WORLD SERIES OF POKER 2000
EVENT #17 SEVEN CARD RAZZ
$1,500 BUY-IN
$1,500 in chips
HUCK WINS AGAIN
By Mike Paulle
Sometimes it takes as long as four years for a Seed to germinate and start to
sprout. When Huck Seed won the World Championship in 1996, few thought it
could possibly be this long before he would win another gold bracelet.
There were 129 entrants in the $1,500 Buy-In, Seven Card Razz for a total
prize pool of $193,500. 2 tables were paid, a total of 16 players.
Maybe the reason that Razz isn't a more popular game is because it can break
your heart. George Bofysil had the best hand all the way to 7th street when a
deuce popped up in his opponent's hand to crack George's made low.
The philosophical Bofysil just shrugged and headed for the pay window in 9th.
Coming back Tuesday afternoon, Men 'The Master' Nguyen had a commanding chip
lead over a tough field that included three other bracelet winners.
THE FINAL TABLE:
48 mins left of 80. The ante is $2300, bring-in $500,
playing $1,500/$3,000
| Player/Hometown | Chip Count |
| Seat 1: Men Nguyen (Bell Gardens, CA) | $64,100 |
| Seat 2: Huck Seed (Las Vegas, NV) | $35,000 |
| Seat 3: Tommy Polk (Brookhaven, MS) | $3,700 |
| Seat 4: Mickey Sisskind (W. Bloomfield, MI) | $38,200 |
| Seat 5: John Spadavecchia (N. Miami Beach, FL) | $16,500 |
| Seat 6: Larry Colt (Oviedo, FL) | $6,100 |
| Seat 7: Chris Ferguson (Pacific Palisades, CA) | $11,300 |
| Seat 8: Roger Aielli (Laguna Miguel, CA) | $18,600 |
To continue the theme of frustrated Razz players, this time it was Chris
'Jesus' Ferguson who had the best hand destroyed on the river. Chris, who was
making his second appearance at this year's WSOP after winning earlier, had a
made 8 7 6. Huck Seed called Ferguson all the way down to 7th street drawing
to an 8 also. When a 7 arrived for Seed, Huck made an 8 7 4 and Ferguson was
the first to leave in 8th place.
This was the first Final Table for Roger Aielli and he came to gamble.
Several times Roger raised eyebrows with his seemingly hopeless draws only to
muck his hand on 5th or 6th street. No one has enough chips to do that too
often. Now the short stack, Aielli had a good hand go back with two late
Queens and he finished 7th to Mickey Sisskind's Jack.
It had been "a long time" since Larry Colt got this far in a World Series
event and he was on an emotional roller coaster. When Tommy Polk survived his
first all-in, Larry looked like the designated deportee. But then Chris
Ferguson left. Maybe there was hope "I finally beat Huck Seed after two
days!" Larry shouted as he jumped in the air. "Now we can play the game!"
Colt had won his all-in hand against Seed and had a few chips for a change.
That was the last upper for Larry, all the rest was a downer. Larry shot
himself in the foot in a hand with Men Nguyen, calling with an 8. Then Colt
got caught in a hand with Mickey Sisskind that emptied his chamber in 6th.
Larry couldn't squeeze a baby card out on the river and made an 8 7 to
Sisskind's 8 6.
Collecting a few more dead Presidents for moving up three spots with only
$3,700 to start is not a bad thing. Tommy Polk finally had to surrender in
5th to Huck Seed's 9 7 when Polk made two pair.
We started with eight bracelets at this table, but Mickey Sisskind was the
only player with a Razz bracelet. Sisskind wouldn't get another in 4th
primarily because of this hand. Mickey had a 5 4 3 A showing and was being
raised by Huck Seed on the river. Obviously this was a bluff. Sisskind needed
a deuce he didn't have. Huck had been drawing to a 6 4 and caught the wheel
to destroy Sisskind's stack. Mickey went out when Men Nguyen failed to fold
an unseen pair and won the hand.
This was Men The Master's 17th Final Table in WSOP history. He may never have
lost a bigger starting chip lead. As he said, "This wasn't my day." The
pivotal hand came against Huck Seed that cost Nguyen about $30,000 and the
chip lead he'd never get back. Check raised on 6th street, Men couldn't call
on the river when Seed bet. Either he paired or was on a move the entire
hand. In either case, 3rd place was Men's next stop a little later when Seed
showed Nguyen a 7 6.
Head up, Seed had a 3-2 chip lead but it turned out to be no contest. Very
quickly, John Spadavecchia got into a hand he couldn't get out of. "I had him
where I wanted him," John said later. "I had the best hand on 3rd street."
John may have gotten a false sense of security by the pair of 2's he saw on
Huck board. John continued, "But I got all the high cards and he got all the
low cards." Before he finally gave up on the hand, Spadavecchia was down to
$7,000. Two hands later it was over as John made a nice high Stud hand, Kings
and Jacks with an Ace.
Huck Seed is a formidable poker player. He sits bolt upright like Phil
Hellmuth does. And even sitting, they both tower over the table at 6' 7".
But what adds malice to Seed is that he hardly ever speaks. He looks like
the grim reaper come to release you from your chips. It's hard to believe
it's been four years since Huck won the World Championship and harder to
believe this is his first gold bracelet since. "Razz is such an interesting
game, I wish we played it more than once," Huck said. Perhaps the other
players may want it eliminated all together.
Official Money Winners
| 1. Huck Seed | $77,400 |
| 2. John Spadavecchia | $38,700 |
| 3. Men Nguyen | $19,350 |
| 4. Mickey Sisskind | $11,610 |
| 5. Tommy Polk | $9,675 |
| 6. Larry Colt | $7,740 |
| 7. Roger Aielli | $5,810 |
| 8. Chris Ferguson | $3,875 |
9th-12th received $2,900
George Bofysil, Mike Wattel, Bonnie Damiano and Carl Heller
13th-16th received $1,935
Barbara Samuelson, Howard Mann, Brian Nadell and Brent Carter
Some recent Super Satellite winners of seats into the Championship Final:
Mario Esquerra, Tony Van, Vic Kramer, Burt Boutin, Barbara Enright, Norm
Ketchum, Julian Gardner, Ted Tasiopoulos, James Brown, Vasilis Lazarou, Fred
Brown, Angelo Besainou, Janolan Sjavik, Steven Hohn, Larry Satterwhite, Anna
Spinetti, Donald McCarthy,
John Spadavecchia, Matt Heintschel, Roger Van Driesen, Tom Healy, Pascal
Perrault, Tom Jacobs, Steve Zolotow, Gary Haubelt, David Plastik, Hemish
Shah, PC Lee, Johan Storaakers, Mickey Seagle, Lee Markholt, John Bonetti,
Greg Muller, Steve Bernier and Dale Brevik.
|
