WORLD SERIES OF POKER 2000
EVENT #22 TEXAS HOLD'EM (limit)
$5,000 BUY-IN
$5,000 in chips
RELENTLESS PRESSURE
By Mike Paulle
Our winner never let this table take a breath. Either he had an enormous
amount of good cards or the other players believed he did, because he came
out betting on almost every hand that he played. This shifted the pressure to
the other players, who were in the hand with him, to find something to call
with. Few could find that something.
There were 142 entrants in the $5,000 Limit Hold'em for a total prize pool of
$710,000. 2 tables were paid, a total of 18 players.
Kevin Song only had a few thousand left when he went all-in. Kevin mucked his
hand when Fred Brown showed him pocket Aces. We were done for Saturday night.
Coming back Sunday afternoon, Men 'The Master' Nguyen had a sizable chip
lead. A classic frontrunner, you don't often see Nguyen lose from this chip
position.
THE FINAL TABLE
23 mins left of 80. The blinds are $1,500/$3,000
| Player/Hometown | Chip Count |
| Seat 1: Harry Thomas (Hamilton, OH) | $57,000 |
| Seat 2: Men "The Master" Nguyen (Bell Gardens, CA) | $170,000 |
| Seat 3: Gus Echeverri (Miami, FL) | $36,000 |
| Seat 4: Jay Heimowitz (Bethel, NY) | $71,000 |
| Seat 5: Michael Danino (Las Vegas, NV) | $75,000 |
| Seat 6: Steve Zolotow (Las Vegas, NV) | $66,000 |
| Seat 7: Fred Brown (Howell, MI) | $121,000 |
| Seat 8: Melissa Hayden (Las Vegas, NV) | $35,000 |
| Seat 9: Hung La (Torrance, CA) | $64,000 |
You may have already noticed where Harry Thomas sat. "That was short and
sweet," Thomas said sarcastically. The one seat took another victim as Harry
flopped an underset with 3's to Men Nguyen's 9's. Set under set on the flop
is guaranteed to lose you a lot of money. When the board paired on the river,
Thomas had a worse full house. Ouch! All-in quickly with K 10, it was 'The
Master' who finished the job on Thomas with a Q J of Spades when a Jack
flopped.
Either stubbornness or a misread cost Hung La. La kept pounding Steve Zolotow
and Steve kept calling. There was an A 9 on board, La was Hung up on the
value of his A Q. For some reason he couldn't put Zolotow on A 9. That's what
Steve had and La had many fewer chips. Hung raised all-in a little later with
the J 9 of Hearts. Fred Brown had pocket 4's in the big blind that walked,
giving La a Hung over in 8th.
At every Final Table there are players who just go stone cold. They can't buy
a flop for any amount of money. Michael Danino was one of those players
today. He could never get past the turn. Someone would bet and he'd have to
fold, he couldn't even pick up a decent draw. After a couple of all-in
survivals, Michael was in the big blind all-in with top pair on the flop. His
9 3 of Spades was leading the small blind's Jay Heimowitz with a 10 7
offsuit. But as we were to see all afternoon, there were no cards that didn't
find Jay Heimowitz. Four Clubs came on board to send Danino out in 7th to a
Club flush.
His nickname may have to be changed after this World Series. 'Fast Freddy'
Brown made his second Final Table this year. In the first he was chip leader
and finish 6th. Today, he started 2nd in chips and finished 6th. Today Fred's
nickname could have been 'slow death.' Like Danino, Brown who was so hot the
night before was equally cold today. The 'Next-Day' Syndrome was in full
force. Normally Brown likes to play a lot of hands. He gets in there with
draws and makes them. There were no hands to play this afternoon, no draws to
make. Brown was practically blinded off. To his credit, Fred never whined or
steamed. He left quietly when his pocket 3's all-in were crushed by a typical
Jay Heimowitz flop. Jay had A Q, the flop came A K Q.
There is nothing more frustrating than losing to a perfect perfect four
flush. Gus Echeverri may have only had 2's, but he had the only pair. All-in
against Men Nguyen, Gus couldn't protect his hand. The board kept coming up
with Diamonds and more Diamonds. Not a man's best friend, that's a dog,
Echeverri left in 5th to Nguyen's Diamond flush and a Q 10 offsuit.
Noted more for his Hi-Lo and Lowball game, Steve Zolotow showed again that he
has all-around skills. With the chip lead briefly when he won a monster 7-way
pot with A Q, Zolotow then went on a downward spiral he couldn't pull out of.
Finally all-in with pocket 6's. Zolotow got 4th when Melissa Hayden made
Jacks full.
In that hand, Melissa's Jacks full, Men Nguyen flopped four Spades and an
overcard with the K 5 of Spades. Hayden flopped trip Jacks. In a dream
scenario for Hayden, Men kept reraising her raises with a draw to her made
hand. When Nguyen finally gave up, Melissa had most of his chips. She took
'The Master' out in 3rd when she flopped trip 4's with a K 4 to his A Q. The
stage was set for the heads up duel.
Reading is fundamental, and Melissa Hayden put a world-class read on this
table. Starting out 9th in chip count against a field of this quality, Hayden
made all the right moves to get into 2nd place. But head up, she was down
$500,000 to $200,000. Jay Heimowitz had four bracelet before today. He's one
of the best players ever to pick up paste boards. He also made a lot of
hands. This was Hayden's first cash in the World Series, she was always too
busy taking other player's picture to play herself. Truthfully she was never
close to Heimowitz. This was his day from the start. When Jay said, "I have a
flush." Melissa responded, "I'm drawing dead." On the last hand of the night,
Jay Heimowitz had the 8 7 of Spades and turned a flush. Melissa Hayden had
the Q 7 of Hearts and turned into a world-class poker player.
Official Money Winners
| 1. Jay Heimowitz | $284,000 |
| 2. Melissa Hayden | $142,000 |
| 3. Men "The Master" Nguyen | $71,000 |
| 4. Steve Zolotow | $42,600 |
| 5. Gustavo Echeverri | $31,950 |
| 6. Fred Brown | $24,850 |
| 7. Michael Danino | $17,750 |
| 8. Hung La | $14,200 |
| 9. Harry Thomas | $11,360 |
10th-12th received $8,520
Kevin Song, Tom McCormick and Jim 'Snake' Courtney
13th-15th received $7,810
Annie "Preggers Again" Duke, Scott Mayfield and Dan Heimiller
16th-18th received $7,100
Matthew Glantz, "Miami" John Cernuto and Jerri Thomas
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