EVENT #17		5/8 to 5/9/97

WORLD SERIES OF POKER

TEXAS HOLDĠEM (No Limit) $3,000 TOTAL PRIZE MONEY - $651,000 PRIZE MONEY TO DATE - $8,044,000 ENTRIES IN THIS EVENT - 217 TOTAL ENTRIES TO DATE - 3,446

Daily Report

Final Table

1st Dr. Max Stern Las Vegas, NV $237,615 2nd Kathy Liebert Las Vegas, NV $123,690 3rd Alan Goehring Hoboken, NJ $61,845 4th David Vaillancourt Lowell, MA $42,315 5th George McKeever Derry, N. Ireland $29,295 6th Norm Michaud Bakersfield, CA $22,785 7th Chris Ferguson Pacific Palisades, CA $16,275 8th Sam Chehab Crystal City, CA $13,020 9th Luis Santoni Pembroke Pines, FL $10,416 10th Donnacha OĠDea London, England $7,812 11th Harry Thomas Ft. Lauderdale, FL $7,812 12th Randy Holland Waveland, MS $7,812 13th Anthony Guerriero Paterson, NJ $6,510 14th Billy Baxter Las Vegas, NV $6,510 15th Dan Heimiller St. Charles, MO $6,510 16th Alex Brenes Miami Lakes, FL $5,208 17th Dan Harrington Las Vegas, NV $5,208 18th Dr. Bruce VanHorn Ada, OK $5,208 19th Jason Lester Las Vegas, NV $3,906 20th Fred David Las Vegas, NV $3,906 21th Aidan Bennett Dublin, Ireland $3,906 22nd Thomas Chung Federal Way, WA $3,906 23rd Bill Gazes Kensington, CA $3,906 24th Perry Green Anchorage, AK $3,906 25th Pat Fleming Las Vegas, NV $3,906 26th Jason Gray London, England $3,906 27th Marty Wilson Wolverhampton, England $3,906 Las Vegas, May 9, 1997. It was another hot day in Las Vegas today, with blue skies overhead, and some large clouds looming in the western sky over Mt. Charleston. The temperature sign on top of the Horseshoe read 96 degrees at 3:00 PM, and my car thermometer read 95 degrees when Georgia and I were driving home around 9:00 PM. Dr. Max Stern earned his second gold bracelet of the 1997 WSOP by defeating Kathy Liebert in 59 minutes of heads-up play. Kathy was the crowd favorite, while Max had his own very vocal rooting section. Kathy's good friend, Tom McEvoy, was Kathy's head cheerleader and dispenser of good wishes and advice. At one point, Tom told her to stop playing like a "little girl" , and Kathy tripled through on the next hand and doubled through shortly thereafter. Tom wears his feelings on his shirt sleeve, and whoops and hollers and dances around when he wins a key hand, and he went through the same routine when Kathy did well today. Luis Santoni became the first player in WSOP history to play in two separate Events on the same day. Luis made the Final Table in the No Limit Holdem Event #17, and also entered and was playing in the 7 Card Stud Event #18 at the same time. Luis raised all-in on the first hand at the No Limit Holdem Final Table and tripled through. He again raised all-in on the second hand, was called by rec.gambler Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, and Jesus took all his chips and put Luis back into a monogamous relationship with 7 Card Stud. He was not given any special considerations to facilitate his dual envolvement. "www.wsop.com" *** CHECK IT OUT *** I was informed by Charles Coveny (Chief do-it-all'er, all around good guy, and the owner of the transcribing machine I am using) that "www.wsop.com" is now on line last night, and is now available to view videos that Charles has been shooting of various past 1997 WSOP Events, and that it will have live feeds in the future. Charles says that everything you need for viewing is on site and downloadable. I downloaded the software, and got an error #14 message when I tried to use it. Charles tells me that you have to reboot your computer after installing the plug in, which I did not do. I'll try it later, after rebooting, and see if that was my problem. Smoking Survey: Max Stern was the only smoker at the Event #17 No Limit Holdem Final Table. Congratulations to rec.gambler Chris "Jesus" Ferguson on a 7th place finish at today's No Limit Holdem Final Table. My Hero - Sam Grizzle Sam Grizzle is a sharp tongued, vocal, witty, somewhat controversial, maverick, professional Major Poker Tournament Tour Regular. I have played Omaha 8 with Sam a couple of times, and have been a frequent sweater of Sam at major tournaments, because Sam has long been one of my Poker Heros - the possessor of many admirable qualities, some of which I have listed above. Until the incident below occurred, I had never had any personal contact with Sam, and doubt that he knows me from Adam. Anyway, Sam made a short Final Table appearance recently, and undoubtedly heard Jack McClelland's routine request to be helpful and cooperative with my Internet reporting efforts. On one hand, Sam raised in early position, all folded, and Sam flashed his hole cards to the other players as the pot was pushed to him. I just got a glimpse of the cards, and in my quest for accuracy and information, I went over to Sam and asked him what cards he had shown. I had asked Sam very politely and unobtrusively, and Sam retorted to the world in general, and in a loud voice, that it wasn't any of my business, and that I didn't need to know, and that he wasn't going to tell me. Several other players told me his cards, and said something to the effect of "Good old lovable, congenial Sam". This experience has only served to raise Sam higher up on my Hero scale. After Dr. Max Stern called Norm Michaud's all in pocket 7's raise and showed his pocket Aces, Jack McClelland quipped "Max, you're going to have to wear a short sleeve shirt on your next trip to the Final Table". I guess the center stage atmosphere of the Final Table puts a little pressure on the dealers, who are rotated frequently. I had reported earlier in the WSOP that a dealer dealt one of the streets counter clockwise in one of the 7 card stud Events, and today a dealer put out the flop without bothering to give the players a hand first. Many of us rec.gamblers have a piece of Kim Scheinberg in tomorrow's $5,000 limit Holdem tournament. Tomorrow at 8:00 AM the rec.gambling TARGET satellite will be held at the Horseshoe. This is a satellite, for a satellite, for the $10,000 main event at this year's WSOP. Somewhere between thirty and forty entrants are expected, and hopefully this will be the year that one of the winners makes it into the main event. PENALTY BOX No penalties have been assessed during the last 24 hours. The WSOP Floorpeople are strictly enforcing the rules, with zero tolerance. Although no official list of violators is maintained, Steve Morrow, Head Assistant Tournament Co-ordinator, advises me that all of the following have received a 20 minute penalty during the 1997 WSOP. Most of the penalties were for using abusive language or throwing cards. Huck Seed Johnny Chan Unknown Phil Helmuth John Bonetti Unknown J. J. Volpe Nhut Tran Jeff Chapman Tom Sullivan Unknown Binion's still had some of their 1997 WSOP commemorative coins ($20 + tax) available today. As long as they are available, I will purchase a coin(s) for anyone who will pick them up COD from me in Las Vegas sometime in the near future. I don't want to get into the mailing business though. They don't have a whole lot of them left. SINGLE TABLE SATELLITES (Becky Kerber and Barbara Lotief) The $520 buy-in limit holdem single tables were the featured satellite today. These are ten handed, players start with $2,000 in chips, and the winner gets ten $500 tournament chips + $100 cash. $10,000 No-Limit single table satellites are scheduled for 4:00 and 6:00 PM daily. Ten players buy-in for $1,010 each and receive $4,000 in chips. Blinds start at $50 and $100. They ran five of these yesterday, and had another underway at around 3:00 PM today. SUPER SATELLITES (Patty Hughes and Rudy Lotief) The No-Limit Super Satellites start at 8:30 PM each evening. Last night there were 12 ten handed tables competing for $10,000 Final Event seats and cash. Buy-ins are $220 for $200 in chips, and re-buys can be made for $200 during the first hour of play. Blinds start at $5/10 and increase every 20 minutes. There were 145 entrants, who made a total of 149 re-buys last night. Here are last nights pay outs: 1-5. 1 - $10,000 Seat = $316 cash 6. 6 - $500 tournament chips + $520 cash 7. 3 - $500 tournament chips + $524 cash 8. 1 - $500 tournament chip + $556 cash 9. 1 - $500 tournament chip + $116 cash A Super Satellite for Sunday's Ladies 7 Card Stud Event was held this afternoon at 5:00 PM, and another will be held tomorrow at 5:00 PM. A $50 buy-in gets you $200 in chips, and you can re-buy for $40 during the first hour. There were around 65 entries today, competing for $1,060 seats plus cash. $10,000 CHAMPIONSHIP ENTRANTS Entrant #16, Sephen Kaufman and Entrant #39 David Welch both withdrew from this year's final Event, and rolled their entries over into next year's final Event. Their slots were taken by a couple of yesterday's satellite winners. I had no idea that roll overs to next year were allowed. 1. Nevada Stupak 2. Chris "Jesus" Ferguson 3. Chuck Thompson 4. Ken Flaton 5. Ken Buntjner 6. Mo Fathpour 7. Amadeo Parado 8. Laurence Clenau 9. Jay Reisler 10. Joseph Winston 11. Keith Taylor 12. Andre Boyer 13. Kev Nettles 14. Tormod Roren 15. Kenneth Davis 16. Don Pittman 17. Marko Trapini 18. Steve Kim 19. Sam Merchant 20. Andrew Black 21. Anthony Guerriero 22. George Gerus, Sr. 23. MacDonald Kempf 24. Ron "Carolina Express" Stanley 25. "Midnight" Pete Haugan 26. Jack Fox 27. John Hendrix 28. Dave Crunkleton 29. Jim Brown 30. Mike Pilkington 31. Martin Comer 32. Samir Khoveis 33. Gary Benson 34. David Roepke 35. Don Holt 36. J. C. Pearson 37. Tommi Han 38. Phuc Bao 39. James Harman 40. Ken Jacobs 41. Pete Dixon 42. Bruce Van Horn 43. Bill Fain 44. Myron Rosenbaum 45. Robert Henry Kojfer 46. David Rubin 47. Jim Mascher 48. Al McCoy 49. Mallie Hoyer 50. Angus Hill 51. Herb Potter 52. Allen Barker 53. Dr. Max Stern 54. Robert Dale Ellis 55. Peter Lameureaux 56. Milt Myers 57. Ken Sahek 58. Cal Dykes 59. Alex Horowitz 60. Thomas Sparks 61. Monte Kouz 62. Phil Helmuth 63. Jack Keller 64. Patrick Bruel 65. Louis Asmo 66. Dan Fairly 67. Jerre Juhl 68. John Strzemp 69. Tibor Tolni 70. Gustavo Weiss 71. Melissa Hayden 72. Paul Ladanyi 73. John Spadavecchia 74. Ivin Mladen 75. Tom McEvoy 76. Peter Brehm 77. Minh Ly 78. Bill Gazes 79. Praviz Roudi 80. Humberto Brenes 81. Pascal Perrault 82. Joel Chaseman 83. Marsha Waggoner 84. Randy Holland 85. Maria Stern 86. Tom Jacobs 87. David Ulliot 88. Noel Furlong 89. Brad Daugherty 90. Phil Brodrick 91. Thomas Chung 92. Vic Kramer 93. John Feranjesh 94. Billy "Crocodile" Argyros 95. Alan Brodsky 96. Jas Perdesi 97. Fred David 98. Edward Stevens 99. Charles Wight III 100. Michael Davis 101. Marcus Soloweiczyk 102. Jim Ward 103. Matt Lefkowitz 104. Buddy Bonnecaze 105. Mike Laing HELP !!!! I am looking for a 1997 WSOP $10,000 Championship Event participator who will allow me to unobtrusively sweat him/her (and record for posterity, in detail, all of her/his hole cards and how he/she played them) through to victory or elimination. Jim Albrecht has sanctioned this project, and CARDPLAYER is interested in doing an article on this subject. ALL I NEED IS A VOLUNTEER. Reasons for Volunteering: I will emanate positive vibes to the Poker God in her/his behalf. I might distract the competition more than him/her. The Volunteer may play better than otherwise, since her/his play will become a public record. Good P. R. for the Volunteer. The knowledge that opponents may gain about his/her playing style can be manipulated to her/his advantage in the future. He/she would be making a worthwhile contribution to the Poker world, and would have a detailed memento of her/his participation in the 1997 WSOP. Tom Sims 702-255-6146 Email: simst@nevada.edu WSOP NOTES Thanks to everyone for the many kind messages I have received regarding my WSOP efforts. I will get around to acknowledging all, but it may take a while. Several have noted that my 1996 WSOP Final Table data was in a "plainer English" format than the evolving code and abbreviations I am using for the 1997 WSOP. This is true, and I am not even very pleased with the 1996 output, and I wish it weren't so, but I don't think I could have managed the volume of data, within the time constraints I have set for myself, using the limited equipment and skills that I had (have) available, if I had not adopted this type of format. Basically, I am recording every bet and every visible card of every hand at every final table (a couple of goofs, so far) in the 1997 WSOP. I am using a micro tape recorder, and except for the two goofs, I don't believe that I have missed recording a single card or bet on any hand. The problem arises in transcribing the data from tape to Email so that I can get it to Chuck Weinstock at ConJelco. In addition to being tedious and slow, some typo errors do occur when you factor in my hunt and peck typing, the fact that very little proof reading has been done, and a sometimes less than bright eyed and bushy tailed condition by yours truly. Some have suggested that I just do the key hands and do them in a flowier manner, but this doesn't interest me, because that is counter to my primary objective of producing a complete record of all available actions in the 1997 WSOP. It is my current intention to massage the data at some future point, which would include making it more readable. However, this good intention may or may not materialize. The Final Table Card by Card and Bet by Bet WSOP Event #17: $3,000 No Limit Holdem 217 Entries, $651,000 Total Prize Pool and chips in play Final Table chip position: 1. [A] Alan Goehring - Hoboken, NJ $227,500 2 2. [M] Dr. Max Stern - Las Vegas 99,500 7 7. [C] Chris "Jesus" Ferguson - Pacific Palisades, CA 71,500 9 8. [S] Sam Chehab - Crystal City, CA 66,000 1 5. [G] George McKeever - Derry, Ireland 57,500 8 2. [K] Kathy Liebert - Las Vegas 46,500 5 6. [N] Norm Michaud - Bakersfield, CA 45,500 6 4. [D] David Vaillancourt, Boston, Mass 25,500 3 9. [L] Luis Santoni - Pembroke Pines, FL 13,500 4 Standard Abbreviations: Bet [b] Big Blind [bb] Bring in [bi] Call [c] Check [ck] Fifth Street [5:] First In [fi] Flop [fl] Fold [f] Fourth Street [4:] River [rv] Seventh Street [7:] Sixth Street [6:] Small Blind [sb] Show Down [sd] Third Street [3:] Turn [t] Winner [w] Standard Flop Game Notations [K] Kevin Song Seat #1 [Y] Yvan Lanvin Seat #2 96. sb K - c K - ck Y - fl 9s 5h 7h - ck Y - b K - f Y - w K Interpretation: On hand #96 in heads-up play, Kevin Song had the small blind on the button, Kevin called and Yvan checked. The flop was the 9s 5h 7h. Yvan checked, Kevin bet and Yvan folded. Kevin won the hand. Standard Stud Notations [B] Peter Brownstein Seat #1 [L] Linda Johnson Seat #2 170. 3: 4h 9s - bi L 9s - c B 4h - 4: Ad Kc - b B - f L - w B Interpretation: On hand #170 in heads-up Razz play, the doorcards on third street in seat order were the 4h for Peter and the 9s for Linda. Linda's 9s made the bring-in bet and Peter called. On 4th street Peter got the Ad and Linda got the Kc. Peter Bet. Linda folded. Peter won the hand. Cards were in the air at 4:06 PM with Jack McClelland and Jim Albrecht presiding. 38 minutes remaining at the $500 ante and $1,500/3,000 blind level. sb M - bb G - fi r 10000 L all in - c N - c M - f G - fl 8h Qc 6s - both ck - t 7s - both ck - rv Qh - M shows Ad Jd - N shows Ah Th - L shows 2s 2d - w L sb G - bb C - fi r43000 L all in - f G - c C - L shows Jh Tc - C shows Ad js - board As 3c 2d Jd Td - w C *** Luis Santoni finishes 9th at 4:08 PM sb C - bb S - fi r17000 D - all fold - w D sb S - bb A - fi c D - r27500 N all in - all fold - w N sb A - bb D - fi r27000 S - all fold - w S ab D - bb K - c M - c A - c D - ck K - fl Ah 7h Qh - ck D - ck K - ck M - b20000 A - f D - f K - r30000 M - r100,000 A - c30500 M all in - A shows 8h 2h - M shows Jh Th - t 5s - rv 8d - w M sb K - bb N - fi c K - ck N - fl 5c 7s Th - ck K - b10000 N - f K - w N sb N - bb M - fi r5000 D - f N - c M - fl 2s Kh Kc - ck M - b4000 D - f M - w D sb M - bb G - fi r9000 S - all fold - w S sb G - bb C - fi r3000 A - f G - c C - fl 2s Qs As - ck C - b10000 A - f C - w A sb C - bb S - fi r17000 D - all fold - w D sb S - bb A - fi c M - c S - ck A - fl 8c Jc Qc - all ck - t Qs - ck S - ck A - b12000 M - w M cb A - bb D - fi r32000 S - all fold - w S sb D - bb K - fi r9000 G - all fold - w G sb K - bb N - all fold to bb - w N sb N - bb M - all fold to bb - w M sb M - bb G - fi r4000 A - all fold - w A sb G - bb C - fi r18500 D all in - f G - c C - D shows Kh Th - C shows 9s 9c - board Jh Ts 4h Kc Ah - w D *** Levels increase to $1,000 ante and $2,000/4,000 blinds. Approx chip count: S 70K A 150K D 50K K 30K N 45K M 180K G 45K C 80K sb C - bb S - fi r14000 N - all fold - w N sb S - bb A - fi r15000 D - all fold - w D sb A - bb D - fi r13000 A - f D - w A sb D - bb K - fi r9000 C - c A - c D - f K - fl Ts Ac 9s - all ck - t 4c - ck A - b40000 D - all fold - w D sb K - bb N - fi c D - r18000 all in K - f N - c D - K shows Ac Qc - D shows 9s Td - board 2c 2h 3d 5h Kc - w K sb N - bb M - fi r14000 S - c A - r29000 K all in - f N - f M - f S - c A - K shows Qc Qh - A shows As Jh - board 8c 2d Ts 5d 4h - w K sb M - bb G - fi r6000 A - all fold - w A sb G - bb C - all fold to bb - w C sb C - bb S - fi c D - c C - ck S - fl 5d Ts 3s - b12000 C - r25000 S all in - f D - c C - S shows Th 6c - C shows Qh Td - t 8s - rv Qs - w C *** Sam Chehab finishes 8th at 5:02 PM. bb A - fi r9000 M - all fold - A shows 8d 3h - w M sb A - bb D - fi r10000 C - r20000 A - all fold - w A sb D - bb K - fi c M - f D - ck K - fl 4s 6c 4c - ck K - b10000 M - f K - w M sb K - bb N - fi r6000 A - r30000 K - all fold - w K sb N - bb M - fi r10000 D - f N - c M - fl 6d 3h 2d - both ck - t Kc - b15000 M - f D - w M sb M - bb G - fi r35000 D all in - all fold - w D sb G - bb C - fi r14000 G all in - f C - w G sb C - bb A - fi r25000 G - all fold - w G sb A - bb D - fi r10000 C - c A - f D - fl 5c 3h 2s - ck A - b20000 C - c A - t Jc - b85000 A all in - c59000 C - D shows Ad Jd - C shows As 5d - rv Js - w A *** Chris "Jesus" Ferguson finishes 7th at 5:16 PM. sb D - bb K - fi c A - r30000 D - all fold - w D sb K - bb N - fi r6000 M - f K - r20000 N all in - c M - N shows 7c 7h - M shows Ad As - board Kc Td 6h Tc Ks - w M *** Norm Michaud finishes 6th at 5:19 PM. bb M - all fold to bb - w M sb M - bb G - fi r8000 K - f M - r22000 G - c K - G shows Ah Js - K shows As Kc - board 6h 4c 7h 9h Qs - w K *** George McKeever finishes 5th at 5:21 PM. bb A - fi r11000 K - c A - fl 2h 6d 3d - ck A - b15000 K - c A - t Ts - ck A - b25000 K - f A - w K sb A - bb D - fi c K - c M - c A - ck D - fl 6h 7c Js - ck A - ck D - ck K - b15000 M - all fold - w M sb D - bb K - fi r6000 A - f D - c K - fl Ah 9s 4h - both ck - t 5d - both ck - rv Tc - both ck - K shows Kc 7h - A shows Qd 4d - w A sb K - bb M - fi c A - c K - ck M - fl 3s Td 5h - all ck - t Ac - all ck - rv 6h - ck K - ck M - b8000 A - f K - c M - A shows Ah 4h - M mucks - w A sb M - bb A - all fold to bb - w A sb A - bb D - fi c A - ck D - fl 5c 7c 8c - ck A - b10000 D - f A - w D sb D - bb K - fi r4000 A - r50000 D all in - all fold - A shows A 7 - w D shows A Q sb K - bb M - fi c A - c K - ck M - fl Jc 5h Qc - b12000 K - f M - c A - t 6h - both ck - rv 3h - both ck - K shows Qc 8d - A mucks - w K sb M - bb A - fi r14000 K - all fold - w K sb A - bb D - fi r14000 K - all fold - w K sb D - bb K - fi c M - c A - f D - ck K - fl 8s 6h Ks - ck K - b10000 M - all fold - w M sb K - bb M - fi c K - r17000 M - f K - w M *** Approx chip count: A 180K D 50K K 200K M 220K sb M - bb A - fi c D - c M - ck A - fl 8h 5s 4h - all ck - t Kc - b10000 M - r10000 A - f D - c M - rv Td - b30000 M - f A - w M *** Break at 5:44 PM. - Cards back in air at 5:57 PM. No Deals talks probable. Ante is now $1,000 with $3,000/6,000 blinds. sb A - bb D - fi c A - ck D - fl 8d 3d Th - both ck - t 8h - b10000 A - f D - w A sb D - bb K - fi c M - f D - ck K - fl Jh Qh Ks - ck K - b10000 M - f K shows 3 5 - w M shows Qc Jc sb K - bb M - fi r6000 A - r27000 D all in - r200000 M - f A - D shows Ah 2h - M shows Ks Kh - board 4c 3h 4d 9d 5s - w D sb M - bb A - fi c M - ck A - fl 5s 2h 9h - b8000 M - c A - t 7d - ck M - b20000 A - f M - w A sb A - bb D - fi c A - ck D - fl 4h Qc 9h - both ck - t 5h - both ck - rv 6d - both ck - A shows 7c 4c - D shows Ts 7d - w A sb D - bb K - fi c A - c D - ck K - fl 7c 6c 9h - ck D - b25000 K - f A - c D - t Kd - b35000 K - r20000 D all in - c K - D shows Ac 4c - K shows 9s 8d - rv Ts - w K *** David Vaillancourt finishes 4th at 6:05 PM. sb K - bb M - all fold to bb - w M sb M - bb A - fi c K - f M - ck A - fl 2d 5h Ts - both ck - t 4d - both ck - rv 2c - both ck - K shows Kh 6h - A mucks - w K sb A - bb K - all fold to bb - A shows 2d 9h - w K sb K - bb M - all fold to bb - K shows Jd 4s - w M sb M - bb A - fi r20000 M - f A shows 7c 2s - w M sb A - bb K - fi c M - c A - r25000 K - f M - c A - fl 4d 5d 8d - ck A - b50000 K - f A shows Kc Tc - w K *** Approx chip count: A 100K K 325K M 225K sb K - bb M - fi r14000 K - c M - fl Ts Qc 7d - ck K - b25000 M - f K - w M sb M - bb A - fi c M - r100000 A - f M - w A shows 8s 6s sb A - bb K - all fold to bb - w K sb K - bb M - all fold to bb - w M sb M - bb A - all fold to bb - w A sb A - bb K - fi c A - r40000 K - f A - w K sb K - bb M - c A - c K - r35000 M - c A - f K - 9h 9c 7d - b150000 M - f A - w M sb M - bb A - fi c M - ck A - fl Jd 8c Ad - b10000 M - c A - t 8d - both ck - rv Js - b25000 M - f A - w M sb A - bb K - all fold to bb - w K sb K - bb M - fi c K - ck M - fl Th Jd 6c - ck K - b15000 M - c K - t 6d - both ck - rv 9s - both ck - M shows Tc 2h - K mucks - w M sb M - bb A - fi r29000 K - all fold - w K sb A - bb K - fi r 21000 M - r3000 A all in - f K - c M - A shows Ac 7c - M shows Ah 8c - board As Jh 8s Ks 2h - w M *** Alan Goehring finishes 3rd at 6:33 PM. Deal break at 6:33 PM - Chip count: K 296K M 357K Probable deal made. Cards back in air at 6:45 PM. sb and button K - c K - r20000 M - f K - w M shows A sb M - c M - ck K - fl 4c Jh 9h - both ck - t 4d - ck K -b15000 M - r30000 K - c M - rv 5h - ck K - b 45K M - c K - K shows Q 4 - M mucks - w K sb K - f K - w M sb M - r25000 M - f K - w M sb K - f K - w M sb M - c M - ck K - fl 7d 7c 6h - ck M - b10000 K - f M - w K sb K - c K - ck M - fl 8s Qd Th - ck M - b25000 K - c M - t Th - ck M - b35000 K - f M - w K shows Qh sb M - c M - ck K - fl Ah 2d 8c - ck K - b10000 M - f K - w M sb K - r10000 K - c M - fl 2d 9d Qh - ck M - b30000 K - f M - w K sb M - c M - r30000 K - f M - w K sb K - f K - w M sb M - f M - w K shows As Kc sb K - f K - w M sb M - f M shows 7h 2s - w K sb K - r22000 K - r M all in - f K sb M - c M - ck K - fl 9c 7d Jh - ck K - b10000 M - r20000 K -c M - t Ad - both ck - rv 4d - ck K - b40000 M - f K - w M shows 8d 9d sb K - r27000 K - c M - fl 7c 3h 5h - ck M - b65000 K - f M - w K *** At 7:00 PM ante increases to $2,000 with $5,000/10,000 blinds. sb M - f M - w K sb K - f K - w M sb M - r20000 M - f K - w M sb K - r20000 K - c M - fl Ac 8d Ah - ck M - b40000 K - f M - w K sb M - r25000 M - f K - w M sb K - c K - ck M - fl 4s Qs Js - both ck - t Qh - b20000 M - f K - w M sb M - c M - ck K - fl 8d 5s Qh - ck K - b 15000 M - f K - w M sb K - f K - w M sb M - r30000 M - c K - fl Th 9h 7c - both ck - t 9c - ck K - b45000 M - f K - w M sb K - f K - w M sb M - c M - ck K - fl 3h Th Kc - both ck - t Qs - ck K - b15000 M - c K - rv Ks - ck K - b25000 M - c K - K shows Tc 8s - M mucks - w K sb K - f K - w M sb M - r25000 M - c K - fl Td 2c Ad - b45000 K - r200000+ M all in - f K - w M shows Ac sb K - r25000 K - f M - w K sb M - f M - w K sb K - c K - ck M - fl Ah 9d 2d - both ck - t 5c - b25000 M - f K - w M sb M - c M - ck K - fl Ks Jh 7d - b15000 K - c M - t Td - both ck - rv 4s - both ck - M shows 9h 9s - K mucks shows Ad - w M *** Approx chip count: K 220K M 435K sb K - c K - ck M - 7h Jd Th - b20000 M - c K - t Ad - both ck - rv Qc - both ck - M shows Js 5c - K mucks - w M sb M - c M - ck K - fl Kh Th 5s - ck K - b15000 M - f K - w M sb K - r20000 K - f M - w K sb M - r30000 M - f K - w M sb K - c K - ck M - fl Th Ks Ac - ck M - b20000 K - f M - w K sb M - r30000 M - f K - w M sb K - r20000 K - c M - fl Ac 2d Jh - ck M - b40000 K - f M - w K sb M - c M - ck K - fl Kc 8d Qs - ck K - b20000 M - f K shows 4c 3h - w M shows Qc *** Bathroom break from 7:29 PM until 7:33 PM. Approx chip count: K 215K M 440K sb K - f K - w M sb M - f M - w K sb K - r10000 K - f M - w K sb M - c M - ck K - fl 6h 2d 8h - b15000 K - c M - t 9d - both ck - rv 9c - both ck - M shows Ad Td - K shows As 2h - w K sb K - c K - ck M - fl 2c Ks 7d - ck M - b20000 K - f M - w K sb M - c M - r30000 K - c M - fl 7d 4d 9h - ck K - b M all in - f K - w M sb K - r25000 K - f M - w K sb M - c M - ck K - fl 9s Ac 9d - both ck - t Js - ck K - b20000 M - r20000 K - f M - w K sb K - f K - w M sb M - r25000 M - r224000 K all in - c M - M shows As 5s - K shows 6c 6c - board Ac Qc 4s 4d 9d - w M Kathy Liebert finishes 2nd and Dr. Max Stern wins the $3,000 No Limit Holdem WSOP Championship at 7:44 PM. Final Table Chip Standings - Seat Positions

Dr. Max Stern, a popular retired pediatrician, became the first two-title winner at this World Series, defeating 216 opponents in another record field to take the fiercely contested $3,000 No Limit Hold'em Event. He was awarded $237,615 and his second gold WSOP bracelet in five days, having also won the $2,500 Seven Card High-Low Split tournment. At three final tables this year, the 57 year-old transplanted Costa Rican player has collected $378,6l5, bringing his total World Series earnings to $560,085. "It's indescribable to win two titles," Stern said. "This has surpassed all my wildest dreams -- even more so because my dear and beautiful wife also won a tournament." Paying tribute to his last final-table opponent, Stern said, "It was a great pleasure and honor to play against such a fine lady as Kathy Liebert. Male poker players are wrong. As I tell my wife, she should pay attention to the chauvinism factor because, in general, men underestimate women at the poker table and elsewhere. Believe me, they are wrong -- as Kathy proved." When they went heads up, Stern held a $357,000 -- $296,000 chip lead, which Liebert twice wrested from him before running into a dry spell. After almost exactly an hour, she suddenly went all in with pocket sixes. Stern, holding A-5 of spades, called. That made it a $518,000 pot. With supporters of both players shouting enthusiastically, the flop came A-Q-4, then another four and a nine, giving Stern the victory. Liebert, 29, who has played poker professionally for three years, collected $123,690 --her largest-ever tournament win. A former business analyst, she has had about six runner-up finishes in no limit tournaments, her best game. "I feel pretty good," she said. "It's a lot of fun but exhausting. Max is great. I enjoyed playing against him. We were very competitive but friendly." With this second-place finish, Liebert leaped into fifth place on the Women's Top Money Winners list. Three days ago she finished in the money in the $3,000 Pot Limit Hold'em event. Third place went to Alan Goehring, a 34 year-old Wall Street bond trader who had never played in a poker tournament until this World Series. "I'm just a tourist who likes to gamble, a gambling junkie in fact," he said. "My combined experience at pot limit and no limit is less than ten hours." Goehring, collecting $61,845, said, "I'm disappointed. I thought I could win it, being the early chip leader. But considering all the players I beat, I'm exceedingly happy." David Vaillancourt, a "casual, infrequent poker player" competing in the fourth tournament of his life, took fourth place money of $42,315. A 41 year-old CPA, Vaillancourt said, "I'm very pleased, but I thought I could take it all. I wasn't discouraged by the big stacks against me." He reported an unusual coup on the first day of this event -- with a pocket pair of eights which became a flush on the river, he knocked out two poker giants, Chip Reese and Eric Seidel. He was eliminated holding A-4 of clubs when he raised Liebert all in on a flop of 9-7c-6c. She held 9-8 and called, taking the large pot with her pair of nines when the turn and river came Kd-10s. Fifth place went to Northern Ireland golf resort owner George McKeever, 62, who was awarded $29,295. Describing himself as a "longtime and very much a casual poker player," McKeever recalled greatly enjoying playing against the late Telly Savalas 10 years ago in the Championship Event. "In the first hand, I took half his chips," he said. He was all in with Ah-Js against Liebert's A-K, turned a flush draw but lost with a board of 7h-6h-4/9h/Q. Norm Michaud, similarly afflicted with undistinguished cards, finished sixth, going all in with pocket sevens which ran into Stern's "familiar" pocket aces. The board showed K-10- 6/10-K. Michaud has now won $28,365 at the World Series. Seventh place was taken by tournament regular Chris Ferguson who has five final tables to his credit in six money finishes at the WSOP. His earnings now total $82,571. He was knocked out with A-5 after betting all in on a flop of 5-3-2. Goehring, with A-J, called and caught jacks on both turn and river. Sam Chehab finished eighth, his fourth time in the money at the WSOP where he has won $25,592. In the unraised big blind, he flopped 10-5-3 to his 10-6 with which he went all in. But Ferguson had Q-10 which improved to two pair on the river. Ninth place, with unusual theatrics, went to Louis Santoni, his third finish in the money at this WSOP and his seventh overall. Shortest stacked at the outset, he was simultaneously still competing in the day's $5,000 Seven Card Stud event. When final table play began, Santoni went all in for his #13,000 and was called by Chehab and Stern who docilely checked flop, turn and river -- Q-8-6/7-Q. Chehab showed A-10, Stern A-J, and with a whoop, Santoni turned over pocket deuces. Immediately thereafter, Santoni went all in again, for $46,000, with J-10. Ferguson, holding A-J, called and took the pot when the board showed A-3-2/J-10. That sent Santoni scurrying back to his dwindling stack in the stud tournament.

©1997, Binion's Horseshoe. Some portions ©1997, ConJelCo. All Rights Reserved.