WORLD SERIES OF POKER 2000
EVENT #4 OMAHA (limit)
$1,500 BUY-IN
$1,500 in chips
CHESS MASTER CHECKMATES FIELD
By Mike Paulle
It should be encouraging to all poker players everywhere that even at the
World Series you don't have to be experienced to win. Experience helps but
it's often not the deciding factor. What's usually more important here, like
at your local tournaments, is a late rush.
There were 143 entrants in the $1,500 Buy-In, Omaha for a total prize pool of
$214,500. 2tables were paid, a total of 18 players.
The Final Table was set when Thor Hansen flopped a set against Jerry Atkins
and rivered a higher straight.
Coming back Thursday afternoon, unlike yesterday, there were no decisive chip
leaders. Our winner could come from any of the nine players. Whoever got hot
could take the bracelet.
THE FINAL TABLE:
80 mins left of 80. The blinds are $800/$1,500
| Player/Hometown | Chip Count |
| Seat 1: Ivo Donev (Bregenz, Austria) | $28,000 |
| Seat 2: Ben Tang (Scottsdale, AZ) | $27,200 |
| Seat 3: Charlie Brahmi (Ventnor, NJ) | $34,600 |
| Seat 4: Hassan Igram (Reno, NV) | $13,800 |
| Seat 5: Mark Scott (Las Vegas, NV) | $13,900 |
| Seat 6: Barry Shulman (Las Vegas, NV) | $23,800 |
| Seat 7: Thor Hansen (Oslo, Norway) | $26,600 |
| Seat 8: Dan Heimiller (Tucson, AZ) | $25,800 |
| Seat 9: Martin Oliveras (Madison, NJ) | $20,900 |
It seems Dan Heimiller is experimenting with his Final Table strategy. He
certainly knows how to get here, now he wants to win more often. The player
with more WSOP cashes than anyone the last three years still can't find the
key to winning the big money here. Unable to win a hand, Dan tired a
desperation semi-bluff against Mark Scott that failed. Scott with K J flopped
Jacks. Not great, but enough to take the heat from Heimiller with only Ace
high and a low wrap. Heimiller's cards didn't come as he went all-in and
Scott's Jacks held up. Heimiller, in 9th, has yet another low finish at a
WSOP Final Table.
One of the hottest players in tournament poker is Card Player Magazine CEO
Barry Shulman. Today the heater wasn't working, however, as Shulman suffered
a horrendous beat from Ben Tang when Ben caught a gutshot straight on the
river to crack Barry's made hand. Now all-in with Jacks, Shulman was called
by Mark Scott in the small blind with pocket Kings. Shulman is 8th may want
to cancel a few player's subscriptions.
After getting healthy eliminating the first two players, Mark Scott seemed to
be on his way up the pay ladder. But Mark got tentative at the wrong time.
Twice in a brief period Scott couldn't bet the river when a made straight hit
the board. Neither time did the other player in the hand have a better
straight. In Omaha, unlike hold'em, the board doesn't play in that situation.
The best hand wins. One bet either time might have given Scott the chips he
needed to move up. Now all-in with A K, Scott left in 7th when Ben Tang
flopped the nuts with the A J of Diamonds.
"I showed 'em," Charlie Brahmi said. Not wanting to go to his casino box for
enough cash to buy into the event, Charlie Brahmi tried to borrow $70 from
some of his 'friends' in the high stakes games. Brahmi was offering 5% of
himself in return. After three refusals that stunned Charlie, someone came
across with the spare change and more than tripled their money on the
investment. "I predicted I'd make the final table," Charlie said.
Unpredictable, though, were how bad his cards were while here. The beginning
chip leader couldn't make a hand and went all-in with his last $1,000 on the
flop with an A Q high. Martin Oliveras had A K high which was a pimple too
good for Brahmi in 6th.
It wasn't Orange Juice, but the taste was bitter to Ben Tang. Ben was
cruising along until the nightmare hand in Omaha arrived. Tang flopped an
open-ended straight flush draw against Hassan Igram. Ben pounded the pot and
didn't get there, giving most of his chips to Hassan. Now all-in from the
button with A Q, Tang came in a watered down 5th when Thor Hansen made the
nut flush.
Playing brilliantly all day, Hassan Igram could never fully overcome his low
chip position at the start. Four handed, the blinds and a few unrealized
hands cost Igram his stack. Hassan raised all-in with Kings only to have Thor
Hansen showdown Aces again to give Igram 4th.
With three players left, Thor Hansen had a 2-1 chip lead on the other two.
They made him an offer he couldn't refuse, all the money for 1st place less
$17k. Thor's mother didn't raise no fool up there in Norway. With the money
gone, Ivo Donev (we thought his name was Donev Ivo until he corrected us)
went on a tidal wave rush to suck up every chip on the table. Ivo and Martin
Oliveras saved $40k each and it's speculated that the chess master loosened
up his play a little bit after the deal. Whatever the reason for the sea
change, Ivo Donev won nearly all the pots from the deal onward to checkmate
the field. Ivo's only been playing poker for two years after 20 as a chess
pro. He said in his wonderfully fractured English that he read books and
practiced on his computer to get better, so there is hope for the rest of us.
Our bracelet may be waiting.
Official Money Winners
| 1. Ivo Donev | $85,800 |
| 2. Thor Hansen | $42,900 |
| 3. Martin Oliveras | $21,450 |
| 4. Hassan Igram | $12,870 |
| 5. Ben Tang | $9,652 |
| 6. Charlie Brahmi | $7,510 |
| 7. Mark Scott | $7,510 |
| 8. Barry Shulman | $5,360 |
| 9. Dan Heimiller | $3,430 |
10th-12th received $2,575
Jerry Atkins, Richard Mills and An Tran
13th-15th received $2,360
Cissy Bottoms, Alex Ting and Michael Keiner
16th-18th received $2,145
Tommy Deloney, Jay Heimowitz and 'Syracuse' Chris Tsiprailidis
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