EVENT #12: OMAHA (Pot Limit) $1,000
TOTAL PRIZE MONEY: $191,090
ENTRIES IN THIS EVENT: 90 + 107 rebuys
PRIZE MONEY TO DATE (3/28-4/3): $1,454,030
TOTAL ENTRIES TO DATE (3/28-4/3): 2,392
Report by Don Larrimore
After a memorable 4 hour and 12 minute wrangle against an agile and artful opponent, cattle rancher Bruce Holt corralled the $1,000 Pot Limit Omaha title at the WPO.
It was the first major poker tournament Holt, 69, had ever entered, and he found himself at a final table with some giants of the game. "I feel great," he said on winning. "Even though it was difficult, I enjoyed it. All of them at the final table were real tournament players, I'm just an Oklahoma cowboy."
Maybe so, but Holt, who has played poker since high school, knows his Omaha - he's a pot limit regular at Ken Lambert's Horseshoe poker room next door to the Gold Strike WPO venue.
Holt's epic heads-up struggle with Danny Dang saw eight chip-lead changes, with Dang surviving four called all-in bets before the end. The blinds went so high the $5,000 chips were put in play for the first time at the WPO. Finally, at 11:40 p.m., Dang was all-in with Qc-8h-6c-3c while Holt, holding K-Kh-Qh-2, flopped and turned a monster: Kc-Jh-10c/9d-3d. With no club on the river, the wily cattleman had rounded up the $140,000 pot and the Omaha championship.
"I was disappointed; several times I thought I'd beat Bruce. He played very well," said Dang, 39, who has four major tournament wins, four World Series runner-up finishes and three Hall of Fame second places in his eight years as a poker pro. "I'll send some of these winnings to my parents and sister in Vietnam."
Dang's escape from his native country in 1982 was incredibly harrowing: in a 20-foot boat, he and 21 others including 12 small children ran out of fuel and drifted for 12 days with only rainwater to drink and a few fish they managed to catch for food. Weakened severely, they finally reached Hainan island and then Hong Kong, from where Dang came to the U.S. "I felt I was born for the second time," he said.
Erik Seidel, 40, a poker superstar and former stock options trader, took third place when his all-in K-K-Q-J fell to Holt's K-Q-10-9 with a board of 10-6-3/9-4. In his 12 years as a pro, Seidel was runner-up to Johnny Chan in the 1988 World Championship and 4th last year, has four WSOP bracelets and is 9th on the all-time top money winners' list. "The final table was very tough today," he said. "I knew I was going to have to get a lot of luck because there were some very good Omaha players." He said, "I love the WPO. Jack Binion's done more for poker than anyone ever. It's great to see him back in poker."
Fourth place went to the 1986 World Champion, Berry Johnston, 64, making his second final table here who said, "It was a tough table. I made one aggressive play and ran into a flopped set of kings." Johnston has won almost $2 million and four gold bracelets in his record 35 times in the money at the World Series. He exited all-in with Q-J-10-8 when Seidel's J-9-8-5 made two pair with a board of J-9-4/5-3.
Mike Sexton, 52, this year's European poker champion and founder and President of the Tournament of Champions, took fifth place after winning only one good pot. "It was a very, very tough final table," he said. "I don't mind that, I was happy to be there in the battle." Sexton, who has won one World Series bracelet, finished four times in the money in the World Championship event and captured at least a dozen major tournament titles in a 23-year professional poker career, said, "The WPO has been fantastic." He was eliminated all-in with A-J-9-2 against Holt's K-Q-7-2 with a board of Q-Q-3/8-10.
Sixth place went to Butch Wade, the 53 year-old owner of a construction firm who has one major tournament win and one World Series money finish in 20 years of serious poker playing. "I didn't play any bad hands, just happened to catch set under set twice." He was knocked out a minute before Sexton when his Q-Q-9-4 ran into Johnston's K-K-2-2, the board showing K-Q-2/7-7.
Mike Carson, 55, another former stock options trader who has "four or five" major tournament wins in two years as a pro, finished 7th. "I'm very, very disappointed," he said. "It was a very strong final table."
Taking eighth was Phillip Ivey, at his third WPO final table, who won a $500 limit hold'em title and had an eighth place finish in $1,000 stud. The 28 year-old has played professional poker for a year and a half, but until the WPO had never played Omaha high. "So, I was happy to make this final table," he said. "I felt uncomfortable a few times because of my lack of Omaha experience." Ivey was knocked out in a sensationally entertaining three-way pot (for the spectators), and flopped bottom set while Johnston, with Ad-Q-10d-8, flopped the nut straight and a nut flush draw. Sexton, holding K-Q-J-10, also flopped the nut straight, plus two pair. The flop came Kd-J-9d, a seven was turned, and a river jack gave Sexton a winning full house.
Bob Ciaffone, 59, a poker writer and Card Player magazine columnist who has two major tournament wins and a third in the 1987 World Championship in his 20-year professional career, finished ninth. His all-in A-A-J-6 was burned by Seidel's K-K-Q-7 when the board came 8-4-3/K-3. "If it's not in the cards, it's not in the cards," said Ciaffone, author of a book on Omaha.
The Final Table Chip Standings & Seat Positions:
| Seat Position/Player | Chip Count |
| Seat 1: Phillip Ivey (Atlantic City, NJ) | $14,600 |
| Seat 2: Mike Sexton (Las Vegas, NV) | $19,000 |
| Seat 3: Eric Seidel (Las Vegas, NV) | $29,700 |
| Seat 4: Danny Dang (Los Angeles, CA) | $48,300 |
| Seat 5: Nathan "Butch" Wade (Knoxville, TN) | $13,800 |
| Seat 6: Berry Johnston (Las Vegas, NV) | $18,400 |
| Seat 7: Bob Ciaffone (Saginaw, MI) | $13,800 |
| Seat 8: Mike Carson (Laguna Beach, CA) | $22,600 |
| Seat 9: Bruce Holt (Asher, OK) | $16,600 |
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