|
From PokerMagazine.com - 100's of Poker Articles, at least 10 new per month, plus rec.Poker newsgroup, Poker news and the Poker directory. Poker Tournaments After six long weeks of non-stop tournament action, the World Series of Poker main event finally ended as they crowned its new champion, Joe Hachem. His final table lasted well after sunrise after fourteen grueling hours of play. Hachem gladly waited until 6:40 am to put on his winner’s bracelet and collect $7.5 million for first place. The former chiropractor from Melbourne, Australia has now become a part of poker lore after he came out of nowhere to outlast a field of 5,619 and win his first-ever WSOP event. On the next to last day of the main event, the WSOP moved from the convention center in the Rio Casino and relocated downtown to Binion’s, where the final three tables would battle it out for two days. Binion’s Horseshoe is the birthplace of the World Series of Poker and was started by Benny Binion well over three decades ago. On a sad note, the 2005 World Series of Poker marks the last time that the final table will be hosted at Binion’s. I was fortunate to be a part of poker history as I walked into Benny’s Bullpen one last time and sat in the same room where the previous legends of poker sat and played. There were a few top names left when the final three tables started at Binion’s. 2004 WSOP champion Greg Raymer was still in the mix. He was looking to defend his title and become the first player to repeat since Johnny Chan. Five-time bracelet winner Phil Ivey was the most skilled player remaining once it got down to 27 players. His regular appearance at “Doyle Brunson’s Big Game” gave him enough credibility that odds makers put him a 3-1 favorite to win it all. Another regular in Doyle’s Big Game, Minh Ly, was the only player left, along with Raymer, to make it to a final table in the Main Event. He was looking for his first WSOP bracelet. Also making the final 27 players was Tiffany Williamsen, the only female remaining to make it to Binion’s. She’s an amateur who qualified in a $40 tournament. She was born in the United States, attended law school in New York City, and currently lives in London where she works as an attorney. She chased history in a valiant attempt to become only the second female, besides Barbara Enright, to make the final table at the WSOP. Unfortunately, Tiffany Williamsen, Greg Raymer, Phil Ivey, and Minh Ly failed to survive and move onto the final table. Here’s who made the final table: Joe Hachem was born in Lebanon and immigrated to Australia with his family in 1972. He's married with four kids and his railbirds happily chanted, "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie! Oi, oi, oi!" whenever he scooped a large pot. Andy Black might be the best player from Ireland. The former attorney is a full-time poker player. He’s been studying Buddhism to control his feisty personality and even spent time in a monastery. ”Tex” Barch is a bar owner from McKinney, Texas. He’s played in several WSOP events and has three career cashes. Daniel Bergsdorf is a 27-year-old former professional athlete from Sweden. He was one of the many online qualifiers who played at this year’s WSOP. Mike "The Mouth" Matusow is the most known player at the final table. He won two WSOP bracelets in Omaha Hi/Lo (2002) and No Limit (1999). Aaron Kanter is a professional poker player from California who qualified online. He began the final table as the chip leader. Brad Kondraki is a law student at Penn. He also qualified online. Steve Dannemann is a 38-year-old CPA from Maryland. He's superstitious and wears the same shirt at the table or drinks Bloody Marys to give him good luck. Scott Lazur is a magician from Los Angeles. Mike Matusow played excellent poker for a week straight despite getting penalized several times for using profanity at the tables. His pocket Kings ran into pocket Aces and lost most of his stack. Then when he moved all in with the best hand against Steve Dannemann, he was bad beated to get eliminated in 9th place. He won $1 million and walked away content with his play. Brad Kondraki was busted by Andy Black when he lost a coin flip. Kondraki’s A-Q could not hold up against Black’s pocket eights. Brad Kondracki finished in 8th place and won $1.15 million. Daniel Bergsdorf was the next player eliminated after he ran into a bad beat from Tex Barch. Daniel had J-J to Tex’s 10-10. Tex caught a lucky flop when a 10 hit and Bergsdorf was knocked out in 7th place. He won $1.3 million. Scott Lazur lost a big hand when he doubled up Joe Hachem. On the very next hand he went heads up with Andy Black. Unfortunately, Lazur’s hand was not good enough to win and he was eliminated in 6th place. He won $1.5 million. Andy Black lost a big hand when Steve Dannemann sucked out on him. A few hands later, with not much of a stack, he moved all in with pocket tens. His nemesis Steven Dannemann called with A-K and caught a King on the turn to send Andy Black back home to Ireland. He played excellent poker for a week straight as well. It’s too bad he went out the way he did because I was rooting for him. Andy Black took 5th place, won $1.75 million, and earned the respect of a lot of professional players in Las Vegas with his stellar run. Aaron Kanter was knocked out in 4th place and won $2 million when his A-9 lost to Tex Barch’s J-J. Tex Barch was eliminated in 3rd place and won $2.5 when he lost a three-way pot with Steve Dannemann and Joe Hachem. It took only six hands of heads up play to declare a winner. Joe Hachem held a clear advantage with $40 million in chips to Steve Dannemann’s $16M. On the winning hand, Hachem flopped a straight with 7-3. Dannemann moved all in when he made a pair of Aces on the turn. Hachem quickly called and knocked out Steve Dannemann, who won $4.5 million for second place. Joe Hachem took home over $7.5 million, including the coveted gold bracelet.
Yes, Australian Joe Hachem added his name to the
poker history books. He also added his photo to
Binion’s Wall of Fame where they hang photographs of
all the previous winners. Overnight, he became an instant celebrity and achieved immortality by
winning the 2005 World Series of Poker.~~
|
