| DOYLE'S BACK!
For the second time in three days, the Final Table was upstaged by bigger news. Playing at a table in Event #21, the Pot-Limit Hold'em, was Mr. World Series of Poker himself--Doyle Brunson. Yes, the legendary Doyle Brunson is back at the WSOP and all is right with the world. "Glad to be back," Doyle said simply. He couldn't possibly be as glad to be back as we are to see him here.
There were 144 entrants in the $2,500 Omaha Hi-Lo Split for a total prize pool of $338,400. Two tables were paid, a total of 18 players.
The sweetest words Ron Moore and Bob Williamson could hear were, "Nut, nut" uttered by Phil Gordon in a hand with another player. Ron and Bob would both have been all-in for their respective big blinds coming up. And one of them, probably, wouldn't have been paid for eleven hours of work.
With this year's structure at the WSOP, there is no 'hand for hand' to get to the Final Table. This change saves hours of time for the players and staff over the course of the tournament. It's less dramatic for the writers, but the players don't seem to mind. So with no significant money involved between 11th and 10th place, Daniel Negreanu gambled a little. Just making another Final Table isn't enough for Danny, he'll have plenty of those. Negreanu had about $9,500 when he got in a dogfight with Bill Gazes. Negreanu raised on the button with a strange hand, 10 9 7 6. Bill Gazes had a dream hand, A 2 3 4 in the small blind. Danny flopped huge: Top pair, a complete wrap and a flush draw when the board came 10 8 2. But when an Ace and a Queen turned and rivered, Bill Gazes had two pair and the nut low. Had Danny limped in and had he called a probable raise from Bill Gazes, with that flop, the result would have been the same. Eli Balas, with only $3,500 in chips, was appreciative of a place to sit for the next hand.
THE FINAL TABLE 70 mins left of 75. The blinds were $1,000/$2,000
Seat#-------Player---- Hometown---- Chip Count
Seat 1) Fred Koubi - Van Nuys, CA. $40,500
Seat 2) Barry Shulman - Las Vegas, NV. $39,500
Seat 3) Arlo Payne - Show Low, AZ. $12,000
Seat 4) Bill Argyros - Box Hill, Australia. $31,500
Seat 5) Eddie Fishman - New York, NY. $21,000
Seat 6) Bill Gazes - Los Angeles, CA. $81,500
Seat 7) Eli Balas - Henderson, NV. $ 3,500
Seat 8) Lonnie Heimowitz - Monticello, NY. $71,000
Seat 9) Phil Gordon - Las Vegas, NV. $32,000
Seat 10) Doug Saab - Birmingham, AL. $27,500
Because that's all Eli Balas got was one hand at the Final Table. Eli picked up A 2 3 Q under the gun on the first hand. Eddie Fishman found Aces in the small blind. 'Eli's comin' hide your heart, girl.' As the song goes. Eli was comin'…to the rail. Three 9's on board ended the WSOP veteran Balas' day in 10th.
You'd never guess, when you get to know Barry Shulman, the owner of Card Player Magazine, that he's a Taurus. A milder, gentler, less driven person isn't imaginable. NOT! Today was Barry Shulman's 56th birthday. It's safe to say there are few things in life that Barry doesn't already have, that he wants more than the title--Player of the Year. Before the WSOP began, Shulman (Barry not Jeff) was ranked in 1st place for that award. Within the first week of the WSOP, Barry gave up 1st place to Huck Seed. Now he needs to get the top spot back. To do that he has to place highly in a few WSOP events, and hope he can hold off Huck and the others. Since the World Series has so many big money events, the leader coming out of the Series has a big advantage for the rest of the year. All this having been said, Barry Shulman will have to find another event to score some much-needed points. He was 9th in this one. This table treated the birthday boy like he was yesterday's road kill. The players were running over Barry, literally, as in 'runner runner.' The two key hands that left Shulman on the side of the road were both runner runner. Fred Koubi caught Club Club for the nut flush. And Bill Gazes caught Heart Heart for the nut flush and the nut low. Happy Birthday, Barry!
For a table with so many gamblers, it was amazing that there was an hour and a half before another player left. But with split games it can sometimes be hard to bust people, one card on the river can save them for half the pot. In today's case, the all-ins kept winning just enough to stay alive. The reverse effect of the short stacks winning is that the tall stacks come back to earth. Such was the fate of Fred Koubi. As one might guess from a nickname like 'Ready Freddie' Koubi is a jammer. If Fred isn't in a lot of pots, he's getting NO cards. That's how it went today for Koubi, no cards, no pots, and not much money in 8th. Ready Freddie was resigned to call it a day when he flopped trip 6's on his all-in hand. Hope was ephemeral, however, as Lonnie Heimowitz rivered a straight.
It was this hand or the next for a player with a great name for a punster--Arlo Payne. Mr. Payne is very serious, however, and we would never do anything to offend him. Arlo was one of the short stacks that kept winning their all-in hands. He started 9th in chips and finished 7th. Payne is the exact opposite of jammin' Fred Koubi. Arlo will sit there till the cows come home waiting for a hand. But now with the blinds up and Payne under the gun (sorry), Arlo had to loosen his high starting hand standards. Payne went all-in for $4.5k with an uncharacteristic Q 8 4 3. Phil Gordon ended Arlo's…whatever, when Phil turned Jacks full of 8's.
It's been four years since we last saw Billy 'Crocodile' Argyros at the WSOP. A few at this table may wish Billy stays away for four more years. Just kidding! But the crocodile squeaky-voiced hand puppet WAS getting to be a bit much. Whenever Billy got a hand he could play, he'd put the puppet on and would 'squeak' it at every turn of the cards. Those Aussies, they know how to have fun! In the end the puppet didn't help Billy. He started 6th in chips and ended in 6th as well. All-in for his last $4k and A 3 6 9, Argyros was chopped up by Phil Gordon for high with two pair and Mike Fishman for low. The fellows might have said, 'Squeak this, Crock.'
Bill Gazes is a newlywed. His new bride was sitting right behind him, sweating his play. Bill may have to do some extra housecleaning for failing to bring home the $135k first prize. How far can only $15k go for a new couple? This was yet another in a series of disappointing Final Tables for Bill Gazes. In this one, Bill started 1st in chips. He had $10,100 more than Lonnie Heimowitz in 2nd. But as has been noted, when the short stacks win the tall stacks lose. Oh, and there was another problem. Doug Saab was on fire. In the first hour and a half, Doug Saab scooped more of the significant pots than anyone else. Doug, who started with well less than half of Bill Gazes chips, took over the chip lead and he wasn't giving it back. At least not yet. Bill Gazes is such a talented player; he will overcome this problem he's having of finishing off tournaments. We should be so lucky as to have his future in this game. All-in with A 3 6 K, Gazes went out a mortifying 5th when the new hottie, Eddie Fishman, made a flush and a better low with 2 4 8 Q.
The new $3k/$6k blinds were doing their job, clearing the table. First Gazes and then Heimowitz exited within ten minutes after the raise in blinds. Lonnie is the son of one of the WSOP greats, Jay Heimowitz. Lonnie is going to have to be VERY successful to get near the accomplishments of his dad. With a fourth today, Lonnie's one step closer. Heimowitz had few chips left when he went all-in with A 3 7 7. The board came high. Phil Gordon made Jacks full again.
The remaining three players readjusted the payouts to better reflect their respective chip counts. With the money locked up, Phil 'Flash' Gordon still wanted that bracelet. As a horse for world champion Chris Ferguson, Phil's style couldn't be less similar to Chris'. Seldom does Gordon see four cards he doesn't like enough to bet. Playing more hands than anyone else causes Phil's chips to fluctuate wildly. If he starts to run bad, it can end quickly. Phil was third in chips when the deal was made with $92k. All those chips were gone in about a half hour. Gordon went all-in with A K J 6. Shrugging, Eddie Fishman gave Phil some action with 10 3 2 2. This wasn't the way it was supposed to end. Phil lost to Eddie's pair of deuces with no pair, and to the 3 2 low with his A 6.
"See you at the Final Table," is a common poker expression between tournament players. It's a nice way of saying, 'goodbye, chump, you won't make the dinner break.' But in this case, the expression turned out to be true. Doug Saab and Eddie Fishman split a one-table satellite to get into this event. Each might have said upon parting 'See you at the Final Table,' never thinking that they would not only both make it, but that they would be playing heads up for the bracelet as well. We know how Doug Saab got here; he was hot early. But Eddie Fishman? Eddie was so sure he was going out early, that (with the consent of the table) Fishman made a $1,500 save with fellow short stack Billy Argyros. Then something funny happened. During a ten minute break, Eddie switched places with his identical twin brother Mike. The other players came back in and said to 'Eddie' "You changed your shirt." Eddie (Mike) said, "Is that illegal?" At that point the laughing Eddie Fishman took his brother out of his seat. Can you imagine how often these guys have done that on dates? If the real Eddie hadn't have returned, no one would have known but the brothers. Anyway, after the switch, Eddie Fishman's luck changed dramatically. It was like he was a different person. As hot as Doug Saab used to be, Fishman was hotter. Starting out heads up with a 3-1 chip lead, Fishman blitzed Saab. He won Doug's last few chips, including the bracelet, with runner runner 9's and 2's. In the Year of the Rookie, 1st year WSOP player Eddie Fishman made winning a bracelet look catching fish in a bathtub.
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