WSOP - Event #13 Official Report

[Talking Poker]

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

Event #13
No-Limit Hold’em
Buy-in: $5,000
Number of Entries: 466
Total Prize Money: $2,190,200

Official Results:

1. T.J. Cloutier Richardson, TX $657,100
2. Steven Zoine Merrick, NY $352,620
3. John Bonetti Houston, TX $175,215
4. Neal Wang Los Angeles, CA $153,315
5. Jason Berilgen Houston, TX $131,410
6. John ‘World’ Hennigan Philadelphia, PA $109,510
7. Justin Woolf Los Angeles, CA $87,610
8. Todd Brunson Las Vegas, NV $65,705
9. Hieu ‘Tony’ Ma S. El Monte, CA $43,805

10. Gavin Smith Guelph, ONT (Canada) $24,090
11. Shae Drobushevich Moline, IL $24,090
12. Liz Lieu Los Angeles, CA $24,090
13. Meng La Torrance, CA $19,710
14. Julian Gardner Cheshire, England $19,710
15. Jon Brody Davie, FL $19,710
16. Jen Harman Las Vegas, NV $15,330
17. Sean McCabe Sunny Isles Beach, FL $15,330
18. Ben Johnson Oakland, CA $15,330
19. Jesus Oquendo Pembroke Pines, FL $10,950
20. Robbie Frank Evansville, IN $10,950
21. Stephen Edelson Atlanta, GA $10,950
22. Marc Aubin Montreal, Canada $10,950
23. Micky Appleman Ft Lee, NJ $10,950
24. Louis Asmo Las Vegas, NV $10,950
25. Reza Payvar Tarzana, CA $10,950
26. Mike Manttan Sydney, Australia $10,950
27. Patrik Antonius Helsinki, Finland $10,950
28. Gregg Turk Sterling, VA $8,760
29. Eric Ford Tigard, OR $8,760
30. Steven Metzger New York, NY $8,760
31. Senthil Kumar Los Gatos, CA $8,760
32. A.J. Kelsall Lutz, FL $8,760
33. Isabelle Mercier Montreal, Quebec $8,760
34. Joseph Bartholdi Las Vegas, NV $8,760
35. Morgan Machina Mission Viejo, CA $8,760
36. Bill Blanda Kingwood, TX $8,760
37. Kevin Song Lowland Hts, CA $6,570
38. Chris Biglee Las Vegas, NV $6,570
39. Vincent Napolitano Williston Park, NY $6,570
40. Chad Layne Henderson, NV $6,570
41. Matthew Glantz Lafayette Hill, PA $6,570
42. Johan Storakers Stockholm, Sweden $6,570
43. Antonio Esfandeari San Francisco, CA $6,570
44. Paul Magriel Las Vegas, NV $6,570
45. Don Mullis Mooresville, NC $6,570

Just Like Fine Wine
T.J. Cloutier gets better with age – 65-year-old poker superstar wins gold bracelet number six

History was made tonight when poker legend T.J. Cloutier won gold bracelet number six. His victory in the $5,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em championship marked his 58th major tournament win during the past 20 years. More important, the $657,100 first prize rocketed him up into second place on the all-time World Series of Poker money-winnings list. It almost didn’t happen.

The (now) six-time champ, who has probably taken more bad beats than anyone in WSOP history (recall his disastrous bad beat heads-up versus Chris ‘Jesus’ Ferguson in the 2000 championship), actually drew out on an opponent when play was six-handed, spiking a six-outer the effectively propelled him across the finish line four hours later.

That decisive hand took place when opponent Neal Wang had 9-9 versus Cloutier’s A-Q. With the river still to be dealt, Cloutier desperately needed to catch a pair to survive. Wham! A queen fell from the sky, an archangel of a card that exercised the demons of World Series pasts. For an instant, the bad karma of getting all the money in with the best hand, only to lose, had been reversed. “It sure felt good to suck out on someone for a change,” Cloutier chuckled later.

Of the 13 events held so far, this final table was unquestionably the most theatrical. It marked the return of the explosive 77-year-old Brooklyn-born John Bonetti to poker’s grandest stage. It also featured a complete newcomer to tournament poker who was making his first-ever final table. Steve Zoine picked up a book by T.J. Cloutier (co-authored with Tom McEvoy), read through it, and decided to come to Las Vegas to see if he could play poker with the very best. He couldn’t possibly have imagined that just two days after getting off the plane, he would be sitting across the table from the author, battling Cloutier for a gold bracelet. Then, there was Cloutier himself, less than two years removed from suffering a serious heart attack and now back where he belongs, sitting at a final table playing for a poker championship.

The total prize pool amounted to $2,190,200. The final table included four former gold bracelet winners – T.J. Cloutier (with 5 wins going in); John Bonetti (with 3 wins); Tony Ma (with 2 wins); and John ‘World’ Hennigan (with 2 wins). But it was 37-year-old self-employed Neal Wang, from Los Angeles, who had a dominant chip lead when play began:

(continued)

[Talking Poker]

THE FINAL TABLE:

SEAT 1: Dustin "Neverwin" Woolf Los Angeles, CA $233,000
SEAT 2: Todd Brunson Las Vegas, NV $16,000
SEAT 3: Jason Berilgen Houston, TX $159,000
SEAT 4: Gavin Smith Las Vegas, NV $142,000
SEAT 5: Neal Wang Los Angeles, CA $630,500
SEAT 6: T.J. Cloutier Richardson, TX $281,500
SEAT 7: John Hennigan Philadelphia, PA $363,500
SEAT 8: Hieu "Tony" Ma South El Monte, CA $61,000
SEAT 9: John Bonetti Houston, TX $248,000
SEAT 10: Steven Zoine Merrick, NY $194,500

With ESPN television cameras rolling, players were eliminated as follows:

10th Place – Gavin Smith suffered a disastrously short stay at the final table. The latest poker ‘millionaire’ (Smith won a major tournament here in Las Vegas last month) lost most of his chips with A-Q versus A-K to John Hennigan. Then desperately low on chips, he made one last futile attempt to get back into contention and was pummeled into defeat by TJ Cloutier. Smith, a college dropout originally from Canada, picked up $24,090 in prize money.

9th Place – Hieu ‘Tony’ Ma, a.k.a. ‘Tony the Tiger’ has won two gold bracelets at the World Series. But he could do no better than 8th place in this event. Ma moved ‘all in’ before the flop with A-K and was covered by Cloutier’s 3-3. Ma failed to catch a pair which meant the 49-year-old poker pro originally from Vietnam was out. His take amounted to $48,805.

8th Place – Todd Brunson arrived at the final table on life support with just enough chips to post the blinds, but managed to jump two steps up the money ladder. Brunson failed to ever seriously threaten any of the larger stacks and was finally eliminated when his A-3 was topped by Steven Zoine’s K-J. A jack flopped and Brunson was out. His cut of the tournament loot amounted to $65,705.

7th Place – Dustin ‘Neverwin’ Woolf howled on his final hand when he was dealt A-7 versus Steven Zoine’s 5-5. All of Woolf’s chips went into the pot after the flop came A-4-5. Ooops. Bad timing. Zoine flopped a set of fives, turned and full-house, and ripped into Woolf like a dead carcass, devouring his chips. Woolf vanished in 7th place – good for $87,610. That key pot gave Zoine the chip lead, a position he would hold for the next three hours.

6th Place – After Cloutier caught his miracle queen to avoid elimination, it was time for another player to leave the poker stage. John ‘World’ Hennigan always makes the “toughest opponent” list any time a poll is taken as to which players pose the greatest challenges. Hennigan, a sky-high cash game player who won a gold bracelet last year, appeared to be in good position to challenge the new chip leader. But a few tough beats took away most of Hennigan’s stack. He was eliminated four hours into play when his A-10 was flattened by Cloutier’s pocket aces. Hennigan walked away quietly in 6th place, which paid $109,510.

5th Place – Jason ‘Doc’ Berilgen was another remarkable success story at this final table. The 27-year-old medical doctor who specializes in treating cancer (currently on staff at world-renowned M.D. Anderson in Houston) was playing at the WSOP for the first time. He managed to finish ahead of 461 of the world’s toughest players. Doc Berilgen was dealt 6-6 against John Bonetti’s K-K. Berilgen failed to catch a six, which meant the good doctor was discharged. Fifth-place paid $131,410.

4th Place – Coming to the final table with the chip lead has been a bad omen. Remarkably, through 13 events only two players have gone on to capture victory thus far, after arriving with the big stack. Neal Wang added to the curse by coming in with nearly a 2 to 1 advantage, losing the lead about midway through, and then finally going out. He was eliminated by Steven Zoine, who was starting to become the table bully. Wang’s payout amounted to $153,315.

3rd Place – Each of the last two events here have featured ‘all gold’ when play became three-handed. In Events #11 and #12, each final trio included players who had previously won titles at the World Series. That was almost the case in this event, too – except that Steve Zoine wouldn’t cooperate. Cloutier and Bonetti had eight bracelets between them. Meanwhile, Zoine had stepped off a plane 48 hours earlier, read one poker book (Cloutier’s) and was now showing the old masters a thing two about tournament poker.

Cantankerous curmudgeon John Bonetti tinkered on the verge of elimination all night and managed to stay in the game with a few well-timed big hands. Muttering profanities under his breath during the cold spells, Bonetti gave the audience the drama it was expecting, playing off his alter-ego and longtime rival Cloutier. The two Texans (Cloutier from Dallas and Bonetti from Houston, by way of his native New York) bantered back and forth while Steven Zoine kept quiet mostly, protecting the chip lead.

Then, a big hand broke out. With both players very close to even in chips, Cloutier was a dealt Q-Q and Bonetti was dealt A-K. It was a classic confrontation in every sense of the word, as both poker legends faced-off to see who would get a chance to play heads-up for another gold bracelet. Cloutier won that privilege when Bonetti failed to pair his overcards. Bonetti, normally one of poker’s most combustible personalities when defeated, managed to put on a smile for the television cameras and congratulated his two opponents. It was a great scene to watch Bonetti make it to the finale, and walk away with a big prize ($175,215) only a few days following his 77th birthday.

2nd Place – A final table that was filled with theatrics was about to get a few encores. One of the biggest hands of the tournament took place when Zoine, with a slight chip lead was dealt 6-6. Cloutier was dealt J-9. The flop came 10-8-7 and Cloutier had to re-focus his eyes. He flopped the nut straight. Zoine was prepared to be done with the underpair, then after both players checked the flop, a six landed on the turn – giving Zoine trips. That lit a fuse under both players as a flurry of raises broke out and Cloutier was ‘all in.’ Zoine was one card away from pairing the board, which would have given him a remarkable upset victory. It wasn’t to be. A blank fell on the river and Cloutier seized a massive chip lead.

Whatever Cloutier wrote in his book, it must have worked. Most players might have given up at that point after losing such a heartbreaker, but Zoine made Cloutier earn every cent of his 657 grand. First, he doubled up with A-J against Cloutier’s pocket kings (catching an ace on the turn). Then, a while later down by a margin of 1,400,000 to 900,000, he had a golden opportunity to re-gain the chip lead. On the final hand of the night, Zoine opened for 50,000, which was re-raised to 300,000 by Cloutier. Zoine moved ‘all in” and Cloutier called instantly. Zoine showed A-K against Cloutier’s A-5. The flop came 9-8-6, giving Cloutier a straight draw. Miraculously, a seven spiked on the turn, which gave Cloutier the inside straight and his sixth gold bracelet.

The runner up, Steven Zoine played as well as anyone in history for a first-time effort. He was quick to acknowledge Cloutier’s influence on improving his game and experienced a surreal two days in Las Vegas. Not many tourists can say they played with the very best, appeared on national television, and made $352,620 while on vacation.

1st Place – This was T.J. Cloutier’s 47th time in-the-money at the World Series of Poker (one finish behind Berry Johnston and Phil Hellmuth) and 37th final table appearance (he holds the all-time record). Cloutier has now won over $3.7 million at the WSOP in lifetime earnings and is second only to last year’s $5 million winner, Greg Raymer. Perhaps most remarkable of all is the fact that Cloutier has now cashed 19 consecutive years at the WSOP, dating all the way back to 1986.

“It always feels good to win,” Cloutier said afterward. “I’m not ready for the pasture just yet. I still have a few more wins left in me. (John) Bonetti was here tonight and he’s 12 years older than me. So, maybe I can still be doing it when I’m his age. Compared to him, I’m still a kid.”

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

[Talking Poker]

T.J. Freaking Cloutier. How awesome is that???

[drewjax]

Its funny, but its going to be the norm that we are somewhat shocked when a big name, old school pro wins a big tourney. With these huge fields and tons of newbies............

[PShabi]

I hope he was Jeri Curled. That'd be str8 up old skool.