EVENT #8: NO LIMIT TEXAS HOLD'EM ($500)
TOTAL PRIZE MONEY: $101,850
ENTRIES IN THIS EVENT: 210
PRIZE MONEY TO DATE (3/28-4/4): $970,000
TOTAL ENTRIES TO DATE (3/28-4/4): 2,000
Report by Don Larrimore
Pulling off a rare international poker hat trick, Barry Shulman captured the second $500 No Limit Hold'em event at the WPO after very recently winning his previous two no-limit tournaments, in Austria and Nevada.
"I'm very thrilled," said Shulman, 53, the President and Chairman of Card Player magazine and a lifelong businessman. "This was a very important tournament for me to win, since I'd won my last two no limit hold'em tournaments, at the Concord in Vienna and the Peppermill in Reno." Describing himself as the "closest thing to a poker professional you can be without being one," Shulman said, "I play all day every day; my regular game is Omaha high-low." A poker player for 35 years, he has won several major tournaments and finished in the money at the World Series three times.
After winning the first hand and doubling his stack at this final table with pocket queens which stood up against A-K suited, Shulman said, "I was pretty sure I was going to win the title. The flow of the game was perfect for my style of play." Early in the tournament he was taken down to $100 when his pocket aces lost to pocket nines. Shulman said he clawed his way back for two hours until he found pocket kings against the same player who again had pocket nines. "This time I broke him and got all my chips back," he said. "That's when I told everyone I'd win the tournament."
Shulman was finally heads-up against Joel Chaseman, chip leader for most of the final table action. In minor skirmishes for 28 minutes Shulman prevailed often enough to edge into the chip lead. Then, suddenly, Chaseman moved all-in with pocket nines and Shulman, holding A-J, called, making it an $85,000 pot, largest of the day. The board came A-6-4/2-A and Shulman had his hat trick.
Chaseman, 74, an active communications executive with a long career in broadcasting management, said, "This was the closest I've ever come in a major tournament. The tournament was just pure pleasure. It was fun going heads-up against Barry Shulman." Chaseman said, maintaining he is just a "barely recreational" poker player, learned the game in college and has played seriously for 10 years, usually entering tournaments when business trips allow.
Finishing third was James Lester, a 39 year-old building contractor who has played poker three times a week for 20 years and was at his second final table in the four tournaments he has ever entered. "I felt I should have won," he said. "But I feel good. I made a lot of smart decisions and I didn't beat myself this time." In fact, Lester was displeased with his last hand when, he said, "I should have made the move before the flop. I was big blind and just let him call." Lester held 4-3 of diamonds while Chaseman had A-5 offsuit. The flop came 5-2-2 and when Lester moved all-in, he was called. A meaningless Jack and four followed.
John LeMone, 41, former owner of a baseball card shop who said he now "stays home to take care of my two kids," exited in fourth place at his first major final table in 14 years as a serious poker player. "I'm excited," he said. "I think I did well and I'm happy with my performance. It was a thrill playing among the big guys." LeMone was almost routinely eliminated, in no limit terms, when his all-in K-J lost to Chaseman's A-Q with a board of A-J-7/5-2.
Moments earlier, California professional and former car dealer Amir Vahedi was knocked out fifth by Chaseman's pocket aces when the river made his 6-5 of diamonds a straight but also a heart flush for Chaseman. Vahedi left his native Iran through Pakistan, London and France 20 years ago before coming to the U.S. in 1983.
He has had several major tournament wins and many final table finishes in four years as a poker pro. "I feel great getting this far in the first WPO event I played," Vahedi said. "But I should have done better and I'll play some others here. I love this place, I'm very impressed. It's like Las Vegas without the busyness."
Al Krux, 56, a respected poker pro, diamond merchant and part-owner of a forthcoming casino in northern New York state, took sixth place when he perforce fell in love with pocket threes after "I never could get a face card, never got a tickee." Lester called his all-in bet with pocket nines, which prevailed with a board of A-Q-2/10-5. Krux, holder of one World Series bracelet, also had a sixth and fifth place finish in the 1990 and 1995 World Championship events.
Seventh place went to Angus Hill, 59, a race horse handicapper in Britain who has won 8 major European poker tournaments and one in the U.S. He was all-in before the flop with pocket sevens against Shulman's A-7 of clubs, losing the $30,000 pot when the board came A-5-3/2-A. Said Hill, "He was 5 and a half against. It was the best hand I could have wanted him to have, except that an ace flopped... and then another came!"
Hill said, "It's fantastic of Jack Binion to put this tournament on. There will be more players from Europe next year."
Kevin Bott, 28, a potato farmer who works for his father in Idaho and has played serious poker for a year, took 8th place at his first major tournament, having been crippled in the most dramatic hand of the day. Bott held As-Qs against Hill who, with pocket sixes, was all in with a flop of Ks-Qs-6s. The turn card was the Jack of spades, giving Bott the nut flush and a royal flush draw. The onlookers gasped when the King of clubs fell on the river, giving Hill a full house. Said Bott later, "Nothing you can do about a hand like that. I felt pretty good playing against the pros. I don't think I would have done anything any different."
Retired dentist Dr. John Brandeis, 41, who said he has been at "many final tables" in about eight years as a poker professional, was first out, in 9th place, his A-10 beaten by Chaseman's A-Q with a board of 9-6-3/4-6. "It's just another tournament," Brandeis said.
The Final Table Chip Standings & Seat Positions:
| Seat Position/Player | Chip Count |
| Seat 1: Amir Vahedi (Sherman Oaks, CA) | $13,375 |
| Seat 2: James Lester (Cincinnati, OH) | $8,225 |
| Seat 3: Al Krux (Fayetteville, NY) | $14,725 |
| Seat 4: John LeMone (El Paso, TX) | $8,475 |
| Seat 5: Kevin Bott (Rexburg, ID) | $6,825 |
| Seat 6: John Brandeis (Howell, NJ) | $15,750 |
| Seat 7: Barry Shulman (Las Vegas, NV) | $8,925 |
| Seat 8: Joel Chaseman (Potomac, MO) | $19,500 |
| Seat 9: Angus Hill (Worcester, England) | $9,550 |
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