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| $3,000 Limit Hold'em Event #7 Official Final Results 2006 World Series of Poker (WSOP) |
2006 World Series of Poker
Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino – Las Vegas
Official Results and Report
Event #7
Limit Hold’em
Buy-In: $3,000
Number of Entries: 415
Total Prize Money: $1,145,400
Defending Champion (2005):
Todd Witteles
Official Results:
Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino – Las Vegas
Official Results and Report
Event #7
Limit Hold’em
Buy-In: $3,000
Number of Entries: 415
Total Prize Money: $1,145,400
Defending Champion (2005):
Todd Witteles
Official Results:
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Place Name Hometown Prize
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1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
42.
43.
44.
45.
46.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
42.
43.
44.
45.
46.
William Chen
Yueqi “Rich” Zhu
Henry Nguyen
Karlo Lopez
Danny Ciasamella
Larry Thomas
Allan Puzantyan
Ernie Scherer III
Jeffrey Lisandro
Jason Mann
Barry Shulman
Brooks Wiley
Phil Hellmuth
Greg DeBera
Matthew Woodward
Edler William
Timothy Drews
Jeffrey Freedman
Shane Steffens
Raymond Dehkharghani
Darrel Dicken
Kevin Steede
John Phan
Donald Todd
Andrew Hallenbeck
Michael Wu Ma
Justin Tran
Robert Tannidu
Jason Heidema
Russell Floyd
Patrick Pezzin
Alex Jacob
Martin Feijo
Jeffrey Norman
Jim Bechtel
Michael Bittan
Thithi Tran
Jordan Rich
Horwan Young
Andrew Kalsall
Mike Angel
Kuei Chang
Bill Seber
Pat White
Michele Lewis
Sarah Bilnex
Yueqi “Rich” Zhu
Henry Nguyen
Karlo Lopez
Danny Ciasamella
Larry Thomas
Allan Puzantyan
Ernie Scherer III
Jeffrey Lisandro
Jason Mann
Barry Shulman
Brooks Wiley
Phil Hellmuth
Greg DeBera
Matthew Woodward
Edler William
Timothy Drews
Jeffrey Freedman
Shane Steffens
Raymond Dehkharghani
Darrel Dicken
Kevin Steede
John Phan
Donald Todd
Andrew Hallenbeck
Michael Wu Ma
Justin Tran
Robert Tannidu
Jason Heidema
Russell Floyd
Patrick Pezzin
Alex Jacob
Martin Feijo
Jeffrey Norman
Jim Bechtel
Michael Bittan
Thithi Tran
Jordan Rich
Horwan Young
Andrew Kalsall
Mike Angel
Kuei Chang
Bill Seber
Pat White
Michele Lewis
Sarah Bilnex
Lafayette Hill, PA
Rowland Heights, CA
San Jose, CA
San Juan, PR
Grays Landing, PA
Vacaville, CA
Montreal, Canada
Torrance, CA
Salerno, IT
Hermitage, AR
Las Vegas, NV
Oakland, CA
Palo Alto, CA
NA
Waterboro, ME
Las Vegas, NV
Indian Head Park, IL
Simi Valley, CA
Norfolk, NE
Overland Park, KS
Waterloo, IA
Plano, TX
Long Beach, CA
FL
Las Vegas, NV
Modesto, TX
Sacramento, CA
Denton, WA
Sunnyvale, CA
Dripping Springs, TX
Italy
Parkland, FL
NA
Encinias, CA
Gilbert, AZ
Englewood, NJ
Torrance, CA
Portland, OR
Ont, Canada
Lutz, FL
Mesa, AZ
Las Vegas, NV
Houston, TX
W. Nyack, NY
Houston, TX
Canberra, Australia
Rowland Heights, CA
San Jose, CA
San Juan, PR
Grays Landing, PA
Vacaville, CA
Montreal, Canada
Torrance, CA
Salerno, IT
Hermitage, AR
Las Vegas, NV
Oakland, CA
Palo Alto, CA
NA
Waterboro, ME
Las Vegas, NV
Indian Head Park, IL
Simi Valley, CA
Norfolk, NE
Overland Park, KS
Waterloo, IA
Plano, TX
Long Beach, CA
FL
Las Vegas, NV
Modesto, TX
Sacramento, CA
Denton, WA
Sunnyvale, CA
Dripping Springs, TX
Italy
Parkland, FL
NA
Encinias, CA
Gilbert, AZ
Englewood, NJ
Torrance, CA
Portland, OR
Ont, Canada
Lutz, FL
Mesa, AZ
Las Vegas, NV
Houston, TX
W. Nyack, NY
Houston, TX
Canberra, Australia
$343,618
$184,409
$91,632
$80,178
$68,724
$57,270
$45,816
$34,362
$22,908
$12,599
$12,599
$12,599
$10,309
$10,309
$10,309
$8,018
$8,018
$8,018
$5,727
$5,727
$5,727
$5,727
$5,727
$5,727
$5,727
$5,727
$5,727
$4,582
$4,582
$4,582
$4,582
$4,582
$4,582
$4,582
$4,582
$4,582
$3,436
$3,436
$3,436
$3,436
$3,436
$3,436
$3,436
$3,436
$1,718
$1,718
$184,409
$91,632
$80,178
$68,724
$57,270
$45,816
$34,362
$22,908
$12,599
$12,599
$12,599
$10,309
$10,309
$10,309
$8,018
$8,018
$8,018
$5,727
$5,727
$5,727
$5,727
$5,727
$5,727
$5,727
$5,727
$5,727
$4,582
$4,582
$4,582
$4,582
$4,582
$4,582
$4,582
$4,582
$4,582
$3,436
$3,436
$3,436
$3,436
$3,436
$3,436
$3,436
$3,436
$1,718
$1,718
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Tournament Report
Bill Chen + Limit Hold’em = Gold Bracelet
Mathematics whiz/game theorist barges to victory
Berkley PhD takes his first WSOP title and $343,618
Las Vegas, NV – “Mathematics” is properly defined as the study of the
measurement, properties, and relationships of quantities and sets, using
numbers and symbols. Since the game of poker is primarily a game of
numbers, symbols, and measurements – it naturally follows that a poker
player with a PhD in mathematics might enjoy a few competitive advantages.
Fact is, William Chen is usually the most intelligent man inside any room he
enters. Not that he would ever tell you so, nor he would exhibit any of the
exterior qualities associated with true genius. That “stealth” character
makes Bill Chen an even more dangerous player to play against at the poker
table -- an opinion very likely now shared by the collective 414 opponents he
vanquished in the $3,000 buy-in limit hold’em event at the 2006 World Series
of Poker.
This was the second limit hold’em event of this year’s World Series. No-limit
might have eclipsed limit poker as “the game,” but both limit events played
so far this year have exceeded last year’s record numbers in attendance. Bill
Chen was one of 415 players who each paid $3,000 to enter the
tournament.
After two long days, the nine finalists were set for the final table. At the
start, Karlo Lopez enjoyed an impressive chip lead. But, nine hours later, all
of the chips belonged to Chen. Starting chip counts were as follows:
Jeffrey Lisandro was certainly one of the early favorites to prevail. After all,
he won the 2005 WSOP Circuit championship event at Harvey’s Lake Tahoe
and arrived as the player most accustomed to playing poker for high-stakes.
But Lisandro took a tough beat when his set of threes was busted by his
opponent’s A-K suited, which completed a flush. This was the third
consecutive final table with an Australian finalist present. Joe Hachem (from
Melbourne) finished second two days ago, and Mark Vos (from Brisbane) won
the previous event. Perth-born Lisnadro could do no better than ninth and
collected $22,908.
Southern California poker pro Ernie Scherer busted out next. Yesterday was
Scherer’s 28th-birthday and he must have used up all his wishes. In the end,
Scherer – the BYU graduate turned pro poker player -- ran out of good cards
and chips and collected $34,362 for eighth place.
Allan Puzantyan took seventh place after his two-pair lost to a straight. The
Canadian jeweler missed adding one very valuable gold bracelet to his
collection, and instead had to settle for a $45,816 prize.
Larry Thomas was the next player to make an unwanted exit. One his final
hand of the night, Thomas was dealt two big cards and tried to catch a pair,
but was essentially drawing dead when his opponent made a full-house.
Thomas, a casino manager at The Oaks Card Club in northern California, was
dealt $57,270 for sixth place.
Danny Ciasamella arrived with the lowest stack, but somehow did manage to
leap four spots up the money ladder. On his fateful final hand, Ciasamella did
not show his cards after Bill Chen revealed two pair. The grocery store
owner from Pennsylvania checked out with $68,724.
The four remaining players were very close to even in chips. About an hour
later, the early chip leader Karlo Lopez went bankrupt. He encountered a
series of horrible cards during his last 40-minutes at the table. Desperately
short-stacked, Lopez finally went out when giant-killer Bill Chen flopped two
pair. Lopez, appropriately nicknamed “the Wizard” for his background as a
magician, finished 33rd in the main event at the 2005 WSOP. He took fourth
place this time, good for $80,178.
Vietnamese-born Henry Nguyen was eliminated next when Bill Chen
completed a straight. Nguyen played well enough for third place, but never
seemed to be in a position to challenge either of his opponents for the chip
lead. Nguyen’s prize amounted to $91,632.
The two finalists battled back and forth for three hours during heads-up
play. Rich Zhu had the chip lead about midway through play, but failed to
maintain the advantage. Repeatedly, Chen was the more aggressive player.
He either won the majority of his pots because he sensed that Zhu was
sometimes timid – or perhaps it was just that Chen was dealt stronger
cards. Whatever the reason and whether it was pure math or not, as tough
an obstacle as Zhu proved to be, Chen seemed to make the most of every
situation by calling, raising, or folding – and being right most of the time.
The final hand of the tournament provided some excitement as Zhu was dealt
10-5 versus Chen’s A-4. The flop came 7-4-3 giving Chen middle pair and Zhu
an inside straight draw. Zhu’s final bet went into the pot on a semi-bluff, but
he failed to connect with either a pair or the straight draw.
As the runner up, Yueqi “Rich” Zhu collected $184,409. Bill Chen’s
percentage of the pool amounted to $343,618.
Fittingly, Chen is releasing a new poker book this fall, to be titled The
Mathematics of Poker. With his co-author Jerrod Ankerman, the two writers
are expected to examine brand new territory and divulge playing strategies
based on the laws of probability as they apply to poker. Based on his
performance on this night, odds are that the World Series of Poker has not
seen the last of Bill Chen.
Report by Nolan Dalla
Overall Tournament Statistics (through end of Event #7):
Total Entries to Date: 9,570
Total Prize Money Distributed: $ 13,401,490
World Series of Poker Commissioner – Jeffrey Pollack
Director of Sports and Entertainment Marketing (Licensing) -- Ty Stewart
Director of Sports and Entertainment Marketing (Communications) – Gary
Thompson
Vice President of Specialty Gaming -- Howard Greenbaum
WSOP Tournament Director – Robert Daily
WSOP Tournament Director/Director of Poker Operations for Harrah’s
Entertainment – Jack Effel
Bill Chen + Limit Hold’em = Gold Bracelet
Mathematics whiz/game theorist barges to victory
Berkley PhD takes his first WSOP title and $343,618
Las Vegas, NV – “Mathematics” is properly defined as the study of the
measurement, properties, and relationships of quantities and sets, using
numbers and symbols. Since the game of poker is primarily a game of
numbers, symbols, and measurements – it naturally follows that a poker
player with a PhD in mathematics might enjoy a few competitive advantages.
Fact is, William Chen is usually the most intelligent man inside any room he
enters. Not that he would ever tell you so, nor he would exhibit any of the
exterior qualities associated with true genius. That “stealth” character
makes Bill Chen an even more dangerous player to play against at the poker
table -- an opinion very likely now shared by the collective 414 opponents he
vanquished in the $3,000 buy-in limit hold’em event at the 2006 World Series
of Poker.
This was the second limit hold’em event of this year’s World Series. No-limit
might have eclipsed limit poker as “the game,” but both limit events played
so far this year have exceeded last year’s record numbers in attendance. Bill
Chen was one of 415 players who each paid $3,000 to enter the
tournament.
After two long days, the nine finalists were set for the final table. At the
start, Karlo Lopez enjoyed an impressive chip lead. But, nine hours later, all
of the chips belonged to Chen. Starting chip counts were as follows:
Jeffrey Lisandro was certainly one of the early favorites to prevail. After all,
he won the 2005 WSOP Circuit championship event at Harvey’s Lake Tahoe
and arrived as the player most accustomed to playing poker for high-stakes.
But Lisandro took a tough beat when his set of threes was busted by his
opponent’s A-K suited, which completed a flush. This was the third
consecutive final table with an Australian finalist present. Joe Hachem (from
Melbourne) finished second two days ago, and Mark Vos (from Brisbane) won
the previous event. Perth-born Lisnadro could do no better than ninth and
collected $22,908.
Southern California poker pro Ernie Scherer busted out next. Yesterday was
Scherer’s 28th-birthday and he must have used up all his wishes. In the end,
Scherer – the BYU graduate turned pro poker player -- ran out of good cards
and chips and collected $34,362 for eighth place.
Allan Puzantyan took seventh place after his two-pair lost to a straight. The
Canadian jeweler missed adding one very valuable gold bracelet to his
collection, and instead had to settle for a $45,816 prize.
Larry Thomas was the next player to make an unwanted exit. One his final
hand of the night, Thomas was dealt two big cards and tried to catch a pair,
but was essentially drawing dead when his opponent made a full-house.
Thomas, a casino manager at The Oaks Card Club in northern California, was
dealt $57,270 for sixth place.
Danny Ciasamella arrived with the lowest stack, but somehow did manage to
leap four spots up the money ladder. On his fateful final hand, Ciasamella did
not show his cards after Bill Chen revealed two pair. The grocery store
owner from Pennsylvania checked out with $68,724.
The four remaining players were very close to even in chips. About an hour
later, the early chip leader Karlo Lopez went bankrupt. He encountered a
series of horrible cards during his last 40-minutes at the table. Desperately
short-stacked, Lopez finally went out when giant-killer Bill Chen flopped two
pair. Lopez, appropriately nicknamed “the Wizard” for his background as a
magician, finished 33rd in the main event at the 2005 WSOP. He took fourth
place this time, good for $80,178.
Vietnamese-born Henry Nguyen was eliminated next when Bill Chen
completed a straight. Nguyen played well enough for third place, but never
seemed to be in a position to challenge either of his opponents for the chip
lead. Nguyen’s prize amounted to $91,632.
The two finalists battled back and forth for three hours during heads-up
play. Rich Zhu had the chip lead about midway through play, but failed to
maintain the advantage. Repeatedly, Chen was the more aggressive player.
He either won the majority of his pots because he sensed that Zhu was
sometimes timid – or perhaps it was just that Chen was dealt stronger
cards. Whatever the reason and whether it was pure math or not, as tough
an obstacle as Zhu proved to be, Chen seemed to make the most of every
situation by calling, raising, or folding – and being right most of the time.
The final hand of the tournament provided some excitement as Zhu was dealt
10-5 versus Chen’s A-4. The flop came 7-4-3 giving Chen middle pair and Zhu
an inside straight draw. Zhu’s final bet went into the pot on a semi-bluff, but
he failed to connect with either a pair or the straight draw.
As the runner up, Yueqi “Rich” Zhu collected $184,409. Bill Chen’s
percentage of the pool amounted to $343,618.
Fittingly, Chen is releasing a new poker book this fall, to be titled The
Mathematics of Poker. With his co-author Jerrod Ankerman, the two writers
are expected to examine brand new territory and divulge playing strategies
based on the laws of probability as they apply to poker. Based on his
performance on this night, odds are that the World Series of Poker has not
seen the last of Bill Chen.
Report by Nolan Dalla
Overall Tournament Statistics (through end of Event #7):
Total Entries to Date: 9,570
Total Prize Money Distributed: $ 13,401,490
World Series of Poker Commissioner – Jeffrey Pollack
Director of Sports and Entertainment Marketing (Licensing) -- Ty Stewart
Director of Sports and Entertainment Marketing (Communications) – Gary
Thompson
Vice President of Specialty Gaming -- Howard Greenbaum
WSOP Tournament Director – Robert Daily
WSOP Tournament Director/Director of Poker Operations for Harrah’s
Entertainment – Jack Effel
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| UltimatePokerForum.com The Ultimate Poker Site |
Name
Allan Puzantyan
Danny Ciasamella
Jeffrey Lisandro
Karlo Lopez
Yueqi (Rich) Zhu
Larry Thomas
Ernie Scherer
Bill Chen
Henry Nguyen
Allan Puzantyan
Danny Ciasamella
Jeffrey Lisandro
Karlo Lopez
Yueqi (Rich) Zhu
Larry Thomas
Ernie Scherer
Bill Chen
Henry Nguyen
Chip Count
$144,000
$46,000
$153,000
$227,000
$221,000
$59,000
$118,000
$122,000
$189,000
$144,000
$46,000
$153,000
$227,000
$221,000
$59,000
$118,000
$122,000
$189,000
Seat #
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9