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| EVENT #13 | 5/3 to 5/4/98 |
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| TEXAS HOLD'EM (Limit) $3,000 | |
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| TOTAL PRIZE MONEY - $513,000 | PRIZE MONEY TO DATE - $5,932,000 |
| ENTRIES IN THIS EVENT - 171 | TOTAL ENTRIES TO DATE - 2,884 |
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The Final Table How they finished Live From the 'Shoe The Play-by-Play |
 COLD SALSA The story of this Final Table is not so much who won it, but who lost it. WAITING IN LINE The last person on earth that Kathy Liebert wants to lose to is Annie Duke, her arch rival for "Princess of Poker." But as we see continually, the Poker God loves to torture. Low on chips, Kathy goes all-in with A 3 off. Annie calls the extra few chips with K 5 off. Liebert has the high card on a 7 6 2 flop. But the turn brings a 5 and Kathy doesn't catch her gut shot straight draw on the river. Liebert is 21st. Three out of the money. Lap Ki Wan is put out 20th as his last chips are called by Brenda Jacobus with a pair of 4's. Wan's K Q doesn't get any help. John Bonetti says he's been playing like "a horse's ass." He says, "I'm sitting here like a bump on a log." One player from the money, he throws his 5 chips onto the table. He also has K Q. Tom McEvoy calls from the blinds with A 3 off. A three comes on the flop. An Ace comes on the turn, and Bonetti is bumped off the log in 19th. GETTING TO THE TABLE Annie Duke can't believe her eyes. Brenda Jacobus just showed her quad Aces. She pitches her hand away in disgust. Annie is 13th. On the very next hand, it's Gus Echeverri who's dumbfounded. How can Brenda Jacobus have two big hands in a row? The suddenly aflame Jacobus turns over Queens to Gus's Jacks. The board has three fives for full house over full house. Gus has to go back to his house in 12th. The short stacked Hassan Mohammed goes all-in on a diamond draw, when two hit the flop. That's the only two that arrive, however, and George Salsaa put Hassan out in 11th with K 9. Joe Monro would have liked someone else to volunteer for 10th place, but there were no hands in the air. For some unknowable reason, Joe called all-in in a multi-way pot with Chris Tsiprailidis - just two players to his left - not having enough chips to get through the blinds. You'd do that with Aces, maybe, but A 10 off? Say it ain't so, Joe? Peter Muller called for value with 8 7. Muller caught a 7 on the flop and a 7 on the river. Monro, you're 10th with a bullet. Gathered around the salad bar:
Prize Money
OK, quiz time. Who would you say has the advantage at a Final Table? Someone who starts with $138,500 or someone who starts with $4,000? Easy question, right? Trick question. Joining a precious few others, in a record that can only be tied but never broken, George Salsaa went from Always on Sunday to Never on Monday. In one of the biggest tank jobs since General Patton reached Berlin, George Salsaa blew off over a quarter of the chips on the table - $138,500 in a little over an hour. From first to worst. Salsaa, who was as hot as his name yesterday, couldn't win a pot today. Chasing everything in sight, he caught nothing. "Syracuse" Chris Tsiprailidis who started the day with a paltry $4,000, unbelievably beat George in a walk. In Salsaa's last vain attempt to catch a card, any card, he was all-in against Peter Muller. In his defense, George had the best hand going in. He had A J, Peter had Q J. There was no stopping Salsaa's free fall though. The board came with a Queen and a Jack. George Salsaa, who justifiably must have had ideas about the $200,000 first prize overnight, took his nightmare $8,208 home in 9th place. It couldn't get any worse and didn't. Well, now the other eight players had all this new found money spread over the table. Who wanted to keep it? Bruce Yamron, who had failed to pick up any of the salsa, didn't get any help with his A K against Robert Ellis and left in 8th. Robert Ellis, in spite of taking out Bruce Yamron, had been equally neglectful in getting enough of George Salsaa's misspent loot. When he was forced all-in by the oncoming blinds, it was Brenda Jacobus who did the dirty work. She called with an 8 6 and caught an eight on the flop to crack Robert's A J. Ellis had to go back to the island in 7th. After a brave fight, Chris Tsiprailidis was finally exhausted. It was too much to ask, to come from so far back. He'd passed three players including the prohibitive chip leader. That was enough for one day. Chris's all-in, in front of the blinds, was called by Peter Muller with 7 5 of Hearts. Chris had A K. The board had a seven on the river. Chris said thank you very much for the free money and left in 6th. Men "The Master" Nguyen wasn't able to get on any of his patented rushes at this Final Table. Finally, he raised all-in with pocket 10's. Brenda Jacobus was running hot and she had all those salsa chips. She called with K 9. Not to be kept waiting, Brenda got a King on the flop. Men mastered his way over to Jack to pick up 5th money. Peter Muller had brought his girlfriend Katy's lucky penny from home in Connecticut. It had helped for a while, but Peter couldn't get David Chiu to lay down a hand whenever Peter raised Chiu's big blind. After pumping David up like a flat tire, it was Muller who went flat. All-in with A K, Muller was called by Chiu with pocket Queens. Katy's penny ran completely out of luck, as Chiu rivered quad Queens to send Muller back to Katy with $30,780 for 4th place. That's over three million pennies, if anyone is counting. What followed was the total disintegration of Brenda Jacobus. At one time the chip leader, thanks to George Salsaa, Brenda couldn't deal at all with David Chiu. He played her like an accordion. She'd take one of his beats and visibly steam like a full tea kettle. He had her and he knew it. When Chiu caught runner, runner 7's for quad 7's, not only was Brenda through, but the tournament was over. Chiu took the chip lead that would never be threatened. Brenda just gave up. She was guaranteed $51,300 and she wanted to go home. She threw her last money in on 6 4 off in the small blind and seemed almost relieved when Chiu caught trip 10's. With Brenda gone, the chip count was David Chiu $300,000, Mickey Seagle $213,000. That was as close as it would get. David Chiu raised almost every bet, while Mickey Seagle waited for good hands that never came. After almost an hour of heads up play, Mickey turned aggressive and took a stand at the wrong time. With K 6 off, Mickey re-raised David's A 3 off before the flop, and kept betting the A 7 J flop and K turn. David raised on the turn to put Mickey all-in. The river was another 7, and Mickey took a one way trip to 2nd place Always remember to Chiu your Salsaa before you swallow, children. David did and ended up with the whole enchilada, $205,200. FINAL RESULTS
$3,000 Limit Holdem
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 #18 Monday 4 May 1998 CASH, CASH AND MORE CASH There is great concern that the $10,000 Championship Event will fall below last year's number of 312. Tonight we saw a possible reason why that number won't be reached. Three previous winners made the Final Table. All three won seats that they won't play. The previous winners were paid in cash, and three new Championship Event entrants were lost. Those seats were denied to players who would have had to play them. And greatly wanted to play them. My suggestion to Jack McClelland and Jim Albrecht is that all seats won MUST BE PLAYED. The difference is that for those who have won seats earlier, the entries would have to be sold to someone who will play them. This ruling would cause previous winners to play in fewer Supers, opening up seats for other, perhaps less skilled, players. The top players can still play for cash, it will just be a slightly harder for them to collect their money. This idea has no doubt been discarded previously as unworkable, but it should be looked at again. Nothing could be better for the World Series of Poker than to have more players who want to play, be able to. Tonight, 156 players bought 142 rebuys bringing the prize pool to, $59,600. The following were the rewards for making the final table:
Some of the "names" who competed were:
Kathy Liebert None of these esteemed players made the final table. "Hard luck" Walter Threadgill was 13th, as J.R. Lloyd showed him an A K when a King flopped. Walter didn't show his hand. Buddy Williams was 12th when Phil Smith flopped a set on him. Chris Bradley didn't show his all-in hand when Jim Walterburg caught top pair with a 10 9. Bradley was 11th. David Roepke had Queens cracked by J.R. Lloyd's A K when an Ace came. Roepke was 10th. The Final Table:
Phil Smith doesn't have enough chips to wait. When he sees 6 6 he goes all-in. Jim Walterburg has A K and catches an Ace on the flop. Phil Smith is 9th. Joel Chaseman comes out early with A 10 off, Frank Landen calls with A K in the big blind. Joel is chasing again. Frankly, it's moot. Landen lands K K on the turn and river. Chaseman is 8th. This is Jim Walterburg's fourth Final Table. He must be able to play, and he must be lucky to have accomplished that. But for the fourth straight time his lucks stops short. Jim has yet to win a seat. Jim took a hellacious beat when his A 9 flopped and turned a nine. J.R. Lloyd turned over this K K. Only a King on the river could win for Lloyd. That's what came. With two chips left, Walterburg was all-in for the small blind. Bruce Yamron was forced to call him and get a chip back in the big blind. Jim had K 8. Bruce had 2 5. Someone said "You're a big dog, Bruce." John Bonetti said, "No he isn't, not with a 2 5." The words of a master. A deuce flops and Jim Walterburg leaves in 7th wondering what he has to do to get into the Big Dance. Brent Carter is in the small blind, Bruce Yamron in the big. J.R. Lloyd only has 8 chips which is equal to the big blind. He puts them in. Carter calls 4 chips. It's one against two. The flop comes 3 4 5 the turn a 6. Lloyd's A K is drawing dead. Brent Carter has an A 7 for a straight. Who shot J.R.? Brent Carter did. The winners for Super Satellite #18 were:
Gus Echeverri
and for the second time
and for the third time 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 $320 buy-in No Limit Holdem Satellites, ten Players start with $1,200 each in chips. The blinds start at $10/$25, increase every 15 minutes, and the winner gets six $500 Lammers plus $100 in cash. For the $1,010 buy-in Single Table $10,000 Satellites, ten players start with $4,000 each in chips. The blinds start at $25/50 and increase every 20 minutes. The winner gets a non-transferrable seat in the Championship Event. LAS VEGAS WEATHER The Temperature sign atop Binion's Horseshoe read 79 degrees at 3:00 PM on Monday afternoon. There was a 10 mph SW wind, gusting to 30mph. A blue, hazy, sunny sky with quite a few puffy, white clouds. Men "The Master" Nguyen had a large contingent of well wishers observing his first 1998 Final Table appearance. One of his supporters had made up fifty or so baseball caps in several different colors. "Go, Master" was on the front and "Nice Hand, Sir" was on the back. Men had a lot of fun choosing the right color hat for the right person. Men was the third player this year, to compete at the Final Table, and the following Event at the same time. Men always reverses his chair, with the back next to the table when he plays poker. Today, he was also sitting on three (and sometimes, four) empty plastic chip holders. Shortly after Final Table play began today, Bruce Yarmon asked that we say nice things about him on the Internet, because he said that he was in "way over his head" today. Brenda Jacobus worked her way up to over $200,000 in chips and the chip lead during today's Holdem Event. Then things started getting difficult for Brenda. Two hands that hurt Brenda badly: In a large pot with David Chiu, she didn't call on the river, and after winning the hand, David showed his cards, which were a complete bluff. Brenda lost another huge pot to Mickey Seagle. Brenda had A J of diamonds and the flop was J X X with two diamonds. The board paired one of the X's on the turn, and the river was a diamond, to make Brenda's flush. Unfortunately, for Brenda, Mickey had pocket Jacks. A whole lot of betting took place on this hand. Before anyone was eliminated, a huge 4 handed pot was played, that saw much raising and re-raising. The final board was 5s Js T 4 8s. David Chiu had K K, Peter Muller had Q Q, George Salsaa had A J, and Mickey Seagle took down the $140,000 pot with Q 9 for the nut straight. McCLELLANDisms Someone at today's Final Table said that the first break seemed to have come very quickly. Jack replied, "Time flies, when you're having fun." LENGTH OF FINAL TABLE
TOTAL PRIZE MONEY First 13 Events: $5,932,000 (1998) vs $6,155,000 (1997) WSOP FINAL TABLE DEALS No Deal Today.
Formal, official Deals at the WSOP are done in private, under the supervision and guidance of Jack McClelland, WSOP Tournament Co-ordinator. Deals represent a reallocation, or split of the announced remaining prize pool, that is agreeable to all remaining players. All remaining players do not have to participate in an official Deal, as long as all remaining players give their consent. All pay outs by Binion's, and the tax reporting will reflect the Deal allocation, but press releases and official WSOP earnings reflect the scheduled, announced pay outs. Jack McClelland tries to immediately squelch any "Deal talking" in the Final Table area, and will stop the playing clock and allow a "Deal break" at any time. A normal Deal will probably allocate the bulk of the remaining prize pool equally (or unequally, relative to chip count, perceived ability, bargaining skills etc.) between the remaining participants, with a small portion (perhaps 10 % or so) and the Title going to the eventual winner. Some deals may earmark some of the un allocated portion to the eventual second or third place finisher, in addition to the allocation for the first place money. Binion's attempts to prevent private Deals, which are unenforceable and may present tax complications, by the participants. Binion's probably would prefer a Deal free environment all together, but recognizes that a top heavy pay out structure is conducive to Deals, and has arrived at the current procedure as the best solution. 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)
The WSOP Floorpeople will be strictly enforcing the rules, with zero tolerance. Every player starts each Event with a clean slate as far as penalties are concerned. SCOREBOARD
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 inaugurated 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. In addition to the money and a gold bracelet, each winner of a 1998 WSOP Event will get free rooms at next year's WSOP. If you win more than one Event, you can roll subsequent hotel accommodations over to later years. POKER ROOM Shift Supervisors Jimmy Stefan, John Buchanan, Tony Shelton and Cathy Wood run the Poker room where the lower limit games are played. Games being spread on 30 April:
SIDE ACTION Shift Supervisors John "Scoff" Sheffield, Kathy Hudson and Marshall Kassoff run the higher limit games on the south end of the Tournament Pavilion. Games being spread on 30 April:
$10,000 CHAMPIONSHIP ENTRANTS Updated Through 9:00 PM Monday 4 MAY 1988
Alphabetized:
Greg Alston  Chinese-born poker professional David Chiu captured the $3,000 Limit Hold'em event, two years after winning the $2,000 Limit Hold'em title. That brought WSOP earnings to $634,965 for the 38 year-old former restaurant owner who came to the U.S. from mainland China in 1978.
Heads-up for 58 minutes against Mickey Seagle, Chiu lost the chip lead only once, very briefly, and then steadily whittled away his luckless opponent's stack. Seagle was finally all-in with K-6 against Chiu's A-3, losing with a board of A-J-7/K-7. Seagle, 55, an educational salesman and thoroughbred racing enthusiast, had played poker only twice in two years - both times during trips to the World Series. "I'm not at all pleased," he said. "I wanted to win a bracelet - that's why I'm here." He described his run of unplayable hands for most of the final hour as "unbelievable." Taking third after an adventurous up-and-down final table was Brenda Jacobus, a psychologist and "recreational poker player." Her tribulations notably included betting a hand into Chiu who caught 7-7 on turn and river for quads. "I'm a little disappointed; I played as well as I could," said Jacobus, whose finish rocketed her into 12th place on the Women's Top Money Winner's list with earnings of $79,823. She pledged, "I'll be back next year." She was finally defeated when Chiu flopped a set of tens. Wall Street portfolio manager Peter Muller, 34, took fourth on his first WSOP visit and said, "It's great. I felt I could hold my own against most of the best players. I thought I had positive expected value in the tournament." Muller said he is "only an occasional player - my job is too much like poker." He attributed his success to a good-luck 1977 penny from his girlfriend, Katy, which he used as a card slammer. Muller was knocked out after being all-in with A-K of clubs before the flop against Chiu's pocket queens. Chiu flopped a full house (9-Q-9) and after a deuce on the turn, made quads on the river. Men Nguyen, a Vietnamese-born tournament competitor extraordinaire, placed fifth, his 20th final-table finish of 22 money cashes in 10 years at the World Series. The holder of four titles, Nguyen, 44, remains 18th on the Top Money Winners list with earnings of $1,025,497. "I feel so bad," he said. "I tried to play my best to win this event, but I got unlucky." Nguyen exited with pocket tens beaten when Jacobus's K-9 flopped top pair which stood up. Sixth place went to tournament regular Chris Tsiprailidis, 38, a food wholesaler who said, "I feel very good. I came to the table very short of chips and survived three times. "It was a very fun table. The atmosphere was beautiful." He was eliminated with A-K when Muller with 7-5 caught a river seven for one winning pair. Robert Ellis, 45, an oil and gas exploration surveyor, took seventh, his first cash in three years at the WSOP, his all-in A-J losing to Jacobus's 8-6 which flopped a single pair. Finishing eighth was Bruce Yamron, a 47 year-old retail jeweler who said "poker is a 100 per cent hobby for me." This first cash at the WSOP "was a great experience, and there was great overnight excitement for my family and friends." George Salsaa, 51, a Bethlehem-born businessman and "part-time player," finished ninth after his initial chip lead was destroyed by two hammer-blow hands which left him declaring, "I can't understand it..."  We will announce when the play-by-play of the final table is available for this event. |
"It's a great feeling," Chiu said. "I was fighting for my
life. For about an hour and a half I didn't pick up a hand
with anything above a nine." His virtuouso final-table
performance featured two sets of quads at critical times,
flopping nut straights twice when all-in, and catching a
river pair to win the third time he was all-in.