This is a special issue of WNP. Andrew N.S. Glazer reports live from the WSOP - World Series of Poker Apr 22 to May 24, 2002.

$2,500 Buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha (Rebuys)

Hail to the Prince
By Max Shapiro

Phillip Ivey's star just rose a little higher. The gentlemanly, unassuming young prince of poker picked up his third bracelet in this stud hi-lo event and now has four final tables and two wins at WSOP 2002. "The cards ran over me," he said modestly, and indeed they did. Again and again he started with the worst hand and caught miracle cards. On the other hand, he added, in eight-or-better you can't always start with the best hand.

How does he do it? "I think it might be sorcery," suggested Vince Burgio, who has now been passed by Ivey on the all-time WSOP winnings list. Burgio still shudders when he remembers a no-limit tournament at Commerce Casino. He had about a 3-2 chip advantage when he got heads-up with Ivey, who proceeded to win something like 14 hands in a row.

NO, IT'S MORE THAN MAGIC
Well, if there's anything supernatural, it's Ivey's almost frightening concentration, his unwavering focus, his total observation of everything going on, and his calm, implacable disposition. Only once at the final table did he get even momentarily ruffled, when he thought that Sirous Baghchehsaraie might have miscalled his hand (which Sirous quickly denied).

Ivey also wanted to give credit to John Juanda who he said has helped him tremendously in the course of frequent strategy discussions. Was there any one key bit of advice that Juanda imparted? "Well, he taught me to take my time, not to rush into things."

NO THANKS, NO DEAL
Interestingly, this was one of the very few tournaments in memory where no deal was made, or even discussed. When you have lots of chips and even more confidence, you don't need deals.

Ivey's win was all the more impressive, considering the strength of the final table. Here was the line-up and chip position , as play began with $2,000 and $4,000 limits, with $300 antes and a $600 low-card bring-in:

Seat	Name	Chips
1	Robert Turner	$56,900
2	John Juanda	$41,700
3	Tom McCormick	$37,600
4	Sirous Baghchehsaraie	$44,600
5	Nick Hanna	$19,200
6	Rich Nguyen	$25,600
7	Brian Nadell	$32,300
8	Phillip Ivey	$57,200

Juanda had gotten the finalists to bed by 2 a.m. the night before by eliminating Jack Rosenfeldt. John made deuces and treys with an 8-5 low, while the Bicycle Casino prop missed his draw to a 7 and ended up with just two 7s. Tom McCormick's was making his ninth WSOP final table and it was one he did not expect to make. He had been all in six or seven times earlier, putting his last $750 in at the $300-$600 level. Then he later scooped a big pot with a straight 6 and began his climb upwards.

NICKNAME, ANYONE?
In addition to talent, the final table was not lacking in colorful nicknames. These included Robert "Chip-Burner" Turner, "Sirous The Virus" and McCormick's "The Shamrock Kid." Tom, incidentally, was introduced as the leading WSOP money winner from North Dakota. Also the only one.

"Miami John" Cernuto did much of the play-by-play announcing, and earned an A-plus for his sharp and humorous commentary. He disputed the belief that razz was the most frustrating card game of all. It's seven-card stud hi-lo, he said flatly. "You can start with 3-4-5-6 and catch 9-10-J. At least in razz, you can play the nine."

PATIENCE, PATIENCE
Nick Hanna started with the fewest chips, less than seven big bets, but he played with the patience of Job -- or perhaps he had nothing to play with in early action. He gave up $3,600 of his $19,200 in antes in the first 12 hands without playing any. On the next deal he completed the bet with his deuce low card and picked up most of his lost antes when nobody called. He hung on and managed to outlast John Juanda..

LOTS OF LUCK -- ALL BAD
The formidable Juanda, who started in better-than-average chip position, had pretty rotten luck from the start. In the first dozen hands he played three pots and lost them all. He recovered after going all in and scooping McCormick with aces and a better 8-low. But on the next hand, he went all in again and made a straight 7, only to be butchered by Ivey, who on the river made the same straight and a 6-low to take three-quarters of the pot and regain the lead he had started with.

The next hand, #17, was Juanda's last. Both he and Turner had made hands on fifth street, an 8-6 for
Robert, an 8-7 for John. After long hesitation, John called Turner's bet and went all in. Neither improved for low, while Turner paired his 8 and Juanda could only pair his 5. Turner had now caught up to Ivey as chip co-leader. Andy Glazer blamed tournament staffer Jody Ivener for John's disappointing showing. He said he had given Jody a "good luck" note to hand to John (favoritism, Andy?), which Jody forgot about and which Andy later delivered when it was too late. "Absolutely his fault," Juanda confirmed. "I would have played differently."

A few hands later the players took a break which was fortuitously timed, allowing them to watch the Kentucky Derbyon TV. The rounds now increased to 90 minutes with $500 antes, $1,000 bring-in and $3,000-$6,000 limits. After the race-off, the chip count was:

Turner, $83,500
Ivey, $64,000
McCormick, $56,000
Nadell, $39,000
Sirous, $38,500
Nguyen, $20,000
Hanna, $14,000

BANANAS FOR HANNA
Patience and selectivity carried Nick Hanna this far, but no farther. On his final hand, he started off with three lovely baby cards, but then caught all bananas as Nadell made nines-full on sixth street.

A couple of hands later, Nguyen went all in for the first of several times. He also showed open deuces, for the first of several times. He managed to make an 8-low in three-way action while Sirous took the high end with trip 9s. But Nguyen was still in considerable peril, while the other five players were now bunched rather closely.

As play continued, Ivey regained the lead with about $90,000 after he made Sirous fold on sixth street. Nguyen departed on hand 44. He had three kings, but Sirous, with 4s and 5s, filled up by snagging another 4 on the river.

MIAMI JOHN'S WARNING HITS HOME
McCormick now suffered the first of three exasperating losses that eventually had him talking to himself. Miami John's nightmare scenario of starting with 3-4-5-6 and catching bricks came to haunt him, only even worse. Tom started with A-2-3-4, ended with aces-up and lost to Turner's three 6s. Turner, who true to form had been playing more than his share of hands, suffered an equally bad beat when his rolled-up jacks lost to Ivey's queens-full.

By hand 56, Turner and Ivey were roughly even with about $100,000 each, while Sirous had about $70,000 and McCormick and Nadell brought up the rear.

THE TEMPERATURE'S RISING, IT ISN'T SURPRISING
McCormick, meanwhile, was reaching the boiling point after starting good and having to fold in a couple of hands. His temperature then hit 212 degrees after the hand that put him out. Going to the river he had the best high with A-J, and the best low draw. He caught a 6 for a 7-6 low, only to watch Phil, drawing to 3-4-5-7, catch an ace for a better high (A-K) and a 7-5 low.

Sirous, meanwhile, had better luck, making a flush and 6-low against Turner to build his stacks up again. A few hands later, Ivey surged into a commanding lead which he was never to relinquish. In three-way action, he scooped with kings and 4s against Turner's smaller two pair after Nadell folded on the river. The count now read:

Ivey, $145,000
Sirous, $82,000
Turner, $81,000
Nadell, $7,000

IVEY GOES TO WORK
Limits now went to $4,000 and $8,000 with $500 antes and $1,500 bring-ins. After a few hands, Nadell had to bring it in with a deuce and decided to complete the bet and go all the way. He had just 8-9 in the hole and caught garbage while Ivey (ho-hum) was dealt a flush. A dozen hands later Ivey did major damage to Sirous, taking a $60,000 pot by making two pair to Sirous' aces and hammering him down to $20,000. He now had about $205,000, while Turner had $90,000. But it wasn't over yet. Making an incredible comeback, Sirous won three of the next seven pots to climb back to $120,000.

Turner, who was the victim in two of those pots, was now down to $60,000. A few hands later the old chip burner burned out. He had aces on fourth street, but Sirous passed him with kings and 8s, to set up the heads-up showdown. The California pro had a big hill to climb. He had about $80,000 to Ivey's $235,000. He managed to build it up to $110,000 when he made a queen-high straight on sixth street, but that was his high-water mark.

THE END NEARS
On hand 108, Ivey scooped with 9s and 6s. Two hands later, he won with aces-up to jacks up, and Sirous was down to $23,000. The next pot was capped on third street and Sirous was all in. He had 6-6/4. Ivey had 5-7/5. For the final time, Phil came from behind, catching a third 5 to coast home to victory.

Where this awesome Atlantic City superstar (maybe that should be supernova) in the making goes next is anyone's guess, but it has to be up, up, up. When Andy Glazer likened him to Tiger Woods in a prior report, he was right on the money. Ivey, it seems, is going to be the man to beat in any poker tournament.

Final Official Results, Event #16, $2,500 Seven-Card Stud Hi-Lo
Total Entries: 126
Total Prize Pool: $296,100

Finish	Name	Prize Money
1	Phillip Ivey	$118,400
2	Sirous Baghchehsaraie	$59,220
3	Robert Turner	$29,600
4	Brian Nadell	$17,770
5	Tom McCormick	$14,800
6	Rich Nguyen	$11,850
7	Nick Hanna	$8,900
8	John Juanda	$5,920

9th-12th, $4,400 each: Jack Rosenfeldt, Hans Phister, Young Phan, Artie Cobb.
13th-16th, $2,960 each: Toto Leonidas, Hajun Sin, David "Rabbi," Paul McKinney.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Andy Glazer has told me that the popular "bracelet match play" event is falling behind schedule, as player have been having a difficult time getting together at the right times, but that he promises to catch readers up on results and highlights of interesting matches (such as the upcoming Seidel-Chan match) as soon as they happen.

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