WORLD SERIES OF POKER 2000
EVENT #3 SEVEN-CARD STUD
$1,500 BUY-IN
$1,500 in chips
MOTHER'S DAY COMES EARLY
By Mike Paulle
To most poker players winning a World Series bracelet would be the ultimate
achievement in a year. But then most poker players, who've won a bracelet,
didn't have their three-month-old baby on the rail.
There were 245 entrants in the $1,500 Buy-In, Seven-Card Stud for a total
prize pool of $367,500. 3 tables were paid, a total of 24 players.
The last 16 players were an all-star cast. With some breaks the second eight
could have swapped places with the first eight that moved on. When a
disgusted Mike Marcos went out in 9th, we were through for Tuesday night.
Coming back Wednesday afternoon, there were three decisive chip leaders and
the winner of the 1st Tournament of Champions lurking not far behind. Surely
our winner today would come out of this four-man group, right?
THE FINAL TABLE:
35 mins left of 80. The ante is $300, bring-in $500, playing $2,000/$4,000
| Seat Position/Player | Chip Count |
| Seat 1: Rafael Perry (Henderson, NV) | $17,700 |
| Seat 2: Jerri Thomas (Hamilton, OH) | $14,800 |
| Seat 3: Richard Tatalovich (Scottsdale, AZ) | $49,500 |
| Seat 4: Bill Gibes (Las Vegas, NV) | $76,200 |
| Seat 5: David Chiu (Rowland Hts, CA) | $41,000 |
| Seat 6: Stan Goldstein (Los Angeles, CA) | $78,600 |
| Seat 7: Dale Phillips (Darien, IL) | $12,100 |
| Seat 8: Phongthep "Tab" Thiptinnakon (Downey, CA) | $78,100 |
"I played two hands and lost them both," Rafael Perry said. To give you an
idea how hard it is to win a major tournament with a small stack, Perry's
$17,700 in chips was only enough for two bullets and he missed with both of
them. Amazingly, Jerri Thomas was only one seat over from Rafael and started
with even fewer chips. Perry went all-in with a pair of 8's. Richard
Tatalovlich wished Rafael 'farewell' when Richard's pair of 3's were joined
by a pair of 10's on the river.
Another member of the endangered species list was Dale Phillips. A beautiful
move by David Chiu deprived Dale Phillips of most of his chips. Chiu pondered
his bet for some time knowing he had Kings. It was enough of an act to get
Phillips to bet his Queens as they both went all-in. On Dale's last hand Stan
Goldstein started with no Queens and had three ladies by 7th street. All-in
Dale Phillips started with 9's and ended with…9's, in 7th place. It's so
hard, without chips, to protect yourself from being run down.
One of the greatest Hold'em players alive, David Chiu could never get it
going at this Stud table. Around David there is such an air of expectancy.
You always think he's going to win every hand he plays. In fact, Chiu won
almost no hands and turned out to be mortal after all--at least in Stud. Just
like the rest of us, Chiu fell prey to the killer hand in Stud, Aces and
spaces. You have to push the hand to avoid giving free cards to a draw, but
the Aces so often fail to find any partners. Tab Thiptinnakon had both a
flush and a straight draw on 4th street. The 9 high straight came in and
David Chiu went out in 5th.
As dominant as David Chiu is in Hold'em, that's how intimidating Stan
Goldstein is in Stud. In the early rounds, Stan was running over the table
as expected. Goldstein often check-raises on 4th street to see where he's at
before the betting level goes up. Usually, this has the effect of giving Stan
the free cards he needs to beat you. On his way to a sure victory in this
event something strange happened. Everyone started making hands against
Goldstein. One would get four hearts up. Another would pair their door card.
For over an hour Stan was paying off everyone at the table. Suddenly,
amazingly, Goldstein was the short stack. "I never went on tilt," Stan said
just before leaving in
4th. Typically, Stan had the best hand with two pair until Tab Thiptinnakon
caught a third seven on 5th street.
You have the feeling that Stan Goldstein will make many trips back to Final
Tables in the future. He's just that strong as a player.
With three players left, the chips were about even. The players decided to
take $15k off first and put it on 3rd. It was a good thing for Tab
Thiptinnakon. He got a little extra cash for all his efforts. One of the
reasons that Tab was even in chips with Jerri Thomas was that he couldn't
beat her. In the most memorable hand of the day, Tab made Aces and Kings with
a 6 and lost to Jerrri's Aces and Kings with a 10. Then soon after
three-handed play began, Tab was pushing two pair when Jerri pulled a third
Ace on 5th street. Tab never recovered from that hand. Playing
$10,000/$20,000 now and short stacked, Tab had to gamble. He went all-in with
a 3 4 5 and drew a bust. Bill Gibes made it two handed with Aces and 4's.
Jerri Thomas wasn't supposed to be here. Although she was 2nd a few years ago
in the Women's Stud, this is her first cash in an open event. Like the other
short stacks in the beginning, Thomas was almost gone. Her key hand came
against Richard Tatalovich early. Jerri made Kings and Queens. Richard had 3
4 5 6 on board two suited. Almost any random card knocks Jerri out of the
tournament. She called the last bet and won. "I felt I could win it all if I
could just win one hand," Jerri said. That was the one hand.
Head up, Jerri Thomas had a 4-3 chip lead over Bill Gibes. She took $100k, he
$90k. At first Gibes took over the aggressor role, raising most hands. Jerri
couldn't find a hand on 3rd street to stop him. Gibes was ahead better than
3-2 when Thomas made Q's and 7's to draw back even. She never looked back
from that point on. It was Gibes who doesn't have 2 am feedings who got
tired. "I was never tired," Jerri added. The last hand was a formality.
Thomas made Aces up. Gibes only had a pair of Kings. With the win, Harry
Thomas leaped over the rail to hug his wife. "She was in full stroke from the
beginning," Harry Thomas said afterward. Now both husband and wife have
bracelets. only the second married couple in World Series history to do that.
So at 41, with a teenage boy, Jerri Thomas has a newborn and a new bracelet.
We won't ask her what's more important. We already know, mom.
Official Money Winners
| 1. Jerri Thomas | $135,825 |
| 2. Bill Gibes | $69,825 |
| 3. 'Tab' Thiptinnakon | $34,910 |
| 4. Stan Goldstein | $22,050 |
| 5. Richard Tatalovich | $18,375 |
| 6. David Chiu | $14,700 |
| 7. Dale Phillips | $11,025 |
| 8. Rafael Perry | $7,720 |
9th-12th received $5,145
Mike Marcos, Don Barton, Bob Feduniak and Phillip Ivey
13th-16th received $3,675
Bernard Alexander, Phyllis Kessler, Steve Meyerson and Josef Monro
17th-24th received $2,205
Allen Cunningham, Chris Bjorin, 'Spring' Cheong, Brent Carter, Rick Steiner,
Seth Caplan, David Richter and Syracuse' Chris Tsiprailidis
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