WSOP - Event #14 Official Report

[Talking Poker]

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

Event #14
Seven-Card Stud High-Low Split (Eight or Better)
Buy-in: $1,000
Number of Entries: 595
Total Prize Money: $541,450

Official Results:

1. Steve Hohn Overland Park, KS $156,985
2. Mike Wattel Phoenix, AZ $88,800
3. Al Ruck Esch, Germany $51,440
4. Jonathan Paul Easton, PA $39,525
5. Peter Phillips Atlantic City, NJ $32,485
6. Sheila St. Michael Las Vegas, NV $25,450
7. Men ‘the Master’ Nguyen Bell Gardens, CA $20,035
8. Giacomo D’Agostino Providence, RI $14,080
9. Jeffrey Shulman Las Vegas, NV $8,665

10. Brad Daugherty Las Vegas, NV $8,665
11. James Hagan Bombay, India $6,495
12. Paul Darden Jr. Hamden, CT $6,495
13. Huck Seed Las Vegas, NV $4,875
14. John Mehaffey Marietta, GA $4,875
15. Gary Clark Jackson, MS $3,790
16. Richard Korbin Boulder, CO $3,790
17. David Tahajian Belmont, MA $2,980
18. Stephen Flicker Las Vegas, NV $2,980
19. Rafe Furst Marina Del Rey, CA $2,980
20. Robert Toft Yardley, PA $2,980
21. Howard Hu Valencia, CA $2,980
22. Melissa Hayden Marina Del Rey, CA $2,980
23. Bonnie Rossi NA $2,980
24. Michael Lemkin Santa Monica, CA $2,980
25. Joshua Kerrigan Carlsbad, CA $2,165
26. Jess Price Gladstone, MO $2,165
27. Asle Gjesteland Sandnes, Norway $2,165
28. Vipal Kothari Edison, NJ $2,165
29. Earl Odom Pinole, CA $2,165
30. Ta Hoang Westminstor, CA $2,165
31. Todd Bourgault Fairhaven, MA $2,165
32. Pescal Parrault Paris, France $2,165
33. Daniel Espiritu Las Vegas, NV $1,625
34. Kobie West Deptford, NJ $1,625
35. David Crutchfield Lafollette, TN $1,625
36. Barry Greenstein Rancho Palos Verdes, CA $1,625
37. Wing Wong Rowland Hgts, CA $1,625
38. Todd Dakake Las Vegas, NV $1,625
39. Alex Papachatzakis Torrance, CA $1,625
40. Michael Dreese Newton, MA $1,625
41. Richard Grijalua Las Vegas, NV $1,355
42. Kip Williams Carrollton, GA $1,355
43. Jeffrey Lisandro Santa Barbara, CA $1,355
44. Tony Cousineau Daytona Beach, FL $1,355
45. Seung Chul Bae Norwalk, CA $1,355
46. Daniel Kline North York, ON $1,355
47. Fred Walker Omaha, NE $1,355
48. Can Kim Hua Rosemead, CA $1,355

(continued)

[Talking Poker]

We’re Not in Kansas Anymore
After second- and third-place finishes in previous stud high-low championships, Steve Hohn finally takes the gold bracelet

Everybody tells me I look like a conservative poker player. But that’s not really true. What I love about high-low games is how creative you can be. You can play a board a different way than might be expected. You can read your opponents better. I like to play games where I have more control.
-- Steve Hohn (2005 WSOP Seven-Card Stud High-Low Champion)

It was the longest Seven-Card Stud High-Low event in poker tournament history. Clocking in at just over of 36 total hours, Event #14 at this year’s World Series of Poker was just as much a test of stamina as poker skill. Day One lasted 14 hours. Day Two lasted 11 hours. And Day Three lasted 11 hours. In fact, the third day extended so long that the midnight hour was crossed and Day Four began.

The final heads-up marathon lasted a grueling 193 hands. Sore necks, stooped backs, and bloodshot eyes were relieved when 56-year-old poker pro Steve Hohn won his first gold bracelet. For Hohn, the win was more than gratifying. It was way overdue and marked the crowning achievement for ten years spent as a professional.

Hohn had previously finished second and third in this event. His runner-up finish came exactly 10 years ago. His third-place showing came in 2000. He must have thought he was trapped in a time warp at one point. When Hohn got down to a heads-up confrontation against mighty Mike Wattel, he watched as his lone opponent built up a mountain of chips. Down by a seemingly insurmountable 9 to 1 disadvantage, Hohn staged a dramatic comeback, seized the chip lead, and eventually closed with a victory as several down poker zombies looked on with a mix of exhaustion and disbelief.

Seven-card stud is known for being an East Coast game. Until a few years ago, stud (and its variations such as High-Low Split) was the most popular game to be found in Atlantic City and Connecticut, which are the hotbeds of poker action in the northeast. Of the eight finalists, three players were from the East Coast. But it was the man from Kansas who took the championship.

The total prize pool amounted to $541,985. Due to the large number of entries and length of the event, a third day was added. On Day Three the final table included two former gold bracelet winner – Men ‘the Master’ Nguyen (with 6 wins) and Mike Wattel (with one win). When play began, it was a two-player race between Mike Wattel and Jonathan Paul contending for the chip lead:

THE FINAL TABLE:

SEAT 1: Sheila St. Michael 37,500
SEAT 2: Giacomo D'Agostino 17,500
SEAT 3: Men "the Master" 43,500
SEAT 4: Steve Hohn 53,500
SEAT 5: Mike Wattel 155,500
SEAT 6: Peter Phillips 74,000
SEAT 7: Jonathan Paul 151,000
SEAT 8: Al Ruck 61,500

Players were eliminated as follows:

8th Place – Giacomo D’Agostino arrived with the lowest stack, and managed to survive a few ‘all in’ situations before the odds finally dictated elimination. On his final hand, D’Agostino made two pair -- kings and jacks -- but lost to Jonathan Paul’s trip fives. The 76-year-old retiree from Rhode Island collected $14,080 for 8th place.

7th Place – Men ‘the Master” was shooting for his seventh gold bracelet, and given the results of recent tournaments where so many big names have won, his confidence was justified. Unfortunately, the cards didn’t cooperate. The Corona-slugging poker pro arrived with too few chips and wasn’t able to recover from a cold early run. On his final hand, Men the Master had a 7-low draw with a pair of fours. He bricked on the final card (no low, no improvement) and lost to Steve Hohn’s two pair -- queens and jacks. Seventh place paid $20,035.

6th Place – Sheila Marie St. Michael, also known as ‘the Kissing Bandit,’ was down to her last 15,000, which was barely enough to play one hand with limits at 6,000-12,000. St. Michael, the fifth female player to make it to a final table so far this year, went out in 6th place, good for $25,450. St. Michael is best known at the WSOP for her 4th-place finish in the women’s event in 1999.

5th Place – Peter Phillips struggled to stay alive during his final hour. The 70-year-old Atlantic City retiree was dealt (9-4) 4-7-6 on his last hand, then caught two bricks which failed to improve the hand. Phillips, who has made final table appearances at major tournaments in the East Coast, earned $32,485 for 5th place.

4th Place – Down to four players, it was still anyone’s tournament to win – although Mike Wattel and Steve Hohn were neck and neck in chips. As play entered the fourth hour, Jonathan Paul was ‘all in’ with high cards against Al Ruck. But Ruck was sitting on trip fours, which effectively killed Paul’s chances to scoop the high. Jonathan Paul, a 21-year-old aspiring poker player from Pennsylvania (he already has two final table appearances this year at majors held in New York and Australia), collected $39,525 for 4th place.

3rd Place – German poker player Al Ruck went out next. The 63-year-old retiree said auf wiedersehen when he lost two tough hands in a row to Mike Wattel. On the first hand, Wattel made a full-house to Ruck’s two pair. Then, Ruck’s small pair failed to improve and lost to Wattel’s measly pair of sevens. Ruck ran out of luck and made a few bucks -- $51,440 to be exact.

2nd Place – When heads-up play began, Mike Wattel enjoyed a 2-to-1 chip lead over Steve Hohn – 404,000 to 200,000. The finalists battled for more than four hours. During the first hour of play, Wattel started to distance himself from his rival. He built up an 8-to-1 chip lead. Just when it appeared Wattel might finish off the night, Hohn went on a monster rush and won 8 of 9 pots. That put both players into a virtual dead heat as midnight was crossed and the fourth day of the tournament began. “I always thought I could come back,” Hohn said later.

Players battled back and forth, until Hohn was the beneficiary of a favorable stream of cards. He grabbed the chip lead and it became obvious that Wattel was discontented with the turn of events. Wattel appeared helpless to stop the hemorrhaging of chips into Hohn’s stack. When he started with a promising hand, bricks would be dealt and Wattel would be forced to fold the hand. Finally, on the 193rd hand of heads-up play, Wattel moved his final chips into the pot on fifth-street showing (7-6) 9-10-7. His opponent Hohn had a pair of jacks, and nothing more. Hohn failed to improve which meant Wattel had an excellent chance to scoop a big pot when he peeled to look at his final card. With 18 outs, Hohn missed all of them (a four came on the final card), and Hohn was declared the winner.

Mike Wattel, the winner of the 1999 WSOP Omaha High-Low championship, was visibly disappointed with the second-place showing in this event. Wattel collected $88,800 as the runner up.

1st Place – Steve Hohn is a former stockbroker who was born in St. Louis. He attended the University of Kansas and settled down in Overland Park, a suburb of Kansas City. In 1995, Hohn quit his job trading stocks to play poker full-time. That turned out to be a wise decision, as Hohn has made a living at the game ever since. He prefers to play in cash games (about 75 percent of the time, he says). But coming to the World Series has special meaning.

“This gold bracelet means so much to me,” Hohn said afterward, anticipating that he was also about to be paid prize money totaling $156,985. “Back when I finished second and third, I had a chance to win both times, but didn’t. I feel like I am a much better player now than I was then, so it’s really wonderful to win.”

Hohn also talked about making the transition from working a job to playing poker professionally. “Playing poker to me is less stressful than working (a regular job),” Hohn said. “Aside from the luck factor, I feel like I have more control when I’m playing. I feel very comfortable playing the game. With stocks (or in business), you never know what’s going on. There are all kinds of things that can blindside you. The only thing that can blindside you in poker is the randomness of the cards. If you can manage that, you can be a winner.”

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