Event #8 7 Card Stud crowns a winner ...Cliff Josephy takes home his first WSOP bracelet!




Final Table Finishing Places

1 Cliff Josephy (NY, USA)$192,560
2 Kirill Gerasimov (Moscow, Russian Federation)$109,010
3 Dr Mark Burtman (Paducah, KY, USA)$63,315
4 Greg Mascio (Fullerton, CA, USA)$48,305
5 Abe Almalhi (Cincinnati, OH, USA)$39,735
6 Ardell Willis (Haines City, FL, USA)$31,265
7 Minh Nguyen (Lake Elsinore, CA, USA)$24,805
8 Murray Reinhart (Los Angeles, CA, USA)$17,625
9 Evgeny Kafelnikov (Russian Federation)



1:34
I am running out of power on my laptop. I ran through mine, then, I ran through Amy's and now I running through mine again. Certainly I can make it....dont let me run out of gas now!

The final hand has been played.

1 Cliff Josephy $192,560
2 Kirill Gerasimov $109,010


Kirill 9s raise reraise all in
Cliff 4d reraise call

Kirill Qd Kc 3d shows 55
Cliff Qc ec Ac shows 44 catches the ace and sends Kirill to the showers.

Both played a tremendous game.

I never thought I would actually enjoy watching the game of stud be played for close to 12 hours. Well.....it really wasnt all that bad. However, I can hear my bed screaming my name. Good night to all, and see you tomorrow!




1:21
wowie..... Well, we thought we had the winner, but noooooooooooooo.....

Kirill 4h call 9d call 4c bet Ts bet reraise all in shows 5d 6d catches 4
Cliff 6h raise 2d bet 3c call Ah raise call shows 2c Ks catches 2

Both somehow manage three of a kind, but Kirill had the monster.

1:20

The bracelet is on the table now. Kirill and Cliff are oogling it. Hmmmm.....wonder what the outcome will be..and I wonder when it will happen. Stranger things have happened. Cliff has a almost an 7.5 to 1 chip lead on Kirill. OK...cards are in the air...lets find our winner.

My chip count

Cliff Millions
Kirill Thousands

The real chip count
Cliff 629,000
Kirill 83,000


1:10
Kirill the comeback kid is rebuilding now. Funny game this is. Actually a lot funnier (not ha ha) than holdem.

Well, it finally happened. Mark had to make a stand and he got two callers.

Mark 3h
Kirill 9c
Cliff 5c

After Mark got all in for 22K, then the others checked it down

Mark 4c Td Ts J 7 2
Kirill Ah 6d 8h 3 3 9
Cliff 3 K 6 J J 5 for Jacks up and the take down

3 Mark Burtman $63,315

1AM
The ante is 3K now with 8K/16K limits. Someone has to come unglued any time now. Brutal. Just brutal. Cliff and Mark go at it, damaging Mark's stack. He had to lay down his AA in the hole after Cliff went at him time and time again with a pair of fives showing. Cliff showed two pair, exactly what Mark thought.

12:55
And the rich get richer,...at the expense of others. Hmm....Ive been on one end of that before...and it wasnt the fun one. Cliff takes more chips off Kirill and then right after doenst discriminate and takes some off of Mark,

12:50
OK...this is when the going gets tough, the tough get goin'....
and the tide changes...Kirill brings home the bacon back to back and is in the hunt once again. From all in to alright!

12:40
Mark tried like heck to take Kirill out but to no avail. In leiu of that, he doubled him up instead. Both had a pair of sevens, except Kirill had a pair of jacks as his kicker.

12:22
Going for a potty break I think. Mark has about 135K now. Cliff has a mountain and Karill has dwindled to about 60K. What a turn around. He went after Mark in two hands and got popped in both as M.

12:17
Dr. Mark pulled a "breathholder" off against Karill. He continues to hang tough, but, with the limits where they are, all that can happen now is for him to get a huge dousing of lady luck. Dr. Mark, somewhere between delivering babies and taking care of his patients, playing poker and keeping his family happy, he not only writes a great article for pokerpages, but, he has also written a great little poker novel called "A Girl In The Game". It is set in his home state of Mississippi and promises to be a very good read. He has given me my copy and I look forward to reading it........after this 7 weeks is over.

12:13
It has now been determined that Greg can no longer fight the power of the Cliff. He gave it a try, but there are some things one just cant change. That would be the power of "bax" (Cliff's online name). Cliff ended up making 3 eights against him when he was down to the felt. He went home a winner though. Nice play Greg.

4 Greg Mascio $48,305

12:10
Cliff lots and lots of chips
Kirill lots of chips
Greg some chips
Mark eking by with about 35K (i can count his pretty easy)

12:07
This time it is Mark on the ropes. He gets tangled up with the Cliffmeister and loses a number of his chips. He is odd man out at this time now that Greg managed to pull a few tricks out of his hat.

12:05
With his back against the wall, Greg goes for broke against Karill. Greg doubles up once again by making a straight. There ain't nuttin' like poker eh?

Stroke of Midnight
Cliff and Greg go at it this time. A Cliff for every player I say. This time Cliff removes all the hope of stretching it out for Greg as he has to fold leaving him with about 14K left. His face was so animated as he thought and thought about making a 12K call.

Cliff Kh Js 3d Jh
Greg Kd 4c 9s 8s

Cliff made the 12K bet on the pair of jacks and mystery cards and Greg let it go. The next hand he was all in against Karill and managed to double up for a little bit of a comeback.

11:57
I guess I just dont understand this game, especially at this limit and with what is at stake. Color me silly.
Karill has As 5c Jd.
Cliff has 7s 8s Ac
Ya have your betting and calling.

Karill 2c
Cliff Kd

Cliff bets, Karill calls

Down card comes, they both check and Cliff shows a pair of fours an Karill has zip zero nada.

11:54
Karill just pounced on Mark. He didnt get the kill, but he injured him by sneaking in with well hidden trip sevens against Marks Aces up.

11:50
Cliff seems to be forgetting that a rain storm begins with just a few rain drops. He has slowly "rained" quite a bit of his stack over to Mark by calling just a tad too much maybe. Mark is actually looking like he is in contention. Greg is short stacked and is biding his time. Karill quietly sits, never speaking, waiting like a lion in the bush.


11:36
Dr. Mark to the felt again...and by golly, clean livin' is paying off!
Cliff 2c 2s 7d 3s
Mark Ks 9h Th 8d

Mark shows K 6 7 for the staight and Cliff shows 3 twos. He's baaaaaaaaaack and lookin' good.



11:32
Down to 4.
Before I lose the next hand to the wind, a quick chip count

Kirill 130K
Cliff 400K
Mark 50K
Greg 60K

11:30
It's all over for my man Abe. He was hanging by his fingernails, took a few chips from Cliff, but, on the very next hand he had an Ace showing with a K J underneath, only to see it melt away to nothing. He makes a 5th place today. Well played Abe. It was a pleasure to watch you play.

5 $39,735

11:25
It is the battle of the "hanger on'ers" as Abe has 4K and Ardell 2K. Ardell had to be all in with the ante. Mark and he battled as the cards fell. First Mark with three sixes and then Ardell with three twos. Ardell just couldnt better his hand and found himself in 6th, just like his previous win in 1997.

6 Ardell Willis $31,265

11:20
Mark hit a trough with Cliff. Cliff is running over the table now.
Cliff Jd 7h 8s 9s
Mark Ad 2h 6d 7c Mark shows three aces but Cliff turns over a straight for the kill. Hopefully Dr. Mark can climb out and hit another peak in the very near future.

11:17
Cliff had the bring in and had no takers. He flipped over his unseen cards and found rolled up sixes. He laughed as the table moaned and said "I played it wrong".

Two short stacks now. Abe has 16K and Ardell 8K. Matter of time I am afraid....or one hell of a story.

11:15
Ardell has matched his 1997 WSOP stud money win for 6th and is now reaching to top it with a bracelet. He has played steady and patiently. Good luck Ardell.

11:14
We have 7th place. Minh Nguyen tangles with Cliff and loses the last of his chips.
7 Minh Nguyen $24,750


Cliff 9s 6h 9c Ac shows Kings in the hole for Kings up and the win
Minh 7h 8h 8s 3s ends up with eights up

11:10
Well, I turned around to type and Abe doubled up to about 35K. Wooohooo.....I wish him some luck.

11:07
Abe is down to about 17K and the disappointment is written all over his face. The highs and lows for him today have been absolutely tremendous and heartbreaking.

Mark takes another huge hand and jumps to around 140K.

11:00
Dr. Mark "delivers" twins and triplets to take Minh's chips. Mark was all in with an A 5 5 while Minh had J J 4. It played out for Mark T 7 A 5. For Minh his hand culminated in Queens up for the loss.

10:55
The players have chipped up and are ready to go. 6K/12K bring in for 2K
Approximate bullets for each player:

Kirill 200K
Abe 52K
Cliff 225K
Mark 40K
Greg 100K
Minh 80K


10:25
break

10:21
This time Abe tried it again against Karill and it failed him for yet a 3rd go at it. He came out firing with a 4d on the board. Karill called with his Jh. Abe bet again when the Jd hit the board and Karill raised with his newly found Ad. Abe calls. The Kd comes for Karill, a Tc for Abe. Karill fires at the pot and Abe has to let it go.

10:17
Abe, the "cat" with 9 lives. He was all in against Minh. Minh had 6d 6c Qh 5h and Abe Tc 5d 7c 7d. Abe tossed his final chips in the pot and Minh had to fold as he couldnt event beat the sevens showing. Abe takes his chip count from potential felt to 85K. Cliff was in the pot for two streets and opted out thereby pumping the pot up a tad more.

10:05
Although Cliff is sitting pretty with a heck of a lot of chips, he tried to fool Minh and Minh read him the whole way. I couldnt tell what in the world Minh had as the board for him showed, Js Qd 8h 2c while Cliff had Jc 3c 9c 7c. Cliff hammered Minh as hard as possible, making a bet on the end, and Minh calmly called. When Minh called, Cliff said, "you win". Cliff shows nuttin' and Minh shows a pair of jacks. Holy moly....


10:00
Abe and Kirill turned right around and battled again. Abe has lost all momentum as he hands Kirill almost all his chips again. He is left with about 35k now.
Abe 9h Ts Ac bets
Kirill Ah 2s Qc calls

Abe Kc checks
Kirill checks

Kirill checks
Abe bets
Kirell calls

Abe Kings up
Karill Aces up

9:55
Abe just lost a bundle to Kirill. Kirill ended up all in and Abe showed 2 pair, K's up and Kirill showed 3 sevens for the pounding.

9:25
Dr. Mark held up by showing a full boat against Cliff's trip kings. His stack has received resuscitation and he is back in the ballgame.


9:24
The heads up bout with Cliff all but killed Murray. The next hand took him home in 8th. This is Murray's first major win in his life. He is a 51 year old retired (how do they do that???) businessman who lives in L.A. He landed in L.A. after many years in Montreal Canada.

8 Murray Reinhart $17,625

9:15
Cliff regains a few more chips off of Murray. Murray hammered it each and every street. In the end, Cliff shows eights up and Murray mucks.

9:12
Despite his dwindling stack, Dr. Mark smiles and tells Ardel "nice hand" when his TT doesnt hold up to Ardells pair of kings.

9:10
Minh just dragged down a huge pot off of Killil. Minh had 4 4 J showing and was holding a well hidden full house for the takedown.

9:04
Cliff regained a few chips off Minh by showing 9's up. Minh mucked.

8:47
There seems to be almost as much posturing in stud as there is in NLHE. I honestly thought it would be very boring to watch, but, fortunately, it is actually kinda fun.

The low man brings it in for 1500. Since everyone has tightened up, the high card man makes his move by completing and everyone folds.

8:45
Sorry, my puter locked up on me. Just watched Abe pull down a huge hand on a measly pair of sevens. He put a read on Cliff and took the pot.

Kirill had rolled up tens to take more chips off Cliff. Cliff had 130K and has really been brutalized over the past 2 hands.

8:20
Abe pulled me to the side and said "did you see the hand, did you see the hand?"
I said, oh no...I was in typing. He said, Yevgeny had a flush, and was all in. Abe squeezed his final card and just like yesterday........ he had his 2 pair complemented by one more to make a full house and take out the young Russian player.

Yevgeny adds to his millions, another $10,770 for 9th place today.

9th Yevgeny Kafelnikov $10,770
8:15
And we now have our 8 final table contenders...
A quick look at the current chip count:

Abe Almalhi 135K
Minh Nguyen 60K
Dr Mark Burtman 33K
Cliff Josephy 130K
Greg Mascio 122K
Ardell Willis 58K
Murray Reinhart 86K
Kirill Gerasimov 85K



8:10
The limits are 4K/8K with a 1000 ante, 1500 bring in.

8:09
10 Glen Englebert $10,770
Glen came back from dinner with one chip for $500. He caught the most horrid group of cards and left the table congratulating the remainder of his table. Well done Glen and great playing!

7:54
Seems that most of the players who are here today, vying for that spot on the final table have a long long history of professional wins. Ardell Willis placed 6th back in 1997 and is trying to beat that position today. Murray Reinhart is making his first move toward that elusive WSOP bracelet. He is virtually an unknown, yet he is playing with the big boys as if he has been doing it for years.

The young Russian men are attempting to add some American money to their bankroll, as if Kirill needs to. He has so many wins already it would take days to list them. Suffice it to say, not only is he adorable, he is a damn good poker pro. Oh to be young, handsome and rich. Oh baby baby.

Kafelnikov will add this tournament to his NLHE and Omaha money finishes. He too is on the ladder to making another world famous name for himself. Not only as a tennis master, but as a poker master to boot.

Dr. Mark Burtman has had a little dry spell at the poker table but promises this will be the break that he needs to move on up the ladder. He has played outstanding poker today and hopefully will be one of the final table finishers.

The man I am watching today is Abe Almalhi. He already moneyed in the NLHE event this WSOP by pulling in a 7th place finish for $37,810.

The game is commencing. More about out players in a bit.



6:30
At 10 players left, how do you spell T I G H T???? You guessed it, F O L D!!! Dinner in 6 minutes, and we will return at 8pm to decide who will play at the final table.


6:13
Two great hands. Abe made somewhat of a comeback against Yevgeny. He wrangeld Aces up over Yevgeny's Kings up. This will give new life's blood to Abe. He clapped his hands together and said "finally I won one".

Minh and Murray clashed. Minh had Ah 5h 7h Ks and Murray Ts 9d Kh 3d. Lots of chips ended up in the middle but Murray prevailed as he turned over pocket kings. Minh mucked. Minh is down to 30K.

5:55
No recoving after that last blow,
11 Leandro "Leo" Alvarez $ 8470

5:51

Leandro "Leo" Alvarez backed himself into a corner when going against Murry Reinhart.

Leo 6h 2h
Murray 3d 4d

Leo bets, Murray calls

Leo Td
Murray 4h

Murray bets
Leo calls

Leo Th
Murray Ac

Leo bets
Murry calls

7th street
Leo checks
Murray bets
Leo calls

Murry shows A A 7 and Leo mucks, leaving himself with one attempt to recover, holding about 3000 in chips now.

5:41
Limits have increased to 3K/6K, ante 1K

5:40
Down and dirty chip count:

Abe Almalhi 50K
Minh Nguyen 80K
Dr Mark Burtman 55K
Cliff Josephy 80K
Greg Mascio 110K
Glenn J Engelbert 40K
Ardell Willis 65K
Kirill Gerasimov 50K
Leandro Alvarez 15K
Murray Reinhart 40K
Yevgeny Kafelnikov 95K

5:28
12 Richard Tatalovich $6, 515

5:15
13 Thor Hansen $6,515

4:58
The tennis/poker pro aces another. Robert Glenn out at 14th

14 Robert Glenn $4,570

Robert is nearing the felt. He has the Qc Jd Ts 6s
Yevgeny shows 8s 6c 7c Ac

After Robert gets all his chips in the pot, he shows a Ks Th
Yevgeny shows 5h 7h

Seventh street proved fatal for Robert when Yevgeny found another 6 to give him two pair. Robert got a lousy 5h which was absolutely NO HELP.

4:48

Randy, Minh and Yevgeny are all grouped together at one end of the table. Randy has 2 eights on the board, Minh a Jc 2d and Yevgeny a 4h 7h. Randy bets 2500, Minh folds and Yevgeny calls.

Randy gets a third eight, Yevgeny a Jh. Yevegeny bets 5,000...Randy is struck with question marks floating all around his head. He has to call as he only has 4500 left. Yevgeny shows 2 tens in the hole, Randy has the 3 eights. Yevgeny sends Randy to the showers when 6th street brought another ten. Nothing materialized to help Randy's eights.

4:47

Randy Holland has 3 eights showing and still goes home.

15 Randy Holland $4,570

4:35
16 Lawrence Budenz $4,570

Post break chip count:

Abe Almalhi 65K
Minh Nguyen 130K
Dr Mark Burtman 40K
Robert Glenn 55K
Cliff Josephy 30K
Greg Mascio 90K
Glenn J Engelbert 40K
Ardell Willis 30K
Kirill Gerasimov 50K
Randy Holland 25K
Leandro Alvarez 38K
Murray Reinhart 48K
Yevgeny Kafelnikov 40K
Thor Hansen 8K
Richard Tatalovich 32K


4:32
$500 ante, bring in at $1,000, and the stakes at $2,500-$5,000

4:31

During break I had the pleasure of talking with Abe Almahi and I would like the poker enthusiasts out there to know this man is such a gentle giant. His heart is as kind as can be. He came into today’s 7 Stud tournament as the chip leader and ran into a brutal hand against Minh Nguyen. As I mentioned before, he was courteous and complimentary when his full house bit the dust as Minh pulled the 4th and final ace out of the deck on 7th street. Abe had tried to trap Minh and ended up with the steel door closing on him instead. He said yesterday he had the same thing happen, but in reverse. He had Kings up and his opponent had an apparent flush as the board represented it and then the opponent bet out faster than the speed of light. Abe called on 6th street and took his down card in the dark, checking to the bettor. The opponent bet 4K and Abe called. He slowly took a peek at his down card, and he saw another King to take down a huge pot. It is truly all about cards. However, the beauty of the game is when a player elects to show graciousness when things go wrong. I am in awe of you Sir.


4:05

17 George Rechnitzer $3,590

Down to the final TWO tables.

An overview of chips:

Abe Almalhi 65K
Minh Nguyen 110K
Dr Mark Burtman 50K
Robert Glenn 34K
Cliff Josephy 20K
Greg Mascio 74K
Glenn J Engelbert 52K
Ardell Willis 33K
Kirill Gerasimov 30K
Randy Holland 16K
Leandro Alvarez 40K
Murray Reinhart 50K
Yevgeny Kafelnikov 32K
Thor Hansen 8K
Lawrence Budenz 22K
Richard Tatalovich 11K


3:45

I know an Ace in a tennis match, pro or not is the absolute nuts, but goodness gracious, can it beat the Straight flush Yevgeny Kafelnikov just pulled off? I think not!!!


3:42
18 Carl Brucker $3,590

3:40
Minh Nguyen runs unbridled with chips now. Can he be stopped????


3:30
OMG this hand, this hand...

Minh Nguyen 7h
Abe Almahi 9h
Kirill Gerasimov 2d

Karill comes in. Call, call

Karill Qc
Abe 2c
Minh Ac

Minh bets 2K
Karill calls
Abe calls

Karill 9c
Abe 4c
Minh 5c

Minh bets 4K
Karill folds
Abe calls

Abe Kc
Minh A

Minh bets 4K
Abe raises
Minh reraises
Abe calls

MINH TURNS OVER QUAD ACES

Minh spanks Abe and Abe is an absolute gentleman stating he has a full house and what a spectacular hand Minh had.


3:20

19 David Levi $3,590
20 Hugo Mejia $3,590


Another look at the payout schedule:

1 $192,560
2 $109,010
3 $63,315
4 $48,305
5 $39,815
6 $31,330
7 $24,805
8 $17,625
9-10 $10,770
11-12 $8,485
13-14 $6,525
15-16 $4,570
17-24 $3,590
25-32 $2,610
33-40 $1,960

3:10

Abe Almalhi Cincinnati, OH $86,100.00 116 6
Minh Nguyen Lake Elsinore $80,100.00 127 8
Dr Mark Burtman Columbus, MS $70,900.00 127 7
Robert Glenn Cason City, NV $63,500.00 117 8
Cliff Josephy Syosset, NY $50,800.00 127 4
Greg Mascio Fullerton, CA $47,700.00 127 1
Glenn J Engelbert Erial ,NJ $47,600.00 116 7
Arfell Willis Haines City, FL $47,400.00 117 3
Kirill Gerasimov Moscow, Russia $35,300.00 127 5
Randy Holland Los Angeles, CA $32,000.00 117 4
Leandro Alvarez Las Vegas, NV $28,500.00 117 5
Murray Reinhart Los Angeles, CA $28,300.00 117 7
Yevgeny Kafelnikov Moscow, Russia $24,600.00 117 2
Thor Hansen Oslo, Norway $17,800.00 116 4
Carl Brucker Cincinnati, OH $15,100.00 116 5
Lawrence Budenz Dayton, OH $14,200.00 116 1
Richard Tatalovich Scottsdale, AZ $13,000.00 116 2
David Levi Las Vegas, NV $6,400.00 127 6
Hugo Mejia Ontario, Canada $3,100.00 117 6
George Rechnitzer Los Angeles, CA $2,800.00 116 3


3PM

As the chips are being distributed, the players are pumped up and ready to rumble. We have two men "Russian" to make it to the final table. One is the student and one the teacher.

Yevgeny Kafelnikov came into this world on February 18th 1974 in Russia. No one knew he was destined to become one of the most highly recognized professional tennis players in the world. He has a list of tennis accomplishments miles long. As he has aged and mellowed, he has picked up the game of poker and with the help of poker professional Kirill Gerasimov, he has become a force to be reckoned with. Today, they both vie for the final table here at the WSOP 7 Card Stud event. With 20 players left, Kirill Gerasimov with 50,800 chips and Yevgeny Kafelnikov follows him with 24,600.

The cards are in the air, with a 400 ante and 2K/4K limits. Lets go!