WORLD SERIES OF POKER 2000
EVENT #11 TEXAS HOLD'EM (limit)
$3,000 BUY-IN
$3,000 in chips
PIZZA FOR EVERYONE
By Mike Paulle
Both players had tasted the bitterness of finishing in 2nd place in the World
Series of Poker. Neither wanted to have that taste in their mouths, again.
Both wanted the last slice of the same pie. But one of them would have to be
disappointed. As heads up play entered it's third hour only one of them could
get the prize, their first gold bracelet.
There were 178 entrants in the $3,000 Limit Hold'em for a total prize pool of
$534,000. 2 tables were paid, a total of 18 players.
Already the substantial chip leader, Ed Smith only had to put in one chip
over his small blind to call John Juanda's all-in bet with J 8. Smith had A
10, which was good enough to set the Final Table.
Coming back on Thursday afternoon, we were graced by the presence of former
World Champion Berry Johnson who was making his 26th WSOP Final Table in a
storied poker career.
THE FINAL TABLE
44 mins left of 80. The blinds are $1,500/$3,000
| Player/Hometown | Chip Count |
| Seat 1: S.B. Karbinas (Austin, TX) | $68,000 |
| Seat 2: Berry Johnston (Las Vegas, NV) | $65,500 |
| Seat 3: Thien Phan (San Gabrial, CA) | $40,500 |
| Seat 4: Flan Pilkington (Yorktown, IN) | $27,500 |
| Seat 5: Michael Ross (Boca Raton, FL) | $66,500 |
| Seat 6: Chris Tsiprailidis (Syracuse, NY) | $67,500 |
| Seat 7: Ed Smith (29 Palms, CA) | $110,000 |
| Seat 8: Bob Feduniak (Las Vegas, NV) | $18,000 |
| Seat 9: Jay Chang (Lodi, CA) | $70,500 |
The trick isn't just getting to the Final Table. You should bring some chips
with you, also. Bob Fenuniak is making his second appearance of WSOP 2000
and again he is a low stack. When Bob flopped top pair from the small blind
with Q 9 and a Queen on board, he was committed to the hand. Since Feduniak
didn't have enough chips to do him any damage, Ed Smith had an easy call of
Bob's bet. On the button with A K, Ed Smith got the card he needed on the
turn a King. Then Smith got a card he didn't need on the river, an Ace.
Feduniak was history in 9th.
Getting the perfect situation in the big blind, Thien Phan bet out on the
flop. The perfect situation was that Phan caught Berry Johnston raising his
big blind with a marginal hand, the K 4 of Hearts. Phan had pocket Jacks and
smooth called. Thien went all-in for his last $12k when the board paired with
a 4 on the turn. Thien couldn't put the great Berry Johnston on trip 4's.
What a belt to Phan in 8th when that's what Berry turned over.
When you are up against the chip leader, sometimes it's advisable to be a
little cautious. Maybe one of the reasons they are the chip leader is because
they've picked up a lot of big hands. Flan 'Irish Mike' Pilkington got his
Irish up when the flop came Queen high. Flan had A Q. He bet, raised,
reraised and reraise again until he was all-in with that top pair with the
top kicker. Ed Smith was unconcerned. With pocket Kings, Smith knew where
Pilkington was at and was happy for the donations. Flan was turned into
custard in 7th.
What a disappointing Final Table for S B Karabinas. The good doctor couldn't
make a hand. As the stacks grew around him, his shrank alarmingly. Karabinas
took a stand and went to the river looking for an Ace that didn't come. When
Jay Chang raised on the button, Dr. Karabinas found himself with A 4 in the
small blind. Doc decided that Chang may be stealing, so come what may, this
was the hand he would fight with. Jay Chang had pocket Kings, not your usual
stealing hand. The doctor was paged to the emergency room in 6th with himself
as the patient. Two hands in a row, two pocket Kings in a row. Two more
bodies to the rail.
In a limit game you can't protect your hand. Michael Ross fought for hours
without any ammunition. It was a losing battle. After surviving a few
all-ins, Ross picked up pocket 4's, which looked like Aces to him after all
the cheese he'd seen. Ross raised, Chris Tsiprailidis reraised to get head up
with the miniscule stake. Michael went all-in and was called for his last few
chips by Chris with pocket 5's. Ross was discounted into 5th.
As unbelievable as 36 WSOP cashes is, 26 Final Tables is even more
unbelievable. Berry Johnston has been here more often than anyone in World
Series history. This one won't be one of Berry's favorite memories. Although
Johnston moved up from 6th in chips at the start, he could never get anything
going. In his last hand of the day, the living legend of poker bet out when a
King hit the flop. Berry had K 9. On the button, Ed Smith held A Q and turned
the nut straight. One of the greatest players ever to pick up a hand was out
in 4th.
Three-handed the chips were nearly even. Ed Smith, Chris Tsiprailidis and Jay
Chang saved $100k each and played for the rest. It was a good move for Jay
Chang as his cards immediately went dead. After a valiant struggle that
included an extra save with Smith, Chang went all-in from the big blind with
A J. Ed Smith had the 8 5 of Clubs, flopped a five and rivered a five
Head up it looked like no contest. Chris Tsiprailidis, the pizzeria owner
from Syracuse NY, had 4-1 chip lead. But miraculously, Ed Smith fought all
the way back to take a 4-1 chip lead himself. The key hand in the turnaround
was when Chris flopped the nut straight and Ed rivered a full house. Few
players have more head up tournament experience than 'Syracuse' Chris. "I was
paying him off too much," Chris said. "I decided to start grinding him down."
The last hand was typical of heads up play. Smith went all-in with the A 7 of
Spades. Tsiprailidis called with a Q 3. When a 3 flopped that's all Chris
needed to order Pizzas all around. He'd won his first gold bracelet.
Official Money Winners
| 1. Chris Tsiprailidis | $213,600 |
| 2. Ed Smith | $106,800 |
| 3. Jay Chang | $53,400 |
| 4. Berry Johnston | $32,040 |
| 5. Michael Ross | $24,030 |
| 6. S B Karabinas | $18,690 |
| 7. Flan Pilkington | $13,350 |
| 8. Thien Phan | $10,685 |
| 9. Bob Feduniak | $8,545 |
10th-12th received $6,410
John Juanda, Jan Backstrom and Humberto Brenes
13th-15th received $5,870
Yueqi 'Rich' Zhu, Kiet Tran and Michael Halford
16th-18th received $5,340
Armando Balbi, Max Faulkner and James Krantz
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