WORLD SERIES OF POKER 2000
EVENT #1 POKER DEALER'S 1ST WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP - LIMIT HOLD'EM
$500 BUY-IN
$500 in chips
DEALER'S CHOICE
By Mike Paulle
Often the players forget that without dealers there would be no poker
tournaments. In a move to add prestige to being a professional poker dealer,
the World Series of Poker has established a dealer's tournament event. Some
of the choicest dealers in the game showed up to challenge for the inaugural
poker dealer's championship at the World Series of Poker.
There were 109 entrants in the $500 Buy-In, Dealer's Limit Hold'em for a
total prize pool of $54,500. 2 tables were paid, a total of 18 players.
When Victor Stancio, a dealer at Hollywood Park in Inglewood CA, took out the
all-in big blind a cheer went up from the last three tables. The first 18
players in the first WSOP dealer's tournament were in the money.
The Final Table was set up Saturday night when Chang Wu Ning, a dealer at the
Garden City Casino in Los Angeles, ran into pocket Aces from Keith Watkins.
THE FINAL TABLE:
40 mins left of 1 hr. The blind are $200 and $400
| Player/Hometown | Chip Count |
| Seat 1: Von Huang (Chandler, AZ) | $7,200 |
| Seat 2: Blaize Hjelmgren (St. Paul, MN) | $12,000 |
| Seat 3: Tom Harper (Vassar, MI) | $4,600 |
| Seat 4: Gary Ding (Renton, WA) | $6,500 |
| Seat 5: Keith Watkins (San Diego, CA) | $5,700 |
| Seat 6: Lloyd Fontillas (Manila, The Philippines) | $800 |
| Seat 7: C J Schoot (Colorado Springs, CO) | $4,000 |
| Seat 8: Dave Alizadeh (Las Vegas, NV) | $12,700 |
| Seat 9: Perry Lewis (Detroit, MI) | $1,000 |
As the only Binion's Horseshoe dealer at the Final Table, Perry Lewis had the
home court advantage. Unfortunately for Perry, he neglected to bring many
chips with him. As his fellow Horseshoe dealers cheered him on from the rail,
Lewis lasted a few all-ins before finishing in 9th when Keith Watkins turned
a huge hand. Lewis went all-in with his last few chips and A Q on the turn.
By then Watkins, with K 5, had a full house 5's full of Kings. At least Perry
has bragging rights now. Of the seven Horseshoe dealers that entered, Lewis
was the only one in the money.
From the outset, it seemed either Perry Lewis or Lloyd Fontillas, a dealer at
Bay 101 in San Jose CA, would be the first one to leave. Lloyd won some big
all-in hands early and looked like he'd be a factor to deal with as he got
his stack up to $2,500. But Lloyd was unable to lay down pocket Kings and
they took Fontillas out in 8th. In his final hand, Fontillas three-bet Dave
Alizadeh's raise under the gun from the small blind. When an Ace flopped,
Lloyd checked and after a long study so did Alizadeh. Dave's check sank the
hook into Fontillas and insured Lloyd's demise. He couldn't lay down the
pocket Kings now and they lost to Alizadeh's A 10.
Dealer's tournaments in the past have always been characterized as wild
affairs with chips flying in every direction. But these players were very
serious about winning the first title ever for dealers at a WSOP event. It
took over an hour to eliminate the next player as the action was
extraordinarily tight. Finally short-stacked by the rising blinds C J Schoot,
from the Cripple Creek Casino in Colorado, raised then went all-in on the
flop with the A 10 of Clubs. Schoot didn't have enough chips to deter Keith
Watkins from calling with pocket 7's. C J didn't Schoot himself in the foot,
it wasn't his fault neither of his overcards hit. The 7's held up and play
resumed with six.
It's a sickening feeling when your cards go dead at a Final Table. Blaize
Hjelmgren, a dealer at Palace Station in Las Vegas, started out 2nd in chips
and he couldn't make a hand. With his last $4,000, Blaize went down in an
Hjelmgren of glory. Blaize flopped an up and down straight from the small
blind against Tom Harper in the big blind. Hjelmgren had a suited 6 5, Harper
has a suited A K with an A 7 8 on the flop. Blaize went up in flames for 5th
as the straight didn't get there.
With the most gorgeous cheering section, Gary 'Cricket' Ding, from Sonny's
Casino in Washington State, went out in 5th when his A 7 of Diamonds all-in
was outkicked by Von Huang's A 9 on the button.
After several failed attempts at a deal, one that satisfied everyone was
finally arrived at. As a World Series bracelet was not available for
negotiation, the players decided to take their money and go home. Dave
Alizadeh was the chip leader so he won the first WSOP Dealer's title,
followed by Von Huang, Tom Harper and Keith Watkins.
It was a choice night for poker dealers everywhere as, for the first time,
their contribution to poker tournaments is acknowledged at the World Series
of Poker in an event that will only get bigger and more important as the
years go by.
Official Money Winners
1. Dave Alizadeh $21,800
2. Von Huang $10,900
3. Tom Harper $5,450
4. Keith Watkins $3,270
5. Gary Ding $2,450
6. Blaize Hjelmgren $1,910
7. C J Schoot $1,370
8. Lloyd Fontillas $1,090
9. Perry Lewis $875
10th-12th received $655
Chang Wu Ning, John Lindwall and Victor Stancio
13th-15th received $595
John Phan, Kenny Tran and Mark Mansfield
16th-18th received $545
Raymond Cousins, Xia Byrne and Howard Paquin
The first two players to win a Super Satellite at the WSOP for the $10,000
Final Event on Friday were: O'Neil Longson (Salt Lake City UT) and Victor
Perches (Las Vegas NV)
Saturday, three more players won their Super Satellite: Monsour Matloubi
(London UK), Dan Alspach (La Jolla CA) and Ross Lichen (Ocean NJ).
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