| Cost Rican resident Brian Green kept finding a way to stay alive as he battled a top-notch player lineup at the final table to take the title for the $1,000 buy-in Pot Limit Hold'em event of the Bellagio Five Diamond World Poker Classic.
"My good friend Humberto Brenes pulled me off to the side during a short break when I was down to a very short stack of chips, and told me not to give up," said Green. "That really helped me find enough adrenaline to keep fighting," he added. And fight he did.
After saving his "life" once more with AK against runner-up Dennis Waterman of Myrtle Point, OR, and third-place finisher Phil Helmuth of Palo Alto, CA, Green found that Jacks were his best friends. He had pocket Jacks when he knocked out Helmuth and again when he eliminated Waterman.
"This was a very big step for me," Green explained. "I've only been playing for three years, and I have never made it to a final table in a pot limit or no limit game before now." His strongest performances previously had been in Limit Hold’em events, including a win in the $1,000 buy-in event at the 2001 World Poker Open in Tunica, a third place finish in the 2001 WSOP $5,000 buy-in event, and second place in the same WSOP event in 2002. Earlier this week, he finished sixth in the Bellagio’s tournament opening Limit Hold'em event.
Green was raised in Las Vegas, but moved to Costa Rica 11 years ago, where he owns a telecommunications business. "The Bellagio has a great poker room, and I will travel almost anywhere that (Bellagio Poker Host) Jack McClelland is running a tournament. He always does an outstanding job," said Green.
A total of 138 entries made up the field for the third event of the Bellagio tournament. Play at the final table was exhausting, which was evidenced by a 3-1/2 hour time period between elimination of the eighth player and the seventh player. The final hand was played in the middle of the night.
From the total prize pool of $133,860, Green won $53,544 for his first place prize, followed by Waterman with $26,772 and Helmuth with $13,386.
Finishing fourth was Tony Sin of Las Vegas, while fifth went to Nmaurice Atlani of Paris, FL, sixth to Daniel Negreanu of Las Vegas, seventh to Howard Lederer of Las Vegas, eighth to Jeff Shulman of Las Vegas, ninth to Kent Washington of Oakland, CA, and tenth to Derek Gale of London, England. Two German players, Eddie Scharf of Cologne and Christoph Walters of Kassel, just missed the final table.
-JIM SHERWOOD
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