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Day 1
A Look Back Before the Main Event
2005-07-07
By BJ Nemeth
The World Series of Poker is the most exciting time of the poker year. It attracts the best of the best to play alongside the best of the rest. And unlike the baseball equivalent, this really is a World Series, with a strong mix of top international players. This is the pinnacle of poker, and winning a World Series bracelet can be the highlight of any player's career.
On the other hand, if you're running bad, it can be brutal. If you bought in for every event, it would have cost you $100,500. And that doesn't even include rebuys. Or the $10,000 Championship Event, which starts today. That's a pretty deep hole to climb out of.
That means that there will be a lot of hopes pinned to the "Big One." A high finish in the biggest event in history can easily wipe away a month-and-a-half of dead cards, lost races, and bad beats. A lot of internet qualifiers will be showing up for just this one event, and most of them will be very happy with any money finish, turning their $100 (or less) satellite into a paid vacation to Vegas and a $20,000 payday. But for the pros who have played all month long, they want to go deep -- very deep.
But rather than dwelling on the negative, let's look back at the best performances from the 2005 World Series of Poker so far.
TOP PERFORMANCES
There have been a lot of players with notable achievements this year, with multiple final tables or a record number of cashes. But there are four players who clearly stand out from the crowd with outstanding performances: Allen Cunningham, Mark Seif, ****** Chan, and Doyle Brunson.
Allen Cunningham: The Million-Dollar Man
Allen Cunningham is the first person in history to earn a million dollars in a single World Series -- before the Championship Event. He won the first public event (Event #2 - $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em), which was nearly the size of last year's Championship. Even with $725,000 from that one win, getting to a million wasn't easy. When he made his fourth final table, he started out eighth in chips, and had to finish in seventh place or higher to break the million-dollar mark. He finished seventh, writing his name in the history books in the process.
Need more perspective? Even if you subtract the $725,000 for his biggest win, his other cashes would still rank him 40th on the money list for this year's World Series. That's higher than Barry Greenstein, who made two final tables and won a bracelet in Event #19 ($1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha).
And while it's likely that everyone at the Championship final table will win more than Cunningham has (unless he's sitting among them -- he is running hot right now), his achievement is more impressive than a single final-table appearance in the Main Event.
Mark Seif: A Bracelet For Each Arm
With the field sizes exploding, most people felt multiple bracelet winners were a thing of the past. But Mark Seif proved them wrong, winning his first career bracelet in Event #15 ($1,500 Limit Hold'em Shootout), then winning his second bracelet just seven days later in Event #22 ($1,500 No-Limit Hold'em). And these weren't low-turnout events; he beat out 450 players the first time, and 2,013 players the second.
Was this a fluke, an anomaly? Only time will tell, but it's doubtful. Mark Seif just reminded us (along with Allen Cunningham) that a professional player can get in a groove at the right time of the year, and consistently finish strong even against massive fields.
****** Chan & Doyle Brunson: A Perfect Ten
This year started with a three-way tie for first place in career bracelets: Doyle Brunson, ****** Chan, and Phil Hellmuth each had nine. Not any more.
ESPN was scrambling as ****** Chan made his way through the final table in Event #25 ($2,500 Pot-Limit Hold'em). The event wasn't scheduled for broadcast, but the producers know high ratings when they see it. They slowed it down as much as they could, extending breaks as they waited for another final table on the TV stage to wrap up. When it came down to ****** Chan against Phil Laak for the bracelet, the action stopped entirely, waiting as long as necessary for the TV final table to open up.
And when it opened up, it took just minutes for the table to be set up for an exciting heads-up match. The air was electric as a huge crowd gathered in the middle of the night to see if Chan could win his record tenth bracelet. It only took 16 hands before his pocket queens held up against Laak's K-J, and just like that, ****** Chan was the first person to win ten World Series of Poker bracelets. He broke the three-way tie to hold the record all by himself.
For four days.
That's how long it took for the legendary Doyle Brunson to catch up to him. Brunson battled through a tough final table (Minh Ly, Scotty Nguyen, Layne Flack) to win his tenth career bracelet in Event #31 ($5,000 Short-Handed No-Limit Hold'em).
As amazing as it was for Chan to win his tenth, it seemed even more amazing for Brunson to rise to the occasion and even the score within a week. Brunson's stamina might not be what it once was, but he stayed focused deep into the night, winning the last hand at 3:51 am.
With six thousand people lining up for the championship event, the greatest players in the game just sent out a loud reminder that experience still counts for something.
OTHER TOP PERFORMERS
There were 23 players who made multiple final tables this year. Of those, there were four players who made three final tables: Todd Brunson (finishing 1st, 6th, 8th), Erik Seidel (1st, 8th, 9th), Cyndy Violette (2nd, 7th, 7th), and Minh Nguyen (2nd, 7th, 9th).
But there was just one player who made four final tables. It should come as no surprise that it was Allen Cunningham (1st, 4th, 4th, 7th).
An interesting piece of trivia -- each of the players with three or more final tables only cashed in one other event. So once they made the money, they usually made the final table.
Speaking of cashes, there were just four players who cashed more than five times: Anthony Cousineau (7 cashes, $146,890), Marco Traniello (7 cashes, $75,740), Max Pescatori (6 cashes, $101,620), and Steve Zolotow (6 cashes, $57,545).
The career record for WSOP cashes is still tied between Phil Hellmuth and Berry Johnston, with 49 each. While Hellmuth missed his chance to be the first player with ten bracelets, he can take the consolation prize by being the first player with 50 cashes. But Berry Johnston is still going strong, and if Hellmuth falls short, he might just be spending another year one cash behind Mr. Johnston.
MISCELLANEOUS MEMORABLE MOMENTS
You may have noticed the name "Brunson" appeared several times earlier in this article. Both father (Doyle) and son (Todd) have had a great World Series. When Todd Brunson won his first bracelet in Event #21 ($2,500 Omaha Hi-Lo Split), it marked the first time in history that a father and son both had bracelets. They further cemented their mark when Doyle Brunson won his tenth bracelet in Event #31 ($5,000 Short-Handed No-Limit Hold'em), giving them victories in the same year.
Before you think we may never again see a parent-and-child team win events in the same year, keep in mind that Barry Greenstein won Event #19 ($1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha), while his step-son Joe Sebok made two final tables.
While ****** Chan was playing for his record-setting tenth bracelet, there was another great story happening at the same time. Phil Laak was heads-up against ****** Chan while his girlfriend, actress Jennifer Tilly, was just twenty yards away at the final table of Event #26 ($1,000 Ladies-Only No-Limit Hold'em). They supported each other during breaks, and occasionally stood on chairs to see over the crowds of spectators.
Just as Phil Laak's final table was delayed so ESPN could record the historic moment, so too was Jennifer Tilly's final table. When it got down to the final four players, they all agreed to come back the next afternoon to finish the event on the TV stage. That's exactly what they did (to the delight of ESPN), and Tilly's chip lead held up as she cruised to victory. Photographers seemed to pour out of the woodwork to record the moment, and Tilly was easily the most excited winner of the year, cradling the bracelet as if it were an Academy Award. Although, according to Tilly, this was even better.
World Series rookie Todd Witteles should have considered playing more events. This was his first Series, and he only played in two events. But boy, did he ever play. He finished in third place in Event #4 ($1,500 Limit Hold'em), and followed that up with a victory in Event #36 ($3,000 Limit Hold'em). Witteles, a strong Internet player that goes by the comical name of "Dan Druff", clearly has the potential to become a repeat champion. Hopefully, he'll play in more than two events next year.
Eric Froehlich became the youngest player to ever win an event at the World Series, taking the bracelet in Event #4 ($1,500 Limit Hold'em) just four months after his 21st birthday. It's amazing that he could win a bracelet after playing legally for just a few months (wink, wink).
Then there's Cliff Josephy (a.k.a. ****** Bax) who won a seven-card stud event even though he had never played seven-card stud before. He received five-minute lessons from a few friends the night before (including Scott Fischman), and used that to beat out 472 players. But Josephy was not just a lucky rookie; Fischman pointed out that Josephy was already a highly skilled tournament poker player, and just needed to learn the basics of stud to transfer those skills.
Unfortunately, we can't always recognize history when we see it. An unknown player who won his first bracelet this year might one day become a legend. The World Series has a history of launching the careers of professional players. Which of the first-time winners will become repeat champions? Only time will tell. Which is one of the reasons we keep coming back, year after year, to the World Series of Poker.
A Look Back Before the Main Event
2005-07-07
By BJ Nemeth
The World Series of Poker is the most exciting time of the poker year. It attracts the best of the best to play alongside the best of the rest. And unlike the baseball equivalent, this really is a World Series, with a strong mix of top international players. This is the pinnacle of poker, and winning a World Series bracelet can be the highlight of any player's career.
On the other hand, if you're running bad, it can be brutal. If you bought in for every event, it would have cost you $100,500. And that doesn't even include rebuys. Or the $10,000 Championship Event, which starts today. That's a pretty deep hole to climb out of.
That means that there will be a lot of hopes pinned to the "Big One." A high finish in the biggest event in history can easily wipe away a month-and-a-half of dead cards, lost races, and bad beats. A lot of internet qualifiers will be showing up for just this one event, and most of them will be very happy with any money finish, turning their $100 (or less) satellite into a paid vacation to Vegas and a $20,000 payday. But for the pros who have played all month long, they want to go deep -- very deep.
But rather than dwelling on the negative, let's look back at the best performances from the 2005 World Series of Poker so far.
TOP PERFORMANCES
There have been a lot of players with notable achievements this year, with multiple final tables or a record number of cashes. But there are four players who clearly stand out from the crowd with outstanding performances: Allen Cunningham, Mark Seif, ****** Chan, and Doyle Brunson.
Allen Cunningham: The Million-Dollar Man
Allen Cunningham is the first person in history to earn a million dollars in a single World Series -- before the Championship Event. He won the first public event (Event #2 - $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em), which was nearly the size of last year's Championship. Even with $725,000 from that one win, getting to a million wasn't easy. When he made his fourth final table, he started out eighth in chips, and had to finish in seventh place or higher to break the million-dollar mark. He finished seventh, writing his name in the history books in the process.
Need more perspective? Even if you subtract the $725,000 for his biggest win, his other cashes would still rank him 40th on the money list for this year's World Series. That's higher than Barry Greenstein, who made two final tables and won a bracelet in Event #19 ($1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha).
And while it's likely that everyone at the Championship final table will win more than Cunningham has (unless he's sitting among them -- he is running hot right now), his achievement is more impressive than a single final-table appearance in the Main Event.
Mark Seif: A Bracelet For Each Arm
With the field sizes exploding, most people felt multiple bracelet winners were a thing of the past. But Mark Seif proved them wrong, winning his first career bracelet in Event #15 ($1,500 Limit Hold'em Shootout), then winning his second bracelet just seven days later in Event #22 ($1,500 No-Limit Hold'em). And these weren't low-turnout events; he beat out 450 players the first time, and 2,013 players the second.
Was this a fluke, an anomaly? Only time will tell, but it's doubtful. Mark Seif just reminded us (along with Allen Cunningham) that a professional player can get in a groove at the right time of the year, and consistently finish strong even against massive fields.
****** Chan & Doyle Brunson: A Perfect Ten
This year started with a three-way tie for first place in career bracelets: Doyle Brunson, ****** Chan, and Phil Hellmuth each had nine. Not any more.
ESPN was scrambling as ****** Chan made his way through the final table in Event #25 ($2,500 Pot-Limit Hold'em). The event wasn't scheduled for broadcast, but the producers know high ratings when they see it. They slowed it down as much as they could, extending breaks as they waited for another final table on the TV stage to wrap up. When it came down to ****** Chan against Phil Laak for the bracelet, the action stopped entirely, waiting as long as necessary for the TV final table to open up.
And when it opened up, it took just minutes for the table to be set up for an exciting heads-up match. The air was electric as a huge crowd gathered in the middle of the night to see if Chan could win his record tenth bracelet. It only took 16 hands before his pocket queens held up against Laak's K-J, and just like that, ****** Chan was the first person to win ten World Series of Poker bracelets. He broke the three-way tie to hold the record all by himself.
For four days.
That's how long it took for the legendary Doyle Brunson to catch up to him. Brunson battled through a tough final table (Minh Ly, Scotty Nguyen, Layne Flack) to win his tenth career bracelet in Event #31 ($5,000 Short-Handed No-Limit Hold'em).
As amazing as it was for Chan to win his tenth, it seemed even more amazing for Brunson to rise to the occasion and even the score within a week. Brunson's stamina might not be what it once was, but he stayed focused deep into the night, winning the last hand at 3:51 am.
With six thousand people lining up for the championship event, the greatest players in the game just sent out a loud reminder that experience still counts for something.
OTHER TOP PERFORMERS
There were 23 players who made multiple final tables this year. Of those, there were four players who made three final tables: Todd Brunson (finishing 1st, 6th, 8th), Erik Seidel (1st, 8th, 9th), Cyndy Violette (2nd, 7th, 7th), and Minh Nguyen (2nd, 7th, 9th).
But there was just one player who made four final tables. It should come as no surprise that it was Allen Cunningham (1st, 4th, 4th, 7th).
An interesting piece of trivia -- each of the players with three or more final tables only cashed in one other event. So once they made the money, they usually made the final table.
Speaking of cashes, there were just four players who cashed more than five times: Anthony Cousineau (7 cashes, $146,890), Marco Traniello (7 cashes, $75,740), Max Pescatori (6 cashes, $101,620), and Steve Zolotow (6 cashes, $57,545).
The career record for WSOP cashes is still tied between Phil Hellmuth and Berry Johnston, with 49 each. While Hellmuth missed his chance to be the first player with ten bracelets, he can take the consolation prize by being the first player with 50 cashes. But Berry Johnston is still going strong, and if Hellmuth falls short, he might just be spending another year one cash behind Mr. Johnston.
MISCELLANEOUS MEMORABLE MOMENTS
You may have noticed the name "Brunson" appeared several times earlier in this article. Both father (Doyle) and son (Todd) have had a great World Series. When Todd Brunson won his first bracelet in Event #21 ($2,500 Omaha Hi-Lo Split), it marked the first time in history that a father and son both had bracelets. They further cemented their mark when Doyle Brunson won his tenth bracelet in Event #31 ($5,000 Short-Handed No-Limit Hold'em), giving them victories in the same year.
Before you think we may never again see a parent-and-child team win events in the same year, keep in mind that Barry Greenstein won Event #19 ($1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha), while his step-son Joe Sebok made two final tables.
While ****** Chan was playing for his record-setting tenth bracelet, there was another great story happening at the same time. Phil Laak was heads-up against ****** Chan while his girlfriend, actress Jennifer Tilly, was just twenty yards away at the final table of Event #26 ($1,000 Ladies-Only No-Limit Hold'em). They supported each other during breaks, and occasionally stood on chairs to see over the crowds of spectators.
Just as Phil Laak's final table was delayed so ESPN could record the historic moment, so too was Jennifer Tilly's final table. When it got down to the final four players, they all agreed to come back the next afternoon to finish the event on the TV stage. That's exactly what they did (to the delight of ESPN), and Tilly's chip lead held up as she cruised to victory. Photographers seemed to pour out of the woodwork to record the moment, and Tilly was easily the most excited winner of the year, cradling the bracelet as if it were an Academy Award. Although, according to Tilly, this was even better.
World Series rookie Todd Witteles should have considered playing more events. This was his first Series, and he only played in two events. But boy, did he ever play. He finished in third place in Event #4 ($1,500 Limit Hold'em), and followed that up with a victory in Event #36 ($3,000 Limit Hold'em). Witteles, a strong Internet player that goes by the comical name of "Dan Druff", clearly has the potential to become a repeat champion. Hopefully, he'll play in more than two events next year.
Eric Froehlich became the youngest player to ever win an event at the World Series, taking the bracelet in Event #4 ($1,500 Limit Hold'em) just four months after his 21st birthday. It's amazing that he could win a bracelet after playing legally for just a few months (wink, wink).
Then there's Cliff Josephy (a.k.a. ****** Bax) who won a seven-card stud event even though he had never played seven-card stud before. He received five-minute lessons from a few friends the night before (including Scott Fischman), and used that to beat out 472 players. But Josephy was not just a lucky rookie; Fischman pointed out that Josephy was already a highly skilled tournament poker player, and just needed to learn the basics of stud to transfer those skills.
Unfortunately, we can't always recognize history when we see it. An unknown player who won his first bracelet this year might one day become a legend. The World Series has a history of launching the careers of professional players. Which of the first-time winners will become repeat champions? Only time will tell. Which is one of the reasons we keep coming back, year after year, to the World Series of Poker.
LES SAVY FAV 
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