WORLD SERIES OF POKER
BINION'S HORSESHOE -- DOWNTOWN LAS VEGAS
EVENT #21
$2,500 Seven-Card Stud Eight-Or-Better
Numer of Entries: 140
Total Prize Pool: $325,500
Official Results:
1. John Juanda Marina Del Rey, CA $130,200
2. Sharam Sheikhan Las Vegas, NV 65,100
3. Ralph Perry Las Vegas, NV 32,540
4. Al Korson Albuquerque, NM 19,520
5. Jimmy Cha La Habra, CA 16,280
6. Huck Seed Las Vegas, NV 13,020
7. Dean Shulman Los Angeles, CA 9,760
8. Mel Juddah London, England 6,520
9. Larry St. Jean Salisbury Beach, MA 4,880
10. Doug Saab Trussville, AL 4,880
11. Andrew Kelsall Lutz, FL 4,880
12. Tom Savitsky Randolph, NJ 4,880
13. Benny Wan Alhambra, CA 3,260
14. David Halpern New Orleans, LA 3,260
15. Tianxiong Fu Cypress, CA 3,260
16. Gavin Smith Ontario, Canada 3,260
John Juanda: Nice Guys Finish First
John Juanda is the proverbial calm in the midst of any storm. Everyone?s favorite "Mr. Nice Guy," the modest, friendly, 31-year-old Indonesia native has always been an imperturbable model of decorum at the table. Now, with numerous tournament wins under his belt, the stock-trader/part-time player is under no financial pressure, has nothing to prove to anyone, and more so than ever, is very much in control of himself and his game. He proved that convincingly tonight as he steadily and surely came back from a serious deficit to win event #21 -- the $2,500 buy-in seven-card stud eight-or-better event.
Many observers expected Juanda, who started in a tie for the chip lead, to win the event. Juanda certainly did. When a friend called his cell phone moments after the match ended and asked if he had won, Juanda replied, ?What do you think??
This is bracelet number two for Juanda. His other major wins have included the Hall of Fame, Legends, California State Poker Championship and the Jack Binion World Poker Open championship event. Though a number of his titles have been in stud, he thinks that no-limit hold?em might be his best game.
The tournament had 140 entrants and a $325,500 prize pool. Second-day action got underway with $500 antes, a $1,000 low-card bring-in and $3,000-$6,000 limits. Starting with hand four, Huck Seed played five out of six hands, each time folding on fourth or fifth street and blowing off considerable chips in the process.
Larry St. Jean put in his last $5,000 with a 7-low and ace-high, losing when Ralph Perry made a 6-4 low and a pair of treys. The table now was down to the normal figure of eight for stud, and the final table was really, officially, underway.
Seed was the next player to go all in. He started with pocket jacks, made aces up, and then hit a spade flush on the river to scoop Judah, who started with split 7s and made a set. Perilously low, Judah went all in and got a split against Seed, making a low to Huck?s kings-up. On hand 22, Judah went all in again with Qc,7c,/3c and ended up with nada. Al Korson showed him 10s and 4s and the two-bracelet, millionaire?s club Londoner cashed out in eighth place for $6,520.
Only four hands later, another player was sent to the sidelines. Dean Shulman, making his third final table appearance, started with 5-8/4 in three-way action. He went all in on sixth street with a pair of deuces and one card short of a low. Seed, meanwhile, folded on the river showing 5-3-3-K, with only $3,000 left. Shulman missed his low and fell victim to Perry, who scooped with kings-up. Seventh place paid $9,760.
Seven-stud hi-lo can be an excruciatingly slow game, but this one was moving right along. By hand 30 the field was down to five. Seed had anted himself down to $1,000 and put it all in when a deuce made him the low-card bring-in. He had a buried 6-7 and caught a 4 on fifth street. But he missed his low while Juanda, starting with A-6/5, scooped with a paired ace. Huck got $13,020 for sixth place.
That was the third hand in a row for Juanda, and he now went on to win a total of six out of seven hands. They were all small pots, mostly picked up when he completed the bet and wasn?t called, but the chips began to add up. Another nine hands went by with almost no action. Then, on hand 44, Jimmy Jimmy made three 8s. But Juanda, showing four clubs on board, hit the ace of clubs on the river and now took undisputed possession of first place with more than $120,000.
Next, Jimmy Cha put his last chips in holding Q-2/A-5-2. He caught a queen for two pair, but it wasn?t good enough. Korson had 5-6/5-2-A, then caught another ace and a 5 to blow Cha away with 5s-full. Finishing 5th, the La Habra businessman cashed out for $16,280.
On hand 73, though, there was a big transfer of chips as Korson took a hit. The boards weren?t impressive, but a sizeable pot developed when the Sheik showed 5-Q-8-2 against Korson?s 8-10-6-4. Korson folded when the river was bet, and the Sheik took the lead again.
Korson dipped down to about 28k, then later recovered at Juanda?s expense. Juanda is a player who is willing to gamble if he feels he has even a small edge, and this frequently results in wider-than-average shift swings. That, apparently, is what happened on this hand. Korson raised with a door-card ace and Juanda re-raised with a 7. Then Juanda raised with a fourth-street queen and Korson re-raised with a 4. Juanda finally gave it up with Korson caught another ace on fifth street. Perry and Sheikhan now were tied with about $115,000 each, while Juanda was down to $69,000 and Korson had $50k.
But a couple of hands later, the Sheik started with buried aces and virtually buried Korson by catching a third bullet and scooping. Korson, showing K-10-2-J, mucked his hand. He was now down to only $3,500. Juanda finished him off on the next hand when he started with 2-3/K and made treys and deuces. Korson, starting with A-7/K, missed his inside straight draw and cashed out for $19,520 in fourth place.
The Sheik still held a big chip lead of about $155,000 to about $110,000 for Perry and $84,000 for Juanda. As Juanda proceeded to pick up some chips, the Sheik observed that he always seemed to get good cards. ?I have to,? Juanda explained. ?I don?t play as well as you do.? As another dozen or so hands went by, and Juanda kept inching up, he offered his opponent another explanation: ?You always call me with nothing.?
With the hand count past the 100 mark, it was close to a three-way tie, with each player in the $115K to $120K range. Some 20 hands later, when the players took a 10-minute break, it was even tighter, with $121,000 for Juanda, $119,000 for Sheikhan and $116,000 for Perry.
Returning to the table, the finalists were now playing for $1,000 antes, with a $2,000 bring-in and $6,000-$12,000 limits. A few hands later, things took a dramatic turn for the worse for Juanda. He started with kings against Sheikhan?s deuces, and got trounced with the Sheik made two pair. Juanda was now down to $60,000 to $190,000 for Sheikhan and $60,000 for Perry.
?He?.got lucky,? Juanda later analyzed. ?However, I was still comfortable because the limits were really small and there was lots of play left.? Proving his point, Juanda made a speedy recovery on hand 136. Starting with split 6s, he made jacks-up to edge Perry?s 9s-up and change the chip count dramatically:
Sheikhan $185,000
Juanda 115,000
Perry 51,000
Juanda continued to move up and by hand number 152, when he scooped Perry with just a pair of 6s, he had regained the chip lead again. A couple of hands later, Sheikhan made a somewhat questionable fold. Showing 7-5, Perry bet his last $4,000. The Sheik, with A-J on board, folded his tent. Perry then showed his 6-3 hole cards. He had a terrific starting hand, but still had only a 7-high to that point, and the Sheik had passed up a chance to bust him with a very small investment.
Perry managed to hang on for another 10 hands. Then, starting with A-5/3, he put his last $9,000 in on fifth street and could make nothing more than two 9s. Juanda began with a great low starter?6-7/5 and ended up making queens and 5s. Perry took home $32,540 for third place while Juanda increased his lead to $209,000 to $142,000 for the Sheik.
Three hands into the heads-up match, the Sheik began to get emotional. He won a hand, but got mad when, holding two aces, he neglected to bet sixth street or the river and missed a bet or two. He banged the table very hard, sending a chip flying, as Tournament Director Matt Savage gave him a sideways look meaning, ?That was close to a penalty.?
A few hands later, Sheikhan check-raised showing 3-7-K, but at the showdown couldn?t beat Juanda?s 10s and 5s. John now had regained the lead, and from then on it was a rout. Juanda won just about every hand as the Sheik kept folding in frustration. As Sheikhan folded yet again, on fifth street, Juanda flashed his hole cards to Savage. ?Now what?? the Sheik demanded. ?Just showing my hand to Matt,? Juanda said innocently.
THE FINAL HAND: By the time Juanda won yet again, this time with pocket aces, he had run his count to a bit over $300,000 against about $47,000 for Sheikhan. The next hand, number 183, ended it. Juanda showed 8-A-6-K and three spades. Sheikhan had 2-4-A-6 and three diamonds. Juanda bet the river, and Sheikhan had exactly enough to call: $12,000. John turned up 2-3-8 and two spades for a flush and 8-6 low. The Sheik, missing his low draw and possibly a flush draw as well, simply mucked his hand, and the match was over.
-- by Max Shapirio and Nolan Dalla
BINION'S HORSESHOE -- DOWNTOWN LAS VEGAS
EVENT #21
$2,500 Seven-Card Stud Eight-Or-Better
Numer of Entries: 140
Total Prize Pool: $325,500
Official Results:
1. John Juanda Marina Del Rey, CA $130,200
2. Sharam Sheikhan Las Vegas, NV 65,100
3. Ralph Perry Las Vegas, NV 32,540
4. Al Korson Albuquerque, NM 19,520
5. Jimmy Cha La Habra, CA 16,280
6. Huck Seed Las Vegas, NV 13,020
7. Dean Shulman Los Angeles, CA 9,760
8. Mel Juddah London, England 6,520
9. Larry St. Jean Salisbury Beach, MA 4,880
10. Doug Saab Trussville, AL 4,880
11. Andrew Kelsall Lutz, FL 4,880
12. Tom Savitsky Randolph, NJ 4,880
13. Benny Wan Alhambra, CA 3,260
14. David Halpern New Orleans, LA 3,260
15. Tianxiong Fu Cypress, CA 3,260
16. Gavin Smith Ontario, Canada 3,260
John Juanda: Nice Guys Finish First
John Juanda is the proverbial calm in the midst of any storm. Everyone?s favorite "Mr. Nice Guy," the modest, friendly, 31-year-old Indonesia native has always been an imperturbable model of decorum at the table. Now, with numerous tournament wins under his belt, the stock-trader/part-time player is under no financial pressure, has nothing to prove to anyone, and more so than ever, is very much in control of himself and his game. He proved that convincingly tonight as he steadily and surely came back from a serious deficit to win event #21 -- the $2,500 buy-in seven-card stud eight-or-better event.
Many observers expected Juanda, who started in a tie for the chip lead, to win the event. Juanda certainly did. When a friend called his cell phone moments after the match ended and asked if he had won, Juanda replied, ?What do you think??
This is bracelet number two for Juanda. His other major wins have included the Hall of Fame, Legends, California State Poker Championship and the Jack Binion World Poker Open championship event. Though a number of his titles have been in stud, he thinks that no-limit hold?em might be his best game.
The tournament had 140 entrants and a $325,500 prize pool. Second-day action got underway with $500 antes, a $1,000 low-card bring-in and $3,000-$6,000 limits. Starting with hand four, Huck Seed played five out of six hands, each time folding on fourth or fifth street and blowing off considerable chips in the process.
Larry St. Jean put in his last $5,000 with a 7-low and ace-high, losing when Ralph Perry made a 6-4 low and a pair of treys. The table now was down to the normal figure of eight for stud, and the final table was really, officially, underway.
Seed was the next player to go all in. He started with pocket jacks, made aces up, and then hit a spade flush on the river to scoop Judah, who started with split 7s and made a set. Perilously low, Judah went all in and got a split against Seed, making a low to Huck?s kings-up. On hand 22, Judah went all in again with Qc,7c,/3c and ended up with nada. Al Korson showed him 10s and 4s and the two-bracelet, millionaire?s club Londoner cashed out in eighth place for $6,520.
Only four hands later, another player was sent to the sidelines. Dean Shulman, making his third final table appearance, started with 5-8/4 in three-way action. He went all in on sixth street with a pair of deuces and one card short of a low. Seed, meanwhile, folded on the river showing 5-3-3-K, with only $3,000 left. Shulman missed his low and fell victim to Perry, who scooped with kings-up. Seventh place paid $9,760.
Seven-stud hi-lo can be an excruciatingly slow game, but this one was moving right along. By hand 30 the field was down to five. Seed had anted himself down to $1,000 and put it all in when a deuce made him the low-card bring-in. He had a buried 6-7 and caught a 4 on fifth street. But he missed his low while Juanda, starting with A-6/5, scooped with a paired ace. Huck got $13,020 for sixth place.
That was the third hand in a row for Juanda, and he now went on to win a total of six out of seven hands. They were all small pots, mostly picked up when he completed the bet and wasn?t called, but the chips began to add up. Another nine hands went by with almost no action. Then, on hand 44, Jimmy Jimmy made three 8s. But Juanda, showing four clubs on board, hit the ace of clubs on the river and now took undisputed possession of first place with more than $120,000.
Next, Jimmy Cha put his last chips in holding Q-2/A-5-2. He caught a queen for two pair, but it wasn?t good enough. Korson had 5-6/5-2-A, then caught another ace and a 5 to blow Cha away with 5s-full. Finishing 5th, the La Habra businessman cashed out for $16,280.
On hand 73, though, there was a big transfer of chips as Korson took a hit. The boards weren?t impressive, but a sizeable pot developed when the Sheik showed 5-Q-8-2 against Korson?s 8-10-6-4. Korson folded when the river was bet, and the Sheik took the lead again.
Korson dipped down to about 28k, then later recovered at Juanda?s expense. Juanda is a player who is willing to gamble if he feels he has even a small edge, and this frequently results in wider-than-average shift swings. That, apparently, is what happened on this hand. Korson raised with a door-card ace and Juanda re-raised with a 7. Then Juanda raised with a fourth-street queen and Korson re-raised with a 4. Juanda finally gave it up with Korson caught another ace on fifth street. Perry and Sheikhan now were tied with about $115,000 each, while Juanda was down to $69,000 and Korson had $50k.
But a couple of hands later, the Sheik started with buried aces and virtually buried Korson by catching a third bullet and scooping. Korson, showing K-10-2-J, mucked his hand. He was now down to only $3,500. Juanda finished him off on the next hand when he started with 2-3/K and made treys and deuces. Korson, starting with A-7/K, missed his inside straight draw and cashed out for $19,520 in fourth place.
The Sheik still held a big chip lead of about $155,000 to about $110,000 for Perry and $84,000 for Juanda. As Juanda proceeded to pick up some chips, the Sheik observed that he always seemed to get good cards. ?I have to,? Juanda explained. ?I don?t play as well as you do.? As another dozen or so hands went by, and Juanda kept inching up, he offered his opponent another explanation: ?You always call me with nothing.?
With the hand count past the 100 mark, it was close to a three-way tie, with each player in the $115K to $120K range. Some 20 hands later, when the players took a 10-minute break, it was even tighter, with $121,000 for Juanda, $119,000 for Sheikhan and $116,000 for Perry.
Returning to the table, the finalists were now playing for $1,000 antes, with a $2,000 bring-in and $6,000-$12,000 limits. A few hands later, things took a dramatic turn for the worse for Juanda. He started with kings against Sheikhan?s deuces, and got trounced with the Sheik made two pair. Juanda was now down to $60,000 to $190,000 for Sheikhan and $60,000 for Perry.
?He?.got lucky,? Juanda later analyzed. ?However, I was still comfortable because the limits were really small and there was lots of play left.? Proving his point, Juanda made a speedy recovery on hand 136. Starting with split 6s, he made jacks-up to edge Perry?s 9s-up and change the chip count dramatically:
Sheikhan $185,000
Juanda 115,000
Perry 51,000
Juanda continued to move up and by hand number 152, when he scooped Perry with just a pair of 6s, he had regained the chip lead again. A couple of hands later, Sheikhan made a somewhat questionable fold. Showing 7-5, Perry bet his last $4,000. The Sheik, with A-J on board, folded his tent. Perry then showed his 6-3 hole cards. He had a terrific starting hand, but still had only a 7-high to that point, and the Sheik had passed up a chance to bust him with a very small investment.
Perry managed to hang on for another 10 hands. Then, starting with A-5/3, he put his last $9,000 in on fifth street and could make nothing more than two 9s. Juanda began with a great low starter?6-7/5 and ended up making queens and 5s. Perry took home $32,540 for third place while Juanda increased his lead to $209,000 to $142,000 for the Sheik.
Three hands into the heads-up match, the Sheik began to get emotional. He won a hand, but got mad when, holding two aces, he neglected to bet sixth street or the river and missed a bet or two. He banged the table very hard, sending a chip flying, as Tournament Director Matt Savage gave him a sideways look meaning, ?That was close to a penalty.?
A few hands later, Sheikhan check-raised showing 3-7-K, but at the showdown couldn?t beat Juanda?s 10s and 5s. John now had regained the lead, and from then on it was a rout. Juanda won just about every hand as the Sheik kept folding in frustration. As Sheikhan folded yet again, on fifth street, Juanda flashed his hole cards to Savage. ?Now what?? the Sheik demanded. ?Just showing my hand to Matt,? Juanda said innocently.
THE FINAL HAND: By the time Juanda won yet again, this time with pocket aces, he had run his count to a bit over $300,000 against about $47,000 for Sheikhan. The next hand, number 183, ended it. Juanda showed 8-A-6-K and three spades. Sheikhan had 2-4-A-6 and three diamonds. Juanda bet the river, and Sheikhan had exactly enough to call: $12,000. John turned up 2-3-8 and two spades for a flush and 8-6 low. The Sheik, missing his low draw and possibly a flush draw as well, simply mucked his hand, and the match was over.
-- by Max Shapirio and Nolan Dalla
