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Bruce Corman Wins His First Major Tournament
and $137,740 in the Four Queens Championship Final!
The Four Queens Poker Classic is the second-longest running poker tournament in the world. Since the inaugural competition back in the late 1980s, the Four Queens championship has long been one of poker's most coveted titles. The main event was the 22nd event held at this years tournament -- which attracted over 2,000 entrants and distributed over $1.2 million in prize money. Play began yesterday with 71 players. After a marathon 16-hour first day, the nine finalists were determined, as follows:
Seat 1: James Ferrel -- A physician from Phoenix, AZ
Seat 2: Jerri Thomas -- A housewife and former WSOP bracelet winner from Hamilton, OH
Seat 3: David “Devil Fish” Ulliott -- A former jeweler and professional poker player from Hull, England
Seat 4: Chris Karagulleyan -- A professional poker player from Glendale, CA
Seat 5: Tom "the Shamrock Kid" McCormick -- A construction company owner from Fargo, ND
Seat 6: T. J. Cloutier -- A professional poker player and former WSOP bracelet winner from Dallas, TX
Seat 7: Roman Celusta -- A developer from Woodland Hills, CA
Seat 8: Huck Seed -- A professional poker player and 1996 World Champion from Las Vegas, NV
Seat 9: Bruce "Goose" Corman -- A clothing store owner from Nottingham, England
The nine finalists began play at 2:00 pm on Sunday afternoon, with a $500 ante and blinds set at $1,000-2000. The first casualty of the final table occurred when Tom McCormick (a.k.a "The Shamrock Kid") was dealt A-Q. Chip-leader Chris Karagulleyan was dealt A-K. Karagulleyan made a pre-flop raise, and McCormick came over the top with an "all-in" re-raise. Karagulleyan quickly called and McCormick knew he was in trouble. He was right. Essentially drawing to a queen, the Shamrock Kid failed to catch a four-leaf clover and was eliminated in 9th place -- good for $6,890. With McCormick's stack added to Karagulleyan's, he was now up to over $220,000 in chips, with nearly one-third of the total chips in play.
David "Devil Fish" Ulliott came to the final table with the shortest stack and hoped to use his immense talent and fearless reputation as a tournament player to get some chips and become a factor. However, the Devil Fish took two horrible beats within a short time frame and was blasted out of the tournament. In just five hands, Devil Fish was dealt A-A twice, and K-K once, and still left the table busted. Proving that winning a poker tournament is not just about getting dealt good cards, Ulliott was first dealt K-K and lost the hand, then A-A and made a pre-flop raise (no one called). Then, the crushing blow came when Devil Fish looked down and saw A-A (again!). All of Devil Fish's chips went into the pot against James Ferrel who called holding Q-Q. The flop came Q-6-4 -- an absolute nightmare for the Devil Fish. When two blanks fell on the turn and river, one of England's brightest poker stars was on the rail in 8th place with $8,610. Even experienced poker veteran T.J. Cloutier remarked what a bad break it was for the Devil Fish to get dealt three premium hands and still get busted. There was more of that to come.
Jerri Thomas, cheered on by her husband (also a former WSOP bracelet winner) looked down and found Q-Q. She moved "all-in" and Englishman Bruce Corman woke up with A-A. Hoping for "deja vu all over again," Mrs. Thomas was praying for a queen to flop. But, the two colorful ladies remained hidden away in the deck and didn't reveal themselves which put another lady out of the tournament -- in 7th place good for $12,050 in prize money.
After 30 minutes of ante-stealing, player maneuvering, and chips revolving around the table -- Roman Celusta found himself short-stacked with only about $20,000 remaining. He found a hand to go with (A-K) and his "all in" raise was called by James Ferrel with A-Q. When the flop came A-A-K, Celusta breathed a huge sigh of relief. That fortunate hand moved Celusta up at least one place in the prize standings when just a few hands later 1996 World Champion Huck Seed went all-in with J-J against Bruce Corman's A-K (spades). In one of the most stunning hands of the tournament, the flop came 10-7-6 (all spades). Remarkably, Corman had flopped the nut flush. It was a key hand that put Corman close to Karagullyen in chips and changed the balance of power at the final table. Seed was out in 6th place with $15,500.
The hand also was worth a $6,000 bonus to Celusta -- who was still short on chips. With so few chips remaining, he moved all-in with K-10 (diamonds) and was called reluctantly by chip-leader Karagulleyan in the big blind with 8-4. The final board showed 8-7-6-J-2 -- giving Karagulleyan a pair and Celusta $18,940 for his 5th place finish.
James Ferrel then made his move and over the next four hands increased his stack size from about $120,000 up to $187,000. The increase put Ferrel much closer to Karagulleyan ($240,000) and Corman ($200,000). Meanwhile, T.J. Cloutier was still holding his own with $85,000.
No one could have predicted what would happen next. The most stunning hand of the 2002 Four Queens championship event took place when Corman was dealt K-K. To his immediate left, Ferrel looked down and woke up with pocket aces. The two players couldn't get their chips into the pot fast enough. A-A versus K-K is usually a nightmare for the poor unfortunate player holding the kings, but in this case one player's nightmare turned into an absolute dream when the flop came K-7-2. The crowd gasped in disbelief. Corman had stunned the crowd by catching a much-needed miracle king. No ace came to rescue Ferrel from his plight, which put him out in 4th place with $24,100. Interestingly enough, Ferrel had out-flopped the Devil Fish earlier at the final table with his Q-Q, and now it was payback time. Losing with pocket aces hurts.
Down to three players, the chips count stood as follows:
Karagulleyan -- $260,000
Cloutier -- $75,000
Corman -- $385,000
The trio played on for nearly an hour. Cloutier's strategy was quite interesting -- hoping the two larger stacks would go to war and one player would be knocked-out, which would enable him to move up a notch in the prize money (a $38,000 jump to the next level). It was the same strategy Cloutier used so effectively in the 2002 World Championship, when he outlasted almost everyone at the final table and got into a head-up match against (eventual winner) Chris "Jesus" Ferguson. In that tournament, Cloutier remained patient and with second-place locked up, overcame an 11-1 chip disadvantage to draw nearly even with Ferguson. Cloutier has the idea if he can get it head up against anyone -- even with a big chip disadvantage -- he can use his vast depth of knowledge and no-limit experience to outplay his opponent. The strategy almost worked.
Corman and Karagulleyan got into a direct confrontation when Karagulleyan tried to run a bluff past his opponent. Corman called the bluff with a weak-ace (there was an ace on board) and Karagulleyan lost half of his chips. Corman had gone to a 5-1 chip lead over his remaining two opponents. Cloutier managed to win even more chips when his A-K topped Corman's A-7. Then, Cloutier -- showing why his reputation as a phenomenal tournament player is justified -- made a masterful laydown with J-10 holding two pair. Cloutier made two pair on the turn, which also made Karagulleyan a flush (three hearts were on board). On the river, Karagulleyan moved "all in," and Cloutier thought long and hard about calling but finally folded. Karagulleyan then revealed two hearts, which only served to reinforce Cloutier's excellent sense of discipline.
But talent and experience is only part of winning at tournament poker. It all comes down to catching cards, flops, and timing -- and the combination thereof. Cloutier made a pre-flop raise and called Corman's "all in" re-raise. Cloutier showed A-6 (clubs) and was dismayed to see Corman with A-K. With several bad beats fresh on everyone's mind, Cloutier shouted, "Let me draw out on somebody!" But alas, there were no more bad beats left in the deck. Neither player made a pair and the A-K played. Cloutier finished 3rd with $41,320.
Down to two players, the chips count stood as follows:
Karagulleyan -- $56,000
Corman -- $654,000
Karagulleyan was down about 10-1 in chips. In the closing minutes, Karagulleyan showed some spark and it appeared he might ignite a comeback. He increased his stack up to $148,000 and was within one big hand of drawing even with Corman. At that point, Corman called for the clock to be stopped and decided he didn't want to gamble for $58,000 (the difference between first and second place prize money). An arrangement was made between the two players (specifics were not disclosed) and Corman by virtue of his 3 to 1 chip advantage was awarded the championship.
Chris Karagulleyan is a Lebanese-born Armenian who now lives in Southern California. He took second place. The winner, Bruce "the Goose" Corman is from Nottingham, England. He was given the nickname "Loose as a Goose" by David "Devil Fish" Ulliott. This was Corman's first major tournament victory. Corman owns a clothing store and says he only plays poker "as a hobby." He comes to the United States about 4 to 5 times per year for tournaments for three reasons, he says: (1) The prize money is higher (2) Most tournaments are non-smoking, and (3) He prefers the daytime playing hours (most European tournaments begin at night). The prize pool of the final championship event brought the total prize money distribution up to over a million dollars -- to $1,254,718. As players and attendees alike departed the special tournament area at the Four Queens Casino-Hotel in downtown Las Vegas, Tournament Producer Bonnie Damiano and Tournament Director David Lamb and the entire poker staff were congratulated by many for running an exceptional tournament. There's a very good reason why the Four Queens Classic remains one of the most prestigious and longest running poker tournaments in the world.
-- by Nolan Dalla
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