It was a big upset; the best player finished second.
These are not the self-effacing words one would normally expect from a five-bracelet world champion. But you would expect them from Berry Johnston, who would hands-down win any election for the best-behaved player in poker.
After his come-from-behind victory, Johnston paid tribute to Mike Wattel, an Arizona pro. Johnston, who prefers pot-limit, said Wattel was the better limit player because he knows how to go with legitimate hands and get extra bets in. “I knew I had to get lucky to beat him,” Berry explained. “I tried to wait until the limits went to $10,000 and $20,000 so I could gamble.”
Johnston, 65, won the world championship in ’86 and holds WSOP titles in limit hold’em, limit Omaha and (the one time it was played), “heads-up hold’em.” Wattel, 30, who’s played professionally pretty much all his adult life, has a bracelet in Omaha hi-lo.
Another veteran at the final table was Edwin Wyde, a building products salesman who won his razz bracelet in 1985. Wyde started with a chip lead of $54,100 with Wattel and Johnston not far behind in the $40,000 range.
Razz, or seven card low, is a somewhat mechanical game not quite as exciting as, say, watching paint dry. Still, it does take a considerable amount of skill to use position, represent hands and read other players. It also helps if one has the composure to deal with the frustrations of starting with great low cards, only to get paired and painted. And that’s where the imperturbable Berry Johnston leads the league.
Limits started at $2,000-$4,000 with $300 antes and a $600 high card bring-in. Mike Landers, who plays side action at the Bellagio, started with only $5,200 and went all in on the 11th hand. On sixth street he was drawing dead to a nine against Wattel’s eight.
Livening things up at the final table was the colorful and quirky Richard Schwartz, better known as C.K., or “Crazy Kid.” When he won a pot and another player predicted he might win the tournament, C.K. replied, “If I win $83,000, I’d have pay out $300,000. I’d have to leave the country.”
Andy Lake, an abstract artist/part-time tournament player, started with three baby cards and went all in for his last $1,500 on sixth street showing A-8-7-5. He ended up with a 7-6. Wattel, with a board of 4-A-10-8, turned up 2-5-7 to knock Landers out of action with a 7-5. Right after limits rose to $3,000 and $6,000, Wyde’s stacks rose when he made a 6-4 to beat Wattel’s 7-6 and win a $43,000 pot, probably the largest one thus far.
C.K. eliminated Andrew Bloch, an attorney making his second final table appearance at WSOP 2001. Bloch had to go all in with his last $500 after catching a jack on fifth street and couldn’t beat C.K.’s 10-9. Later, C.K. himself went all in for $1,900 on third street. “I can’t win in a million years,” he said, when he had K-10/4-4-9 against Wattel’s Q-3/6-10-2. But then he exclaimed “Yes!” when he caught a 3-7 for a 10-low while Wattel was dealt a jack and a paired six for a jack-low. C.K then made another all-in escape with a nine against Wyde. It was Wattel’s turn next to commit all his chips, but, starting with A-3/8, he easily overcame Wyde with an 8-7.
The table quieted down some when Negreanu, starting with 9-4/A, made a nine. C.K., dealt 10-5/8, went all in, caught a couple of kings and threw his hand in without showing.
Negreanu, playing his first razz tournament ever, had a tough decision when Johnston, with a daunting 3-2-A-5, bet enough to put him all in. After long thought, Daniel, with 6-2-9-2, gave it up and saved his last $4,800.
As limits went to $6,000-$12,000, Wyde began complaining that he had started with a king “80 to 90 percent” of the time (perhaps a slight exaggeration) since the tournament began. “King!” he began calling, hoping to apply reverse psychology. It must have worked, because he was immediately dealt 4-2/A. Negreanu, starting with 8-6/9, put in his last $9,000. He ended up in fourth place after he caught a pair of fours and a ten while the joyful Wyde made a wheel and then led the spectators in applause.
Wyde later got crippled by Wattel. On sixth street, Wattel check-raised to $24,000 showing 5-4-10-7. “I hate to fold,” said Wyde, drawing to an eight. He went for it and made his hand. But Wyde was drawing dead because Mike already had a seven. Mike bet blind and got one final bet out of Ed. Johnston then finished him off. Wyde needed an ace on the river to tie Berry’s 8-5-5-3-A, but paired a nine and departed.
Heads-up, Wattel had a chip lead of $155,000 to $61,000. Limits then went to $6,000 and $12,000 with antes of $1,000 and a $2,000 bring-in. The match-up would take more than two hours. Johnston began chipping away, taking a succession of small pots and eventually pulling even. But then a new dealer came in and sent Wattel on a small streak, driving Berry down to about $50,000. “You’re the greatest,” Berry said mildly when the dealer finally dealt him a small winner.
Berry hung on. Limits went to $10,000-$20,000 and suddenly there was a big shift in chip position when Berry made an 8-5 and Mike, an 8-6. Mike, annoyed with his cards, couldn’t recover after that. Almost down to the cloth, he made a last desperate call with junk cards. Berry made a queen, but Mike, with jacks and sevens, endured a final indignity by making jacks full on the river. Mr. Nice Guy may say he’s second-best, but he’s the one who got the top prize and the bracelet.
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