WORLD SERIES OF POKER 2000
EVENT #10 TEXAS HOLD'EM (pot limit)
$2,000 BUY-IN
$2,000 in chips
THE SECOND TIME'S A CHARM
By Mike Paulle
Like love, the Final Table is lovelier the second time around.
There were 235 entrants in the $2,000 Pot Limit Hold'em for a total prize
pool of $470,000. 3 tables were paid, a total of 27 players.
An Tran found out you can go home again. And that's what he did. Tran went
home in 10th when his pocket fours, all-in, ran into pocket Aces held by
Thomas Wolf. We all got to go home, as we were through for Tuesday night.
Coming back on Wednesday afternoon, our first Final Table repeater of WSOP
2000, Jimmy Athanas was chip leader. Jimmy made it here in Event #2.
THE FINAL TABLE
27 mins left of 80. The blinds are $1,000/$2,000
| Player/Hometown | Chip Count |
| Seat 1 Leonard Leth (Las Vegas, NV) | $35,600 |
| Seat 2 Jason Lester (Los Angeles, CA) | $67,000 |
| Seat 3 Jimmy Athanas (St Louis, MO) | $94,000 |
| Seat 4 Phil Hellmuth, Jr. (Palo Alto, CA) | $16,000 |
| Seat 5 Wayne Chang (Baldwin Park, CA) | $60,500 |
| Seat 6 Dave Colclough (Smethwick, UK) | $54,000 |
| Seat 7 Cowboy Wolford (Las Vegas, NV) | $42,000 |
| Seat 8 Peter Nathan (Jupiter, FL) | $14,000 |
| Seat 9 Thomas Wolf (Shien, Norway) | $86,500 |
There were two severely short stacks as we started. One belonged to Peter
Nathan and the other belonged to Phil Hellmuth. One of these two was most
likely to be first one out. By sheer force of will it wasn't going to be Phil
Hellmuth, so that left Peter Nathan as the hot dog in 9th. In resignation,
Peter tossed his last few chips in a three-way pot from the big blind. Nathan
had 8 7. Thomas Wolf was sending more people home again with pocket Aces.
This game is easy, or so must Leonard Leth be thinking. Leth has already won
three seats to the Big Dance which means he's $20,000 up before we start to
mash potato. Now here he is at a Final Table in a WSOP event! Why didn't I
start playing this game years ago? It's found money, Leonard must be
thinking. Suddenly reality strikes! Leth looked stunned when his pocket Kings
in the big blind got cracked by Cowboy Wolford's A Q all-in. This can't be
happening to me, Leonard must have thought. All-in himself with an A 3 of
Diamonds, Leth found out you can lose with pocket Kings or lose to pocket
Kings held by Jason Lester.
Frustration got the best of Wayne Chang. He couldn't win a hand so he tried
to steal the blinds from middle position with K 9. Jason Lester thought
stealing was immoral and called with A 9 in the big blind. Ka-Chang! You're
7th.
Andy Glazer, Phil Hellmuth's biographer, rated Phil's exit in 6th place a 3.5
on the Richter scale. It wasn't a huge scene but it was big enough to ripple
the table. Phil had fought his way up into decent chip position, but he
couldn't get a hand past David Colclough. Several times Hellmuth would raise
only to have Colclough reraise. It seemed personal. David had a lot of chips
and was pushing the six-time bracelet winner around with them. This is not
something Phil Hellmuth is going to take without some vocal pyrotechnics. At
last Hellmuth thought he had a hand to punish Colclough with. Phil flopped
two pair, 2's and 4's. "I hope you have 10's," Hellmuth told Colclough. David
had 9's which was an overpair to the board. When a 9 hit the river, Phil
Hellmuth went all-in for his last $40k, which was just fine with David
Colclough. Fireworks!
Before Phil Hellmuth left he made sure Jason Lester was coming with him in
5th. Lester raised with pocket 10's on the button. Hellmuth went all-in with
A 7. "You got me, I thought you were stealing," Phil said as he put his hand
down on the table. No worries, an Ace hit the turn and Jason Lester was down
near the felt. Lester went all-in with the Q 9 of Hearts against Thomas
Wolf's J 10 of Clubs. It was a bad day for Lester's best hands as a Jack
flipped right off the top of the deck.
Even Wolf's can go home again. After playing brilliantly for two days, the
cards started to go dead for Thomas Wolf. When a Jack flopped, Wolf thought
he might have the best hand. He called Jimmy Athanas' bet all-in with his
last $36k. Thomas had J 10, Jimmy had A J kicking Wolf out into the cold in
4th.
David Cloclough had most of the chips and took most of the money in a deal
that satisfied everyone. A little later Cowboy Wolford said, "I can't win
anymore money, I'm getting tired." Wolford reraised Jimmy Athanas all-in for
his case $35k and a Q 9. Athanas didn't need the King that flopped, his A K
of Clubs was good.
After the blinds were raised to $10/$20k and the levels were shortened to 20
minutes, Jimmy Athanas won his first gold bracelet when an 8 flopped. Jimmy
had 8 7. Dave Colclough had bubkis with the K 5 of Diamonds. The Final Table
was lovelier the second time around.
Official Money Winners
| 1. Jimmy Athanas | $173,900 |
| 2. Dave Colclough | $89,300 |
| 3. Cowboy Wolford | $44,650 |
| 4. Thomas Wolf | $28,200 |
| 5. Jason Lester | $21,150 |
| 6. Phil Hellmuth, Jr. | $16,450 |
| 7. Wayne Chang | $11,750 |
| 8. Leonard Leth | $9,400 |
| 9. Peter Nathan | $7,520 |
10th-12th received $5,640
An Tran, Phil Earle and John Parce
13th-15th received $4,700
Allen Cunningham, Richard St. Peter and Paul Armstrong
16th-18th received $3,760
David Ulliott, Michael Davis and Carl McKelvey
19th-27th received $2,820
Lester Williams, Michael Tedesco, David Winston, Fred Sigur, Jan Javik,
Alex Brenes, Thor Hansen, Rick Davis Jr. and Frank Knight
Super Satellite winners from April 28th-May 2: Chris Tsiprailidis, Ken
Goldstein, Tony Cousineau, Jeff Norman, Eric Holum, Harry Thomas, Steve
Meyerson (3rd seat), David Vaillancourt, Ralph Pitcock (3rd seat), Steve
Melton, Mansour Matloubi (repeat), Chuck Humphrey, Wally Wei, Mike Heintshel,
Carl Walsh, Perry Friedman, Leonard Leth (repeat), Michael Davis, An Tran,
James Hoeppner, Randy Hudson, Noel Furlong, Ryuichi Ikeda, Paul Kroh, Artie
Cobb, Joe Parille, Granville Harp (repeat), Ron McMillan, Jeff Shulman, Brian
Kneier, Barry Shulman and Bruce Yamron.
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