After a breathtaking week of dramatic superheavyweight final tables, and only one day before the start of what is expected to be the largest, longest, and richest World Series of Poker No-Limit Hold'em Championship, Sunday, May 13, 2001 provided a relative pause in the tension and drama that has been, and that is yet to come.

Three tournaments were completed today, one of them no less an event that the $5,000 entry Limit Hold'em Championship, and while all were fiercely contested, none could or did match what we'd been seeing at this World Series, and while forecasting the future is usually tricky, I think it's pretty safe to say we'll see more fireworks over the next five days, especially if we get 625 entries in The Big One, which will mean a record $2,000,000 first prize for the winner.

Of course, with $312,340 awaiting the winner of the Limit Hold'em event, we didn't exactly spend the day pitching pennies, either.

When we started play today at 4:00, the players, seats and chip positions were

How easy it is to get spoiled. Were I to walk into the Bicycle Casino and see an open seat in a game with this group, and a long list for all the other games in the room, I'd get back in my car and drive over to the Commerce, but compared to the kinds of final tables we'd been seeing the last few days, it was a bit more ordinary.

Franklin was the only bracelet winner, with one, and the only other real stars were Melissa Hayden, who finished second in this same event last year, and Tony D, who is one of the most feared and talented high stakes money players in the world, but not a tournament specialist. Shah, a Brit, fell into the borderline star category. He's won some tournaments in Europe, and had one cash here already at the Series.

161 START AT $5,000 A POP

Nonetheless, this group had emerged from 161 players willing and able to plunk down $5,000 in a limit hold'em tournament, and they wanted gold as much as any other group that had contested it here.

We started with 25 minutes left with $2,000-4,000 blinds, playing $4,000-8,000, and the first big action came on hand #8, when Syavik, a Norwegian whose nickname comes from the Lord of the Rings trilogy, opened the hand with a raise to $8,000 from middle position, Franklin immediately raised it to $12,000, Ladanyi called three bets cold, Blechman called three cold, Shah called two and a half bets cold from the small blind, and Syavik decided his steal attempt hadn't been well-timed, and got the heck out, making it a $58,000 pot before we even saw the flop.

The flop came 2s-3h-3s, it was checked to Ladanyi, who bet $4,000, and Blechman and Shah called. The Kc hit the turn, and the same scenario repeated for $8,000 bets, making the pot $94,000 heading to the river. The Jd hit, Shah checked, Ladanyi again bet out, Blechman gave up, and Shah popped it to $16,000, with Ladanyi calling unhappily.

OK, YOU SAW THE BETTING, NOW GUESS THE HANDS

Can you figure out the hands? I thought it was pretty easy (it always is when you're not sitting at the table). Cover your screen and think before you take a guess. Right you are. A-A for Ladanyi, and J-J for Shah who'd spiked a two-out set on the river to collect a $126,000 pot that gave him the chip lead, and had very nearly crushed Ladanyi with a single blow.

We moved up to $3,000-6,000 blinds, 6&12, after hand #14, and Hayden, who'd lost a few of her chips in minor skirmishes, found something she liked to open hand 16 for a $12,000 raise. Blechman decided to call from the big blind.

The flop came 5c-7h-3d, Blechman (whose nickname is "the Rabbit") fired right out for $6,000, and Hayden fired right back to make it $12,000, with Blechman calling. The 10c hit the turn, and Blechman checked and called $12,000.

The 9c hit the river, Blechman checked again, Hayden bet her last $8,000 all-in, and as Blechman called, he (quietly, but loud enough for those at the table to hear) told Tournament Director Bob Thompson, before showing his hand, "We have the first person out of the tournament." He then flipped over Ac-8c, runner-runner for the nut flush, and Hayden flipped up the pocket sevens that had given her top set right off the bat.

AS IF LOSING WEREN'T BAD ENOUGH

It's hard enough to get knocked out of a huge tournament where you start with a reasonable chip position and a reasonable belief that you are one of the better players at the table, but hearing a cold announcement like that fuels the fire, and the fiery redhead looked like she could chew iron and spit out nails as she went to collect her ninth place money.

The Rabbit might have to change his nickname to "The Running Rabbit," because he produced more runner-runner nightmares on hand 54, when Tony D brought the hand in for a raise to $12,000, Blechman called from the big blind, and we looked at a 6s-4h-9c flop, and both players checked. The Kc hit the turn, Blechman checked, D bet $12,000, and Blechman raised to $24,000, with D calling.

THAT'S WHY THEY DEAL THE SEVENTH CARD, I GUESS

The 10d hit the river, Blechman bet $12,000, and D called. Blechman turned over K-10, and Tony D showed the A-K that had been leading the whole way, including when he'd been check raised on the turn, before mucking.

Ladanyi had recovered his equilibrium after getting his aces cracked early, and had inched back into contention for a while, but found himself getting low again, and took a stand on hand 56, when he brought it in for a raise to $12,000 with, you guessed it, Robert The Running Rabbit Blechman calling (although this time he called two cold from the button, rather than calling out of the big blind).

The flop came 2d-Qd-6s, Ladanyi bet out, and Blechman called. The 8c hit the turn, Ladanyi bet $12,000, and Blechman raised back the $4,000 Ladanyi had left. Ladanyi turned over Ad-5d, a nut flush draw, but Blechman turned over A-J offsuit, and when a harmless three hit the river, Ladanyi, a native of Hungary who is also a good backgammon player, was out eighth.

We hit the first break after hand 70 with the chip counts roughly

Blechman, $220,000
Shah, $160,000
D, $65,000
McCormick, $50,000
Green, $110,000
Syavik, $70,000
Franklin, $130,000

With the blinds at $5,000-10,000, playing 10&20, the short stacks needed to move quickly, and right out of the box, D hurt McCormick, who had gotten a laugh when he'd noted on the sheets final table players fill out for their introductions that he was the World Series of Poker's all-time leading money winner… from North Dakota. Fargo, to be more precise, and his chips were very nearly far gone when D took hand 71 to leave McCormick with only $15,000.

McCormick called another D raise all-in three hands later, and Blechman called out of the big blind, creating a $10,000 side pot, and leaving McCormick with a chance to triple to $45,000, if he could win the main pot, although he didn't look happy when he got a third caller, which seemed to suggest a hand he'd prefer heads up, like a medium pair. The flop came 8h-10d-3d, Blechman bet out, D decided to let it go, and as Blechman collected the small side pot, McCormick turned over his pocket eights. Blechman could only show K-Q and was finished when a four hit the turn.

SHOULD WE CALL IT A McTRIPLE?

On the very next hand, McCormick, "The Shamrock Kid" (his nickname for himself, not mine) raised it to $20,000, Blechman called (familiar phrase?) from the small blind, the flop came 4d-7h-Qh, Blechman checked, McCormick bet $10,000, and Blechman called. The 10c hit the turn, check, McCormick bet his last $15,000, and Blechman called again.

McCormick turned over pocket eights for the second hand in a row, and Blechman turned over K-J, an open-ended straight draw. McCormick didn't need to improve, but caught an eight for his second consecutive trip eights, and suddenly he had $100,000. If there's been one constant in this World Series of Poker, it has been the ability of short stacks to get back into the hunt.

We lost Syavik, "The Balrog," next, and unless there are two guys from Oslo, Norway who favor this nickname and like poker, I realized he had to be the same pleasant guy against whom I've played a fair amount online. He'd come in as the chip leader, but never found much in the way of cards in a game (limit hold'em) where you need to show a hand now and then. On hand 78, he raised it to $20,000, Blechman made it $30,000, and the Balrog called.

A GOOD DAY TO HOLD TWO JACKS

The flop came K-8-4, Balrog checked, Blechman bet $10,000, Balrog raised it to $20,000, and Blechman put him all-in for his last $5,000. A-K for Balrog, J-J for the Rabbit. A harmless four hit the turn, but a jack hit the river, the second time today a two-out jack had ironed out a big hand on the river, and the third time today Blechman had nailed someone on the river.

Syavik didn't mumble or grumble. He just stood up from his seat, came over and congratulated Blechman with a very sincere and classy handshake, and left, acting even classier and more pleasant in person than I had observed online, where so many players, hiding behind the anonymity of their screen names, often try to talk trash. Balrog isn't one of them, and I was sorry to see him go.

Green, who lives in San Jose, Costa Rica but who is also from North Dakota (threatening, I realized, to cost McCormick his "all-time WSOP money lead" if he won the event), hooked up with Captain Tom (who actually used to be a riverboat captain, but is now a show producer when he isn't traveling the poker circuit) on hand 106, with the Captain bringing the hand in for a raise to $20,000, and Green calling from the big blind.

The flop came 3h-Jc-Qc, Green bet $10,000, the Captain made it $20,000, and Green popped him right back to $30,000, and the Captain decided to batten down the hatches and just call. The 10s hit the turn, Green bet out for $20,000, and the Captain called all-in for his last $15,000. A-A for Green, who'd set the trap by just calling from the big blind, and K-Q for the Captain.

BAD BEAT, OOPS, NEVER MIND

The Ks hit the river, giving Captain Tom two pair, and for a moment, Green thought he'd lost, but then he suddenly said, "Straight, ace high straight!" and right he was. His acting job before the flop had turned into Broadway on the river, and Captain Tom, whom a lot of people had thought would win the event when he got hold of some chips early, exited sixth.

We lost McCormick on #122 when his A-10 couldn't knock off Green's Q-Q, and McCormick sat at the table for a few moments, his head hanging, when the hand was over. I couldn't blame him. It's tough to stand up and leave any WSOP event at any point, much less during a final table where a big payday and some glory await. It's even tougher when you've come in very near the chip lead, gotten knocked flat, made a stirring comeback, and then just go card dead when the blinds get high.

I made a quick chip estimate a few hands later, and had it

Blechman, $205,000
Shah, $220,000
D, $110,000
Green, $270,000

Although Shah probably has a better tournament record, Tony D would be the guy I'd be most concerned about in a shorthanded money game, and we were now shorthanded. D got rolling, taking some chips from Shah when he read him as weak and called a $20,000 bet on the end of hand 132 when the board showed 9-Q-A-5-3. D only had K-9, but Shah had 4-4.

WHAT'S THAT OLD TOURNAMENT ADAGE?

Four hands later, D proved the old tournament adage that you have to be able to beat 4-4 and win with 4-4 (well, OK, it's A-K, but give me a break, there just wasn't a lot of excitement at this table) when Tony brought the hand in for a raise, and Blechman called from the small blind.

Blechman bet out at the 2s-Jh-3d flop, D raised him, and Blechman called. The 10h hit the turn, Blechman checked and called, and both players checked when the 7d hit the river. D turned over his pocket fours, and Blechman mucked what I assume was probably A-2 or A-3.

At the next break, the chip counts were

Blechman, $130,000
Shah, $135,000
D, $300,000
Green, $240,000

We came back playing with $5,000-15,000 blinds, $15,000-30,000, and I suspect that most of these guys were (like everyone in the world) more used to playing $15-30 than $15,000-30,000, because for the first two hands after the break, the small blind posted $10,000 instead of $5,000, and would have done it again on the third one, too, if some busybody reporter watching the event hadn't looked up from his scribbling and said, "Wait a minute, this sheet says the blinds are supposed to be $5,000-15,000, not $10,000-15,000."

NO MAJOR HARM DONE

Everybody's gotta be useful sometime, I guess. No harm, no foul on the first hand, because Shah had raised out of the small blind without getting called, but on the second one, Shah raised from the button and both blinds gave up without a fight, which meant that D had forfeited $5,000 more than he was supposed to have, but Tony just shrugged it off.

Almost right out of the break, Green went on a rush to take the chip lead, and with the other stacks short, he did a nice job of using his big stack to push them around, especially on a couple of hands when D raised and Green re-popped him right back.

Meanwhile, the check and call and hit the river style that had gotten Blechman most of his chips stopped working, and I could tell from his soft but frustrated sighs on a couple of hands when someone raised his blind and he released that he wasn't catching much in the way of cards, and he wasn't the sort to try to steal with a re-raise. I could be wrong, but it looked like he hadn't played a lot of shorthanded poker before, and it's a very different game from the full ring style version.

NOW IT LOOKED LIKE INEXPERIENCE, NOT NASTYNESS

His stack just kept dwindling and dwindling, and by the time he exited on hand 167, I'd decided that what Melissa Hayden had understandably thought was an out-of-line remark when she lost was just the same kind of tournament inexperience he was showing here. He was a pleasant guy the entire rest of the day, and he was just in a little over his head, which was no shame in this crowd.

Green, it turned out, was kind of new at this too: this was his first ever World Series event, and here he was with the chip lead, and doing a nice job of moving his stack, too. Things were going pretty nicely, until he ran into a veteran who knew how to set a trap.

"I'D LIKE TO THANK THE MEMBERS OF THE ACADEMY…"

On hand 182, Tony D raised to $30,000 from the button, and Green made it $45,000 out of the small blind, with D calling. The flop came 10s-Jh-10h, Green bet $15,000, D made it $30,000, and Green called. The As hit the turn, and D gave about a Grade B acting job, looking skyward when the card hit and disgusted as Green bet out. If he'd had a balloon with him, I think he'd have let the air out of it, but as it was, he made a reluctant looking call.

The 7s hit the river, putting a possible flush out there, and it might have saved Green some chips, because he checked, and D bet $30,000. Green called, and D turned over J-J. He'd flopped a full house, and must have just loved that ace, and all of the A-10, A-J, A-Q, A-K (A-anything, actually, this shorthanded) and K-Q possibilities it created for Green.

This hand turned the game around and left us, with the blinds this high, in a virtual deadlock at Shah-250, D-300, Green-250.

For most of the next 40 hands, the chips slowly slid around the table, rising in one stack and then falling, rising in the next and then falling there too. It was a bit like watching ocean waves come rushing up onto a beach, only to see them inevitably recede. The limits were so high, you only need to win one or two good hands to take a nice lead, and only lose one or two to get in trouble.

UH-OH, HE BET CONFIDENTLY, I BETTER FOLD

Shah finally got a stranglehold on the game when he picked off an extended bluff by Green on hand 218. Green brought the hand in for a raise to $30,000 from the small blind, and Shah made it $45,000 from the big, only to see Green slam $30,000 more into the pot, quite powerfully, and Shah called.

The flop came 5s-5c-2d, and Green thumped a confident-looking bet into the pot. Shah called. The 6s hit the turn, Green again gave a powerful "I've got a hand" wham with the chips, and Shah called. The 4h hit the river, wham, one more "I'm strong" bet, and Shah called.

Mike Caro Book of Tells 101, "Strong Means Weak, Weak Means Strong." Green turned over Q-10 offsuit, a completely useless hand with which Green had stayed too long, and Shah turned over pocket sevens to collect the $270,000 pot. The chips now stood at

Shah, $555,000
D, $135,000
Green, $115,000

About the only good news for Green on this hand was that it had been the last one before the break, so it happed at the $15,000-30,000 limits, not the $20,000-40,000 limits to which we returned at 9:25 p.m., but we lost him five minutes later anyway, when he raised before the flop with Q-7, Shah popped him back, and he called.

TOP PAIR OVERMATCHED AGAINST OVERPAIR

The flop came 5-6-7, Shah bet out, and Green pushed his top pair by raising back. Shah called, and Green finally realized he was in trouble, because he checked the blank (2h) turn, only to have Shah put him all-in for his last $15,000. Shah turned over 8-8, and we were two-handed at 9:30, with the chips standing

Shah, $630,000
D, $175,000

Both men played it a bit snug for a while, Tony D not wanting to blow off his stack, and Shah not wanting to let his chip lead blow away easily, when the "hand of the day," J-J, reared its head again on hand 232, snaring most of D's stack for Shah when D flopped a pair of sixes with his A-6.

Two hands later, with D already forced to put $20,000 of his remaining $25,000 into the big blind, Shah raised in the dark for the other $5,000 and D called in the dark. Shah hit a pretty nice dark hand, Ad-Qd, while D could only find 5c-4s, and when the board came Q-8-2-K, it was over. The guy from the country where they play mostly pot-limit (Shah is from London, England) had taken the Yanks at their own game.

WELL, AT LEAST HE CAN AFFORD A GOOD DOCTOR

It turned out to be an even more impressive feat than we'd realized, because the 33 year old Shah was quite ill; he'd had such bad stomach cramps before the tournament even started (Day One, not Day Two) that he had almost not entered, and while he was willing to stick around for a brief chat, he wanted to leave to get to a doctor as soon as possible. He'd come planning on playing the Big One, but told me he didn't think there would be any way he'd be well enough to play.

For 37 year old Tony D, a native of Vietnam who came to the U.S. in 1979, failing to get the bracelet was a disappointment, but the LA pro plays and beats high stakes games all the time, and like most pros, a big payday was a good enough day for him.

The winner was sick, the loser wasn't sick, and the third place finisher was reasonably content with a third place in his first ever WSOP event. No high drama, no fireworks, just a good solid poker tournament, and just as well, because this place needed a day to catch its collective breath. I'll give you the results of the day's two other tournaments right after listing the money finishers in this one.

Final Official Results, $5,000 Limit Hold'em

161 Entries, total prize pool $780,850

10th-12th, $9,370 each: Ron Stanley, Craig Hartman, Mansour Matloubi.

13th-15th, $8,590 each: John Aglialoro, Frank Henderson, Sam Grizzle.

16th-18th, $7,810 each: Chris Tsiprailidis, Julio Anicette, Angelo.

DOLLISON WINS SECOND CONSECUTIVE LADIES TOURNAMENT

Nani Dollison, the 2000 champion in the $1,000 Ladies Tournament (half hold'em, half seven-card stud), successfully defended her title this year by defeating a field of 106 entrants. It's an impressive feat, and adds an exclamation point to the respect Dollison earned by winning the opening $2,000 Limit Hold'em event in the 2001 WSOP.

I didn't cover the Ladies Tournament for a few reasons. First, I was busy writing up the $5,000 Limit Hold'em event, which, like the $2,000 Limit Hold'em event Dollison won three weeks ago here, is an Open event, and is hence more difficult to win. Non-open events, like the Casino Employees tournament, and even the Men's Seniors tournament, aren't quite at the same level as Open events, and so just as I skipped the Seniors event until the Deuce-to-Seven tournament was complete, I stayed with my work on the Limit Event today.

A COMPLIMENT, NOT AN INSULT

I hope women poker players reading this realize I consider this a compliment to them, rather than an insult. If you told me that my starting table at any tournament was going to consist of Barbara Enright, Kathy Liebert, Wendeen Eolis, Melissa Hayden, Annie Duke, Jennifer Harman, Linda Johnson, and Marsha Waggoner, I'd be tempted to just pay the buy-in and go ahead and leave to beat the traffic.

A number of top women players won't play the Ladies Tournament for the same reason. Poker isn't basketball or football or even tennis, where men's size and strength give them advantages that don't allow for a level playing field, even though there are certainly plenty of women's basketball and tennis players who can wallop excellent men.

I talked to one of these top pros, and she told me, not wanting to be quoted, that perhaps 20 years ago there might have been a need for a Ladies Tournament at the World Series, but she didn't think there was now. At local club levels, where women who don't have the natural social entries into the game that high school and frat boys do, she thinks women's tournament are an excellent idea, to help women get their feet wet and get used to the idea of tournament play, before then having to deal with the sexist old farts who still give them the "honey, sweetie" talk.

All that said, a getting to the final table of a $1,000 buy-in tournament is still an impressive achievement, and my congratulations go out to:

AND MUCH FURTHER DOWN THE LIST OF ACHIEVERS…

Each year, Binion's Horseshoe holds a free-entry Press Tournament for the ladies and gentlemen of the media. Until 2000, there was actual prize money for the entrants, $5,000 for first prize. In 2000, they decided to make the Press Tournament a charity event, with the top three finishers getting to designate the $5,000 first prize, $1,000 second prize, and $500 third prize to the charity of their choice.

I played in the 2000 event and finished fourth or fifth, I think (come to think of it, it must have been fifth, or I'd have remembered coming one off "the money" even if it was charity money), and was a bit too busy today to enter again.

This year's winners were

1. Mark Napolitano, Poker Pages, charity, A Glimmer of Hope
2. Rich Wilens, Arizona Player, charity, Jewish Family Services
3. Lee Munzer, Poker Digest, charity, Child Haven of Las Vegas.

When play got three-handed, the trio agreed to split up the $6,500 equally among their three charities, and played on for the honors.

LAST AND LEAST

I came to the 2001 World Series of Poker planning on playing the opening $2,000 Limit Hold'em Event, the $2,000 No-Limit Hold'em event, and the $10,000 World Championship event.

I made the first one, but a family funeral called me away for the second, and several other family difficulties, combined with the hours I've been working here, have led me to decide not to enter the Big One.

I'm frazzled, and I only consider myself a "middle of the pack" entrant under ideal circumstances, and these are most certainly not ideal circumstances. So in part to avoid poorly investing money of my own, in part not to risk $5,000 of a friend's money who wanted to back me for half, and in part to set an example for players that putting your money at risk when you are tired or emotionally drained is a bad idea, I'm giving up those dreams about the 2001 WSOP. It wasn't an easy decision. I've dreamt about 2001 ever since I busted out in 2000.

The good news is that this will give me more time and space to tell you more daily about what's going on. See you tomorrow.

Andrew N.S. Glazer, Editor
Wednesday Nite Poker

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