excitement at the final table was provided by Humberto Brenes, the ebullient Costa Rican tournament veteran who started with only $4,000 in chips but finished fourth after some amazing river-card heroics. "This prize money is my present for my birthday yesterday when the tournament began," said Brenes, 51, owner of a three-station television network in his native country. He survived all-in with river-card catches five times and knocked out two opponents with other "miracle" last cards before his luck evaporated. This was the 22nd money finish for Brenes, who has two WSOP titles and has won $844,709. He was finally knocked out when Barton caught an ace-high straight to beat his pocket kings. Andy Blumen, 46, Stratosphere Hotel Executive Vice President, took fifth, his third final-table finish this year. "All three times I started with the best hand and lost," he said. "I didn't like being drawn out on." He lost with an ace-high hand which led until the river when Brenes paired a queen. Sixth place went to Howard Lederer, 34, a poker pro for 12 years who has now made 10 final tables in 12 cashes since 1987, with earnings totaling $265,205. "I just never had any cards to play," he said. Asked how it felt playing against his sister at a WSOP final table for the second time, Lederer said, "It was the same thing, we never got a chance to play." He was eliminated when he missed a straight while Benes caught a third trey on the river. His sister, Annie Duke, took seventh in a startling hand which saw her queens full of threes beaten by Flowerday's kings full of nines. Duke, who remains second on the Women's Top Money Winners list, has now won $206,589. With this money finish, her 11th, she tied Marsha Waggoner for most cashes by a woman at the WSOP. Eighth place went to Paul Begun, 56, an investment businessman, his first WSOP cash. "It was fun," he said, after being knocked out by Blumen who made a third nine on the river.  We will announce when the play-by-play of the final table is available for this event. |
Chen, owner of a worldwide construction equipment firm based
in Japan, came to the U.S. in 1962 and became seriously
interested in poker only a few years ago. Last year, at his
first World Series, he wondered why players watched each
other's chips so closely. He was eliminated 17th in a Stud
Event having not realized that only 16 places were paid and
therefore playing as if it were a side game. "I had to
learn," he said. Demonstrably, he has.