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Poker Tournament Results

36th Annual World Series of Poker

Event #3 - WSOP Pot Limit Hold'em

June 4, 2005 at 12:00 PM
Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino
Tournament Schedule

Buy-In	$1,500
Prize Pool	$1,477,980
Entries	1071
Report Available

Thomas Werthmann

Place	Name	Prize
1	Thomas Werthmann AKA "Big Baller" (Bloomfield Hills, MI, USA)	$369,535
2	Layne Flack (Las Vegas, NV, USA)	$185,855
3	Hieu "Tony" Ma (S El Monte, CA, USA)	$118,240
4	Martin Green (Brighton, UK)	$88,680
5	David Bach AKA "Gunslinger" (Athens, GA, USA)	$88,680
6	Mario Valenzuela (Temecula, CA, USA)	$73,900
7	Pierre Nasr (Vancouver, BC Canada)	$59,120
8	Arash Ghaneian (Maumee, OH, USA)	$44,340
9	Ernest Patrick	$29,560
10	Gavin Smith (Las Vegas, NV, USA)	$16,260
11	Edward "Bolivia" Moncada (Oakland, CA, USA)	$16,260
12	Chris Stoltzfus AKA "SLICK" (Palm Springs, FL, USA)	$16,260
13	Al Krux (Syracuse, NY, USA)	$13,300
14	Frank Whipple	$13,300
15	Patrick Pezzin (Toronto, ON, Canada)	$13,300
16	Young Cho (Enid, OK, USA)	$10,345
17	Matthew Kirisits (Poway, CA, USA)	$10,345
18	Thomas Hunt III (Las Vegas, NV, USA)	$10,345
19	Dave McAfee (San Diego, CA, USA)	$7,390
20	Renee Wexler (Oceanside, CA, USA)	$7,390
21	Shannon Frankfather (Findlay, OH, USA)	$7,390
22	Scott Levy (Frisco, TX, USA)	$7,390
23	T.J. Burle (Lelseyville, CA, USA)	$7,390
24	Jim Bechtel (Gilbert, AZ, USA)	$7,390
25	Hoyt Corkins (Las Vegas, NV, USA)	$7,390
26	Peter Zakhary (Mt. Verde, FL, USA)	$7,390
27	Nick Frangos (Mays Landing, NJ, USA)	$7,390
28	Jennifer Harman Traniello AKA "Jen" (Las Vegas, NV, USA)	$5,175
29	Christopher Christy (Park Ridge, IL, USA)	$5,175
30	Peter Davidsen (Copenhagen, Denmark)	$5,175
31	Gerald Cheatham (Philladelphia, PA, USA)	$5,175
32	Chance Langeness (New Richmond, WI, USA)	$5,175
33	Jason Younger (Redwood City, CA, USA)	$5,175
34	John Johnson (Pleasant Hill, IA, USA)	$5,175
35	Anders Berg (Oslo, Norway)	$5,175
36	David "Danheiser" Rabbi (Las Vegas, NV, USA)	$5,175
37	Bill Ernest	$4,285
38	Roger White	$4,285
39	Nathan Mullen (San Francisco, CA, USA)	$4,285
40	Alan Adler (Bakersfield, CA, USA)	$4,285
41	Delmiro Toledo AKA "Holy Toledo" (Tulare, CA, USA)	$4,285
42	Allen Kessler (Huntingdon Valley, PA, USA)	$4,285
43	Joseph Casetla	$4,285
44	Kenny Levy (Boca Raton, FL, USA)	$4,285
45	Marc Shubbe	$4,285
46	Bruce Gifford (Las Vegas, NV, USA)	$3,475
47	Tony Abesamis (West Covina, CA, USA)	$3,475
48	Roger Barnes (San Diego, CA, USA)	$3,475
49	Bill Seber (Houston, TX, USA)	$3,475
50	David Stroj (Chula Vista, CA, USA)	$3,475
51	Kevin Killeen (Cork, Ireland)	$3,475
52	Kevin Kim (Los Angeles, CA, USA)	$3,475
53	Marcel Luske AKA "The Flying Dutchman" (Amsterdam, Netherlands)	$3,475
54	Arthur Christman (Visalia, CA, USA)	$3,475
55	Joe Cassidy (Costa Mesa, CA, USA)	$3,475
56	Marco Traniello (Las Vegas, NV, USA)	$2,955
57	Mark Taylor (Colorado Springs, CO, USA)	$2,955
58	Dean Factor (Los Angeles, CA, USA)	$2,955
59	Josh Jones (Des Moines, IL, USA)	$2,955
60	James Catton (USA)	$2,955
61	Elliott Howle (USA)	$2,955
62	Stanley Bayne (Visalia, CA, USA)	$2,955
63	Carlos Trujillo (Taos, NM, USA)	$2,955
64	Brett Wiesner (Las Vegas, NV, USA)	$2,585
65	Craig Hartman (Ft Wayne, IN, USA)	$2,585
66	Mike Minetti (Las Vegas, NV, USA)	$2,585
67	Jesse Daniel (Oxnard, CA, USA)	$2,585
68	Jorge Arias (Caracas, Venezuela)	$2,585
69	Manuel Regis (Cerritos, CA, USA)	$2,585
70	Tao Yubin (USA)	$2,585
71	Amie Martini (Shanghai, China)	$2,585
72	Geffrey Klein AKA "gyndok" (Houston, TX, Tx, USA)	$2,585
73	Keith Sexton (Henderson, NV, USA)	$2,215
74	Todd Brunson (Las Vegas, NV, USA)	$2,215
75	Aaron Jensen (Riverside, CA, USA)	$2,215
76	Christopher Fear (USA)	$2,215
77	Andy Singer (Edgewater, MD, USA)	$2,215
78	Duane Tomko AKA "Dewey" (Winter Haven, FL, USA)	$2,215
79	Michael Pryce (USA)	$2,215
80	Isabelle Mercier AKA "No Mercy" (Victoriaville, QC, Canada)	$2,215
81	Robert Glenn (Carson City, NV, USA)	$2,215
82	Asle Gtesteland (USA)	$1,845
83	Tommy Tucker (USA)	$1,845
84	John Gordon (Clearwater, FL, USA)	$1,845
85	Joe Beevers (Hendon, UK)	$1,845
86	Scott Wilson (San Jose, Costa Rica)	$1,845
87	Jason Bloom (USA)	$1,845
88	Alan Hance (Bakersfield, CA, USA)	$1,845
89	Bobby Justice (USA)	$1,845
90	Sean Colclough (San Diego, CA, USA)	$1,845
91	Daniel Coury AKA "couryd" (Torrington, CT, USA)	$1,625
92	K.U Davis (McKinney, TX, USA)	$1,625
93	Steve Sauser (Hammonton, NJ, USA)	$1,625
94	Steve Zolotow (Las Vegas, NV, USA)	$1,625
95	Andrew Bloch (Las Vegas, NV, USA)	$1,625
96	Andrew Hallenbeck (Las Vegas, NV, USA)	$1,625
97	Jason Strochak (Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA)	$1,625
98	Jon Dull (Fresno, CA, USA)	$1,625
99	Jordan Siegal (Henderson, NV, USA)	$1,625
100	Gerard Denham (Odenton, MD, USA)	$1,625

Tournament Report

Pot-Limit Ace:
Thom Werthman Wins Largest Pot-Limit Hold'em Event in World Series History
Thom Werthman, a 35-year-old owner of a high-tech telecommunications company in Detroit, MI, staged a memorable comeback and won a stunning upset victory over one of poker's most enigmatic personalities. When play became heads-up, Wertherman overcame a 3 to 1 chip deficit versus the always-unpredictable Layne Flack, who was shooting for his 6th WSOP gold bracelet. But after a two-day, 26-hour poker marathon, it was the newcomer Werthmann who earned his first major tournament victory.
The $1,500 buy-in Pot-Limit Hold'em championshipp started with 1,071 players, making it the largest pot-limit hold'em event in WSOP history. In fact, it was the third largest field ever to play in a WSOP event - a statistic expected to be short-lived since this year's tournament is smashing records daily.
When the final ten players assembled around the final table, Layne Flack had an impressive chip lead. Other than Englishman Martin Green - no one seemed to pose a threat to the freewheeling poker enigma originally from Missoula, Montana -- who has drawn comparisons to the late Stu Ungar. No one could possibly foresee that the mild-mannered, self-admitted recreational poker player in Seat 7 would be the last man sitting at the final table at 1:55 am. The finalists started with the following chip counts:
THE FINAL TABLE:
Seat 1; Arash Ghaneian 87,000
Seat 2: Ernest Patrick 118,000
Seat 3: Gavin Smith 73,000
Seat 4: Mario Valenzuela 116,000
Seat 5: Pierre Nasr 118,000
Seat 6: Tony Ma 48,000
Seat 7: Thom Werthmann 265,000
Seat 8: David Bach 130,000
Seat 9: Layne Flack 391,000
Seat 10: Martin Green 282,000
After Gavin Smith went out in 10th place, players were eliminated as follows:
9th Place - Tony Ma plays a short-stack as well as anyone in poker. He came in desperately hoping to double up, and did better than that. He tripled up. Twenty minutes into the finale, Ma moved 'all in' with K-K. Arash Ghaneian had A-Q and a third player, Ernest Patrick had 8-8. The flop came K-J-J - good for a full-house -- which catapulted Ma back into the game. Meanwhile, Patrick was down to the felt and exited in 9th place. Ernest Patrick, a 56-year-old builder from Birmingham, MI, collected $29,560.
8th Place - Arash Ghaneian, an Iranian-born poker pro who now lives in Marina Del Rey, CA went out next. He took a blow on the previous hand losing to Ma, then tried to steal from the button with 7-6 suited. Mario Valenzuela was sitting in the small blind with K-J and re-raised, and Ghaneian was pot-committed. A jack flopped and Ghaneian was forced to take the walk of shame. He received $44,340.
7th Place - Pierre became short-stacked and was delighted to look down and see pocket queens. David 'Gunslinger' Bach lived up to his name and called a 30,000 raise with K-2 suited. The crowd became electrified as the hand was played out. The flop came 9-5-4, with one diamond. Nasr smiled with confidence. The queen of diamonds fell on the turn, which gave Nasr a set (three queens). Then, the crowd roared when a third diamond fell on the river, giving the Gunslinger a flush. Nasr, a Lebanese-born jeweler now living in Canada, backed away from the final table in shock and disappointment. He received $59,120 for 7th place.
6th Place - Layne Flack was right on schedule to win another gold bracelet. With all due respect to the other players, it seemed Flack might run away with the title when he crushed Mario Valenzuela, thus eliminating another player and taking nearly a 3 to 1 chip lead. Flack was dealt 10-10 and hot a ten on the flop. Valenzuela had pocket queens and was 'all in' and drawing to two outs. He missed. The Mexico City-born demolition contractor now living in southern California imploded - earning $73,900 for 6th place. After the hand, Flack had 740,000 in chips.
5th Place - It was the Gunslinger's time to get shot down. David 'Gunslinger' Bach went up to nearly 300,000 in chips at one point, but had a tough run in his final half hour at the table. He made his last stand with A-K and was covered by Thom Werthmann, holding pocket 2s. With 350,000 in the pot, the Gunslinger needed to catch an ace or king, but missed. Bach, a former pro bowler who has turned to poker playing for a living, ended up with poker's equivalent of a spare. Fifth-place paid $88,680. With that pot, Thom Werthmann rocketed up close to 500,000 in chips and suddenly Layne Flack had competition.
4th Place - England has produced a long line of great pot-limit players. Martin Green hoped to add his name to the Brit legacy, but fell three spots short of the top prize. Green was getting short on chips and pushed in under the gun with A-J. Flack, with a mountain of chips called with K-4 and spiked a 4 on the river, making Mr. Green blue. Green, who edits a major horseracing publication in Brighton, jockeyed into 4th place - good for $103,460.
3rd Place - Tony Ma survived three hours with a short stack before finally succumbing to defeat. Ma looked down, saw and ace, and moved in. Thom Wethermann couldn't get his chips in fast enough with A-J and when a jack flopped, Ma was essentially bounced to the rail Vietnamese-born Tony Ma, who has won numerous poker tournaments in his distinguished career (he was Card Player magazine's 'Player of the Year' in 1999) received $118,240 for 3rd place.
When heads-up play began, Flack enjoyed a substantial chip lead over Werthmann - 1,150,000 to 480,000. Twenty minutes later, Flack was up 3 to 1. Then, the winds of fate shifted. Arguably the most decisive hand of the tournament took place when Werthmann made a pot-sized bet holding 8-6 after the flop came 6-3-2. Flack re-raised the pot with two overcards and a spade flush draw. Werthmann moved the rest of his chips in, and it was essentially a coin flip situation with two cards to come. Flack failed to catch the spade or overcard which would have given him his 6th gold bracelet, and Werthmann had new life. The chips counts were now close to equal.
Werthmann seized the chip lead when he took a 300,000 pot on non-showdown hand, then Flack won most of those chips back when he made two pair and Werthmann missed a straight draw.
With the championship hanging in the balance, the final hand of the night was dealt on Sunday night at 2 am, with throngs of spectators jammed around the table observing the two glary-eyed finalists. Flack was dealt 5-5 and was the clear favorite over Werthmann's A-2. Werthmann desperately needed to catch and ace. He caught not one ace, but two. The final board showed A-K-Q-A-J, which gave Werthmann trip aces and his first WSOP title.
Flack, who normally is not sentimental about gold bracelets or poker glory, was visibly disappointed with the outcome. He commented earlier that he had given his previous five bracelets as gifts to various family members. He hoped his sixth bracelet might go to his brother. But alas, that bracelet ended up on the wrist of the new unanticipated champion. Layne Flack, the Montana-born poker wunderkind, collected $185,855 as the runner up.
For Thom Werthmann, this was a two-day dream come true. He had previously cashed two times, including 179th in the main event last year (2,576 entries). He earned a whopping $369,535 and the coveted gold bracelet studded with diamonds.
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