WSOP - Event #24 Official Report

[Talking Poker]

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

Event #24
No-Limit Hold’em
Buy-in: $2,500
Number of Entries: 1,056
Total Prize Money: $2,428,800

Official Results:

1. Farzad ‘Freddy’ Bonyadi Laguna Hills, CA $594,960
2. Lars Bonding Aarhas, Denmark $317,625
3. Glynn Beebe Austin, TX $194,305
4. Robert Doyle N. Palm Beach, FL $170,015
5. Mayen Grigorian Northridge, CA $145,730
6. Joe Zappia Woodbridge, ON (Canada) $121,440
7. Jason Tate Brentwood, TN $97,150
8. K.J. Jordan Myrtle Beach, SC $72,865
9. Larry Watson Las Vegas, NV $48,575

10. Marvin Duarte South Florida, FL $26,715
11. Ryan Hughes Phoenix, AZ $26,715
12. Carl Sciandri Napa, CA $26,715
13. Jason Palazzolo Henderson, NV $21,860
14. Gary Rabin New York, NY $21,860
15. John Carney III Cape Coral, FL $21,860
16. Ryan Dacayanan Seattle, WA $17,000
17. Ram Vaswani London, England $17,000
18. Phongthep Thiptinnakow Downey, CA $17,000
19. Owen Crowe Dartmouth, NS $12,145
20. Dustin Sitar Las Vegas, NV $12,145
21. Bundhit Intachai Waipahu, HI $12,145
22. Richard Ashby Watford, England $12,145
23. Rafael Perry Las Vegas, NV $12,145
24. Paul Foster Vista, CA $12,145
25. Huckleberry Seed Las Vegas, NV $12,145
26. John Juanda Marina Del Rey, CA $12,145
27. Hutson Richarde Charlotte, NC $12,145
28. Ken Fitzgerald Roseville, CA $8,500
29. Ian Kalman San Francisco, CA $8,500
30. Gabrial Nassif Paris, France $8,500
31. Mel Starkman Woodland Hills $8,500
32. Vinod Vangimalla Silver Springs, MD $8,500
33. JohnReiss Omaha, NE $8,500
34. Michael Wernick Birmingham, England $8,500
35. Daniel Hulsey Orange, TX $8,500
36. Ralph Levine Las Vegas, NV $8,500
37. Jonathan Friedberg Las Vegas, NV $7,045
38. Harry Thomas, Jr. Hamilton, OH $7,045
39. Ryan Larson Spokane, WA $7,045
40. Chris Bjorn London, England $7,045
41. Adam Naglich Las Vegas, NV $7,045
42. Sean Wameister Brentwood, CA $7,045
43. Richard Besserman Wantagh, NY $7,045
44. Shannon Medlock Philadelphia, PA $7,045
45. Eliahu Balas Henderson, NV $7,045
46. Daniel Adelson Sherman Oaks, CA $5,710
47. Peter Zakhary Montverde, FL $5,710
48. Oliver Nejad Los Angeles, CA $5,710
49. Brian Mogelefsky Huntington, NY $5,710
50. Ken Robbins Las Vegas, NV $5,710
51. Roger Evans Johnson City, TN $5,710
52. Robert Pizzo Columbia, SC $5,710
53. Michael Abecassis Paris, France $5,710
54. Ted Leva Sugarland, TX $5,710
55. Bill Ferrand Las Vegas, NV $4,860
56. Jonathan Shecter Las Vegas, NV $4,860
57. Archibald Van Horn ADA, OR $4,860
58. Ylon Schwartz Brooklyn, NY $4,860
59. Brandon Wong Clovis, CA $4,860
60. Allie Prescott Memphis, TN $4,860
61. James McClintic Albuquerque, NM $4,860
62. Nenad Meic Niagara Falls, ON $4,860
63. Rob Pieklo Flanders, NJ $4,860
64. Robert Binelli Levenworth, UK $4,250
65. Jim Schmdt Spokane, WA $4,250
66. MJ Partin Cave Creek, AZ $4,250
67. Marco Traniello Las Vegas, NV $4,250
68. Joel Ramin New York, NY $4,250
69. Q Knopow Las Vegas, NV $4,250
70. Jason Lester Aventura, FL $4,250
71. C T Law England $4,250
72. Erik Dickinson Longhorn, PA $4,250
73. Wesley Huff Berkeley, CA $3,645
74. Gary Dolenga Northville, MI $3,645
75. Stuart Fox Birmingham, England $3,645
76. Yevgeny Kafelnikov Russia $3,645
77. David Pham Cerritos, CA $3,645
78. Travis Skaggs Sand Springs, OK $3,645
79. Len Demchak Steetsboro, OH $3,645
80. Stanley Chao Rancho Palos Verges, CA $3,645
81. Aleksander Cooper Bergen, Norway $3,645
82. Simon Trumper Gilford, United Kingdom $3,035
83. Marty Healy Chicago, IL $3,035
84. Milt Meyers Las Vegas, NV $3,035
85. Randy Lorensen Austin, TX $3,035
86. Tony Hartmann Richfield, MN $3,035
87. Jordan Smith Tool, TX $3,035
88. William Wilding Evansville, IN $3,035
89. V Eyzerovich Staten Island, NY $3,035
90. Josef Monro Beverly Hills, MI $3,035
91. Travis Green Irvine, CA $2,670
92. Jason Newburger Vernon Hills, IL $2,670
93. Richard Cohen Cincinnati, OH $2,670
94. Lance Allred Pasadena, CA $2,670
95. Howard Crash Weston, CT $2,670
96. John Falconer United Kingdom $2,670
97. Scott Weisblum New York, NY $2,670
98. David Pock Fullerton, CA $2,670
99. Trang My Phan Long Beach, CA $2,670
100. Clifford Flachsenhar Belgrade, MT $2,670

(continued)

[Talking Poker]

Bonyadi’s Third Strike
Poker pro Farzad Bonyadi wins third gold bracelet and $595,960 in Pot-Limit Hold’em championship


Farzad Bonyadi topped a huge field of 1,056 players in the $2,500 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em event, held at the Rio in Las Vegas. Bonyadi, an Iranian-born poker player who now lives in Laguna Beach, CA, reigned supreme at the final table, consisting almost entirely of newcomers to the World Series of Poker. The finale was taped for later broadcast by ESPN.
This is not to say Boyadi didn’t face serious challenges along the way. In fact, he arrived fourth in the chip count. The initial chip leader was Danish player, Lars Bonding, who enjoyed a decisive 5-2 lead over everyone else when play began on Day Three. After Jan Sorensen’s win in the previous event, the relatively small nation of Denmark was going for its second straight win here at the World Series. Chip counts were as follows:

THE FINAL TABLE:

SEAT 1: Joe Zappia $247,000
SEAT 2: Larry Watson $59,000
SEAT 3: Glynn Beebe $242,000
SEAT 4: Mayen Grigorian $112,000
SEAT 5: K J Jordan $368,000
SEAT 6: Lars Bonding $818,000
SEAT 7: Jason Tate $391,000
SEAT 8: Farzad Bonyadi $315,000
SEAT 9: Robert Doyle $87,000

Players were eliminated in the following order:

9th Place – Short-stacked Larry Watson didn’t have much time to wait for a hand. When he found 8-8 that was good enough to move ‘all in.’ Joe Zappia, with five times as many chips, covered the raise with A-10 and caught a ten on the flop. That put Watson out quickly. The Oklahoma-born retiree now living in Las Vegas collected $48,575 as a consolation.

8th Place – Chip-leader Lars Bonding continued to dominate play at the final table. He played most aggressively, which caused K J. Jordan to decide he’d seen enough. That turned out to be a mistake, as Jordan was dealt K-Q suited versus Bonding’s 5-5. Jordan re-raised to 300,000 before the flop and Bonding didn’t hesitate calling with the small pocket pair. Jordan failed to catch a pair, and Bonding raced up to over a million in chips. Meanwhile, K.J. Jordan – a real estate investor from Myrtle Beach, SC – took a commission of $72,865 for 8th place.

7th Place – Another odd turn of events took place when the second-largest stack coming into Day Three busted out. Jason Tate decided to move his last 200,000 into the pot with A-K and Robert Doyle called with J-J. Doyle didn’t need to improve but when a jack fell on the river, the trips blew Tate away as the 7th-place finisher. Tate, an independent contractor from Tennessee, earned $97,150 in prize money.

6th Place – Joe Zappia, who goes by the name ‘The Hammer’ went out next. The Hammer got nailed when he tried to make a move with J-10 and lost his last 130,000 in chips. Robert Doyle’s ace-high played as the winning hand. Zappia received $121,440 for 6th place.

5th Place – If Chris Grigorian is ‘the Armenian Express,’ then his cousin Mayan is most certainly the bullet train. Unfortunately, Mayan Grigorian (a.k.a. “MG”) ran out of steam about midway through the finale. He went out on a bizarre hand. Short-stacked, MG moved in trying to steal with 7-6 and was called by Glynn Beebe with 7-5 (a great situation for MG). The board came with four diamonds and Beebe had the only diamond. Grigorian, a stockbroker from southern California, was derailed in 5th place – good for $145,730.

4th Place – Robert Emmett Doyle, Jr. was the next player to exit. The self-employed poker player from N. Palm Beach, FL was eliminated when he was low on chips and ended up losing to Farzad Bonyadi’s pair of kings. Doyle collected $170,015.

3rd Place – Glynn Beebe made a nice run but ended up going out in 3rd place. The business owner from Austin, TX was down to his last 200,000 in chips and faced two opponents with over 1,000,000 in chips each. Both big stacks seemed content to let Beebe go out before going to war. Beebe went out with J-9 after the flop came 5-6-7. With a straight draw and two overcards, Beebe missed. Lars Bonding had pocket 10s and that was all for Beebe. Third place paid $194,305.

2nd Place – The kamikaze at this final table was Lars Bonding. He completely dominated play firing the first half of the seven-hour finale. But as players were slowly eliminated, Bonding would inevitably have to face the most talented and experienced of opponents in a showdown. Bonding was not able to push around Bonyadi, and it showed on the final hand of the tournament. After about an hour of heads-up play, Bonding was down 3 to 1 in chips and hoped to steal the pot with Q-10. He moved ‘all in’ after the flop came K-3-2. Bonyadi called the stone-cold bluff with top pair (K-6). The pair of kings held up and Bonding was eliminated as the runner up. Second place paid $317,625.

1st Place – Farzad ‘Freddy’ Bonyadi played a masterful tournament. He allowed Bonding to establish a dominant table presence and watched as other players were gradually eliminated. Coveting a heads-up confrontation, Bonyadi got what he wanted, then gave Bonding just enough freedom to choke himself on the final hand.

Bonyadi, age 46, now has three gold bracelets (lifetime) at the WSOP. He won the Deuce-to-Seven championship in 2004. He captured his first title in 1998 in the $2,000 buy-in Limit Hold’em event. This was his largest payday ever -- $594,960 was the payout for first-place.

With the victory, Farzad Bonyadi moves into at least two elite categories. He became the 49th player in WSOP history to win at least three bracelets. Bonyadi also moved into the WSOP ‘Millionaires Club.’ He now has earned over one-million dollars in lifetime earnings at the world’s longest-running and most prestigious tournament.


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