BINION'S HORSESHOE -- LAS VEGAS, NEVADA
PRESS RELEASE
May 1, 2003
WORLD SERIES OF POKER
BINION'S HORSESHOE -- DOWNTOWN LAS VEGAS
EVENT #16
$1,500 Limit Omaha (High)
Numer of Entries: 120
Total Prize Pool: $167,400
Official Results:
1. Eddy Scharf Cologne, Germany $63,600
2. Dave Colclough Birmingham, England 31,900
3. Phil Hellmuth, Jr. Palo Alto, CA 15,800
4. Men "the Master" Nguyen Bell Gardens, CA 10,000
5. Steve Zolotow Las Vegas, NV 6,700
6. Dr. Bruce Van Horn Ada, OK 5,900
7. Tony Cousineau Daytona Beach, FL 5,000
8. Dan Nissanoff New York, NY 4,200
9. Sandy Blecker New York, NY 3,300
10. Larry Hughes Las Vegas, NV 2,700
11. Frank Schend Solvang, CA 2,700
12. Chris "Jesus" Ferguson Pac. Palisades, CA 2,700
13. Ken "Skyhawk" Flaton Henderson, NV 2,300
14. Tom McEvoy Las Vegas, NV 2,300
15. Brad Peeples Coffeeville, MS 2,300
16. Michael Jacobs Los Angeles, CA 2,000
17. Jeff Duvall Surrey, England 2,000
18. Brent Carter Oak Park, IL 2,000
Lufthansa Airline Pilot Jets Away With
Victory in $1,500 Buy-in Omaha (High) Event
The World Series means a lot to me. For those who say it's just like any other tournament, I say -- 'well go ahead and try to win one.'
-- Eddy Scharf (after winning his second gold bracelet)
For the second time in three years, Eddy Scharf, from Cologne, Germany, took first place in the $1,500 Buy-in Omaha (High) event. The Lufthansa airline pilot won this same event in 2001, and with this year's victory, he became the only German national to ever win two World Series of Poker championships. Scharf, age 49, collected $63,600 and the coveted gold bracelet for his first place finish.
Little did Scharf know how close he would be to hitting the ejection seat. At one point at the final table, Scharf was down to just $2,500 (less than 2 percent of the total chips in play). His departure appeared to be a foregone conclusion. But in Omaha (High) anything is possible, including what would eventually become the biggest comeback at this year's tournament, so far to date.
"The first time you win, people may say it was just a fluke. After all, anybody can win one," said Scharf. "But the second one -- especially in this field, like with Hellmuth wanting to win his eighth gold bracelet -- is very satisfying to me."
Larry Hughes was the first player to go out, followed by Sandy Blecker and Dan Nissanoff. Florida poker pro Tony Cousineau has cashed in many poker events (his record for getting into the money is phenomenal), but once again crashed and burned just short of the victory. Dr. Bruce Van Horn was next to go out, as the runner-up in the 1996 world championship was never able to accumulate enough chips to be a force at the final table.
Steve Zolotow was making his second final table appearance, and again went out just shy of the top spot. The "Z" man took 5th place. That left the final four players -- with Men "the Master" Nguyen holding the chip lead.
Interestingly, just one week earlier at this same final table, Men the Master had a nearly identical chip lead in the tournament and was dominating play at the final table -- before eventually collapsing to Erik Seidel. This time, 1989 world champion Phil Hellmuth seemed to post the biggest threat to Men's position. Men the Master was prepared not to let history repeat itself.
But Omaha can be a cruel game sometimes. While Men's move up the prize ladder is commendable (he came into day two with only $8,800 and ran his chip count up to over $50,000 at one point), Nguyen's fourth-place showing had to be a big disappointment.
Shortly thereafter, Phil Hellmuth would join Men the Master on the rail. Hellmuth was poised to shoot for and claim his record-tying ninth gold bracelet. But just as it appeared he might make a run at the title, he would suffer a loss which would impede his ability to run over the table. Ultimately, Hellmuth could manage no better than a third-place showing, certainly a disappointment to the former champ who came into the final table as chip leader and with such high hopes.
That left an Englishman and German to fight it out of the Omaha championship. This time, the "Battle of Britain" would be won by the air pilot, who gradually wore down his opponent with a series of big hands. Dave Colclough, from Birmingham, England, ultimately saw his stacks of chips crumble to just $10K and he was forced to commit his last chips on the final hand of the night.
Colclough was dealt Q-J-J-5 versus Scharf's A-6-6-2 (with two hearts). When the flop came 7-6-6, that not only gave Scharf trip-sixes, it also gave him a flush draw. When a heart fell on the turn, Colclough had no outs and was drawing dead. Scharf was declared the winner as the two tough foes shook hands. To his credit, Colclough has an impressive 31 in-the-money finishes on the European Poker Tour this year, and is currently ranked number one in the Euro-rankings for 2003. Certainly, the second-place showing in this event will not hurt his position, not his reputation as a fierce competitor at the poker table.
At the conclusion of the tournament, Eddy Scharf reflected back on his poker background and experience. "I first started playing poker (25 years ago) when I was in flying school in Arizona," Scharf said. "I used to come and visit Las Vegas. I thought poker was a game of luck until I started coming here and seeing the same players winning most of the time. That's when I decided to take up poker, because you can beat it if you are good enough."
Scharf also talked about his success in Omaha (High) tournaments. "In Omaha, almost any hand is not that big of an underdog (compared to hold'em or stud, for instance). If you re first to act, you definitely have an advantage. Men the Master and Phil were both raising a lot early on. I didn't do that much raising at the start, but I started to get more aggressive when I got a hold of some chips."
One of the key hands of the tournament occurred during four-handed play when Hellmuth made a raise with a straight draw, causing Men the Master to fold what would have been the winning hand. When Hellmuth missed his draw, Scharf raked in all the chips, which completely shifted the momentum of the final table.
"I only had one-and-a-half bets left on that hand when Phil raised. He wanted to get me all in and isolate me with the raise (which worked). Men was fooled and folded his hand. I ended up missing my hand but still won anyway because Phil missed his hand and I had the higher cards. That was a big hand for me."
"I'm pretty good at playing a short stack," Scharf concluded. "Of course, you have to get lucky at some point in the tournament to win it, but I never gave up, and in the end that paid off for me."
-- by Nolan Dalla
PRESS RELEASE
May 1, 2003
WORLD SERIES OF POKER
BINION'S HORSESHOE -- DOWNTOWN LAS VEGAS
EVENT #16
$1,500 Limit Omaha (High)
Numer of Entries: 120
Total Prize Pool: $167,400
Official Results:
1. Eddy Scharf Cologne, Germany $63,600
2. Dave Colclough Birmingham, England 31,900
3. Phil Hellmuth, Jr. Palo Alto, CA 15,800
4. Men "the Master" Nguyen Bell Gardens, CA 10,000
5. Steve Zolotow Las Vegas, NV 6,700
6. Dr. Bruce Van Horn Ada, OK 5,900
7. Tony Cousineau Daytona Beach, FL 5,000
8. Dan Nissanoff New York, NY 4,200
9. Sandy Blecker New York, NY 3,300
10. Larry Hughes Las Vegas, NV 2,700
11. Frank Schend Solvang, CA 2,700
12. Chris "Jesus" Ferguson Pac. Palisades, CA 2,700
13. Ken "Skyhawk" Flaton Henderson, NV 2,300
14. Tom McEvoy Las Vegas, NV 2,300
15. Brad Peeples Coffeeville, MS 2,300
16. Michael Jacobs Los Angeles, CA 2,000
17. Jeff Duvall Surrey, England 2,000
18. Brent Carter Oak Park, IL 2,000
Lufthansa Airline Pilot Jets Away With
Victory in $1,500 Buy-in Omaha (High) Event
The World Series means a lot to me. For those who say it's just like any other tournament, I say -- 'well go ahead and try to win one.'
-- Eddy Scharf (after winning his second gold bracelet)
For the second time in three years, Eddy Scharf, from Cologne, Germany, took first place in the $1,500 Buy-in Omaha (High) event. The Lufthansa airline pilot won this same event in 2001, and with this year's victory, he became the only German national to ever win two World Series of Poker championships. Scharf, age 49, collected $63,600 and the coveted gold bracelet for his first place finish.
Little did Scharf know how close he would be to hitting the ejection seat. At one point at the final table, Scharf was down to just $2,500 (less than 2 percent of the total chips in play). His departure appeared to be a foregone conclusion. But in Omaha (High) anything is possible, including what would eventually become the biggest comeback at this year's tournament, so far to date.
"The first time you win, people may say it was just a fluke. After all, anybody can win one," said Scharf. "But the second one -- especially in this field, like with Hellmuth wanting to win his eighth gold bracelet -- is very satisfying to me."
Larry Hughes was the first player to go out, followed by Sandy Blecker and Dan Nissanoff. Florida poker pro Tony Cousineau has cashed in many poker events (his record for getting into the money is phenomenal), but once again crashed and burned just short of the victory. Dr. Bruce Van Horn was next to go out, as the runner-up in the 1996 world championship was never able to accumulate enough chips to be a force at the final table.
Steve Zolotow was making his second final table appearance, and again went out just shy of the top spot. The "Z" man took 5th place. That left the final four players -- with Men "the Master" Nguyen holding the chip lead.
Interestingly, just one week earlier at this same final table, Men the Master had a nearly identical chip lead in the tournament and was dominating play at the final table -- before eventually collapsing to Erik Seidel. This time, 1989 world champion Phil Hellmuth seemed to post the biggest threat to Men's position. Men the Master was prepared not to let history repeat itself.
But Omaha can be a cruel game sometimes. While Men's move up the prize ladder is commendable (he came into day two with only $8,800 and ran his chip count up to over $50,000 at one point), Nguyen's fourth-place showing had to be a big disappointment.
Shortly thereafter, Phil Hellmuth would join Men the Master on the rail. Hellmuth was poised to shoot for and claim his record-tying ninth gold bracelet. But just as it appeared he might make a run at the title, he would suffer a loss which would impede his ability to run over the table. Ultimately, Hellmuth could manage no better than a third-place showing, certainly a disappointment to the former champ who came into the final table as chip leader and with such high hopes.
That left an Englishman and German to fight it out of the Omaha championship. This time, the "Battle of Britain" would be won by the air pilot, who gradually wore down his opponent with a series of big hands. Dave Colclough, from Birmingham, England, ultimately saw his stacks of chips crumble to just $10K and he was forced to commit his last chips on the final hand of the night.
Colclough was dealt Q-J-J-5 versus Scharf's A-6-6-2 (with two hearts). When the flop came 7-6-6, that not only gave Scharf trip-sixes, it also gave him a flush draw. When a heart fell on the turn, Colclough had no outs and was drawing dead. Scharf was declared the winner as the two tough foes shook hands. To his credit, Colclough has an impressive 31 in-the-money finishes on the European Poker Tour this year, and is currently ranked number one in the Euro-rankings for 2003. Certainly, the second-place showing in this event will not hurt his position, not his reputation as a fierce competitor at the poker table.
At the conclusion of the tournament, Eddy Scharf reflected back on his poker background and experience. "I first started playing poker (25 years ago) when I was in flying school in Arizona," Scharf said. "I used to come and visit Las Vegas. I thought poker was a game of luck until I started coming here and seeing the same players winning most of the time. That's when I decided to take up poker, because you can beat it if you are good enough."
Scharf also talked about his success in Omaha (High) tournaments. "In Omaha, almost any hand is not that big of an underdog (compared to hold'em or stud, for instance). If you re first to act, you definitely have an advantage. Men the Master and Phil were both raising a lot early on. I didn't do that much raising at the start, but I started to get more aggressive when I got a hold of some chips."
One of the key hands of the tournament occurred during four-handed play when Hellmuth made a raise with a straight draw, causing Men the Master to fold what would have been the winning hand. When Hellmuth missed his draw, Scharf raked in all the chips, which completely shifted the momentum of the final table.
"I only had one-and-a-half bets left on that hand when Phil raised. He wanted to get me all in and isolate me with the raise (which worked). Men was fooled and folded his hand. I ended up missing my hand but still won anyway because Phil missed his hand and I had the higher cards. That was a big hand for me."
"I'm pretty good at playing a short stack," Scharf concluded. "Of course, you have to get lucky at some point in the tournament to win it, but I never gave up, and in the end that paid off for me."
-- by Nolan Dalla
