WORLD SERIES OF POKER 2000
EVENT #25 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
May 14-18, 2000
$10,000 BUY-IN
$10,000 in chips
IF YOU BUILD IT THEY WILL COME
By Mike Paulle
"Are we still friends?" the pencil-thin Chris "Jesus" Ferguson said to the
burly T. J. Cloutier.
Like a wayward son, returning for the forgiveness of his father, the
37-year-old Ferguson was near tears as he embraced the 62-year-old Cloutier.
"Of course. Don't feel bad, you played great" was the magnanimous response
from a man who must have been bitterly and deeply disappointed by the
ultimate result.
In one of the most dramatic finishes in World Series of Poker history, like a
home run in the bottom of the 9th inning of the seventh game, it was a nine
on the last card of the last hand that won the Championship for Chris
Ferguson. If one of the three nines left in the deck doesn't come on the
river, or the board doesn't pair, Ferguson is left with only a few hundred
thousand dollars in chips to nearly $5,000,000 in chips for Cloutier. It
would have been a fantastic reversal of fortune for Cloutier who started
heads-up play against Ferguson with only one tenth the chips of the man who
likes to call himself "Jesus."
"You didn't think it would be that tough to beat me, did you?" T. J. said to
Chris after the hug. "Yes, I did." Ferguson responded.
After briefly taking a small chip lead due to some aggressive betting and a
few big pots, Cloutier relinquished the lead back to Ferguson. On that last
hand, T. J. had gone all-in for almost 2 1/2 million dollars over an initial
raise by Chris. After several minutes of thought, Ferguson called the biggest
bet of his life with an ironic hand for him, an A 9. It was an A 9 suited,
played the night before by Annie Duke against Ferguson's pocket Aces, that
gave Chris the critical chips he needed to get this far.
When Ferguson called Cloutier's bet, the hands were turned over. The crowd
gasped as it looked like T. J. Cloutier, after years of frustration, would
finally get what he so richly deserved--a World Championship gold bracelet to
go with the four event bracelets he already had. Cloutier had an A Q to
Ferguson's A 9. One hand could barely be more of a favorite over another. The
flop came 2 K 4. With another King of the turn, Ferguson could have been
saved, as he'd been twice before when the board paired on the river, if a
deuce or a four come. The crowd was all ready to roar for T.J.'s triumph. But
Chris knew exactly what he needed for a last card. Before the audience could
even comprehend that Cloutier had lost, Ferguson's arms shot up with clenched
fists when the nine came down.
It was the end of a long four-day trip for Ferguson punctuated by some
unbelievably fortuitous play on his own and some generous donations from
some very big stacks. But that's how it always is for the winner. Until the
last few hands of Wednesday night's play, the winner of the tournament might
easily have been Jeff Shulman, the 23-year-old son of Card Player Magazine's
CEO Barry Shulman. Playing in his first Championship Final, Jeff, as one wag
put it "...made the right read but the wrong gamble." With about $2 million in
chips, Shulman didn't have to look at his cards to make today's Final Table,
but he did. Betting $200,000 with a pair of 7's, Jeff couldn't lay down the
best hand when Chris Ferguson came over the top all-in with a pair of 6's.
Jeff called the all-in bet and clapped his hands together when he saw Chris'
cards.
Unfortunately for Shulman, a 6 came on the flop but with three hearts. Jeff
had the only heart and picked up a gutshot straight draw on the turn. In what
was to prove to be a critical outcome, Chris Ferguson now took over a slight
chip lead from Shulman when no help came for Jeff on the river.
A few hands later Jeff Shulman made another correct read and it lead to
another disastrous result. This time it was Chris Ferguson who bet out with a
$90,000 raise. The experienced T. J. Cloutier saved himself by not reraising
all-in with his pocket Jacks. Cloutier bet only $200,000. Jeff Shulman had
pocket Kings and came over the top of T. J. all-in for about $1,000,000. In
some terrible luck for Shulman, Chris Ferguson had pocket Aces and shoved all
his chips into the pot. Cloutier quickly mucked his two Jacks. Jeff didn't
beat Chris with the best hand, the 7's, or the worst hand, the Kings. The
Aces held up and we went to the next day with Chris Ferguson having a
commanding $2,853,000 in chips. A wiser Jeff Shulman went home in 7th.
THE FINAL TABLE:
81 mins left of 120. The ante is $3,000, the blinds
$15,000/$30,000
| Player/Hometown | Chip Count |
| Seat 1: Chris "Jesus" Ferguson (Pacific Palisades, CA) | $2,853,000 |
| Seat 2: Hasan Habib (Los Angeles, CA) | $464,000 |
| Seat 3: Jim McManus (Kenilworth, IL) | $554,000 |
| Seat 4: T. J. Cloutier (Richardson, TX) | $216,000 |
| Seat 5: Roman Abinsay (Stockton, CA) | $521,000 |
| Seat 6: Steve Kaufman (Cincinnati, OH) | $511,000 |
Coming back Thursday, it looked like five guys would be playing for 2nd
place. Instead, we proved again that gambling is legal in Nevada as four of
the six starting players were eliminated in the first 50 minutes while still
at the initial $15k/$30k blinds.
On the second hand of the day, Roman Abinsay raised on the button to
$100,000. Chris Ferguson reraised all-in from the big blind with pocket 8's.
The fearless Roman sent in his legion, $500,000 in chips with A Q. It was
just what the remaining table wanted to see, Chris Ferguson with an
additional half million as the 8's stood up.
Jim McManus came to write about the World Series and stayed to collect
nearly a quarter million in prize money. (Why can't I get a writing
assignment like that?) It could have been more money, but a bad thing
happened to a good writer. Jim had Hasan Habib covered all-in with an A Q to
Habib's A 4 of Hearts. Hasan had already stood up and was about to shake
Jim's hand when a four magically appeared on the river. Habib sat back down
and McManus went looking to borrow a cigarette from anyone in the audience. A
little later, McManus went all-in with A 2 and found Steve Kaufman with an A
Q to write the last chapter of this writer's amazing autobiography in 5th
place.
The only player to be in the top six in chip count all three days prior to
the Final Table, Hasan Habib's fantastic run finally ended in 4th. After a
series of initial raises by Habib that were gobbled up each time by greedy
player's overcalls, Hasan made a stand with a K Q. The chip magnet, Chris
Ferguson had yet another big hand, an A K, and Habib lost his crusade for the
Championship.
During this wild gambling spree T. J. Cloutier, who started 6th in chips, is
making hundreds of thousands of dollars by sitting on his hands. Before play
began Tournament Director Bob Thompson told the crowd that Cloutier would
take over the all-time WSOP money lead from Johnny Chan if he finished at
least 2nd. At the time, it seemed pretty far-fetched that T. J. could get
that high with the short stack. But never underestimate someone who has an
incredible 50 major championships. When Steve Kaufman went all-in with Q 5
from the big blind and top pair on the flop, Chris Ferguson didn't have a
very tough call with trip 10's on the same flop. Suddenly, T. J. Cloutier was
the all-time money winner. A fantastic feat for someone who'd never won the
Championship Final.
A short break was taken as a traditional scene took place. The 1st prize
money was brought out and placed on the table. Now I've seen the million
dollars many times, and I can tell you first hand $1,500,000 in bound $100
notes looks like MUCH more money. It's literally a mountain of cash. The
coveted winner's bracelet was draped onto the stack and play resumed until
the ultra-dramatic finish nearly two hours later.
As sensational as the Championship Final was, there is an overriding story
here. It's the story of the World Series of Poker itself.
"I am amazed at the number," Tournament Director Bob Thompson said shaking
his head in disbelief. An astounding 512 players entered the $10,000
Championship Final that determines who the best poker player in the world
will be for the next 12 months. In Las Vegas, where there is an Over/Under
number on everything, few would have taken Over 500. To give some perspective
on how astounding 512 entries is, the former record set last year is 393. "We
went years trying to get to 100 entries," a member of the largely veteran
poker tournament staff said. Now there is an increase of over 100 in one year.
The staggering success for the Championship No Limit Hold'em Final can be
laid directly at the doorstep of the one-table and super satellite system.
It's estimated that well over half the entrants paid less than the full
$10,000 fee to play. Most participants got to play in 'The Big One' by
winning satellites.
As a sidebar, most sage tournament watchers wouldn't have been able to
predict that the Final would draw more attendance at $10,000 a pop than the
$2,000 Limit Hold'em player's opening event did. This could be a watershed in
tournament poker and it may portend that players are no longer intimidated by
No Limit and Pot Limit games.
In the beginning, the name 'World Series of Poker' was more a promise
than a reality. In 1970 there was little about this new poker tournament that
was 'worldly.' The 'Series' was played by a few road gamblers, all men at the
time, who would drive up to a thousand miles across the South and Southwest
to find a good poker game.
When Benny Binion decided to host a little poker tournament in his casino in
Las Vegas, the entire event took place in one small room. There is a classic
photograph of about 30 men sitting and standing around a table with some
trophies. Actually, games weren't even played that first year. The trophies
were awarded, by the men, to each other. In that first year, Johnny Moss was
acknowledged by his peers to be the best poker player in the world.
That's how the 'World Series of Poker' started. 31 years later, this is what
it's become.
At the dawn of a new Millennium, a record-smashing 4,922 entries paid
$15,392,500 to play in a month-long poker tournament in the casino Benny
Binion founded in Las Vegas. Over twenty countries were represented by at
least one player. The Europeans came en masse. The old records of 4,101
entries and $12,482,000 were set in 1998 when Becky's brother was running the
show. These are startling increases of over 20% in attendance and total prize
pool in only two years. A tournament that may have been near death before
last year, as ownership of the casino changed hands, now is bigger, better
and more worldly than ever.
The tournament that Benny built, because he alone foresaw the public's
interest in poker, now has become a multi-national media extravaganza.
Thousands saw the tournament live. Many thousands read daily reports,
listened to the live broadcast over the Internet or are reading this article
in Card Player Magazine. In the fall, millions of viewers will watch the
television broadcast on the Discovery Channel.
Long before 'Field of Dreams' Benny Binion, gambling's ultimate showman, knew
'If you build it they will come.'
Official Money Winners
| 1. Chris "Jesus" Ferguson | $1,500,000 |
| 2. T. J. Cloutier | $896,500 |
| 3. Steve Kaufman | $570,500 |
| 4. Hasan Habib | $326,000 |
| 5. Jim McManus | $247,760 |
| 6. Roman Abinsay | $195,600 |
7th Jeff Shulman $146,700
8th Tom Franklin $97,800
9th Mickey Appleman $74,980
10th -12th received $52,160
Annie Duke, Anastassios Lazarou and Mike Sexton
13th-15th received $45,640
Mark Rose, Angelo Besnainou and Buddy Pitcock
16th-18th received $39,120
Barney Boatman, Kathy Liebert and Mehul Chaudhari
19th-27th received $32,600
Tom Jacobs, Ron Stanley, Glynn Beebe, Cary Long, Sam Arzoin,
Bruce Yamron, Huberto Brenes, Marvin Lang and Larry Bleifuss
28th-36th received $25,000
Greg Alston, Meng La, Dae Kim, Barry Greenstein, Alan Boston,
Paul McKinney, Ty Bayne, Stan Goldstein and Roger Hellums
37th-45th received $15,000
Steve Meyerson, Mel Judah, Steve Beam, Lee Salem, Mark Edwards,
John Shipley, Ramon Adams, Michael Davis and Eric Shulz
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