Poker Tournament Results

World Poker Finals / WPT Event Season 4

Place	Name	Prize
1	Randall Blair AKA "Dee" (Framingham, MA, USA)	$43,875
2	Sanjay Pandya (Smithville, NJ, USA)	$24,050
3	Joseph Palma (Langhorne, PA, USA)	$13,325
4	Douglas Gaus (Akron, OH, USA)	$8,775
5	Howard Mann (Martinsburg, WV, USA)	$6,175
6	Michael Roseingrave (Long Beach, NY, USA)	$5,200
7	Leslie Brody (Newton, MA, USA)	$3,900
8	Jeff Charette (Winslow, ME, USA)	$3,250
9	Tho Tong Tran (Dracut, MA, USA)	$2,925
10	Gregory J. Pappas (Las Vegas, NV, USA)	$2,600
11	James T Namiot (Bronx, NY, USA)	$2,275
12	Brian Scott (Atlantic City, NJ, USA)	$1,950
13	Gary Do (Denver, CO, USA)	$1,625
14	Ruben A Allala (Virginia Beach, VA, USA)	$1,300
15	Antoine Younes (Augusta, ME, USA)	$975
16	Chris Bjorin (London, UK)	$845
17	Marty Stilling (Hope Valley, RI, USA)	$845
18	Michael Sid Gamerman (Foxboro, MA, USA)	$845
19	Steven Corbeil (Hill, NH, USA)	$845
20	John Disandro (Jamestown, RI, USA)	$845
21	Hyun 'Charlie' Bae (Bristol, PA, USA)	$715
22	Daniel R White (Ellington, CT, USA)	$715
23	Anthony J Costa (Coventry, RI, USA)	$715
24	Jerome T Belcastro (Leominster, MA, USA)	$715
25	Carl Brucker (Cleves, OH, USA)	$715

Tournament Report

The 2005 World Poker Finals is shaping up as a record breaker. The $500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo event had 256 entrants compared to 201 last year. With a prize pool of $130,000, the winner, Randall 'Dee' Blair of Framingham, MA, was able to collect a First Place Prize of $43,875! The victory also propelled him to a tie for first place in the coveted 'Best Overall Player Award' with Charles Balistreri. Dee's road to victory was not a smooth one. If he had prevailed any one of the several times he had opponents all-in, he would have run the table quickly. But, as it worked out, he and Sanjay Pandya, Smithfield, NJ, entered heads up action with virtually identical chip positions. Sanjay had the first advantage with A's to Dee's K's. Dee then slowly gained back what he had lost and steadily ate into Sanjay's stack. Dee's J's led to an 130K swing; the next hand he had A's up for another 160K. He had Sanjay down to the felt and, when Sanjay could not top his K's, Dee was able to claim First Place. Sanjay took home $24,050 for his efforts. Third place finisher, Joe Palma, Levittown, PA, hoped to improve his second place finish in this event last year. Even though he entered the final table as the chip leader, Joe was thwarted in his quest; he won $13,325 for third place. Until he ran up against Dee's K's (he had J's), he had a hand in the demise of other players. His K's up took care of Jeff Charette, Winslow, ME, who finished in 8th and collected $3,250. He had a straight which left Michael Roseingrave of Long Beach, NY, in 6th with $5,200. Leslie Brody returned to his hometown of Newton, MA, with $3,900 as a result of his 7th place finish. Howard Mann, Martinsburg, WV, hung on for 5th position. He had eliminated Leslie with trip 7's but a few hands later he was hoping to regain some advantage in three way action with Sanjay and Dee. It was not to be; he could not fill a low draw and he lost to Sanjay's K's but left the room with $6,175. Doug Gaus from Akron, OH, was able to split pots in three all-ins; in the fourth he had A's up but Sanjay caught the third J on the river and Doug was in 4th place with $8,775 in his pocket. After four plus hours of action, Dee Randall donned his new leather jacket, hoisted his crystal trophy and left the Sunset Ballroom with $43,875 as the Champion! Reported by Jeffrey A Toth for Foxwoods Resort Casino