EVENT #5: NO LIMIT TEXAS HOLD'EM ($500)
TOTAL PRIZE MONEY: $142,590
ENTRIES IN THIS EVENT: 294
PRIZE MONEY TO DATE (3/28-4/1): $618,860
TOTAL ENTRIES TO DATE (3/28-4/1): 1,276
Report by Don Larrimore
Melissa Hayden, the first woman to reach a final table at the WPO, efficiently cut down all of her formidable opponents to capture the first $500 No Limit Hold'em event at the Jack Binion World Poker Open.
It was the third major victory in two and a half years of playing tournament poker for Hayden, a successful photo illustrator who has done many hardcover book jackets and photographed the World Series of Poker commercially for three years. In the eight years she has played poker, she has also won some 10 minor tournaments.
"I feel great," Hayden said as she was awarded her diamond and gold WPO winner's bracelet. "I so wanted to win a tournament with aces. It was just so nice to put my money in with a real hand." In fact, she had four real hands at key moments at the final table, and all stood up.
"I play mostly no limit hold'em, my favorite game," she said. "By the time we're down to four-handed, I'd like to think they're not thinking about me as a girl, just as a player."
"I came to the final table sixth in chips, surrounded by superstar players," Hayden said. "I knew I wasn't going to be in a spot to steal, because I didn't have a lot of chips. I knew I had to catch cards."
Hayden and tournament veteran Paul Clark began heads-up play almost exactly even in chips. For several uneventful hands Clark built a small lead. That changed conclusively after eight minutes of play when Hayden found her pocket aces and went all-in. Clark said later that he "put her on a steal, because she had chips." He called with A-9, losing the huge pot when the board came Qs-2s-7s/2d-8d. One of Hayden's aces was the spade.
With Hayden now holding an overwhelming six-to-one chip advantage, the end came quickly. Clark was all-in with his last $9,000 with Kc-7h against Hayden's K-9 of hearts. The board came 9-4-2/9-6 and, after just 12 minutes of heads-up play, the title was Hayden's.
Clark, a familiar personality in the poker world, has been a professional for some 20 years and holds three World Series bracelets. "Melissa played well," he said, "and she turned up with two aces... The final table was awesome, all world-class players." Playing on his nickname, Eskimo, Clark noted that he "froze the field except for one lady. She's a good player."
Third place went to another tournament stalwart, An Tran, a 48 year-old poker pro who has one World Series bracelet, a Hall of Fame title and scores of other victories in the past 15 years. An Tran escaped from his native Vietnam in 1975 and has devoted much of his life in the U.S. to poker. "Today was not my day," he said. "You have to make a move. I decided to start robbing (he played 10 of 15 hands at one stretch, winning most). But I ran into some hands. Anyway, it's a very good tournament. I'll certainly come back next year."
After suggesting the final three competitors play "no-look poker," An Tran went all-in with 9h-2s which Hayden, with A-Q of spades, quickly called. The flop came J-10-3/J-6 and An Tran was third.
Hayden had earlier dispatched another giant of the game, T.J. Cloutier, who departed in fourth place when his A-8 of spades fell to her A-J of clubs with a board of 10-6-4/J-K. Cloutier, 60, is the fifth highest all-time World Series money winner, with four bracelets and finishes in the World Championship of 2nd, 3rd and 5th. He said his 49 major tournament wins in 20 years are "more than anyone alive" has attained. "I played well all the way through," he said. "I just didn't hold any cards. I had a deuce in 11 out of 12 hands in one stretch."
Alan Amian, the 24 year-old born in Surinam who has played poker for just three years, made his second WPO final table here, exiting in 5th place after check-raising all-in with A-K when An Tran with pocket nines bet the flop of 10-6-5. Turn and river changed nothing. "I feel good, but the spur-of-the-moment move I made was bad. I went against my gut, which you're not supposed to do. It was a tough line-up lineup, a great learning experience," said Amian who works in auto exports with his father in Florida.
Scotty Nguyen, the 1998 World Poker Champion who had also made an earlier final table at the WPO, was knocked out in 6th place in the classic hold'em horror story: He went all-in with pocket kings only to be called by An Tran with pocket aces. The board for the $35,000 pot came Q-J-9/5-J.
Seventh place went to John Boling, a 56 year-old computer software engineer who said he had played poker off and on for 30 years, "but precious few tournaments." He was forced all-in with 5-3, losing to Clautier's A-10 with a board of K-8-8/A-7. "I wish I had a hand at this final table, I never had a chance to play. But I'm happy, I was very lucky to get here. With 29 players left I had $400 and I survived with K-Q against A-K when the flop came Q-Q. That got me into the money and I scrambled all the way from there."
Victor Hageman, a 31 year-old U.S. Postal Service worker and Navy veteran of the Desert Storm war, took 8th place at his first major tournament. "I made a couple mistakes, but I feel real good," he said. "I've been a recreational poker player for about five years." Short-stacked from the outset at the final table, Hageman was all-in with 5-3 against Clark's A-7 and lost with a board of 7-6-3/2-5, giving him two pair but making a flush for Clark.
First out, in 9th place, was Mike Lesle, 39, the owner of a race car team who plays poker recreationally and has entered five or six major tournaments. "I get to final tables a lot in tournaments I play. I just need to work on getting some more chips," he said. This time he was eliminated on the third hand, taking K-5 of clubs against Hageman's A-Q which won with a boardful of bricks.
The Final Table Chip Standings & Seat Positions:
| Seat Position/Player | Chip Count |
| Seat 1: Alan "CM" Amian (Pembroke Pines, FL) | $16,000 |
| Seat 2: Scotty Nguyen (Henderson, NV) | $19,300 |
| Seat 3: T.J. Cloutier (Dallas, TX) | $21,400 |
| Seat 4: An Tran (Las Vegas, NV) | $31,000 |
| Seat 5: Mike Lesle (Lake Elsinore, CA) | $7,700 |
| Seat 6: Paul "Eskimo" Clark (New Orleans, LA) | $22,000 |
| Seat 7: Victor Hageman (Cleveland, OH) | $6,000 |
| Seat 8: Melissa Hayden (Las Vegas, NV) | $15,700 |
| Seat 9: John Boling (Osseo, MN) | $6,700 |
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