Karambinis Poker

IF I WERE A RICH MAN...

The Championship Event buy-in is $10,000. Win or lose,that's all it costs. The $5,000 Deuce-to-Seven Event, withunlimited re-buys can cost $20,000 and more.

The Championship event is about pride. The Deuce-to-Seven isabout ego.

No-Limit Draw, with No-Limit Egos.

At $5,000 a re-buy, It's Bankroll Chicken, Baby. BUY ABRACELET TIME.

CHEAP AT HALF THE PRICE

With only 26 entries, making the Final Table isn't enough toget you your money back. You have to finish fifth or betterto get into the money. If you've had two or more re-buys,even fifth place won't get you unstuck.

Defending champ, Johnny Chan reaches his re-buy limit andleaves the game early.

With 19 players left, Doyle Brunson, John Bonetti, PhilHellmuth, Ted Forrest and Mickey Appelman have above averagestacks.

David Grey, Steve Zolotow, Wil Wilkinson, Chris Bjorin andBruce Kuhlman have below average stacks.

Erik Seidel, Howard Lederer, Lyle Berman, Danny Dang, BarryGreenstein, Jim Bechtel, Bob Stupak and Roy Thung are all inthe middle. The re-buy period is over.

With two tables left, Phil Hellmuth has taken some hits, ashas Mickey Appelman. David Grey found some chips, as has WilWilkinson and Erik Seidel.

Soon, Dang, Zolotow, Bechtel, Bonetti, Appelman, Bjorin,Greenstein and Kuhlman are gone.

We are down to 10.

From all reports, Lyle Berman is easily the richest of theplayers. He has a, presumably fake, gold ingot that he setshis chips on. On it is inscribed the words 'Life is good.'Indeed.

In the game of 'Bankroll Chicken', Lyle Berman is FrankPerdue. But that couldn't help Berman today, he finished10th.

Howard Lederer, Annie Duke's older brother, finished 9th,which was one off the Final Table, but well out of themoney.

Prize Money

Six minutes into the Final Table, Bob Stupak has a run-inwith David Grey. Bob goes all-in with a one card draw to asix. David calls and draws one to a seven. Bob catches anAce, and is sent packing by David who draws a ten.

Eleven minutes later, Phil Helmuth goes all-in, in earlyposition with about $10,000 to go, and after there were nocallers for Erik Seidel's re-raise, they both stood pat.Erik had a better Jack, and Phil was out, in 7th place.

Ted Forrest can't see the money for the trees. He's leadingin the 'Close But No Cigar' category for this year's WorldSeries.

In a hand that Forrest probably still can't believe, ErikSeidel called Ted's all-in bet and took 3 cards!!! Ted, wholet us all see his cards, including Erik Seidel who camearound the table to look, had A 10 10 9 5. Remember an Aceis the worst card in Deuce-to-Seven, as it is high only.

Forrest threw away the Ace and one of the 10's. ErikSeidel's draw came 2 5 6 to give him an 8 6. Forrest wasdrawing dead with 10 9 8 5, when a second 8 came. Withoutknowing how many re-buys Ted Forrest made, we do know heplayed for over ten hours, and paid at least $5,000 for theprivilege of finishing one out of the money in 6th..

MONEY, IT'S A GAS

Roy Thung went all-in with a 10 7, taking one card. DoyleBrunson called and took two. Now it was Roy who was drawingdead. Doyle caught a 9 8. Thung was 5th.

David Grey, who had been so hot before the Final Table, wasso not, at it. Finally, his 10 8 lost to Wil Wilkinson's 9 7and David was a Grey 4th.

Doyle Brunson has been a dominant player in every Event he'splayed in, except the first one. Already with a 1st, 2nd and10th, Doyle fights to the last. He caught a 10 on his drawto lose to Erik Seidel's made 9. Brunson now has a 3rd to gowith his other finishes.

Wil Wilkinson started the heads up play with a $165,000 to$130,000 lead over Erik Seidel. At first Seidel controlledthe play, then Wilkinson fought back to even. That was Wil'slast gasp. Seidel ran Wilkinson into the felt. Once having abetter Jack, and then winning a large pot with a pair of 3'sover Wilkinson's pair of 7's.

Seidel built up a 5/1 chip lead, and on the final hand,Wilkinson called Seidel's button raise with his last chips,and then rapped pat. Seidel stayed pat also, and his Jacklow beat Wilkinson's Queen low, for the title.

In an ego driven Event, one of the seemingly most humblesuperstars in this business - Erik Seidel - took home theshekels and the bracelet.

$5,000 No Limit Deuce to Seven
26 Entries - 33 Re-buys
$295,000 Prize Pool

(Patty Hughes and Rudy Lotief)

The No-Limit Super Satellites start each evening at 8:40 PMin the Satellite area. The Entry Fee is $220 for $200 inTournament chips and there are unlimited $200 re-buys duringthe first hour, if you have less than $200 in Tournamentchips. You may also make a single or double add-on at theend of the re-buy period. Blinds start at $5/$10 andincrease every 20 minutes. Available monies will beconverted into non-negotiable, non-transferable,non-refundable seats in the $10,000 World Championshipevent, with at least $5,000 in cash and $500 Lammers beingdivided among the final table players.

(Becky Kerber, Barbara Lotief and Terry Vanderlip)

Single Table Satellites are run continuously 21 hours everyday (8:00 AM until 5:00 AM) and usually last around 90minutes. There are featured Satellites each day for the nextday's event, as well as other Satellites depending ondemand. Single Table Satellites for the $10,000 Main eventand for the next no-limit Holdem event are spreadfrequently. Binion's charges $10 per player in a Satellite.

For the $320 buy-in No Limit Holdem Satellites, ten Playersstart with $1,200 each in chips. The blinds start at$10/$25, increase every 15 minutes, and the winner gets six$500 Lammers plus $100 in cash.

For the $1,010 buy-in Single Table $10,000 Satellites, tenplayers start with $4,000 each in chips. The blinds start at$25/50 and increase every 20 minutes. The winner gets anon-transferrable seat in the Championship Event.

The Temperature sign atop Binion's Horseshoe read 71 degreesat 3:00 PM on Wednesday afternoon. The sky was partlycloudy, sunny, blue and clear. The wind was out of the SW at15mph, gusting to 25mph most of the day.

Erik Seidel eventually earned the bounty.

First 16 Events: $7,076,000 (1998) vs $7,393,000 (1997)

It is not likely that a Deal was made in today's $5000No Limit Deuce to Seven Event.

Formal, official Deals at the WSOP are done in private,under the supervision and guidance of Jack McClelland, WSOPTournament Co-ordinator. Deals represent a reallocation, orsplit of the announced remaining prize pool, that isagreeable to all remaining players. All remaining players donot have to participate in an official Deal, as long as allremaining players give their consent.

All pay outs by Binion's, and the tax reporting will reflectthe Deal allocation, but press releases and official WSOPearnings reflect the scheduled, announced pay outs.

Jack McClelland tries to immediately squelch any 'Dealtalking' in the Final Table area, and will stop the playingclock and allow a 'Deal break' at any time.

A normal Deal will probably allocate the bulk of theremaining prize pool equally (or unequally, relative to chipcount, perceived ability, bargaining skills etc.) betweenthe remaining participants, with a small portion (perhaps 10% or so) and the Title going to the eventual winner. Somedeals may earmark some of the un allocated portion to theeventual second or third place finisher, in addition to theallocation for the first place money.

Binion's attempts to prevent private Deals, which areunenforceable and may present tax complications, by theparticipants. Binion's probably would prefer a Deal freeenvironment all together, but recognizes that a top heavypay out structure is conducive to Deals, and has arrived atthe current procedure as the best solution.

Any player abusing employees or other players, eitherverbally or physically (swearing, throwing cards, etc.) ordisrupting the tournament will be penalized. The followingwill be the MINIMUM penalty imposed:

FIRST OFFENSE - 20 minutes away from the table.(Blinds and/or antes to be forfeited)
SECOND OFFENSE - 40 minutes away from the table.
THIRD OFFENSE - Disqualification

The WSOP Floorpeople will be strictly enforcing the rules,with zero tolerance. Every player starts each Event with aclean slate as far as penalties are concerned.

SCOREBOARD

Jack McClelland is assisted by Steve Morrow and JeffVanderlip as Assistant Tournament Coordinators.

The 1998 WSOP continues the two-day format that wasinaugurated last year, for most of the tournaments. Also,all two-day events start one level lower than in past years,and each level at the Final Table has been lengthened from60 minutes to 80 minutes. Limit Holdem and Omaha events havetwo new levels of betting. First day play continues untilthe field is reduced to the Final Table, and Final Tableplay begins at 4:00 PM on the second day.

In addition to the money and a gold bracelet, each winner ofa 1998 WSOP Event will get free rooms at next year's WSOP.If you win more than one Event, you can roll subsequenthotel accommodations over to later years.

The extra betting levels added to this year's WSOP Events,and the longer duration of levels at the Final Table,'promised increased playability and a higher expected returnfor the skilled player.'

If 'skilled player' equates to well known 'world classplayer', then the the higher expected return for the skilledplayer has not been happening.

Except for a few scattered exceptions, the 1998 WSOP hasbeen dominated by lesser lights and relatively unknownplayers.

Shift Supervisors Jimmy Stefan, John Buchanan, Tony Sheltonand Cathy Wood run the Poker room where the lower limitgames are played.

Games being spread on 30 April:

Shift Supervisors John 'Scoff' Sheffield, Kathy Hudson andMarshall Kassoff run the higher limit games on the south endof the Tournament Pavilion.

Games being spread on 30 April:

Updated Through 8:00 PM Wednesday 6 MAY 1988

Alphabetized:

'Amazon' Erik Alps
Greg Alston
Derei Asher
Louis Asmo
Don Barton
Joe Baumgartner
Jim Bayton
Jim Bechtel
John Bonetti
Peter Brehm
Jim Brown
Debbie Burkhead
Brent Carter
'Miami' John Cernuto
Allen Cunningham
Cliff Davis
Gus Echeverri
Barbara Enright
Super Mario Esquerra
Azima Fariborz
Chris 'Jesus' Ferguson
Roy Flowerday
Jack Fox
Bill Gazes
John Gledhill
John Gordon
Scott Gray
Jack Green
Thor Hansen
Richard Harroch
Gary Haubelt
Pete Haugan
John Heaney
Frank Hernandez
Paul Hoenke
Randy Holland
Don Holt
Paul Honas
Ralph Hoots
Kent Hori
LA Hung
Susie Isaacs
Casey Kastle
Steve Kaufman
'Q' Knopow
John Juanda
Jim Karambinis
Bob Karp
Michael Konik
Brian Kruger
Paul Ladanyi
Frank Landen
Tony Lantz
Howard Lederer
Matt Lefkowitz
Gary Lent
Bill Lester
Andy Lin
Bob Loar
R. London
O'Neil Longson
Hans 'Tuna' Lund
Jan Lundberg
Hieu Ma
Milt Meyers
R.W. Miller
John Morgan
Mark Napolitano
Men Nguyen
Michael Pancer
J.C. Pearson
Robert Perry
Flan 'Irish Mike' Pilkington
Amarillo 'Slim' Preston
John Richman
Blair Rodman
Lucy Rokach
Dana Ronaco
Mark Rose
David Rubin
Steve Rydel
Luis Santoni
Larry Satterwhite
Huck Seed
Erik Seidel
Doug Segers
H.R. Smith
Kevin Song
John Spadaveccia
William Strother
David Tagg
Nhut Tran
Chris Tsiprailidis
Greg Turk
Peter Vilandos
Marsha Waggoner
Bob Walker
Charles Watkins
Lee Watkinson
David Welch
Justin Westmoreland
Frank Wong
Bruce Yamron
Rick Young

Overcoming one of the most elite fields in poker, EricSeidel captured the $5,000 Deuce to Seven Draw event to winhis fourth World Series gold bracelet. The late-nightvictory for the 38 year-old onetime top backgammon playerand Wall Street options trader propelled him from 16th to12th place on the Top Money Winners list, with earnings of$1,248,586, just $96 short of John Bonetti in 11th place.

'I never expected to win, not at all,' Seidel said. 'I feelthis event has the strongest players, so it takes a lot ofluck to get through the field. Tonight I got there when Ineeded to, hitting a number of draws while my opponentsdidn't hit theirs in many cases.'

This was Seidel's 13th final table and 18th money finish atthe World Series; he was runner-up to Johnny Chan in the1988 Championship event. He said tonight, 'I'm very happyabout my World Series record.'

Seidel claimed the title after a 90-minute heads-up contestwith Wil Wilkinson who started with a $165,000 to $130,000chip advantage. That position changed radically in a keyhand 24 minutes into the fray when Wilkinson drew one cardin a large pot and bet $30,000 while Seidel, who drew two,called with 10-7-6-4-3. Wilkinson, with 2-3-4-7, had paired.Although Wilkinson nearly got even when, with K-J-10-4-2, hecalled a $25,000 bluffing bet by Seidel, it was never closeafter that. Wilkinson was mortally crippled in a raised potwhen both took two cards and Seidel showed down J-8-7-6-4,nipping J-9-6-5-2. In the final hand, with both playersstanding pat, Seidel took the title with J-9-5-3-2 againstWilkinson's Q-10-9-8-6.

'I feel like I was lucky to get here and I'd have liked tobe a little bit luckier at the finish,' said Wilkinson, 56,a longtime California cardroom owner who has been to everyWorld Series since 1978, often as a spectator. This was histhird cash and raised his total earnings to $105,160.

'All the players were world class, while I'm kind of arecreational player,' Wilkinson said. 'All this tournamentbusiness pales against the best thing I've got going for me- a great family,' he added.

Two-time World Champion Doyle Brunson took third place aftera hand which Seidel called the key to his tournamentvictory. Both players drew one card, with Brunson all-in andSeidel left almost chipless after the last bet of $57,500.Seidel caught an eight to 9-7-5-2, while Brunson exited whenhe drew a 10 to 8-4-3-2.

Although he missed winning an unequalled ninth WSOP title,Brunson with this finish achieved a major goal he hadidentified early last week - passing Berry Johnston andmoving into fourth place on the Top Money Winners roster.Brunson's earnings now total $1,744,209. He has been at 19final tables and cashed 21 times since 1976, four alreadythis year. The 64 year-old superstar and poker author wonthe $1,500 Razz event two weeks ago.

Fourth place went to David Grey, 39, a poker professionalfor 15 years who has now won just over $100,000 in fivemoney finishes at the World Series and has two Hall of Fametitles. 'I loved the tournament,' he said. 'The best playersin the world are here, and it's the best place to win - ifyou're lucky.' Luck ran out for Grey, the initialfinal-table chip leader, when he was all-in and stood patwith 10-8-5-4-2 against Wilkinson, also pat, with 9-7-5-4-2,

Roy Thung, an Indonesian-born private investor, took fifthplace, his third final-table finish at this WSOP. He has nowwon $96,387 in two years here. Thung was knocked out holding10-7-5-3-2 by Brunson's 9-8-6-4-3.

Finishing at the final table but out of the money were: TedForrest, the three-time 1993 titleist, sixth; 1989 WorldChampion Phil Hellmuth, Jr., seventh, and Bob Stupak ofVegas World fame, eighth.

We will announce when the play-by-play of the final table is available for this event.