Another major story involved poker legend T.J. Cloutier,  who added a sixth WSOP bracelet to his collection.  Plus,  the most significant human interest story at this year’s WSOP had to be several pros who rallied around a terminally ill poker fan named Charlie Tuttle,  including Barry Greenstein,  who said he was going to win an event specifically for Charlie.  Then he went out and did it.

T.J. Cloutier won his 6th World Series of Poker bracelet and beat out a final table that included Todd Brunson,  Johnny  “World”  Hennigan,  Tony Ma,  and John Bonetti.  T.J. had been sick this past year after a heart attack and suffered a brain aneurism.  No one has won more tournaments than T.J. Cloutier,  so it was special to see him win a WSOP event.  He’s a true gentleman and even felt embarrassed that he sucked out a card on the river to beat Steve Zoine.

Kathy Leibert attempted to repeat in the $1,500 Limit Holdem Shootout.  She won a bracelet in the 2004 event and the Shootout was her first final table this year.  Unfortunately,  she didn’t have too many chips and was unable to make any significant moves.  She finished in seventh place in an event that was won by Mark Seif.

One of the most arduous tournaments of this past week had to be the five-hour-long heads-up match between Steve Hohn and Mike Wattel in the $1,000 Stud Hi/Lo event.  Mike Wattel blew a huge chip lead and Steve Hohn came from behind in dramatic fashion to capture his first WSOP bracelet.  Steve Hohn came in second and third place in the same event in previous years,  so it was special to see him finally win a bracelet.

Anthony Reategui of Chandler,  AZ,  went on a huge rush at the final table of the $1,500 NL shootout to beat out some top-named pros.  He ran over the table that consisted of Phil Gordon,  Erick Lindgren,  and Young Phan,  as well 2004 WSOP bracelet winner Ted Lawson.  Reategui built up a monster stack after knocking out five players,  including bad-beating two players on one hand when he pushed all in with 99 and outflopped pocket Kings and Jacks.

Then there’s the story about  “The Mighty”  Quinn Do.  He dropped out of school and found himself in the restaurant business.  He eventually began playing poker full time at the insistence of his friends Liz Leiu and John Phan,  both of whom are professional poker players.  Quinn had to outlast a final table that included three-time bracelet winner  “Captain”  Tom Franklin.

Denis Ethier from North Carolina came from behind to beat actor Chad Brown in the $2,000 Stud Hi/Lo event.  Last year,  Chad Brown blew a huge chip lead to Ted Forrest in a different Stud event,  which Forrest went on to win.  This year Brown once again blew a big lead during heads up play with Denis Ethier,  who eventually collected his first bracelet.

I also played in my first No Limit Holdem WSOP tournament.  I was backed by a collection of friends,  including my brother,  who paid my $1,500 entry fee.  There were over 2100 players in this one, the third largest event at the history of the World Series of Poker.  I wasn’t nervous because I had spent at least two weeks getting acclimated to all my surroundings.  After seeing so many pros and talking to them on a daily basis,  the  “star factor”  had worn off and I wasn’t intimidated by any of them.  I felt comfortable at the tables and I hoped that edge would help me out over some more skilled players who were playing the WSOP for the first time.

I finished somewhere around 1320th place after I suffered a bad beat.  My A-K lost to A-10 when I was a huge favorite to win the pot after we both moved all in on the flop.  It was fun while it lasted and I’m positive I will be back to play in more than one event next year.

The most touching story about this year’s Series involves a guy named Charlie Tuttle.  He’s best friends with my good friend Jason  “Spaceman”  Kirk.  At the young age of 26,  Charlie Tuttle was diagnosed with terminal cancer.  Jason knew I was covering this year’s WSOP and asked if I could get Charlie’s favorite player,  Marcel Luske,  to call him.  Marcel is a true gentleman and not only spoke to Charlie,  who at the time was in the ICU at a hospital in Tennessee, but Marcel also sang to him.  This lifted Charlie’s spirits for sure.

Another friend of ours,  Felicia Lee,  arranged for several other pros to call Charlie.  In about a week,  Max Pescatori,  Jen Harman,  Greg  “Fossilman” Raymer,  Barry Greenstein,  and John Juanda all gave Charlie a call to see how he was doing.  Max Pescatori even got several pros to sign a copy of Doyle Brunson’s Super System 2.  And yes,  Texas Dolly himself signed it.

Just after I had seen a huge wave of compassion from the world’s top poker players,  I was blown away by the actions of Barry Greenstein.  He’s known as the Robin Hood of poker and donates all of his tournament winnings to charity. Barry made the final table of the $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha event that also featured Chris  “Jesus”  Ferguson.  During one of the breaks,  I walked over to Barry,  who was eating a hamburger.  I thanked him for calling Charlie,  and he told me that he was going to win the tournament and dedicate it to Charlie.  It was an amazing gesture and it seemed that the poker gods were on Barry’s side.  He came from behind to win his second WSOP bracelet and played flawless poker in the process.  After he won,  Barry told the audience,  “This one was for Charlie.”

Charlie Tuttle died two days later.  All of his family and friends know that Charlie found comfort in his last few days knowing that his favorite poker players in Las Vegas were pulling for him.  A lot of people who know about this story have been deeply touched and affected in indescribable ways.  None of the pros met Charlie,  yet they unselfishly took time out from their busy tournament schedules to try to help ease his pain.  You hear a lot of bad stories about poker players and professional gamblers,  so it’s good to see that a lot of these folks have huge hearts that are filled with compassion.