Players Reamining after Day 3
See Final Day for Payouts
Players - Chip Count - Seat
Joe Hachem 285,000 3
Kido Pham 254,000 2
Doug Lee 189,000 7
Steven Hudak 145,000 5
John Smith 144,000 1
Lee Watkinson 128,500 4
J.C. Tran 97,500 8
Scotty Nguyen 96,500 6
Today’s final table includes eight players. On the final hand of Day Three, two players were eliminated. Max Pescatori finished 10th. Minh Ly finished 9th. Play resumes on Tuesday, November 22nd at Ballys Las Vegas.
Seat 1: John Smith
Hometown: La Habra Heights, CA
Chip Count: 144,000
John Smith, a veteran from La Habra Heights, CA has been playing seriously for only two years. However, his accomplishments in this short time-frame have been extraordinary. He won two tournaments at this year’s LA Poker Open. He also finished 8th in the WSOP Caesars Indiana championship and 15th in the WSOP Lake Tahoe championship. When Smith is not cashing at major poker tournaments, he works as a highway contractor. He’s on the road today to earn his biggest cash ever.
Seat 2: Thang ‘Kido’ Pham
Hometown: Dallas, TX
Chip Count: 254,500
Kido Pham is one of five foreign-born players at the final table. Born in Vietnam, Pham now lives in Dallas. Like many of his opponents in today’s finale, Pham is relatively new to the tournament poker scene. His best finish to date was earlier this year’s at the Mirage Poker Showdown, where he took 4th place. Pham has been a steady force in this tournament, improving his stack size each day. He comes to the final table second in chips, with 245,500.
Seat 3: Joseph Hachem
Hometown: Melbourne, Australia
Chip Count: 285,000
Joe Hachem was once a 39-year-old chiropractor from Melbourne, Australia. But that was before the man from ‘down under’ turned the gaming world upside down, by winning the biggest poker tournament in history. Hachem topped a whopping field of 5,619 players at the 2005 World Series of Poker en route to a $7.5 million payday. The defending champion is now proving that his World Series victory is no fluke. He has consistently increased his chip position in this tournament and now comes to the final table with the chip lead. Hachem’s trademark phrase is “pass the sugar!” He hopes his opponents will sweeten the pot with a $453,000 payday.
Seat 4: Lee Watkinson
Hometown: Vancouver, WA
Chip Count: 128,500
Lee Watkinson, from Vancouver, WA, has been a steady performer on the poker tournament circuit for many years. He has numerous cashes, final table appearances, and tournament wins on his impressive poker resume. Watkinson has won over a million dollars within the last year playing in poker tournaments. His biggest wins recently were two second-place finishes – one at the Legends of Poker (worth $578,000) and the other at the Mirage Poker Showdown (worth $513,000). Today, Watkinson hopes to win his first WSOP Circuit championship.
Seat 5: Steven Hudak
Hometown: Las Vegas, NV
Chip Count: 145,000
Steven Hudak was a college student at the University of Maryland when he came to the World Series of Poker for the first time, this past summer. In the pot-limit hold’em championship, Hudak came to within a single hand of winning a gold bracelet. He ended up as the second-place finisher in the event, winning nearly $160,000. He arrives fifth in the chip count today, with 145,000.
Seat 6: Scotty ‘The Prince’ Nguyen
Hometown: Henderson, NV
Chip Count: 96,500
Scotty Nguyen is just as well-known for his flamboyant personality as his poker accomplishments. Nguyen is a four-time gold bracelet winner at the World Series of Poker. He has cashed 28 times and has won nearly $2 million. His biggest win came in 1998 when he won poker’s world championship. He is also the official host of this Ballys-Paris WSOP Circuit event, and appropriately has made it to the final table. Scotty Nguyen is a man of style. If there was a cash prize for most ‘bling,’ Nguyen would be the million-dollar man.
Seat 7: Doug Lee
Hometown: Calgary, Alberta (Canada)
Chip Count: 189,000
Doug Lee has been one of the year’s top newcomers to tournament poker in 2005. He came out of nowhere to win the WSOP Circuit championship event held at the Rio Las Vegas, last February. Since then, Lee has finished high in events at the World Series of Poker, Tournament of Champions, and other major tournaments. If he wins today, Lee will become the first player to ever win two WSOP Circuit championships. Were poker to give an award for ‘Rookie of the Year,’ it would certainly go to Doug Lee.
Seat 8: J.C. Tran
Hometown: Sacramento, CA
Chip Count: 97,500
J.C. Tran is Sacramento’s undisputed poker king. Born 28 years ago in Vietnam. Tran moved to the US as a child. He earned a college degree in business administration. However, he has discovered a successful career as a professional poker player. Tran won the $1,500 buy-in no-limit hold’em championship on the WSOP Circuit at the Rio Las Vegas earlier this year. He faces a formidable challenge at today’s final table, with the second-shortest stack.
Payouts are as follows:
1st – $453,456
2nd – 251,920
3rd – 138,556
4th – 100,768
5th – 88,172
6th – 75,576
7th – 62,980
8th – 50,384
9th – 37,788
Official Report by Nolan Dalla – World Series of Poker Media Director
Ballys Poker Room Manager – Chris Eggers
Tournament Directors – Robert Daily and Michael Matts
Assistant Tournament Director – Jimmy Sommerfield
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