Poker Tournament Results

35th Annual World Series of Poker

Eli Balas

Tournament Report

A Diamond in the Rough: Eli Balas Wins Third Gold Bracelet at 2004 World Series of Poker -- Israeli-born poker pro becomes newest “Millionaire.” In the 35-year history of the World Series of Poker, exactly 43 players have won three or more gold bracelets. This select group includes legendary names like Chan, Brunson, Hellmuth, Moss, Ungar and other top names everyone will recognize. Now, we can add ELI BALAS to the elite club. In fact, BALAS joined an even more select group when he won the $2,500 buy-in Limit Hold’em event at this year’s World Series. His $174,440 in prize money for this event means that he has now won over one-million dollars at the world’s longest-running and most prestigious poker tournament. He is the 35th player to join the “Millionaires’ Club.” BALAS was born in Israel. He worked many years as a diamond merchant before joining the ranks of the touring pro. Today, BALAS lives in Henderson, NV and plays mostly in the biggest tournaments – primarily in Las Vegas and California. He can also regularly be seen playing in cash games. The final table lasted five hours and broke down as follows: 10th – PATTY GALLAGHER: She was second in the ladies tournament in 2001 and finished third in the $1,500 Limit Hold’em event in 2002 and 15th 2003. Gallagher took a horrible beat when she had A-K against A-Q, flopped two pair, and lost to a straight. Gallagher received $6,540. 9th – “MIAMI JOHN” CERNUTO: The former air traffic controller crashed and burned with pocket 8s against Eli Balas’ pocket Qs. Cernuto has now made two final tables at this year’s WSOP. The three-time bracelet winner has made the money 27 times. He inched one step closer to the million-dollar mark and now has over $900,000 in lifetime WSOP winnings. 8th – JOHN OETKER – The 25 year old poker player from Marshalltown, IA went out with A-10 against K-J. A jack on the flop gave Oetker 8th place prize money of $16,360. 7th – DANIEL NEGREANU – The popular former Canadian won twice previously, for the Pot-Limit Hold’em event in 1998 and the SHOE event in 2003. Negreanu had plenty of chips when he came to the final table, but ran cold during his stay. He took a bad beat when his Q-Q lost to A-J. K-10 came on the flop and the last thing Negreanu wanted to see was another queen for trips, since he’d lose to a straight. Bingo! A queen on the river nailed Negreanu and put him on the rail with $21,800 for finishing seventh. 6th – JAMES MCCLENDON – The local poker player went out with J-9, which lost to 5-5. McClendon took $27,260 for 6th place. 5th – HOWARD LEDERER – The “Professor” has won twice here at the WSOP – for $5,000 Omaha High-Low in 2000 and $5,000 Deuce –to-Seven Lowball in 2001. He’s become one of the most respected and highly-visable players in the game. Lederer lost with top pair on one hand, then lost his final hand of the night with A-K against (no typo coming) 10-8 suited. Of course, the board flushed, and Lederer came up short on his bid to win his third gold bracelet. $32,700 softened the sting of defeat, just a little. 4th – PAUL MAXFIELD – This was the underdog of the day, who ended up barking and biting several of his opponents. Maxfield arrived at the final table the lowest player in chips by far (with just 2 percent of the chips in play). He somehow managed to climb five places up the money ladder. A-K again proved to be the “dead man’s hand” at this final table, as he became the third player to lose with big slick. Maxfield made the final table of the Omaha High-Low event a few days ago, making this his second final table in 2004. Maxfield, from England, received $38,160. 3rd – PATRICK NICHOLS: He came in second in chips, and ended up as the third-place finisher. Nichols, from Washington State, lost with 8-8 to a straight. He collected $49,060. 2nd – STEVEN SHKOLNIK: The runner up is a location manager for major Hollywood studios. He was scouting a victory in this event, but came up with an empty lot when he was unable to match Balas’ more aggressive tendencies. Shkolnik received $95,820 (officially), although a deal was reported struck between the two finalists. THE WINNER: BALAS’ two previous WSOP wins were in the $5,000 buy-in Limit Hold’em event (1992) and the $1,500 buy-in Omaha High-Low event (1999). He has also finished second four times and has made the final table 12 times.