|
|
|
| EVENT #3 | 4/23 to 4/24/98 |
|---|
| OMAHA (Limit) $1,500 | |
|---|---|
| TOTAL PRIZE MONEY - 274,500 | PRIZE MONEY TO DATE - $1,669,000 |
| ENTRIES IN THIS EVENT - 183 | TOTAL ENTRIES TO DATE - 919 |
|
The Final Table How they finished Live From the 'Shoe The Play-by-Play |
 DAILY DOUBLE OF A LIFETIME If you unexpectedly made the final table at the World Series of Poker on your wedding day, would you skip the Series or change your wedding plans? Dumb Question. AND THEY COME DOWN THE STRETCH Omaha High is a brutal game. You can't protect your hand. Everyone either limps in or calls any raise, and almost any hand has got a draw to the river. Multiply 10 to 15 outs by often 3 or 4 way action and you see why no one folds. They all have pot odds, or worse, think they do. Before the flop with four cards in their hand, instead of two, the player's heads swim with the possibilities. A Jack Ten off suit? I could make the nut straight. An Ace deuce suited, the nut flush. They see "the nuts" everywhere. So they call. And call. And call. Well, just like with the phone company, calling costs money. But with tournament chips, calling can cost a lot of money. With three players left to be eliminated before the last 18 were in the money, TJ Cloutier had eleven chips. Michail Shadkin, Mel Judah and Al Boston each had six. Only one of these players was going to get into the money. The other three would have to wait until another day. Mel Judah went first. His K Q high lost to Robert Owenby's K J when a Jack came on board. Mel was not amused. Then Al Boston's A A lost to Chris Bjorin's K J when Chris flopped two pair. Now there were only two, T J Cloutier and Michail Shadkin. Both players had gone through the 3 chip blinds, but Michail hadn't made any calls. T J had. They cost him. Instead of letting Michail go all-in on the big blind, it was T J who was forced to go all-in first. "The dealer misdealt. I always lose when the dealer misdeals." (Colorful adjectives have been deleted, as this is a family medium.) One of the most successful tournament players in history was out in 19th place. They were paying 18. A guy who had never entered a tournament before was allowed to go on because he didn't make the call. NECK AND NECK Carl Heller, Ted Forrest and Gerry Berger sat all in a row on table 48. Ted had chips, Carl and Gerry didn't. Two were going to the final table, one wasn't. It seemed certain that Ted was going. Who was going with him Carl or Gerry? Taking turns, Carl Heller and Gerry Berger would go all-in. Surely this was the hand that would finish them off. Each time the all-in hand survived. After three rounds of this, it was suddenly Ted Forrest who was short-stacked. He'd tried to put himself in, and one or the other of the two out repeatedly. He'd failed repeatedly. Now it was his turn to receive a miracle. It was only fair, Heller and Berger had gotten several each. But Ted Forrest didn't get even one miracle. His K 10 lost to a Q J when the Jack made a straight. Carl Heller and Gerry Berger jubilantly went to the final table. A shocked Ted Forrest went home.
AT THE WIRE IT'S ... Scotty Nguyen was first to go at the Final Table. When he went all-in he got three callers. The board came 9 8 10 J 3. "He caught a gut shot." Scotty said about Jan Lundberg's winner. "I had a straight on the flop." Scotty got 9th place. Straights were running when Gerry Berger went all-in. His three Aces weren't equal to Herbert Owenby's 10 9 when the board read J 8 7 8 7. Gerry was lucky to be there and got 8th. Chris Bjorin nearly popped out of his seat when Herbert Owenby turned over A A in the big blind. Chris had an Ace too. The board had nothing. Jack McClelland had Chris's 7th place money. Carl Heller had Jan Lundberg on the flop, when he went all-in with a pair of nines. But Jan had a Queen overcard. It hit on the turn and Carl was out after an amazing run in 6th. This is Omaha High! Herbert Owenby must have thought? He only had four overcards on Michail Shadkin. Herbert's A Q J 10 went hitless in Las Vegas, while Michail's 6 5 4 3 found a 4 on the board. Herbert who had started the final table with the second most chips finished 5th. When Jan Lundberg raised him, Robert Gingras threw in his last remaining chips. He thought he might need an Ace on the river, but maybe not. Maybe yes, and he didn't get it. Robert's A A lost to Jan's K K when a King fell on the flop. Robert was 4th. Frank Schend was overkilled next by Michail Shadkin when Frank's Q Q caught air. Michail's A K found two Kings on board.
IN THE WINNER'S CIRCLE Remember that kid with three chips who wouldn't make the call that might have cost him a chance to get in the money? Well he got in the money all right. He won the tournament. Well, he won the bracelet anyway when he flopped two pair. In one of those secret meetings that final table players like to have with Jack McClelland, it's our guess that Michail Shadkin and Jan Lundberg made a deal to split 1st and 2nd place on chip couint. Jan had slightly more chips at the time and probably received a little premium for them. The $80,000 or so we surmise Michail got made a nice wedding present, don't you think? It was Shadkin who had moved up his wedding ceremony to the beautiful Victoria, to this morning, so he could come to the final table. April 24, 1998 will be the day Michail will always remember as the day we won the Daily Double of a Lifetime. FINAL RESULTS $1,500 Limit Omaha - 183 Entries
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. WSOP SUPER SATELLITE #8 Friday 4/24/98 PERSERVERANCE PAYS Four of the nine final table players had been here before. Two of them twice before. But of the four players, only one had won a seat. Tonight all of the other three won entries into the Championship event and the other won for the second time. Which shows that if you try long and hard enough you can win a $10,000 prize, even if it costs you $10,000 to do it. Tonight, 165 players bought 147 rebuys bringing the prize pool to, $62,400. The following were the rewards for making the final table:
Places 1 thru 5 A $10,000 entry into the Championship
event plus $440 ($10,450) Some of the "names" who competed were:
Ken Buntjer None of these esteemed players made the final table. With 12 players left, George Braun went all-in with pocket 5's. The incredibly hot Jack Fox called with A 6 and caught A A. Rusty London was next for Fox. He turned a straight with A/5 off only to lose on the river to Jack's Jacks, one of which was a heart corresponding to the four hearts on the board. Every night we have a player who can't get that one key card that would get them in the money. Tonight that player was the formerly invincible Danny Newman. Danny returned to the real world when he got nothing on board and his opponent's A 6 hit a 6. The final table:
With so much at stake, Chet Foster hadn't brought enough chips to the final table to stop the others from taking shots at him. When Bernard Pang raised Chet's big blind, Chet called all-in with K 10, Bernard only made Queens full with his A Q. Chet got some money for 9th, but no seat. When a player is running as hot as Jack Fox is, he's libel to call with anything. Bernard Pang went all-in with about 10 chips. Jack, oblivious to the danger, called. When Jack turned over his 4's, Bernard turned over his Jack's. But the rush couldn't be stopped. The flop was Q 8 3, then a 7, then a 4. Bernard had come half way around the world for this? 8th place. Jim Rankin may have made a costly mistake. He didn't raise Chris Ferguson's big blind with his A 6 off. Chris, on a flop freeroll, caught second pair with his 9/4 off and called Jim's belated all-in bet. The 4's stood up and Jim got a bitter lesson - 7th place. Chris Ferguson and O'Neil Longson had been to the final table twice before unsuccessfully. Jack Fox once before without winning. All three got entries when Chris' A 9 beat Paul Kroh's A 3. Both a 9 and a 3 flopped. The winners for Super Satellite #8 were:
Mike Pilkington 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 $220 buy-in No Limit Holdem Satellites, ten Players start with $800 each in chips. The blinds start at $10/$25, increase every 15 minutes, and the winner gets four $500 Lammers plus $100 in cash. LAS VEGAS WEATHER The Temperature sign atop Binion's Horseshoe read 71 degrees at High Noon on Friday. We had blue skies along with the cooler weather, and only a slight breeze today. JESUS GETS THERE The third time was a charm at the Super Satellite Final Tables for rec.gambler Chris "Jesus" Ferguson. He won a seat to the $10,000 championship Final Event last night. Hopefully Jesus will remember that you have to finish in the top 27 to cash in the Championship Event. He finished 28th last year. LENGTH OF FINAL TABLE
SENIOR'S V POKER TOURNAMENT Oklahoma Johnny Hale informed me that the fifth edition of the Senior's Poker Tournament will be held this year at Harrahs in Las Vegas. Details to be announced later. WSOP DEALS
It is probable that a deal was made in today's $1,500 Limit Omaha event. At the time, Lundberg had $150,000 and Shadkin had $125,000 in chips. After the probable deal, the limits were escalated to $10,000/$20,000 rather than to the $4,000/$8,000 level that was scheduled. Both the $500 and $1,000 chips were raced off at the same time to facilitate the higher limits. It took about 25 minutes at this level to finish the tournament. McCLELLANDisms "Be careful with your cards, folks. If they accidentally fall on the floor, you'll accidentally get a 20 minute penalty." $500 CHIPS When Final Table play began in today's $1,500 Omaha Event, they were at the $2,000/$4,000 level and the lowest denomination chip on the table was $1,000. When they moved up to the $3,000/$6,000 level, $500 chips had to be put back on the table to allow for the $1,500/$3,000 blinds Also, the color of the $500 chips has been changed from Grey to Yellow this year. 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) SECOND OFFENSE - 40 minutes away from the table. THIRD OFFENSE - Disqualification The WSOP Floorpeople will be strictly enforcing the rules, with zero tolerance. SCOREBOARD
CRAB HAT Artie Cobb was sporting a large red crab hat with long legs on Friday. Someone quipped that it was a stuffed crab. 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 inaugarated 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. POKER ROOM Shift Supervisors Jimmy Stefan, John Buchanan, Tony Shelton and Cathy Wood run the Poker room where the lower limit games are played. A recent check showed the following games being spread:
SIDE ACTION Shift Supervisors John "Scoff" Sheffield, Kathy Hudson and Marshall Kassoff run the higher limit games on the south end of the Tournament Pavillion. A recent check showed the following games were being spread:
$10,000 CHAMPIONSHIP ENTRANTS Updated through Friday Noon 24 April 1998
 In a dramatic World Series first, Michail Shadkin, an emigre from the former Soviet Union, won the $1,500 Limit Omaha event on the day he got married. It was the first tournament the 36 year-old former financial advisor had ever entered. For his victory, which capped a remarkable comeback, Shadkin was awarded $109,800 and the custom-designed Champion's bracelet.
"I'm ecstatic," said Shadkin as his beaming bride, also an emigre from Soviet Ukraine, embraced him. "It was fate. I felt it had to happen, with my marriage and everything. It's the start of a new life for us." Shadkin got into the tournament by winning one of the last satellites. When play got down to two tables, he found himself very short-stacked in 19th place, one away from the money. "I folded some 60 straight hands and was down to my last three chips, but then another player was eliminated and things looked up from there," he said. Shadkin took the title after an 85-minute heads-up struggle with Jan Lundberg who had held a dominant chip lead from the start of final-table play. There were seven lead changes before Shadkin, with 6-4-3-2, found two pair on the flop of Q-4-3. Lundberg, with Q-J-10-6, went all in but an 8 and a 7 did not improve his top pair. Lundberg, 54, a Swedish-born manager of a sports betting exchange in Europe, had never finished in the money in seven years of trying at the WSOP, although he had won major European tournaments. "This was fantastic - just to be in a final was great," he said. "Of course I'm very disappointed not to win with that big chip lead. I really wanted to win that bracelet." He declared the WSOP "absolutely the best anywhere. The tournaments are so well run." Third place went to Frank Schend, 60, a retired school teacher and former cardroom operator who is a regular in the Horseshoe's Poker Room and has not missed a World Series for 18 years. "I gave it the best shot I could," he said. "The competition was very strong." He was eliminated when he went all-in with Q-Q-J-3 against Shadkin's A-K-5-2 when the board showed K-6-4/K-7. Schend finished 12th in the 1986 Championship event. Moments earlier, Robert Gingras, a 36 year-old Canadian hockey player and former regular at poker tournaments, took fourth when his A-A-9-2 lost to Lundberg's K-K-6-5 with a board of K-9-5/3-8. "I'm happy and can't complain," Gingras said. "I was all-in at least six times at the last two tables." Finishing fifth was Herbert Owenby, 52, a physical education teacher and a dedicated poker player who had not been in the money at the three WSOPs he has attended. "I have mixed feelings," he said. "It's great to be at a final table at the World Series, but I felt I had a chance to do better." Owenby, holding A-Q-J-l0, was beaten with a nut flush draw and complete straight wraparound by Shadkin's 6-5-4-3 when the board came K-8-4/9-2. Carl Heller, a 45 year-old physician and a regular on the poker tournament circuit, took sixth place, his third in-the money finish at the WSOP. "This was tough, a real struggle," he said. "I had no chips at any time. I was real thrilled to make the final table: to survive at the next-to-last table, I had to go all in five times. Heller was knocked out with two pair when Lundberg caught a higher two pair on the river. Tournament luminary Chris Bjorin, another Swedish-born Londoner, nursed his small stack of chips to a seventh place finish, the 17th time he has been in the money at the WSOP. Bjorin, 50, is the defending $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha Champion and has now made eight final tables in eight years. His World Series earnings total $439,066. Eighth place went to Gerry Berger, 38, an agricultural chemical salesman who had never before cashed at the World Series. He was preceded out by another tournament veteran, Vietnamese-born Scotty Nguyen, 35, who won last year's $2,000 Omaha High-Low Split event. He has now won $174,197 at the WSOP. 
The Final Table
NOTES
d = dealer First action reported in a betting round, normally means the first player that put money into the pot in that betting round. A check is usually not reported as the first action in a betting round. Folds are not always reported. If there are four players at the beginning of a betting round, and it's reported that one player bets and is called by one other player, then the remaining two players folded. *** 4:03 PM Friday 24 April 1998 *** 1,000/2,000 Blinds - 2,000/4,000 Limits
|
The Ukrainian-born player had arranged to marry his fiancee
Victoria this evening, but when he made the final table,
they went earlier to the wedding chapel and exchanged vows.