| Players going to the final table, chip counts and seat numbers:
Bill Gazes, 76,000 chips, seat 4
Phil Hellmuth Jr., 67,000 chips, seat 10
Tom Jacobs, 65,000 chips, seat 2
Minneapolis Jim Meehan, 62,000 chips, seat 6
Paul Testud, 50,000 chips, seat 5
Toto Leonidas, 49,000 chips, seat 3
David Chin, 34,000 chips, seat 9
Jim Sjavik, 31,000 chips, seat 7
Mike Matusow, 17,000 chips, seat 1
Jennifer Harman, 12,000 chips, seat 8
WORLD SERIES OF POKER BINION'S HORSESHOE --
DOWNTOWN LAS VEGAS
EVENT #26
$3,000 Buy-in Limit Texas Hold'em
Numer of Entries: 154
Total Prize Pool: $429,660
The Long Wait is Finally Over:
After 18 Years and Multiple Times in the Money,
Tom Jacobs Finally Wins His First Gold Bracelet
It's good to finally be here alone at the end, sitting at this table with all the chips. What a feeling.
-- Tom Jacobs
Since 1985, Tom Jacobs has been in the prize money twenty times at the World Series of Poker, and until today he always came up just short of total victory. His closest brush with poker fame and fortune came back in 1992, when he was the runner-up in the main championship event. But for Jacobs, the 21st time was a charm, as the Las Vegan overcame a tough field of 154 and finally waltzed away with his first gold bracelet. With the victory, Jacobs now has an astounding $900,000-plus in career WSOP winnings.
Six former gold bracelet winners made it to the final table -- including Phil Hellmuth, Jr. (8 wins), David Chiu (3 wins), Mike Matusow (2 wins), Jennifer Harman (2 wins), Toto Leonidas (1 win), and "Minneapolis Jim" Meehan (1 win).
Mike "Motor Mouth" Matusow was the first player to be eliminated when he went in short-stacked with K-10, but ran into Jan Sjavik's pocket aces. Matusow was unable to pull off a miracle against the rockets, and collected $6,920 for 10th place.
Next, Jennifer Harman was knocked-out by Tom Jacobs when both players caught an ace on the flop, but Jacobs ended up with the better kicker. Harman, who came in lowest in chips, took home $8,580 for 9th place.
Tom Jacobs (A-J) eliminated David Chiu (J-8) when Chiu picked up a straight-draw on the flop (10-9-x), but was unable to catch the key fifth card. Chui and Jacobs both spiked a jack in the river for a pair, which gave Jacobs a $50K pot with the pair of jacks with an ace kicker. Chiu collected $10,740 for 8th place.
Ten minutes later, Bill Gazes hit the rail when his stack gradually plummeted to the point he was forced to go "all-in" with A-5. "Minneapolis Jim" Meehan called from the big blind with 10-8 and spiked an eight to win the pot. Gazes finished in 7th place and received $12,880.
1989 World Champion Phil Hellmuth, Jr. came to the final table very close to the chip lead, but his two hours at the finale were "brutal," in his own words. He didn't manage to win a pot in his final 40 minutes spent at the table and was gradually blinded down to his last chip. Four opponents saw the flop on Hellmuth's final hand of the day, and repeatedly checked it around in an effort to eliminate the always-dangerous Hellmuth. The strategy worked as a pair of nines bounced Hellmuth out in 6th place -- good for $15,040.
After Jan Sjavik, from Oslo, Norway scooped a $60K pot with pocket aces, he was tied for the chip lead with Las Vegan, Tom Jacobs. The two players would end up in a heads-up match for the championship some time later. Frenchman Paul Testud was not so fortunate. He was dealt a pair of nines, but ran into Sjavik's pocket kings, which effectively put Testud out in 5th place. Testud, making his second final table at this year's World Series of Poker, received $17,180.
The final four players battled for two hours before the next player was eliminated. In fact, Jim Meehan and Tom Jacobs were both very low on chips at one point and both managed to storm back and take the chip lead at various stages. With the betting limits up to $5K-10K, Toto Leonidas was unable to bounce back from defeat. He saw a 2 to 1 chip advantage vanish in three consecutive hands when he took a devastating serious of beats that left him with just $40K in chips. Leonidas' final hand came when he held K-x (spades) and went for a spade flush after three spades came on the flop. Tom Jacobs was in the pot instantly holding the A-x of spades (for the nut flush draw) leaving Toto with few outs. Leonidas went out in 4th place and took home $25,780, failing to capture his second gold bracelet at this year's tournament.
Jim Meehan was low on chips again as limits increased to $6K-12K. He had fought back twice from chip deficits, but was unable to rally a third time. Down to just $15K, he made his final stand of the tournament on a straight draw with 4-5 but was unable to top Sjavik's pair of kings. Meehan, who won a gold bracelet three weeks ago on Easter Sunday, added $40,880 to his World Series of Poker winnings.
Down to the final two, American Tom Jabobs had a 2 to 1 chip advantage over Norweigian Jan Sjavik. One of the finalists was due to win his first gold bracelet. Sjavik drew even in chips with Jacobs when he won a big pot with two pair, then Jacobs very gradually pulled away and slowly amassed a 4 to 1 chip lead over a 40-minute period. Sjavik was unable to make any headway and exactly one-hour into heads-up play Jacobs won the final hand of the night.
Sjavik was dealt K-J and made a pair of kings on the river, betting his last $16K into a $32K pot with confidence. However, Jacobs had the A-J of diamonds and made the nut-high hand, a diamond flush, on the turn. He let Sjavik fall into the trap and was delighted to call Sjavik's final bet of the night with what amounted to an unbeatable hand.
Sjavik congratulated his opponent with a hearty handshake, as Jabobs told the Norweigian, "I thought you played terrific." It was a sign of mutual respect by two very fine poker players. But ultimately, it was Jacobs who after years of toiling away and coming up just short at the World Series of Poker, finally broke through 18 years after his first final table appearance, and won his first gold bracelet.
-- by Nolan Dalla
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