WSOP - Event #12 Official Report

[Talking Poker]

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

Event #12
Pot-Limit Omaha (with re-buys)
Buy-in: $2,000
Number of Entries: 212
Re-buys/Add-ons: 395
Total Prize Money: $1,180,080

Official Results:

1. Josh Arieh Atlanta, GA $381,600
2. Chris ‘Jesus’ Ferguson Pac. Palisades, CA $210,460
3. Ron Graham Takoma, WA $115,640
4. Tony Sevnsom Houston, TX $92,510
5. Max Pescatori Milan, Italy $69,385
6. Arturo Diaz San Diego, CA $57,820
7. David Colclough Birmingham, England $46,225
8. Doug Lee Calgary, AB (Canada) $34,690
9. Erik Seidel Las Vegas, NV $23,130

10. Jim Bechtel Gilbert, AZ $16,190
11. Ari Abramowitz NA $16,190
12. Tony Cousineau Daytona Beach, FL $16,190
13. Daniel Alaei Santa Fe Springs, CA $13,875
14. Lukasz Bumanski Toronto, Canada $13,875
15. Michael Mizrachi Hollywood, FL $13,875
16. Joe Beevers Hendon, UK $11,565
17. John Juanda Marina Del Rey, CA $11,565
18. Casey Kastle Las Vegas, NV $11,565

The Return of Josh Arieh
Animated poker pro dominates Pot-Limit Omaha final table and wins second gold bracelet

All of us have embarrassing moments. The problem is, what do you do when your most embarrassing moment takes place in front of a room full of television cameras and a viewing audience of millions? At last year’s World Series of Poker, Josh Arieh committed an unsportsmanlike act just as he busted out of the championship event. In the heat of the moment, Arieh meant to encourage his friend David Williams (who finished as the runner up) with a pep talk, but used language which made it appear that he bore resentment towards the eventual world poker champion, Greg ‘Fossilman’ Raymer.

Unfortunately, viewers who later saw broadcast of the exchange were (and largely remain) unaware that Arieh approached Raymer afterward, congratulated him for his victory, and apologized for the incident. Arieh admits to have a combustible temper, and said that the crushing blow of getting knocked out caused the initial outburst. Those who know Arieh best, and know him both as a friend and an adversary at the poker table, generally believe he got tarred and feathered by an ill-timed episode which is neither reflective of his true attitudes nor ordinary conduct at the poker table.

The luckiest of men have the chance to redeem themselves. Redemption is all the more fulfilling when it comes, yet again, in front of television cameras. With ESPN shooting all the action, Josh Arieh sat down to what was arguably the toughest final table lineup thus far at this year’s World Series. His mission was as straightforward as it was challenging – to win his second gold bracelet. He also hoped that during the course of playing in front of ESPN cameras for the first time since May 2004, he might emancipate himself from the unflattering portrait seen during a few seconds of television. He did both.

In 1999, Arieh – then a 23-year-old newly-crowned WSOP winner -- burst upon the poker scene with all the subtlety of a John Belushi at a keg party. He was as flamboyant as he was talented, as combative as he was single-minded. Arieh won the $3,000 buy-in Limit Hold’em championship that year, which paid $202,080. The sky seemed to be the limit. Little did he know at the time, six long years would pass before Arieh would get so close to winning another gold bracelet.

The Pot-Limit Omaha championship (Event #12) attracted 212 entries. The total prize pool amounted to $1,180,080. The final table included four former gold bracelet winners – Erik Seidel (with 7 wins); Chris ‘Jesus’ Ferguson (with 5 wins); and Josh Arieh and Ron Graham (with one win each). In addition, WSOP Circuit winner Doug Lee made it to the final table. But it was Arturo Diaz who enjoyed the chip lead when play began:

THE FINAL TABLE:

SEAT 1: Erik Seidel Las Vegas, NV $67,000
SEAT 2: Josh Arieh Atlanta, GA $229,000
SEAT 3: Max Pescatori Milan, Italy $62,000
SEAT 4: Tony Sevnsom Houston, TX $171,000
SEAT 5: Ron Graham Tacoma, WA $90,000
SEAT 6: Chris Ferguson Pacific Palisades, CA $109,000
SEAT 7: Doug Lee Calgary, AB (Canada) $160,000
SEAT 8: Arturo Diz San Diego, CA $279,000
SEAT 9: Dave Colclough Birmingham, England $50,000

(continued)

[Talking Poker]

Players were eliminated as follows:

9th Place – Erik Seidel’s bid for an eighth gold bracelet was crushed early. Seidel arrived low on chips and moved his last 56,000 into the pot with multiple straight draws. But Josh Arieh won the pot with a pair of kings and Seidel made his quickest final table exit in history. His previous ‘worst’ final table finish was 7th place (in 1995). This was Seidel’s 24th final table appearance during his distinguished WSOP career and his 37th time to cash. He won his seventh gold bracelet only two days ago. Ninth place paid $23,180.

8th Place – Doug Lee knows how to win at the Rio. Three months ago, Lee won the WSOP Circuit event held in the same building and hoped to add a gold bracelet to his gold ring (the respective prizes given out to WSOP winners). Lee lasted only an hour on this day as his full house (fours full of aces) was hammered by Chris Ferguson’s high full house (nines full of fours). It was a tough beat for the young Canadian, who collected $34,690 in prize money.

7th Place – The lowest stack from the start was Englishman David Colclough. Nicknamed ‘El Blondie,’ Colclough hit trip jacks on the flop, but Arieh made a flush on the turn. Colclouogh had a chance to double up if the board paired, but missed. The 41-year-old was eliminated in 7th place, which paid $46,225.

6th Place – Perhaps no other poker game makes the chip lead so susceptible as pot-limit Omaha. In fact, things change very quickly in this game – as Arturo Diaz found out the hard way. Diaz arrived in comfortable chip position, but was never able to use the size of his stack to his advantage. Diaz missed a straight draw on his final hand of the night and went out a disappointing sixth place, which paid $57,820.

5th Place – Max Pescatori’s poker nickname is ‘the Italian Pirate’ because, frankly, he looks exactly like one. The bandana-wrapped poker player from Milano set sail with only 62,000 in chips and was blown out of the water about two hours into the finale. It was Mutiny on the Bounty for ‘the Pirate,’ who called with his last 26,000 in chips, holding a pocket overpair on the flop (queens). But new chip leader Arieh completed a straight on the turn which left ‘the Pirate’ drawing dead. Pescatori sank in 6th place, thus earning a treasure chest totaling $69,385.

4th Place – Tony Sevnsom, from Houston, is no stranger to final tables. He has appeared at WSOP Circuit events this year and hoped to win his first gold bracelet in this event. He came reasonably close to victory, but finally ran out of stream when his 10-7-6-5 missed multiple straight draws. The final board showed 8-5-2-Q-3, which meant Arieh (yet again) won a big pot, this time with two pair (holding 9-8-5-4). Sevnsom, a.k.a. ‘Tekk,’ picked up $92,510 in prize money.

3rd Place – For the second time in two days, the three finalists all were former gold bracelet winners. Despite the humongous size of the fields for all WSOP events, the top finishers continue to be the pedigreed players who have proven themselves over time. Despite the shared common link to championships of the past, Josh Arieh was, quite frankly, playing a different style of tournament all his own. By this time, Arieh had gobbled up nearly three-quarters of the chips in play. He became so dominant as play became short-handed that, had this been a prize fight, the referee might have stopped the action. But neither Chris Ferguson nor Ron Graham were ready to throw in the towel.

Arieh’s chip raiding became so ridiculous (and easy) that he started raising pots blindly, in an effort to pressure either Ferguson or Graham to play a pot. With a difference of $95,000 at stake (between 3rd and 2nd) Arieh could afford to be the bully and watch Ferguson and Graham hopelessly squirm in their seats, hoping to leapfrog the other into 2nd place.

Finally, Ron Graham decided to throw himself on Arieh’s alter. But it was ‘Jesus’ who collected what was in the collection plate. Graham moved ‘all in’ for 25,000 with 10-10-8-4. Arieh was dealt A-J-10-3. Ferguson was dealt 8-7-6-5. In a rare three-way pot, Ferguson took the loot when the final board showed 7-7-3-8-A (with a full house). Ron Graham – who won a gold bracelet in Deuce-to-Seven Lowball in 1986 and also finished third in the main event (the same year Chan and Seidel battled for the 1988 WSOP championship) settled for 3rd place and $115,640.

2nd Place – Despite Arieh’s dominance over the first four hours of play, the outcome of the tournament was still very much undecided when heads-up play began. Arieh had the chip lead – 878,000 to 339,000. But all Ferguson needed was one big hand to draw close to even in chips. In fact, two big hands would conceivably flip-flop Arieh with Ferguson. This made the initial play between the final two competitors very timid. But as play continued, Ferguson seemed to play more aggressively, got called when he had a big hand, and eventually took the chip lead.

If the first 40 minutes of heads-up play was disturbing to Arieh, he certainly didn’t show it. Seemingly focused and in control of his emotions the entire time, Arieh watched Ferguson take a 2 to 1 chip lead, then reversed the tide with three big hands which effectively were a flurry of knockout punches. Two hands were not shown (no showdown). In fact, Arieh won 7 of the final 8 hands that were dealt. The closer came as the final table approached the sixth hour.

Arieh was dealt K-9-3-2. Ferguson was dealt K-10-9-3. Neither player had much of a hand, but the flop came 7-5-2 with two hearts. Arieh bet out, Ferguson raised to 200,000 with a lower heart draw and Arieh re-raised enough to put Ferguson ‘all in.’ Ferguson was drawing nearly dead – as only a 10 could save him. The turn and river brought an ace and a jack, which meant Arieh had won his second gold bracelet with what would normally be a pathetic pair of deuces.

“I thought Josh played great,” Ferguson said afterward. “He played a big stack perfectly. He kept stealing pots. No one wanted to go up against him.”

As the runner up, Chris ‘Jesus’ Ferguson collected $210,460. To most players that would be a huge score. But for Ferguson, shooting for gold bracelet number six, he had mixed emotions. “I have to be happy with the outcome,” he said. “But to get the chip lead and have a shot at first, then not win was disappointing.” Stoked with over 200 grand, Ferguson is now free-rolling the remainder of this year’s World Series.

1st Place – Josh Arieh is a 30-year-old poker pro who was born in Rochester, NY. He now lives in Atlanta with his wife and two children. The first thing Arieh did following his victory was compliment his opponents -- especially Chris Ferguson.

“Chris is such an amazing player. I am nowhere near the player Chris is – he is such a role model. Up until today, I had not played that much with him,” Arieh said. “I play a lot of pot-limit Omaha and that I know he plays all of these games at such a high level. So, to win against him was thrilling for me.”

Arieh also reflected on his reaction to winning his second gold bracelet over the first, which came back in 1999. “When I won here six years ago, I took it all for granted. I was single. I was gung ho. I didn’t care about the same things I care about now. Today, I know what it means and understand how tough it is to win one of these (gold bracelets) and it’s a huge load off my back.”

Arieh also offered a bit of poker advice: “I play a lot of heads-up poker. It’s all about position. Every time I played a big pot, I had position (acting last). It’s very uncomfortable to play big pots out of position. I did my best not to do that. It all boiled down to a few big hands where I had position and got my money in with the best hand.”

With one month still to go at the 2005 World Series, and over twenty events still to be played, Arieh believes his level of confidence has improved to the point where he will make it to another final table, and possibly win another title. “When I play, I think what I am doing is right. But when I win, I know what I am doing is right. This is the best feeling in the world.”


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