Poker Tournament Results

World Poker Finals / WPT Event Season 3

Place	Name	Prize
1	Vinny Quoc Vinh (Houston, TX, USA)	$102,823
2	Warren Sander (Framingham, MA, USA)	$63,331
3	Steven E Brackesy (Waltham, MA, USA)	$40,060
4	Tracy D Mateicka (Florence, CO, USA)	$28,691
5	David DiBiasio (Providence, RI, USA)	$21,034
6	Carlos Fuentes (Pamplona, Spain)	$16,221
7	J Ronnie Jackson III (Raleigh, NC, USA)	$13,341
8	Peter Giordano (Liverpool, NY, USA)	$11,294
9	Larry St Jean (Salisbury Beach, MA, USA)	$9,362
10	Joseph H Neiman (Teaneck, NJ, USA)	$7,466
11	Damon Ramirez (Plano, TX, USA)	$5,571
12	Anthony Lazar (Las Vegas, NJ, USA)	$5,193
13	Martin D Virgen (Las Vegas, NV, USA)	$4,813
14	Wayne R Peterson (Holliston, MA, USA)	$4,434
15	Stephen Ross (Waltham, MA, USA)	$4,055
16	John R Malley (Pascoag, RI, USA)	$3,677
17	Stephen B Edelson (Atlanta, GA, USA)	$3,297
18	Ari Buchman AKA "the buck" (Valley Stream, NY, USA)	$2,918
19	Sal J Giambrone (Staten Island, NY, USA)	$2,540
20	Adam J Hamilton (New York, NY, USA)	$2,169
21	Michael Wisniewski (Poughkeepsie, NY, USA)	$1,970
22	David S Vogel (Providence, RI, USA)	$1,970
23	Michael G Pruett (Carrollton, GA, USA)	$1,970
24	Jay W Guild (Peconic, NY, USA)	$1,970
25	Steve Levin (Mystic, CT, USA)	$1,970
26	Robin Galloway (Red Lodge, MT, USA)	$1,781
27	K. D Groves (Dallas, TX, USA)	$1,781
28	George Billias (Yantic, CT, USA)	$1,781
29	Christopher Gentile (Plainfield, IL, USA)	$1,781
30	Matthew E Dunn AKA "Venice Menace" (Venice, CA, USA)	$1,781
31	Evangelous Zikopoulos (Astoria, NY, USA)	$1,591
32	Joseph A Grunfeld (New York, NY, USA)	$1,591
33	Constantine "Dino" Moustakis (Danvers, MA, USA)	$1,591
34	Matthew E Dunn AKA "Venice Menace" (Venice, CA, USA)	$1,591
35	Charles M Issac (Clio, MI, USA)	$1,591

Tournament Report

After 20 hours of battle, Vinny Quoc Vinh of Houston, TX, was triumphant over Warren Sander, Framingham, MA, and a strong field of challengers. The 374 entrants in this year’s event easily topped 2003’s field of 237. The prize pool of $379,000 was $137,000 above last year. From that pool, Vinny took home a first place prize of $102,823. The nine finalists began their quest for the title at 2:30 AM. The first to succumb to the pressure was Larry St. Jean, Salisbury Beach, MA. Larry, the winner of the Omaha event earlier in the week, went all in against Tracy Mateicka, Powells Point, NC. Larry had AQ against AJ; but Tracy’s A was a heart and, when the 2h appeared on the river after 3hAd10cKh, Larry had to settle for 9th place. Peter Giordano, Liverpool, NY, survived one all in but couldn’t pair his AJ and Vinny Vinh, with 9’s, relegated him to 8th. Vinny’s next victim was Ronnie Jackson, Raleigh, NC. Ronnie’s third all in was with A10 but Vinny had Q’s, and with a board of Q936J, Ronnie slipped into 7th place. David DiBiasio, Cranston, RI, was triumphant in three all in situations and was able to build his stack up to a respectable level. Carlos Fuentes, Pomplona, Spain, challenged David and went all in with A5 after a Q8A flop; David called with 3’s. Unfortunately for Carlos the flop was hearts and, when the 9h appeared on the river, David’s 3h completed the flush and Carlos was in 6th. David’s next all in was not as successful as the first three. He bet 20M pre-flop and Steven Brackesy, Waltham, MA, called. However, he thought the bet was 10M, which he threw in the pot and his choice was to fold and leave the 10M on the table or add the additional amount. He did so and David went all in with AJ after 689 flop. Steven had A8 and ended with 8’s full of A’s leaving David in 5th place. Tracey Mateicka was went all in with A10s but could not pair and he lost to Warren Sander’s 9’s and claimed 4th place. Vinny Vinh had a streak of bad cards and went all in with 5’s against Steven Brackesy’s 3’s. With no help on the board, Vinny doubled up and did not look back. Steven, who won a $1000 satellite the day before earning his tournament entry, lost a big hand to Warren who had Q’s to his 8’s. His A8 was a loser to Vinny’s A’s; Vinny caught a spade high flush on the river to rub salt into the wound. The final confrontation between the two survivors came down to Vinny’s 10’s versus Warren’s 9’s. With no help on board, Warren claimed second and Vinny became the 2004 $1000 No- Limit Hold’em Champion and took home the trophy, leather jacket and $102,823!