| Final Table Player Bio's
Seat 1:
JAMES TIPPIN
(Toledo, OH)
Chip Count -- $842,000
“I’m dead money,” says James Tippin – a retired businessman from Toledo, Ohio. Tippin was making reference to the derogatory term often used to describe novice players who supposedly have no chance to win a big tournament with so many world-class players. Tippin, age 67, has a retirement home in Las Vegas and frequently plays in the small daily tournaments held throughout the city, which cater mostly to tourists and a few locals. He has won several of these small dailies, including tournaments held at the Orleans and Stardust. However, this is his first time to make the final table of a major televised event. It will be interesting to see how Tippin adjusts to the bright lights and pressure of playing for a million-dollar plus first prize. Tippin has been in the middle of the pack through the first three days, and made his big move in the final half-hour of Day Three, when he rocketed up from $250K to $842K in chips – mostly at chip-leader Randy Jensen’s expense. From the way Tippin has played thus far, he is hardly “dead money.” Just ask the 361 players on the rail at the moment who are wishing they were in Tippin’s seat.
Seat 2:
BARRY GREENSTEIN
(Rancho Pales Verdes, CA)
Chip Count -- $575,000
Barry Greenstein is a high-limit cash game pro who regularly plays $4,000-8,000 limit and higher. He burst upon the poker tournament scene a few years ago and has enjoyed a staggering level of success – with over $1 million in prize money winnings in each of the last two years. Greenstein, 49, says he grew up in a poker-playing family and has been a serious player since childhood. He started a software company named Symantecs, made a fortune, and retired in 1991 at the age of 36. Most incredible of all – Greenstein donates every penny of his tournament wins to charity. His favorite charity is “Children, Incorporated,” a child sponsorship program which is affiliated with schools, orphanages, and welfare centers around the world and in the United States, helping to provide food, clothing, and educational needs to children deep in poverty. His biggest tournament win was last year at the Hustler Casino, where he won $1 million. Greenstein has been a steady force at the JBWPO during all three days, at or near the top of the field in chips. He is no stranger to final tables in the biggest events and won’t be intimidated by the pressure or the prize money – which will ultimately be used to help those who are less fortunate.
Seat 3:
DAVID “CHIP” REESE
(Las Vegas, NV)
Chip Count -- $780,000
David “Chip” Reese has been called the greatest poker player in the world by many of his peers. The accolades come from poker’s very highest levels, including Doyle Brunson and others. Reese, now 52, graduated from Dartmouth University 30 years ago and made a stopover in Las Vegas on his way to graduate school at Stanford. He never left. Reese started playing poker and built up a million dollar bankroll within his first two years as a pro. By the late 70s, Reese was acknowledged as one of the best seven-card stud players in the world and contributed to poker’s landmark literary work “Super/System.” In the 1980s, Reese entered the super elite group of poker players who played for limits way beyond what could possibly be won in tournaments. For that reason, Reese hasn’t achieved much personal success in No-Limit Holdem tournaments in recent years – because he was often playing in the cash games winning millions. Reese is one of the few living members of the Poker Hall of Fame, and has arguably won more money playing poker than any man in history. This is a rare moment to see one of poker’s living legends, who is at the top of his game.
Seat 4:
CAN KIM HUA
(Rosemead, CA)
Chip Count -- $279,000
Can Kim Hua is the 2004 Jack Binion World Poker Open success story. He has already won two events at this year’s tournament – the $500 Omaha High-Low event (good for $69K) and the $500 Seven-Card Stud event (earning another $31K). He is now making his bid to become the first player in the history of this tournament to win three events in a single year – a nearly impossible task considering the size and talents of the fields. Can Kim Hua is 46 years old and is a native of Vietnam. Little is known about the mysterious Hua, as he has never won or appeared at a final table prior to this tournament. This begs the question – how did this shy, soft-spoken poker player burst upon the scene so quickly and manage to outplay opponents who have been playing for much longer? Hua has been near the chip lead most of the first three days, but comes into Day Four with second-lowest in chips. Even with a small stack, Hua is a force to be reckoned with.
Seat 5:
RANDY JENSEN
(Fort Collins, CO)
Chip Count -- $1,085,000
“Loose Cannon” is the phrase that best describes Randy Jensen, a.k.a., “The Dream Crusher.” Jensen is a gambler in the truest sense of the word, bouncing back and forth between having a six-figure bankroll and personal bankruptcy, emulating a level of risk tolerance that brings memories of poker great, Stu Ungar to mind. Consider the fact that two years ago here at the JBWPO, Jensen won $120,000 in a poker tournament – the $500 buy in Limit Holdem event -- then lost it all by the next morning playing in a cash game. Two days later, Jensen made the final table again and came in with the chip lead – and finished ninth! Then, Jensen borrowed money to enter in a satellite, won it, and then made it into the money again. “I’m either going to leave here with a quarter of a million dollars, or leave broke,” he said at the time. Jensen is easily the most unpredictable and unorthodox of the six finalists – certainly capable to destroying the field if he catches a good run of cards, or going out in sixth place, despite coming into Day Four with the chip lead. Jensen, from Colorado, is 33-years old and is a real estate investor when he’s not gambling for high stakes at the poker table. Jensen says he’s lucky to have the support of his wife, who urged him to enter this tournament, despite having some reservations about attending. Jensen, with chips, will dictate the pace of play early at this final table.
Seat 6:
TONY HARTMAN
(Minneapolis, MN)
Chip Count -- $111,000
Tony Hartman, age 37, comes to the final table with the biggest challenge, by far – trying to survive with the smallest stack amongst the six finalists. Hartman is noted for his linebacker-build and thick gold chains, which would make him an intimidating force either in a dark alley or at a poker table. He’ll need to use that “street fighter” image to be a force in today’s event. In 2002, he finished 11th in the main event here at the Jack Binion World Poker Open and probably should have made the final table had it not been for a bad run of cards late on Day Three. Hartman also has several other cashes to his name – at the World Series of Poker, the Hall of Fame Classic, the Four Queens, and other tournaments including the Canterbury Classic near his hometown of Minneapolis. In terms of strategy, Hartman must double up early so he can acquire enough chips to play “his game” at the final table.
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