WSOP - Event #8 Official Report

[Talking Poker]

2005 World Series of Poker
Rio All-Suites Casino-Resort
Official Report

Event #8
Seven-Card Stud
Buy-in: $1,500
Number of Entries: 472
Total Prize Money: $651,360

Official Results:

1. Cliff ‘Bax’ Josephy Syosset, NY $192,150.00
2. Kirill Gerasimov Moscow, Russia $108,775.00
3. Dr. Mark Burtman Columbus, MS $63,180.00
4. Greg Mascio Fullerton, CA $48,200.00
5. Abe Almalhi Cincinnati, OH $39,735.00
6. Ardell Willis Haines City, FL $31,265.00
7. Minh Nguyen Bell Gardens, CA $24,750.00
8. Murry Reinhart Agoura Hills, CA $17,585.00

9. Yevgeny Kafelnikov Sochie, Russia $10,745.00
10. Glen Engelbert Erial, NJ $10,745.00
11. Leandro Alvarez Las Vegas, NV $8,470.00
12. Richard Tatalovich Scottsdale, AZ $8,470.00
13. Thor Hansen El Segundo, CA $6,515.00
14. Robert Glenn Carson City, NV $6,515.00
15. Randy Holland Winnetka, CA $4,560.00
16. Lawrence Budenz Miamisburg, OH $4,560.00
17. George Rechnitzer Beverly Hills, CA $3,580.00
18. Carl Brucker Cleveland, OH $3,580.00
19. David Levi Las Vegas, NV $3,580.00
20. Hugo Mejia Ontario, Canada $3,580.00
21. Gary Young Las Vegas, NV $3,580.00
22. Russell Salzer Las Vegas, NV $3,580.00
23. Terrance Being Jackson, NJ $3,580.00
24. Craig Di Salvo Phoenix, AZ $3,580.00
25. Max Pescatori Las Vegas, NV $2,605.00
26. Allan Lowenhar Las Vegas, NV $2,605.00
27. Rodney Pardey Las Vegas, NV $2,605.00
28. Larry Erbanks Las Vegas, NV $2,605.00
29. Kobie West Deptford, NJ $2,605.00
30. Frank Armas Phoenix, AZ $2,605.00
31. Christopher Ferguson Pacific Plsds, CA $2,605.00
32. Chris Smillie Vancouver, BC, Canada $2,605.00
33. Phyllis Meyers Las Vegas, NV $1,955.00
34. Edward Nilosek Las Vegas, NV $1,955.00
35. Hani Awad Las Vegas, NV $1,955.00
36. Robbie Frank Evansville, IN $1,955.00
37. Alfred Matthews III Peabody, MA $1,955.00
38. Steven Diano Las Vegas, NV $1,955.00
39. John Mociak III NA $1,955.00
40. Yuebin Guo NA $1,955.00

(continued)

[Talking Poker]

A Five-Minute Crash Course in Power Poker
Latest WSOP champion gets ‘a little help from his friends’ and grabs seven-card stud championship

Some stories are almost too incredible to believe. Consider the case of a 39-year-old semi-retired stockbroker from New York named Cliff Jospehy -- a.k.a. “Bax.”

Bax flew out to Las Vegas to play in two tournaments, both of the no-limit hold’em events held at this week at the World Series. Unfortunately, the first tournament was a disaster. Bax was knocked out “by a horrible beat,” as he described. That left Bax with nothing to do on a Thursday afternoon.

There happened to be a $1,500 buy-in seven-card stud event played on this day. There was only one problem. Bax had never played in a stud tournament before. Milling around the hallways at the Rio Pavilion, Bax ran into a few friends. These friends just so happened to be Scott Fischman and Brett Jungblut, who have won three gold bracelets between them.

“I didn’t even look at the stud event,” Bax said later as his shining gold bracelet was snapped onto his left wrist. I came here to play hold’em…..I ran into (my friends) and told them I wanted to play stud, and could they give me some pointers. Each one gave me about five minutes, and the things they were telling me were not about playing my hand, but playing my opponent’s hand – things like that.”

Whatever Jungblut and Fischman said -- in addition to Mark Dickstein, Eric S. and an online player known simply as ‘Gigabet’ -- must have worked. Bax survived the first day, returned for Day Two and ended up sitting down at the final table second in chips. Five hours later, he was a world champion.

There were 472 entries in this year’s first seven-card stud event – each paying $1,500 to enter. The total prize pool amounted $651,360. Just before making it down to the final eight players, former top-ranked tennis pro Yevgeny Kafelnikov (winner of 26 singles titles in tennis, including over $26 million in lifetime prize money) busted out in 9th place. After retiring from tennis, Kafelnikov converted to playing poker professionally last year and is now showing he may have what it takes to win at the tables, as well as on the court. The final table composition included one former gold bracelet winner (two-time winner Minh Nguyen). The early chip leader was Abe Almalhi:

THE FINAL TABLE:

SEAT 1: Kirill Gerasimov 84,500
SEAT 2: Ardell Willis 58,000
SEAT 3: Abe Almalhi 135,000
SEAT 4: Cliff Josephy 130,500
SEAT 5: Dr. Mark Burtman 33,000
SEAT 6: Greg Mascio 122,000
SEAT 7: Minh Nguyen 60,500
SEAT 8: Murray Reinhart 86,000

Players were eliminated as follows:

8th Place – Not much went right for Murray Reinhart once he sat down amongst the final eight. He was gone a short time into the finale. Reinhart is a Canadian-born businessman who now lives in Los Angeles. Eighth-place paid $17,585.

7th Place – Two-time champ Minh Nguyen was never able to establish the kind of control he needed to pick up a trifecta in gold bracelets. The Vietnamese-born poker pro now living in southern California exited in 7th place – good for $24,750.

6th Place – Ardell Willis is a 64-year-old retiree from Florida. He formally worked in the golf business and now plays poker. He busted out in 6th place and took $31,265 back to ‘the sunshine state.’

5th Place – Adding to the international flavor of the final table, Jerusalem-born poker pro Abe Almalhi hoped to win his first WSOP title. He came up short, finishing 5th. Busting out as the early chip leader is always a mixed blessing, and Almalhi was no exception. He collected $39,735, but was disappointed he wasn’t able to seize victory.

4th Place – Greg Mascio, a professional poker player from Fullerton, CA was a runner-up at the final table in the 2002 WSOP Omaha High-Low championship. The former sportswriter took 4th place in this event, winning $48,200.

3rd Place – Dr. Mark Burtman is a medical doctor from Mississippi. He is also a poker author (“A Girl in the Game”) and writes regularly for pokerpages.com. Burtman took a small stack and survived several hours before finally expiring in 3rd place. Burtman’s cut of the tournament loot amounted to $63,180.

2nd Place – Kirill Gerasimov is accustomed to winning, not finishing second. He won the 2002 ‘World Heads-Up Poker Championship.’ At one point, it looked as if the final table might be a party for two Russians – (9th-place finisher Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Gerasimov). Gerasimov happens to be Kafelnikov’s poker coach. But in the end, it was the coaching of Bax’s friends that was far more valuable. Gerasimov drew to within 2 to 1 in chips at one point, but from the start of the duel, Bax’s chip lead was never seriously jeopardized. On the final hand of the night, Bax made two-pair (aces up) and dragged Gerasimov’s final chip. The runner up, who lives in Moscow, Russia, collected $108,775.

1st Place – Cliff ‘Bax’ Josephy is a married father of three. He has done well enough in the stock market to take time off and devote himself to his latest passion – poker. Incredibly, Bax has only been playing poker seriously for 14 months. He plays mostly online, where he has enjoyed enormous success, particularly in tournaments and satellites.

“When I get passionate about something, I really devote myself to it,” Bax said just as $192,150 in cash was about to be paid out as the top prize. “At least with this vice (poker), there is a chance for me to make money at it, as opposed to the others vices some people have.”

Afterward, the reality of winning a World Series championship began to set in. “I never would have dreamed I could win this event,” Bax said. “Stud is made up of good players. It’s not like hold’em where you raise with all your chips and some donkey calls you down with a 10-3 of diamonds. People who enter stud tournaments – most of them know how to play…..except me, of course.”

There was extraordinary irony in Bax’s final statement. A player who had never played in such an event before, and who never anticipated entering the tournament was completely transformed. Killing time was never so much fun, so memorable, nor so profitable.


Official Report by Nolan Dalla – World Series of Poker Media Director

World Series of Poker Circuit Director of Operations – Ken Lambert
World Series of Poker Tournament Director – John Grooms
Rio Poker Room Manager – Michael Matts
Rio Poker Tournament Director – Robert Daily

[Kurn]

In case nobody here has heard, this has already been proved to be bullshit. It turns out Bax was actually a very experienced stud player.