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 Omaha High-Low Split

"Paying Dues: Eddie Fishman Wins His First Gold Bracelet at 2002 World Series of Poker"
By Nolan Dalla

EDITOR'S NOTE: THIS REPORT COMES TO YOU FROM NOLAN DALLA, VETERAN COLUMNIST FOR BOTH CARD PLAYER AND POKER DIGEST MAGAZINES. NOLAN IS THE THIRD (Max Shapiro and Lee Munzer being the others) OF THE THREE TALENTED WRITERS WHO GRACIOUSLY AGREED TO HELP ME BRING YOU DAILY REPORTS DURING THE LONGEST WSOP IN HISTORY. I WANTED TIME OFF SO I COULD GIVE YOU MY BEST, AND SO I COULD PLAY IN CERTAIN EVENTS MYSELF. THAT SAID, LETS MOVE ON TO NOLAN'S REPORT.
-- ANDREW N.S. GLAZER, EDITOR

With five players left in the $2,500 buy-in Omaha High-Low Split event (Event #20 at this year's World Series of Poker), Eddie Fishman was down to the felt with his last five chips. Five chips. He gazed across the table and couldn't have like what he saw – hundreds of white and blue tiger-striped poker chips sitting on the other side of the table in assorted stacks of his opponents. The chip leader at the time had over $100,000 in chips compared to Fishman's paltry $5,000. To spectators squared around the final table, Fishman's impending departure from the tournament seemed to be a foregone conclusion. The only question was not "if," but when?

But those poor misguided souls of so little faith, those who doubted the crafty Fishman's comeback abilities knew not of this young man's remarkable poker talent and extensive poker background in grinding and surviving. Fishman, 33, is originally from Staten Island (a borough of New York City). He moved to Atlantic City shortly after poker was first legalized in New Jersey in 1993.

For the next eight years, Fishman was a daily fixture in Atlantic City's cardrooms, toiling away at the grind of low-limit poker -- one hand at a time, one chip at a time, one dollar at a time. He gradually built his bankroll and began earning a modest living. With his twin brother, Mike, the identical twosome known in poker circles as "The Twins" – they played $3-6 and $5-10 Omaha high-low almost every single day. Days, nights, weekends, birthdays, and holidays were spent in poker rooms. It's what's called paying dues. That's the Eddie Fishman story – paying the price, sometimes heavy, and then getting the big payoff in the end. Several years passed and Eddie eventually graduated to tournament play. After a couple of big wins at the United States Poker Championship (Trump Taj Mahal) and World Poker Open (Foxwoods), Fishman decided to come out this year to play in his first World Series of Poker.

Fishman's results have been remarkable for a newcomer to pressure of the World Series – he's finished in the money three times out of seven entries. Fishman won his way into this tournament by splitting a single-table satellite. The entry fee had been $275. Fishman split the win and cut a deal with Doug Saab, a highly respected professional poker player from Birmingham, AL with a gold bracelet to his name. As they cut up the profit from the single-table satellite, Fishman casually in Saab's direction, "See you at the final table." Yeah, right. Sure, Saab must have thought to himself. Little did Saab nor Fishman realize how prophetic those words would turn out to be.

Just a day and a half later, Fishman was indeed sitting across from Saab at the final table. Saab, the experienced tournament pro, had the chip lead. And Fishman was down to his last $5,000. So, what happened? Somehow, someway, Fishman parlayed his remaining chips (five-thousand out of $338,000) into a pyramid, making a proverbial mountain out of a molehill. Two hours and ten minutes after being left for dead on the verge of elimination, Fishman was snapping his first gold bracelet on his wrist.

On Wednesday, May 8^th, 2002 play began at 2:00 pm with ten outstanding poker players, each a champion in his own right for having overcoming enormous odds of making the final table amidst a gathering of the world very best poker players. Three players at the final table were former bracelet winners. Bill Gazes, a Los Angeles-based high–limit pro enjoyed the chip lead with $81,500 in chips:

Seat	Name	Chips
1	Fred Koubi	$40,400
2	Barry Shulman	$39,500
3	Arlie Payne	$12,000
4	"Croc" Bill Argyros	$11,840
5	Eddie Fishman	$21,000
6	Bill Gazes	$81,500
7	Eli Balas	$3,400
8	Lonnie Heimowitz	$71,000
9	Phil Gordon	$32,000
10	Doug Saab	$27,500

On the second hand of play, Eli Balas committed his final chips ($3,500) in a three-way pot with Eddie Fishman and Barry Shulman. Balas took his A-2-3-Q up against Eddie Fishman's with A-A-4-5 and lost when the board came with all high cards, with no low-qualifier. The final board, 10-9-9-7-K meant Fishman's two aces were good, booting Balas from the final table in tenth place. Balas, who holds two gold bracelets (for Omaha high-low in 1992, and Limit hold'em in 1999), added $4,100 to his lifetime winnings of $834,000 at the World Series of Poker.

Phil Gordon, the youthful semi-retired poker playing software zillioniaire from Las Vegas, came to the final table fifth in chips. He took a run of early beats, losing or getting quartered on several large pots. When it seemed Gordon might scoop, his opponent would catch the card needed to split the pot and refund the chips. Then, Gordon reversed the downswing by scooping a huge pot from Fred Koubi – Gordon's A-4-5-6 getting the best of Koubi's A-5-7-8 when the final board came 2-3-6-9-2. Gordon's straight and better low brought him back from rough early going.

Meanwhile, 6' 6" (tall) Bill Gazes, sitting upright in a double-stacked chair, became a towering, looming, menacing figure at the final table to his opponents. Gazes took his A-2-4-7 against Barry Shulman and unceremoniously knocked out the 2001 gold bracelet winner (in stud-eight-or better). The final board – 10-7-5-8-J gave Gazes a pair of sevens with his nut low, putting Shulman out on the rail in 8^th place with $5,420 (Note: Shulman did not reveal his hand).

With eight players remaining, the chips counts stood as follows:

Saab, $90,000 (chip leader)
Gazes, $85,000
Heimowitz, $55,000
Koubi, $42,000
Gordon, $24,000
Argyros, $22,000
Payne, $20,000
Fishman, $16,000

That's right – Fishman was dead last in chips. Wait...this story gets even better.

Blinds increased to $1500-3000 with betting limits raised up to $3,000-6,000.

Fishman survived his first "all-in" hand when he played Q-Q-3-2 and the pocket queens scooped for the high hand. It was the first sign of the magical things that were to follow.

Phil Gordon became the aggressor at this point. He seemed to get involved in far more pots than his opponents (almost always raising pre-flop in order to get head-up). The aggressive strategy was designed to exploit the fact that the early chip leaders (Saab and Gazes) were not pressuring the small stacks with raises as some might be expected.

Bill Gazes suffered a slew of poor cards and missed several draws at the final table – going on a horrendous run where he went from chip leader and over $100,000 in his stack down to only $28,000. Fortunately, his big stack enabled Gazes to sustain a bit more misfortune than his opponents. But by the middle of the final table it became apparent that Gazes was no longer in control of the events at the table as he had been on the previous day.

Arlie Payne, a cool Arizonan, did not have that luxury. Critically short on chips the entire time, Payne wasn't able to muster the momentum necessary to propel him higher up the money ladder. On one key hand, Payne flopped a set of sixes. But in the end he lost to Doug Saab's straight for high to go along with a nut low. A few hands later, Payne declared he was all-in and was eliminated when he made a straight, but lost to Phil Gordon's full house.

As short time later, an interesting hand came about when Gordon picked up 7-2-2-2 in the big blind (not exactly the best Omaha high-low hand). He watched in delight as a flush developed on board and was then completed on the turn. Proving the old poker adage that "there are no bad cards, just "bad flops," Gordon's 7-2 of clubs played which scooped a key pot away from Lonnie Heimowitz.

Fishman's stack size continued upward and outward, as he won a successive series of key pots, and rarely (if ever) showed down a losing hand. The higher blind and betting structure meant that winning just a couple of big hands had tremendous consequences. In short, Fishman got hot at just the right time in the tournament and seemed to get even hotter as the betting structure escalated.

If there were an award given for the player with the most colorful personality at the final table, the player who most delighted the crowd with his circus-like antics, it would certainly go to "Crocodile Bill" Argyros. The Australian native wore a large green crocodile-shaped hat, a matching crocodile t-shirt and kept a squeaking sock-puppet at is side (of what else – a crocodile). Whenever "Crocodile Bill" entered a pot, his little friend snapped to attention from his left wrist, squeaking out of control at the cards and chips. Sadly, the croc puppet's cries for a bit of luck were ignored by the cruel Gods of chance.

Crocodile Bill went out shortly after the blinds increased up to $2,000-4,000 and betting limits went up to $4,000-8,000. Bill took A-3-6-9 up against Eddie Fishman's A-2 (which qualified for low) and Phil Gordon's straight for high. The Croc's final chips were carved up like a dead carcass by two starving wolves. Poker can be so cruel, sometimes.

Now down to five players, the chip counts stood as follows:

Fishman. $130,000 (chip leader)
Saab, $80,000
Gordon, $70,000
Gazes, $30,000
Heimowitz, $15,000

Bill Gazes day of disappointment came to a close when he committed his final chips with A-3-3-K. Fishman called from the big blind with Q-8-4-2. The board, A-Q-4-J-9 meant an unwelcome exit from the final table for Gazes, who received $15,220 for fifth place. Gazes has 12 in the money finishes all-time at the World Series, including four already this year.

Chip leader Fishman now had over $150,000 in his stack.

Lonnie Heimowitz, from Monticello, NY went out just a short time later. He took his final stand of the night with A-3-7-7 and watched a horrible board develop – J-10-8-Q-J. Phil Gordon, holding a pair of queens in his hand bested Heimowitz's pocket 7s. Heimowtiz, who's father Jay owns six gold bracelets at the World Series, and has developed into a top-notch, exceptionally well disciplined poker player, collected $20,300 for two days at the poker table.

Down to three players, the chip counts stood as follows:

Fishman. $140,000 (chip leader)
Saab, $120,000
Gordon, $55,000
*Note: a deal was cut between the remaining players. Details were not disclosed.

The pot of the night developed when Gordon was dealt A-2-2-J. Fishman had A-2-3-10. Saab played K-Q-10-9. Before the hand was over, there was over $100,000 in the middle of table, with the chip lead hanging in the balance. Doug Saab was grinning like the cat that swallowed a canary when he took half the pot from Gordon and Fishman who were quartered with identical (nut) lows. Gordon and Fishman grumbled to themselves as Saab made one last-ditch drive to seize control of the table.

But no one could stop Fishman from completing what had seemed to be an impossible mission just two hours earlier. As day turned into night, Gordon's dreams of winning his first gold bracelet were darkened. Gordon stack was hammered down to $25,000 and he was forced to make his final stand with A-6-J-K. Fishman called a raise in the big blind with 2-2-3-10. The flop came Q-Q-5 and Gordon's final chip rolled softly into the pot. Fishman, with what might have seemed to be a nearly hopeless hand, only had to call $4,000 more (had Gordon had just a few more chips, this hand would have likely turned out completely different). The turn and river were dealt and Gordon had no low and no pair. Fishman's tiny pair of deuces scooped the large pot. More important, another opponent had been busted.

Fittingly, it was Fishman who eliminated Gordon. Fishman had been a thorn in Gordon's side all day and night, and it seemed most appropriate that a pair of deuces would hold up and pound the final nail into Gordon's coffin. Gordon, who by all accounts played brilliantly at this final table, collected $33,840 for third place. Gordon, who has entered in six World Series events has now made three finals tables (including finishing fourth in the $10,000 championship event last year).

And so, it was. The stage was set for the final act of a play that began nearly a decade ago in the cardrooms of Atlantic City.

Chip counts were as follows:

Fishman, 235,000
Saab, 105,00

Fishman enjoyed slightly better than a 2 to 1 chip advantage. Now, Fishman became the aggressor. He took a pick-ax to Saabs stack and chipped away a blind and bet at a time, one by one, until poor Saab started to get the look of someone who now realized his fate was sealed.

Following another short break, the blinds increased to $5,000-10,000 with betting limits now up to $10,000-20,000.

A few hands later, Saab missed his hand after the flop and found himself down to the felt, desperate for a miracle. It would not come.

The final hand of the night came at 8:21 pm when Fishman was dealt K-9-7-2. Saab moved in with 10-10-7-3, and Fishman made an easy call with his massive stack. The board came Q-J-5-9-2, giving Fishman two pair and his first championship at the World Series of Poker.

The lesson here for poker players everywhere? Never, never, give up. Miracles do happen. No mission is impossible when it comes to predicting what might happen at a poker table. But first, it might be a good idea to pay your dues. There is no substitute for years spent playing the trenches. Just ask Eddie Fishman.

Final Official Results, Event #20, $2,500 Buy-in Omaha High-Low
Total Entries: 144
Total Prize Pool: $338,400

Finish	Name	Prize Money
1	Eddie Fishman, New York, NY	$135,360
2	Doug Saab, Birmingham, AL	$67,680
3	Phil Gordon, Las Vegas, NV	$33,840
4	Lonnie Heimowitz, Monticello, NY	$20,300
5	Bill Gazes, Marina Del Rey, CA	$15,220
6	"Crocodile Bill" Argyros, Australia	$11,840
7	Arlie Payne, Show Low, AZ	$8,460
8	Fred Koubi, Van Nuys, CA	$6,760
9	Barry Shulman, Las Vegas, NV	$5,420
10	Eli Balas, Henderson, NV	$4,100
11	Daniel Negreanu, Las Vegas, NV	$4,060
12	Lin Wang, White Plains, NY	$4,040
13	Prince of Docness, Santa Cruz, CA	$3,720
14	Phil Ivey, Atlantic City, NJ	$3,720
15	Ron Moore, Davenport, IA	$3,720
16	"Amarillo Slim" Preston, Amarillo, TX	$3,380
17	Robert Williamson, Dallas, TX	$3,380
18	George Marlow, Marina Del Rey, CA	$3,380

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