EVENT #3: POT LIMIT ($500) TEXAS HOLD'EM
TOTAL PRIZE MONEY: $112,520
ENTRIES IN THIS EVENT: 232
PRIZE MONEY TO DATE (3/28-30): $389,455
TOTAL ENTRIES TO DATE (3/28-30): 803
Report by Don Larrimore
In a brief, brisk and bruising battle of tournament titans, Dewey Weum captured the $500 Pot Limit Hold'em title at the Jack Binion World Poker Open.
"I consider it an honor to finish ahead of John Bonetti, probably the greatest tournament player of all time," said Weum, 56, a trucking company owner who has scores of poker victories over the past 25 years.
The two respected tournament veterans began their 22-minute heads-up clash about even in chips. After several raise, no-call skirmishes, a monster pot developed with Wuem holding A-4 diamonds and hearts and Bonetti pocket black sevens. With a flop of three clubs, A-9-3, Bonetti bet out. Weum called, then bet $20,000 on the turn card, the six of spades. Bonetti called, and they checked the river Ks.
This gave Weum a 3-1 chip advantage, which Bonetti sliced away at until the memorable final hand in which Weum raised pre-flop with Ad-Kh and Bonetti called with 5-4 of hearts. On the flop of Qd-10s-4s, Bonetti bet the pot and Weum raised $29,000. After a long pause watched by dozens of fascinated spectators, Bonetti seemed about to fold but suddenly shoved in all his chips for an under-raise. Weum called, turned over his big slick and found he was behind. A 10d on the turn changed nothing, but the king of clubs on the river gave Weum the coveted diamond and gold WPO bracelet.
Said the victor later, "Johnny carries such a big stick that I felt everyone at the final table tried to play around him. He's one of the most intimidating players in poker."
Bonetti, 71, a retired real estate manager who has won about 60 tournaments since 1986 and has three World Series bracelets, noted that "the last card beat me. I never held a hand, the best pair I had was threes. It was a real roller coaster ride. Anyway, I play for all the senior citizens in the country. There's a lot of life after people retire and I believe their mental capacity is just as good as younger people, so poker's a good pastime for them."
Another familiar figure on the tournament circuit, Billy Thomas, took third place when he was all in with pocket fives against Bonetti's A-3 which won on the river with a board of 8-8-8/Q-A. "I'm disappointed, but I love this tournament which is very well conducted," said Thomas, 64, a retired air force master sergeant who has won some 15 tournaments in 20 years of regular poker playing.
James Whaley, a man with a story, finished fourth. Now 67, the retired lithograph printer has played poker for 35 years, all of them in a wheelchair. "Instead of sitting behind a desk, I decided to get out and play poker," he said. My goal here was to get to third place, which I almost did I went a lot further than I thought I would -- I'm happy." He was eliminated going all in with A-J of hearts against Bonetti's A-Q of spades, with a board of J-9-7/Q-5.
Fifth place went to Charlie Watkins, 54, a self-employed businessman and an "amateur" poker player for the past 12 years. His all-in A-8 of spades fell to Bonetti's Q-9 when the board came 8-6-6/10-9. "Considering I was chip poor all the way, I feel very good," Watkins said. "I'm like the fat girl at the prom -- just tickled to death to be here."
Roger Esterday, a 51 year-old lawyer who has played poker recreationally for a decade, took sixth at his first-ever final table. "I'm thrilled to be here," he said. "With 28 players left I was the shortest stack, but I sneaked into the money and then crept up." Esterday was knocked out with K-Q by Weum's A-10 with a board of 10-6-5/A-Q.
Much the youngest player to reach a final table thus far at the WPO was Alan Amian, 24, who finished 7th when he went all-in with pocket tens and lost to Thomas's A-K when the flop of J-7-7 was followed by A-3. Born in Surinam and raised in Holland, Amian works for his father's Florida auto export firm and has played poker for just three years. "This was my first final table," he said. "The tournament atmosphere is great."
Paul Sales, 58, an independent K-Mart consultant playing in his first major tournament, took 8th place and said, "I feel real good. I wanted to get a jacket -- and some money, of course." He has played recreational poker for seven years, but never against Bonetti who rivered a straight with Q-J against Sale's K-J when the board came 9-8-5/9-10.
First out, in 9th place, was Maurice Sovs, a 59 year-old retired businessman who took pocket jacks all in against Amian's Q-J, losing to a river three-outer with a board of A-8-2/7-Q. No stranger to frustrating beats in his 10 years of poker, Sova shrugged, "That's the way it goes. I love the tournament: lots of room, good food, good people."
The Final Table Chip Standings & Seat Positions:
| Seat Position/Player | Chip Count |
| Seat 1: Billy Thomas (Long Beach, MS) | $7,400 |
| Seat 2: Alan 'CM' Amian (Pembroke Pines, FL) | $19,200 |
| Seat 3: Paul Sales (Troy, MI) | $9,800 |
| Seat 4: James Whaley (Birmingham, AL) | $14,000 |
| Seat 5: John Bonetti (Houston, TX) | $34,200 |
| Seat 6: Maurice Sova (Fountain Hills, AZ) | $3,300 |
| Seat 7: Charlie Watkins (Yale, OK) | $5,500 |
| Seat 8: Dewey Weum (Madison, WI) | $15,400 |
| Seat 9: Roger Easterday (Austin, TX) | $7,000 |
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