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Goldstrike World Poker Open / WPT Season 4

Event #2 - WPO No Limit Hold'em

January 11, 2006 at 12:00 PM
Gold Strike Casino Resort
Tournament Schedule

Buy-In	$1,500 + $70
Prize Pool	$203,700
Entries	140
Report Available

Hoe Puan

Place	Name	Prize
1	Hoe Puan (Brooklyn, NY, USA)	$75,368
2	Donald Emery AKA "The Dogfather" (Myrtle Beach, SC, USA)	$44,814
3	Raul Paez (Barcelona, Spain)	$22,407
4	Bau Le (Atlantic City, NJ, USA)	$12,222
5	Scott Idsinga (Nunica, MI, USA)	$9,167
6	Tony Hellmann (Louisville, KY, USA)	$7,130
7	Jeff Ortega (Kansas City, MO, USA)	$5,093
8	Russ Carlson (Blackhawk, CO, USA)	$4,074
9	Daniel Delnoce (Tocca, GA, USA)	$3,259
10	John Bolten (Overland Park, KS, USA)	$2,444
11	Garland Walters AKA "Munsfordsville" (Munsfordsville, KY, USA)	$2,444
12	Jacob Elbaz (Houston, TX, USA)	$2,444
13	William Payne (N. Richland Hill, TX, USA)	$2,241
14	Chris Ball (Dallas, TX, USA)	$2,241
15	Robert Doyle (North Palm Beach, FL, USA)	$2,241
16	Dan Schmiech (Houston, TX, USA)	$2,037
17	Glen Bean (Gridley, CA, USA)	$2,037
18	Farzad Rouhani AKA "Freddie" (Gaithersburg, MD, USA)	$2,037

Tournament Report

Hoe Puan Wins with Passport in Hand

Tunica Mississippi (January 12, 2006)
Poker players travel far and wide to attend the Gold Strike's World Poker Open. There is no better evidence of that than our winner of Event #2, Hoe Puan, who made his way from Malaysia. Clutching his passport at the end of today's event, he proudly showed spectators his country of origin and his brand new WPO bracelet.

Today's final table represented a wealth of experience. Collectively the participants had scores of quality tournament results and at least ten WPO money finishes between them. The action was fast and furious, finishing in just over three hours. And just like yesterday's event, we lost our first player on the very first hand.

Dan Delnoce, the short stack coming into today's event, pushed in with QT, running into Hoe Puan's AK. An ace came on the flop. The turn and river brought no salvation for Delnoce, who finished in 9th place. Russ Carlson had a similar fate when his JT bumped up against Don "The Dogfather" Emery's AK. It was deja vu, with an ace on the flop, and Russ Carlson finished in 8th. If we needed any more evidence of the power of the big slick, we could ask Jeff Ortega. Ortega's AQ was pitted against Bau Le's AK, with the predictable result. Jeff Ortega takes 7th place.

Tony Hellmann lost the majority of his stack when his AJ met Raul Paez's pocket queens. Paez flopped a set and Hellmann was left with little to work with. It was only a matter of time and Tony Hellman finished in 6th.

In another case of Deja vu, an AJ met up with queens again, but this time the gals ended up short. Hoe Puan's suited AJ found a flush to put Scott Idsinga, and his ladies, out in 5th. Another AK debacle claimed Bau Le when Hoe Puan's AK dominated Le's A3. Bau Le goes home in 4th place.

Raul Paez had a nice run at the WPO last year, with three money finishes, including a bracelet winning performance in the $500 Pot Limit Hold'em event. But Paez had to settle for 3rd place today. Paez pushed it in with A6 and was called by Hoe Puan's K9. A flopped king turned "the dog" into a winner and we were left heads-up.

Sensing weakness, Don Emery came back over the top of a Hoe Puan raise. Emery felt confident with his read when he saw he was all-in with AJ, facing Puan's Q9. The flop was innocent, but the turn brought a queen. A blank on the river sealed Don Emery's 2nd place finish - along with Hoe Puan's successful bracelet run.