Poker Tournament Results

Jack Binion World Poker Open 4th Year - WPT Season 1

Gary Jones

Tournament Report

DAY ONE REPORT: Tournament poker is a minefield of traps and potential bad beats. One single mistake on any hand can mean elimination and the end of a dream. The key is to survive. To survive Day One is to put yourself in a position to win. After eight hours of play in the 2003 No-Limit Texas Hold'em Championship Event, 97 of the top poker players in the world survived. Sixty-three did not. * * * * Toughest Starting Tables: A toss-up between.... Table 26 Seat 1 - T.J. Cloutier Seat 2 - Barbara Laux Seat 3 - Humberto Brenes Seat 4 - Jacky Chitwood Seat 5 - Dayne Bauerman Seat 6 - Tony Hartman Seat 7 - Kevin Keller Seat 8 - Johnny Chan Seat 9 - John Bonetti Table 52 Seat 1 - Chip Jett Seat 2 - Alex Brenes Seat 3 - Howard Lederer Seat 4 - Mike Koster Seat 5 - Jason Vikiayuthakorn Seat 6 - Mike Laing Seat 7 - Hilbert Shirey Seat 8 - Phil Hellmuth Seat 9 - Fred Sigur * * * * This year, the World Poker Open included a "Who's Who" of poker. Two former World Poker Open champions entered -- including Humberto Brenes (2002) and John Juanda (2001). Nine former World Series of Poker winners were also in attendance, and 7 entered this year's main event. The former world champions included Berry Johnston (1986), Johnny Chan (1987 and 1988), Phil Hellmuth (1989), Russ Hamilton (1995), Scotty Nguyen (1998), Chris Ferguson (2000), and Carlos Mortenson (2001). Absent were Bobby Baldwin (1978) and Doyle Brunson (1975 and 1976) who skipped the main event to play in a cash game instead. Limits in the side game were reported to be as high as $8,000-$16,000. * * * * There will be no repeat champ, this year. Humberto Brenes, the 2002 World Poker Open champion, was eliminated early in the tournament by John Bonetti. Brenes was in the big blind with K-K and got involved in a confrontation with Bonetti, holding A-A. After a non-descript flop, Brenes checked, called Bonetti's all-in bet, and lost. "I might have folded my hand (in some similar situations)," Brenes said later. "But with Bonetti, you never know if he's making a move. So, I called. Now, I am out." * * * * Humberto Brenes was not alone on the rail. Mike "Motor Mouth" Matusow met a similar fate with his pocket kings. Matusow was dealt K-K against Jim Lester and all the money went into the pot. Matusow, one of poker's most talkative pros, was silent when he busted out of the tournament in 158th place. At least he had a decent "$10,000 bad beat story" to tell. * * * * Scotty Nguyen enjoyed a favorable starting table. Although no table is "easy," Nguyen appeared to be the most experienced player at his table. Oddly enough, he was the first player to be eliminated at his starting table when he took A-K up against Stan Mazza's Q-Q. * * * * Former World Champion Carlos Mortenson got involved in an interesting hand with Nick Salameh. Everyone folded around to Mortenson, who was in the small blind. Mortenson raised. Salameh reraised all-in from the big blind, which was enough to cover Mortenson. Several minutes went by before Salameh finally asked for a clock. As the countdown continued, Mortenson tried to get a read on Salameh. With seconds remaining in the countdown, Mortenson folded and showed Q-Q. Salameh exhaled and showed Q-Q. * * * * Slow-playing a big hand can be dangerous. Just ask Paul Darden. When the flop came A-5-4, Darden (with 4-4) checked with his set, and gave a free card to Toto Leonidas. A deuce fell on the turn. In the end, Leonidas had 3-2 and scooped a big pot from Darden with the straight. * * * * Englishman Peter Costa is quite the philosopher. He had a number of fascinating ideas on how to survive the first day of the main event: "I want to play small pots, and not get involved in big pots." "If I make the nuts (the best possible hand) and people want to call me, that's fine." "(If I was my opponent) I would never call me -- when I reach for my chips." "People put too much emphasis on getting chips early." "I thrive on playing a short-stack." It's interesting that Costa seems to advocate extreme caution early in the tournament. Yet after Day One, he is 8th in chips. Was Costa telling the truth about his prefered "style?" * * * * Tomorrow, the 97 players who survived Day One will play down to the prize money. Seventy players are destined to be eliminated. That means as of Day Three on Thursday, 27 players will be in a position to make the final table. Stay tuned. -- by Nolan Dalla List of 161 entrants to the $10,000 Main Event No Limit Hold'em - World Poker Open 2003 KEVIN ABNER RANDY ALLEN MICKEY APPLEMAN JOSHUA ARIEH JAIME ATENELOFF MICKEY BALDWYN DERRICK BARCH TAD BARHAM DONALD BARTON DAYNE BAVERMAN THOMAS BECNEL LARRY BEILFUSS CURTIS BIBB CHRIS BIGLER ANDREW BLOCH JOHN BONETTI ALEX BRENES HUMBERTO BRENES JON BRODY TODD BRUNSON MARK BURTMAN SUDIE CECIL JOHNNY CHAN JACKY CHITWOOD T J CLOUTIER KEVIN COON PETER COSTA TONY COUSINEAU GERRY CRAFT PAUL DARDEN MICHAEL DAVIS MARTIN DE KNIJFF FREDDIE DEEB ASHER DEREI JOHNNY DONALDSON CAL DYKES BILL EICHEL PETER EICHHARDT JOHN ESPOSITO JOSEPH FAVAZZA CHRIS FERGUSON LANE FLACK KEN FLATON TED FORREST TOM FRANKLIN PRAHLAD FRIEDMAN WILLIAM FRYMER DWAIN FULCHER JULIAN GARDNER BRIAN GREEN PERRY GREEN HOWARD GREENSPAN TOMMY GRIMES STEVE GUIBERSON RAYFORD HALL RUSS HAMILTON TONY HARTMANN GARY HAUBELT BRIAN HAVESON PHIL HELLMUTH RANDY HOLLAND ALEXANDER HOROWITZ JACOB HOROWITZ PHILLIP IVEY CHIP JETT BERRY JOHNSTON GARY JONES JOHN JUANDA JIM KARABINAS FRANK KASSELA CASEY KASTLE STEVE KAUFMAN KEVIN KELLER HERB KELSO DONNY KERR GALEN KESTER MIKE KOSTER JAMEY KRAMER PAUL KROH WLODZIMIERZ LACZKOWSKI MIKE LAING BARBARA LAUX HOWARD LEDERER MATT LEFKOWITZ KEITH LEHR TOTO LEONIDAS BILL LESTER JIM LESTER ABNER LEVY KATHY LIEBERT JAMIE LIGATOR ERIC LINDGREN WILLIAM LUX MIKE MATUSOW PAUL MAYFIELD STAN MAZZA FRED MCADOO TOM MCCORMICK TOM MCEVOY PAUL MCKINNEY CARLOS MORTENSEN PETER NATHAN JAKE NAUMER DANIEL NEGREANU MEN (MASTER) NGUYEN SCOTTY NGUYEN ANDREW PACHMAN ALEX PAPACHATZAKIS GEORGOIS PARAVOLIASAKIS SHELBY PARROTT MIKE PAULEY DOUG PAXTON BILL PEOPLES LOUIS PERELLA YOUNG PHAN DAVID PLASTIK TOMMY POLK LARRY POOLE BENJAMIN ROBERTS RON ROSE JOSE ROSENKRANTZ NICK SALEMEH JON SCHUMAKER ERIK SEIDEL MARK SEIF HILBERT SHIREY BARRY SHULMAN FRED SIGUR JOHN SPADAVECCHIA BOB STUPAK MIKE SUKONIK SURINDER SUNAR PAUL TESTUD MARK THOMPSON ROBERT THOMPSON RICK TIDWELL JEREMY TINSLEY DEREK TOMKO DEWEY TOMKO AN TRAN CHRIS TSIPRAILIDIS CHARLEY TSODAKIDES DEVIL FISH ULLIOTT AMIR VAHEDI PETER VILANDOS QUOC VINH JASON VIRIYAYUTHAKORN BUTCH WADE LIN WANG CHARLEY WATKINS DAVID WHITE JAMES (PILOT) WHITT SAMUAL WHITT MARK WILDS BUDDY WILLIAMS ROBERT WILLIS DAVID WITHERS LARRY WRIGHT HEREZEL ZALEWSKI STEVE ZOLOTOW