$1,500 Texas Hold'em (Limit)

2002 World Series of Poker:
Meng La Win His First Gold Bracelet in $1,500 Buy-in Texas Hold'em World Championship
By Nolan Dalla

Editor's preliminary note: today's report is by nolan dalla, the third of the three talented writers (the other two being max shapiro and lee munzer) who graciously agreed to assist me as back-up reporters during the longest wsop in history. I wanted to be able to stay fresh to give you my best during this long wsop, and also wanted to be able to play some events myself. Nolan has been a respected columnist for both card player and poker digest for many years, and i'm sure you'll like his work. I'll be back tomorrow, covering the final table of the $1,500 no-limit hold'em event. That said, lets move on to nolan's report.
-- Andrew N.S. Glazer, Editor, Wednesday Nite Poker

MENG LA IS THE WINNER!

Meng La, a 40-year-old professional poker player from Torrance, CA won his first ever World Series gold bracelet in the $1,500 buy-in Texas Hold'em championship. Meng's victory was certainly well deserved, although it did not come easy. The chip lead at the final table -- which lasted over seven hours -- changed a staggering 17 times. No less than six of the ten finalists on Day Two held the chip lead at one point or another.

Meng was one of 366 entries competing in this event, which was the 28th tournament held at this year's World Series. The $1,500 buy-in championship was the fourth limit hold'em event thus far, and has historically been one of the most popular tournaments at the World Series. The $1,500 buy-in event attracts large, highly competitive poker professionals and amateurs from many states and several foreign countries.


FIRST, LET'S MEET THE FINALISTS:

Meng started off the day in second chip position with $84,000. Chip-leader Paul Ladanyi started with $92,500. The final table reunited the two big winners from the L.A. Poker Classic, which took place in February. Meng La and Diego Cordevez both won million dollar events at the Commerce Casino.

Players at the final table on Day Two, which began May 15, 2002 were as follows:

SEAT 1: Patty Gallagher (San Diego, CA) $54,500 -- Arrived in 6th chip position. Nicknamed "Machine Gun Patty" for her extremely hyper-aggressive style of play. Primarily a $20-40 limit player at Oceans 11 (Oceanside, CA) who made the final table for the first time.

SEAT 2: Cy Jassinowsky (Johanesburg, South Africa) $35,000 -- Arrived in 7th chip position. Former winner of a no-limit event at the United States Poker Championship.

SEAT 3: Paul Ladanyi (Los Angeles, CA) $92,500 -- Chip-leader as final table begins. Originally from Budapest, Hungary -- winner of numerous major tournaments with several in-the-money finishes at the WSOP and other major events. Specializes primarily in limit hold'em.

SEAT 4: Jesse Daniel (Ventura, CA) $76,000 -- Arrived in 4th chip position (tie). Four in-the-money finishes at the WSOP.

SEAT 5: Meng La (Torrance, CA) $84,000 -- Arrived in 2nd chip position. Won $300,000 at the L.A. Poker Classic.

SEAT 6: Steve Kaufman (Las Vegas, NV) $76,000 -- Arrived in 4th chip position (tie). Finished 3rd in WSOP main event in 2000 and made final table that same year at the Tournament of Champions and the World Poker Open. Finished 6th in Senior's championship event last year.

SEAT 7: An Tran (Las Vegas, NV) $24,500 -- Arrived in 8th chip position. Nicknamed "The Boss," he's the winner of several majors, including a gold bracelet in 1991. More than 30 in-the-money finishes at the WSOP.

SEAT 8: Gary Jones (London, England) $77,000 -- Arrived in 3rd chip position. Won the European Poker Classic.

SEAT 9: Diego Cordevez (Palo Alto, CA) $20,000 -- Arrived in 9th chip position. Stanford graduate and now a full-time poker pro, with several final tables and tournament wins.

SEAT 10: Daniel Barnett (Edmunds, WA) $15,500 -- Arrived in 10th chip position. Six limit hold'em in-the-money finishes at WSOP.


THE FINAL TABLE BEGINS:

Play began with 42:13 remaining at the $2K-4K limit (with blinds set at $1K-2K). With rounds lasting a full hour and a half, this lengthy structure meant that most of the players sitting at the final table would get to see plenty of hands before the betting limits escalated to the point where players would be forced to commit all of his/her chips. The sole exception was Daniel Barnett, who came into the final table perilously short-stacked with only $15,500. His low chip status meant he would see only a couple of rounds of hands before being forced to play a hand and commit his remaining chips in an effort to double-up.

Barnett found that hand when he was dealt A-6 and saw an ace come out on the flop....A-8-5. Unfortunately for Barnett, he ran into a buzz saw, Patty Gallagher's A-A, which meant she had flopped trip aces and Barnett was essentially drawing dead. Barnett exited the final table in 10th place and collected $6,200.

Gallagher's key early hand -- winning with pocket aces -- launched a firestorm which would burn for nearly six hours. As she quickly improved her early chip position, she immediately became more talkative, teasing and baiting her opponents into calling with lesser hands over the next several hours.

A few hands after Barnett was eliminated, Gallagher took a $30K pot with her A-10, when the final board showed 8-9-10-A-A. She caught runner-runner (aces) to make a full house and seized the chip lead away from Ladanyi just twenty minutes into play at the final table.

Gallagher was just getting started.

An Tran would be the next victim to get assaulted by the slightly-built young female from San Diego who calls herself, "Machine Gun Patty."


AN TRAN'S FINAL TABLE FAREWELL:

An Tran could not win a hand on this day. He arrived low on chips, but might have made a move had he been able to acquire some chips early. It simply was not to be.

Tran became Gallagher's next victim when she moved the quiet Vietnam-born pro "all-in" when the flop came J-9-2 with two spades. Gallagher held the K-Q of spades for the flush draw -- with two overcards. Tran was committed to the pot and called with his remaining chips with 3-3 -- praying Gallagher was either bluffing at the pot or that he might catch another three to make a set. Unfortunately, the final two cards were a king and a queen, giving Gallagher top two-pair and adding new bullets in her barrel in the stacks of poker chip.

With Tran's unwelcome departure in 9th place, Patty Gallagher had the chip lead for the first time.


PAUL LADANYI'S NIGHTMARE BEGINS:

If there is such a thing as "pressure" on players at the final table, there is no more pressure than having the chip lead in an event at the World Series of Poker. Face it, chip leaders are expected to play well. They are even expected to win, most of the time. When it does not turn out that way, the disappointment for the (former) chip leader is even more profound, the pain of losing more deep than otherwise might be. While those who are short-stacked can whittle away and play with some sense of reckless abandon in an attempt to accumulate chips, the chip leader must be more careful and must tread cautiously.

Paul Ladanyi, the limit hold'em specialist from Los Angeles and the early chip leader, took a horrible beat when he was dealt 7-7 and saw a 7 come out on the flop to make a set. As chips went flying into the pot, Gary Jones pondered his plight and realized he needed some help in a big way to win the pot. With a sizable number of his chips committed, Jones caught a magical card on the river to make a jack-high straight. Ladanyi's pocket 7s were riffled across the table in disgust, and now Jones was threatening Gallagher to take the chip lead.

Ladanyi looked straight ahead. There was nothing he could do.


DIEGO CORDEVEZ KNOCKED-OUT 8TH:

Blinds were raised to $1500-3000 and betting limits increased to $3K-6K.

After surviving two all-in hands (winning each time) and watching the blinds coming around quickly, popular tournament pro Diego Cordevez took his final stand with his remaining $7,500 when he was dealt K-6. Meng called immediately with A-3 and ripped Cordevez apart when the final board showed 3-4-5-3-J -- for trip 3s. Codevez had managed to pick up an open-ended straight draw on the flop, but the Gods of chance were indifferent to Diego and failed to fulfill the request. Cordevez collected $10,320 for 8th place.

Down now to seven players, no one was in immediate danger of elimination based on low chip counts. Gallagher, Ladanyi, and Jones all had close to $85K, while the remaining four players were split equally with about $50K each.


JESSE DANIEL BECOMES THE NEW CHIP LEADER

Jesse Daniel, the youthful, viser-wearing poker pro from Ventura, CA took his turn as chip leader when he got into a huge confrontation with Gallagher. Both players put in four full bets before the flop. After another slew of bets and raises after the flop, betting slowed down on the turn and river as Daniel tabled 9-9 against Gallagher's 8-8. Gallagher let out a blood-curling scream as she watched Daniel's 9's take down the pot. Now, Daniel was up to $95K.

Gallagher got hammered again a few minutes later when Steve Kaufman picked up pocket aces and won another $18K from Gallagher's stack. But she would soon recover those lost chips with lots of good fortune from the deck.


GARY JONES TEMPORARILY SEIZES CHIP LEAD AS JASSINOWSKY GETS BUSTED:

The biggest pot of the final table thus far occurred when Gary Jones hit a monster hand against Cy Jassinowsky. With nearly $50K in the pot, Jones showed four 4s to scoop all the chips in the center of the table (Jassinowsky's hand was not shown). After that battle, Jassinowsky had only $6K left, while Jones was now up over $100K for the first time. He would stay in the chip lead only momentarily.

Jassinowsky was desperate to pick up a hand, and made his final commitment with K-9. Meng La faded Jassinowsky's betting action with his K-10, which left the cool South African in a horrible situation. The final board showed K-Q-5-J-3 which gave both players top pair with kings, but Meng had the higher kicker. Jassinowsky took home $12,900 for 7th place.

Play remained fast and furious. Virtually every pot was raised rep-flop and at least one player called to see what the flop would bring. After the flop, raising and check-raising was routine. It soon got to the point where it became impossible to put player on a hand, as every finalist seemed to be representing a powerhouse.

Gallagher remained the most aggressive player at the final table seeing more than half the flops and then betting out or check-raising on the flop to scare opponents out of the pot. With this aggressive strategy, Gallagher regained the chip lead. At the first break, the chip counts were as follows:

Gallagher, $125,000
Meng, $107,000
Kaufman, $76,000
Jones, $70,000
Daniel, $70,000
Ladanyi, $50,000


"MACHINE GUN PATTY" MAKES HER MOVE AS LADANYI GOES OUT NEXT:

After the blinds were raised again to $2K-4K and betting limits increased to $4-8K, "Machine Gun Patty" Gallagher went on an absolute tear. She won the first four hands after the betting limit increase, predictably in the most dramatic fashion possible.

First, she was dealt pocket queens and made queens full. Then, she won the next three hands in rapid succession, fearlessly betting into her opponent no matter what the situation. She became the first player at the final table to accumulate over $200K in chips and for a moment it seemed the limit hold'em event might turn into a runaway win for the talkative young lady.

Then, just as quickly, she lost back. First, Gallagher lost a $40K pot to Jesse Daniel when her top pair was out-kicked. A few minutes later, Meng made his move and took a slight chip lead from Gallagher when four spades came out on the board. Paul Ladanyi, who suffered a grave amount of misfortune at this final table, had a queen high flush made on the turn, but then watched in horror as a fourth spade fell on the river. Meng tabled the king of spades (besting Ladanyi's queen) and thus became of the sixth player at the final table to hold the chip lead.

Paul Ladanyi's misery continued when he raised pre-flop with 10-10 and was re-raised by Gallagher. Five full bets went into the pot before the betting finally stopped, which left Ladanyi completely on the ropes with the tens. Confident Gallagher was overplaying her hand and could not possibly have another powerhouse hand ("this can't possibly be happening, right?"), Ladanyi moved his remaining chips into the pot when the flop came 3-3-8. A 6 and 5 fell next, as Ladanyi flipped over pocket tens. Ooops! Bad timing there. Gallagher showed here pocket rockets....A-A. Ladanyi, the early chip leader went out a disappointing 6th and collected $18,060.

With that big hand, the chip lead had changed for the 9th time, with Gallagher now nursing the biggest stack.

Chip counts were as follows:

Gallagher, $230,000
Meng, $150,000
Jones, $70,000
Daniel, $50,000
Kaufman, $45,000


STEVE KAUFMAN STAYS PATIENT:

Those who follow tournament poker know that part-time poker pro Steve Kaufman is a college professor and once taught Hebrew Studies as a Rabbi. Perhaps his training in spiritual matters has made him a more patient player than most. It certainly gives him a quiet, calm demeanor that makes it seem he is content with whatever happens in a poker tournament and at a poker table. Although he is a fierce competitor and certainly wanted to win the gold bracelet (probably more than anyone else at this final table), Kaufman's style was generally more conservative than his opponents. While other players such as Gallagher and Meng were intent on seeing as many flops as possible and constantly made moves at the pot, Kaufman appeared content to wait for better cards and put money into the pot only when he had the best of it. The low-risk strategy was paying off.


GARY JONES GOES OUT IN FIFTH PLACE:

After this tournament is over, Gary Jones will have nightmares about the following hand. He was dealt pocket aces. Gallagher was dealt pocket queens. Normally, Q-Q is a pretty strong hand. A great hand when played head-up. But against A-A it's in a horrible spot. After both players put in a series of early bets before the flop, Jones check-raised Gallagher on the turn. Staring at a board of J-10-8-3, Gallagher thought carefully and contemplated laying down her hand. She reluctantly called the raise, knowing she needed help and then caught a miracle card (yet again). A nine gave Gallagher a straight and made Jones' pocket aces as good as wallpaper. Jones will be dreaming about what might have been had Gallagher not caught the luckiest of cards -- a nine to make an inside straight to the queen.

Devastated by losing with pocket aces, Jones was in serious trouble. A short time later, Jones was dealt K-8 and saw the flop come A-K-7. Jones moved his last chips into the pot and Kaufman was pleased to call with A-6 for top pair. A harmless 4 and 10 came on the turn and river, meaning no improvement for Jones. 5th place paid $23,220 for the man dressed in black from London.


GALLAGHER TALKS:

Patty Gallagher's conversational abilities corresponded directly to her chip status at the final table. When sitting with the chip lead or close to it, she rattled off teasing comments to her male opponents, baiting them towards calling when she held strong hands, as she tried to confuse everyone with her ceaseless chatter.

Her rambling ways paid off handsomely when she was dealt 6-6 and hit a 6 on the flop to make a set against Daniel.

Then, she went quiet for a few minutes after Kaufman ripped into her stack with two pair, 10s and 8s. Kaufman's first real break at the final table meant he now had over $100K and could remain patient while his opponents gambled.

Next, Daniel got his revenge against Gallagher as he took pocket 9s up against her pocket 8s. The 9s held up and Daniel was back close to $100K.

Just as quickly, Gallagher got all those chips back and more when she flopped the stone-cold nuts. Gallagher held J-10 and saw the flop come 7-8-9. What a thing of beauty. Daniel went back and forth with Gallagher a few times and reluctantly folded when he was checked-raised on the turn. Gallagher, sensing to show her opponents she was invincible with a mesmerizing string of powerful cards and flops, plopped the nut straight down on the table and grabbed the big pot.

Next, she clobbered Meng with a full house. Picking up 8-5 in the big blind, she called Meng's pre-flop raise and then watched in delight as two pair came on the flop. Meng started the hand with $160K, but was left with less than $100K after Gallagher launched a rocket into his stack.

The final table had its share of unpredictable moments. At one point, the conversation turned to matrimony:

MENG (speaking to Gallagher): Are you married?
GALLAGHER: No!
KAUFMAN (laughing): I can see why.
GALLAGHER: Yeah, no man is strong enough to tame me!

That remark, uttered by the female firebrand who stands no higher than 5 feet and weighs probably no more than 100 pounds, left just about everyone speechless.

As limits increased again to $6K-12K with blinds at $3K-6K, the chip counts stood as follows:

Gallagher, $271,000
Kaufman, $140,000
Meng, $110,000
Daniel, $24,000


JESSE DANIEL FINISHES FOURTH:

Desperately low on chips, Jesse Daniel made his final stand of the night with K-6 of hearts. Kaufman picked up 8-8 and raised before the flop. Daniel reluctantly called with his remaining chips and watched the flop bring no help whatsoever. The final board showed Q-6-2-10-10, giving Kaufman the pot. Jesse Daniel from Ventura, CA finished 4th and won $30,960 for his impressive performance in the tournament.

At this point, nearly a quarter of a million dollars in cash was brought out and placed on the table for all the players and spectators to see. The sight off all the tightly bound hundred dollar bills was far too much for Gallagher. She got up from her chair, pranced over to money, and then stuck $50K in cash under her shirt, propping up her feminine features. "Hey look, now I don't need to get (breast augmentation surgery),"she said to the crowd – which looked on in stunned silence. "With that kind of money, now you can afford to get it done," a wiseguy shouted from the back of the crowd.

With the money placed safely back on the table, the final three players became more serious-minded. Gallagher and Kaufman looked to Meng to cut a deal, but Meng steadfastly refused. He showed a great deal of confidence in himself by making the decision to play it out, although most observers would say it was anyone's tournament to win at that point. With third place getting close to $50K and first place at $200K -- the $150K difference in prize money was huge. Despite overtures from Kaufman and Gallagher, Meng refused, with a simple comment: "Let's gamble."


A CRITICAL HAND:

This final table had more than its share of big hands and exciting moments. But perhaps the most fateful hand of the night took place about ten minutes into three-way action. Meng was dealt A-10. Gallagher was dealt A-K. Gallagher raised pre-flop and Meng called. The flop came A-8-2. Gallagher checked. Meng bet. Gallagher called (slowplaying her hand a bit). The turn was a blank. Gallagher checked again. Meng bet. Gallagher check-raised. Meng called. At this point, he had only about $10K left in front. With his A-10 to Gallagher's A-K, there was only one card that could save him -- a ten. The ten came on the river, giving Meng two pair to Gallagher's A-K. Gallagher, who had put several brutal beats on her opponents was now getting a taste of her own nasty medicine. Indeed, it was a bitter pill to swallow.

With the win, Meng was back up to $170K in chips. Gallagher still had $238K. Kaufman stood tough with $152K.


A MEDICAL EMERGENCY:

This final table had a little bit of everything. Over a dozen lead changes. Banter. Conversation. Jokes. Laughter. Screaming. No one was the least bit surprised then, when something completely out of the ordinary occurred. Gallagher had been stabbing her opponents with barbs all day, intended to drive her opponents crazy. She sat cross- legged and barefoot much of the time. Perhaps it was the pressure of playing at her first final table. Perhaps it was the warm late afternoon. Perhaps it was the fact she had been sitting still for hour after hour on the second day. That's when it happened.

The leg cramp. The very painful leg cramp.

Suddenly, without any warning, Gallagher bent over in an obvious display of pain. Tears swelled in her eyes as her left leg became frozen. Time was called. Gallagher crawled over the bleacher section seating where supporters were sitting and a quick massage was administered. Ten minutes later, Gallagher was back in her chair rubbing her leg so as to avoid another severe leg cramp. Perhaps the leg cramp was the early sign of a physical deteriorization that foreshadowed what was soon to come. It was as if the leg was the base on which she stood, and she was now focused more on the pain than the game. She lost her edge.

A few minutes later, Meng took back the chip lead. Then, he won a $100K pot from Gallagher with pocket kings and went over $300K in chips for the first time.

Limits went up again to $5K-10K blinds and betting limits at $10K-20K. With such high limits, the end of this seven-hour marathon was near.


THE BLUFF THAT FAILED:

Gallagher moved her chips masterfully. She certainly enjoyed some good fortune from the deck, but also played her large stack exceptionally well, consistently raising and re-raising to take pots and keep opponents off-guard. But there were moments, too, when things did not go according to plan.

As the board showed 8-8-3-7, Gallagher let out with a $20K bet into a pot that was already $100K. Meng immediately raised up to $40K and Gallagher folded quickly, essentially vindicating that she was making a move at the pot at the wrong time.

Steve Kaufman momentarily seized the chip lead back from Meng La when he made a heart flush and dragged a huge pot. With Kaufman's move, this was the 13th chip-loead change of the final table. There would be more to come.


STEVE KAUFMAN GETS CLOSE TO VICTORY:

Tournament pro Vince Burgio was announcing the final table and noticed an older, distinguished-looking man in the audience cheering on Steve Kaufman. It was determined that the man in the crowd was Kaufman's father -- who had come in just to see his son play in the big tournament. As Burgio tried to be sentimental by introducing the elder Kaufman to the other spectators, father Kaufman snapped "I've got 2 percent of Steve's action!" So much for family loyalty. Just make sure dad gets his cut, Steve..

Kaufman continued to accumulate chips and got up to $325K at one point. With Gallagher left with $90K and Meng at about $130K, it appeared the professor was only a hand or two away from winning his first gold bracelet. But closing the victory would prove to be the most difficult of challenges.


"MACHINE GUN PATTY" FINALLY GETS GUNNED DOWN:

It had to happen sooner or latter. The player who brought the most drama to the final table and certainly enjoyed the greatest run of any player in Day Two of the final, would eventually run out of good cards and favorable flops. The bad run was inevitable. First, Kaufman crippled the hobbled Gallagher with A-J when he spiked a jack on the river to win a critical pot. Then, Gallagher moved the rest of her chips into the pot with A-7 and went up against Meng's K-9. The final board came Q-10-4-Q-J, giving Meng a straight to the king. Just as Gallagher had caught a few miracles early in the tournament, things had finally turned around.

Patty Gallagher collected $49,020 for third place. As she departed the final table, she could help but launch one more strike at her two male opponents. "Well girls, I'll see you next time," she barked as Kaufman and Meng looked at each other in amazement.


THE DEAL:

With the chip counts are close to even (Meng actually had a $15K advantage), a deal was cut between the two final players. Each player took $120K and agreed to play for the remaining $48,980 and the gold bracelet.


THE FINALE:

Kaufman won the first hand of head-up play. That meant the lead and changed 16 times at the final table. Kaufman made a remarkable call with ace-high, snapping-off Meng's attempted bluff.

But that was to be Kaufman's last hurrah. The gold bracelet would continue to elude him as Meng wnet on a rush and started to hammer away at Kaufman's stack. With limits at $10K-20K just a few big pots meant a swing of a third to a half the chips in play.

Kaufman lost a devastating pot when Meng decided to slowplay J-J and over $160K ended up in the pot. The final board showed K-9-6-7-8. Kaufman could not make a straight and did not have the king, so the jacks held up and scooped a large number of chips from Kaufman's diminishing stack. With Meng now at $450K to Kaufman's $100K, the final hand of the night was dealt:

KAUFMAN: 9-10
MENG: Q-8

After the flop came Q-Q-7 -- giving Meng three queens -- Kaufman tried to make a move at the pot by betting $10K. Meng called. The turn was a jack, giving Kaufman an inside straight draw. Kaufman bet his last $20K and Meng called quickly. A harmless 6 fell on the river, which meant no straight for Kaufman, but a gold bracelet for the 40-year-old poker pro from Torrance, CA.

Meng was ecstatic with his well-earned victory, while Kaufman was disappointed he could not pick up his first gold bracelet. Kaufman has been on an amazing run at times in tournaments the last few years, but for all his considerable talent remains snake-bitten by not being able to win the big event when it counts. At a final table that could probably have gone either way, Meng La got the breaks on this day and won the key hands by making the right moves at the right times. Kaufman and the rest of the players must wonder what they could have done to reverse things and gain victory. Perhaps there's nothing to be done. Perhaps, it was just meant to be -- a World Series of Poker victory for Meng La.


Final Official Results, Event #28, $1,500 Buy-in Texas Hold'em (Limit)
Total Entries: 366
Total Prize Pool: $516,060

To the top

Comments & Contact

I love getting reader feedback and questions. Don't be shy about disagreeing with anything you read in Wednesday Nite Poker. If I decide you're right, readers will hear about it (with attribution or without, as you prefer); if you're wrong, you'll probably learn something important when you hear why you're wrong.

Email me at: wednesdaynitepoker@casino.com

If you would like to read previous issues of Wednesday Nite Poker you can find them here.

Interested in advertising in this newsletter? Contact us at: ads@casino.com.

Wednesday Nite Poker is is published by the Casino.com Network
(http://www.casino.com) twice a month. The Casino.com Network publishes other popular newsletters; Craps Companion, Slots Report, Blackjack Insider, Casino Travel Showcase, CasinoWire Newsletter and The Casino.com Spin. If you wish to subscribe sign up here!

If you wish to unsubscribe from this newsletter please click here.

To the top