'Jesus' Chris SuperStar!
2000 world poker champion Chris 'Jesus' Ferguson triumphs in 13-hour final table
marathon, outlasts Prahlad Friedman in heads-up duel
For the first time ever, the World Series of Poker came to the golden state
of California as the Harrah's Rincon Casino and Resort hosted WSOP Circuit event
number two. The luxurious coastal mountain resort was the second of five stops
on this year's national Circuit, which began last month in Atlantic City. The
Rincon Native-American Tribe proudly welcomed thousands of poker players who
came from all parts of the United States and abroad to compete in the world's
most prestigious poker tournament. How appropriate that "Rincon" which
means 'roadrunner' in the native tribal language, hosted poker's longest-running
tournament, which dates all the way back to 1970.
At the finale, hundreds of spectators filled The Pavilion arena at Harrah's
Rincon. Those who came and lasted the ordeal were treated to an epic marathon,
a grueling slugfest of dexterity and willpower that lasted a whopping 13 hours.
At tournament's end there was but one man left standing - make that sitting
at the final table. Chris "Jesus" Ferguson mercifully raked in the
final pot of the night just a few ticks shy of 3 am, leaving even the most enthusiastic
poker fans mentally and physically exhausted.
It was hardly a surprise that this ended up being one of the longest and most
hard-fought final tables ever in memory. Consider the talent. The final table
included one former world champion (Ferguson), three former gold bracelet winners
(Ferguson, Williamson, Friedman), and two players who made it to the final table
of the main event at the inaugural WSOP Circuit event (Ferguson finished 9th
and Brown finished 7th). The depth of final table experience would be illustrated
at this finale as three players -- Ferguson, Friedman, and Brown all made it
down to the final trio.
The tournament's main event started three days earlier (actually four days
earlier, considering the length of the final table). Day One started the previous
Sunday with 209 players. The final 18 were paid, in amounts ranging from $19,855
up to $655,220 - the prize for first place. ESPN, the leader in sports television
was on hand to film the championship event, which is expected to be broadcast
in July.
After Tournament Director John Grooms introduced Harrah's executives and the
final ten participants, the players were eliminated in the following order:
10th Place - Naseem Salem arrived desperately low on chips with just 21,500
in his paltry stack and desperately needed to win his first confrontation. He
managed to do exactly that and doubled up early to nearly 50,000, but then exited
a short time later when he moved 'all in' with 7-7 and was called instantly
by Alex Prendes, with 10-10. When a 10 flopped, Salem was all but eliminated.
Salem, a 36-year-old Iraqi-born business owner from San Diego, collected $27,795
for 10th place.
9th Place - Mark Hanna (a.k.a. "Big Daddy from Cincinnati") also arrived
with a short stack. The big man managed to last a bit longer, nearly two hours
into the finale. On his final hand, Big Daddy took a horrible beat when he was
dealt pocket Kings, normally a terrific chance to double up and get back into
contention. Trouble was, Hanna caught the Kings at the worst possible time as
Robert Williamson III looked down and saw pocket Aces. When an Ace flopped,
Big Daddy's last vestige of hope vanished. Hanna, who has spent the last eight
months doing what many poker players dream -- traveling around North America
in a motor coach playing poker along the way, accompanied by his wife and three
pet terriers - made some extra gas money, $39,710 for 9th place.
8th Place - Lonnie Alexander hung around for three full hours, staying
in the 100K-200K range most of the day. Then, Alexander lost most of his chips
with A-Q when a Queen flopped as the high card. Alex Prendes was 'all in' and
happened to be holding A-A. Alexander called out for a Queen, hoping to put
his version of a bad beat on Prendes. The poker Gods were not listening. Alexander
watched helplessly as two blanks fell on the turn and river, which left the
47-year-old poker pro with only a few thousand in chips. Alexander went out
on the next hand. This marked Alexander's biggest tournament payday to date.
He collected $59,565 for 8th place.
7th Place - Crowd favorite Robert Williamson III went out next on a
hand that he is sure to remember and strategists will discuss. Williamson was
dealt K-Q and was delighted to see the flop come Q-10-8 giving him top pair.
Williamson bet out with about half of his 200K stack and was raised 'all in'
by the chip leader, Prahlad Friedman. On the hand, Friedman had 8-8 and flopped
a set of 8s. The next three minutes of deliberation were grueling for Williamson.
He knew he was very likely beat, and would have to commit his last 100K to make
the call. Trouble for Williamson was, he had a vulnerable kicker and reasoned
that Friedman probably had A-Q or better, making Williamson a significant dog.
Up to that point, play at the final table had been very conservative, and Williamson
knew Prahlad was not making a power play on a draw, or bluffing. Despite his
worst fears, Williamson finally made a crying call and was caught drawing dead
when a 2 fell on the turn. Williamson must have reasoned that he wouldn't be
able to come back from being down to just under 100,000 in chips (especially
against the level of competition), and decided he had to gamble. Indeed, Williamson
has a mentality which makes him focus on one thing only - first place. Any other
disciplined player would have folded in that spot under the conditions, and
in this case Williamson's ambition cost him dearly. Robert Williamson, a former
Dallas businessman turned tournament pro who won a Pot-Limit Omaha WSOP gold
bracelet in 2002, received $79,420 for 7th place.
6th Place - Prahlad Friedman continued his reign of terror as he eliminated
Keith Sexton a short time later. Sexton, a 45-year-old real state investor who
is now a poker pro and sports bettor living in Las Vegas came in low on chips,
but did manage to leap up four spots in the prize money. On his final hand,
Sexton had A-10 and raised before the flop. Friedman was in the blind and had
enough chips to call. The final board showed 7-7-6-8-4 and Friedman with 8-5
made the straight. Sexton took home 6th place prize money -- $99,275.
Note: Play at the final table played very much like a pot-limit game. Because
the blinds and antes were so low in proportion to the amount of chips in play,
players had a chance to maneuver. It was arguably the final table with the most
'post flop play" in WSOP history. Unlike many No-Limit events where two
players push 'all in' and five cards are dealt, players bet very methodically,
and were faced with multiple decisions during the course of the hand. This made
for a very long night, but also provided witnesses with one of the greatest
strategic poker displays on record.
5th Place - At 7 pm, Prahlad Friedman became the first player to cross
the million-dollar threshold. He dealt a crushing blow to Alex Prendes on one
hand, making a Jack-high straight. After a dinner break, Chad Brown doubled
up on a big hand when he had 9-9 against Chris Ferguson's 4-4. When a Nine came
on the turn, Brown was second in chips and Ferguson was staggered and on the
ropes for the first time, with less than 200K. That would prove to be Ferguson's
low point at the final table. Prendes, however, was unable to recover from his
low point. He was getting low on chips and made his final stand with A-6 against
Ferguson's K-Q. The flop came A-J-6 giving Ferguson two pair. Prendes had a
chance to put a beat on Ferguson if a 10 fell, but it wasn't to be. Alex B.
Prendes, Jr. the youngest player at the final table (age 24) was the 5th place
finisher, good for $119,130. Remarkably, Prendes has played in three major tournaments
and has now made it into the money in all three.
4th Place - The "Krazy Kanuck" James Worth became a crowd favorite.
Clearly the least known of the four finalists, the Canadian player mostly plays
online and has not played in many live tournaments. He certainly played well
over the four-day period. But in the end, Worth failed outfox or catch the final
rush of cards it took to become a serious contender. He remained around the
250K mark most of the day, but was gradually blinded down and made his final
stand with 4-4. Chris Ferguson was dealt 6-6, which held up - knocking out the
crazy Canadian. James Worth, from Toronto, received $158,840 in prize money.
3rd Place - The final three players - Brown, Friedman, and Ferguson
-- meant it was an 'All-California' trio of finalists. Brown, from Los Angeles
had about 250K. Friedman, originally from the Bay Area but now living in Los
Angeles, had 875K. By knocking out Worth on the previous hand, Ferguson, from
Pacific Palisades near LA, rocketed up into the chip lead with about 950K. Unfortunately,
the final half hour was not a pleasant experience for Chad Brown. He ran card
dead at the worst possible time of a tournament and was down to about 100K when
he was dealt his final hand of a very long night. Just after midnight, Brown
tried to make a stand with K-9 on a bluff, but Chris Ferguson had A-Q and decided
to call Brown's final bet with Ace-high. The board showed 7-6-2-5-10 giving
neither player a pair. So, Ferguson's Ace played as the high card. Chad Brown,
who has worked as an actor and poker color commentator has many impressive tournament
finishes on his poker resume. He could certainly be proud of this one, as well.
Brown collected $198,550 for 3rd place.
Note: After his elimination, Chad Brown offered some interesting personal observations.
Although he was naturally disappointed not to win, Brown stated he was "so
proud" of the way he played in this tournament. Brown took a number of
crushing beats over the four-day period, which he says normally would have caused
most players to steam and give up. Brown stated that he kept his emotional equilibrium
and fought on, each time regaining those lost chips through intense skill and
focus. "It's a strange feeling to be satisfied with third place,"
he said afterward. "But as I look back on several of the beats I took,
I really believe I went as far as I could under the circumstances." Most
in the audience who watched agree that had Brown had a gust of good cards at
the closing levels, he very well might have won the event.
The heads-up duel between Prahlad Friedman and Chris "Jesus" Ferguson
started with the two players about even in chips. They went back and forth for
over an hour, never deviating more than 200,000 or so from the chip lead. Then,
the biggest hand of the tournament came out of nowhere.
After a long series of stealing antes and few showdowns, both players were
dealt a hand, and after Ferguson raised and Friedman called pre-flop, there
was about 150,000 in the pot. They both watched as the flop came A-A-K. Neither
showed much of a reaction. The crowd, which by this point was emotionally drained,
suddenly came to life. Both players checked. A third Ace fell on the turn. Again,
both players checked. A King fell on the river - and the final board showed
A-K-A-A-K. Friedman checked and Ferguson bet 345,000. From Friedman's point
of view, it appeared that with the large bet Ferguson was trying to push his
opponent off the hand. Ferguson made a perfect play - overbetting the pot by
just enough to cause doubts in Friedman's mind that Ferguson had the dreaded
Ace for four-of-a-kind. Expecting to play the board and split the pot, Friedman
tabled his hand playing the board, and was horrified to see Ferguson roll over
an Ace - good for quad Aces. That was a blast that not only ripped away half
of Friedman's stack, but perhaps more importantly it helped Ferguson to completely
seize the momentum at the final table. With all due respect to Friedman who
played remarkably well and demonstrated an intimidating and powerful table presence
for the duration, the tournament was effectively over at that point.
The final hand came just a short time later. Friedman was dealt 5-4 of spades,
normally not much of a hold'em hand. But heads-up, just about any two cards
are playable, even worth calling a standard 3X-the-big-blind-sized raise. The
flop came K-J-10 with two spades. Friedman moved 'all in' on the semi-bluff
with a spade draw. Ferguson didn't take long to call and Friedman was now on
his last gasp of hope. Ferguson held Q-J for second pair and a straight draw.
It all came down to Friedman catching a spade or a running two pair or better.
Such a catch would have allowed Freidman to draw back to even with Ferguson,
and had that happened, the remaining spectators might have been there until
breakfast. But the spade failed to come for Friedman and one of the World Series
of Poker's longest final tables ever came to a close. Ferguson won with a pair
of Jacks.
Prahlad Friedman is one of the game's most talented young players. He has already
mastered high-limit poker, and plays $200-400 limit stakes and higher. He is
also a terrific No-Limit player, whether in tournaments or live action. Friedman,
a Cal-Berkeley dropout now living in Los Angeles can be counted on to appear
at many more final tables and is likely to win his second WSOP gold bracelet
before long. But on this night, he would have to settle for bridesmaid status.
Second-place prize money of $361,365 helped to soften the sting of defeat.
By the time it was over, the stands at the Harrah's Rincon Pavilion resembled
a Montreal Expos' baseball game. They were empty, except for a few die-hards.
But those who were there, numbering about 75 or so of Chris Ferguson's most
ardent supporters more than made up for the noise level.
Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, normally stoic and serious when playing,
waved and took a victory lap around the final table. He was clearly ecstatic
with his victory. Of all his poker accomplishments, this had to be among the
most satisfying, as Ferguson consistently made the right moves at the right
time, bet the right amounts, came back from a few beats, and ultimately triumphed
against nine very tough competitors.
"I didn't win any tournaments at last year's World Series of Poker,"
Ferguson said afterward. "I did have a second, but now winning this one
kinda' makes up for that."
When ESPN's Norman Chad sat down and with cameras rolling asked Ferguson what
strategic advice he would give Prahlad Friedman and others next time they play
in order to beat him, Ferguson didn't miss a beat.
"Buy my book when it comes out," he said.
Report by Nolan Dalla - World Series of Poker Media Director
World Series of Poker Tournament Director - John Grooms
World Series of Poker Circuit Director - Ken Lambert
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