John Gordon Wind $1,000 No Limit WSOP Circuit Event at Grand Casino Tunica

2006 Grand Casino Tunica
World Series of Poker
Circuit Events
Event #6
$1,000 No Limit Hold'em
Tournament Report

John Gordon Knocks Out 8 Players
And Romps to $1,000 No-Limit Win

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Tunica, MS - John Gordon, a 43-year-old real estate investor, was a one-man
wrecking crew in the sixth event of the WSOP Circuit tour at Grand Casino
Tunica. He started off by eliminating the last three players in day-one action.
But that was just a warm-up. At the final table the next day, he knocked out
the first four players in a single round and went on to dispose of four more as
he stormed to a stunningly decisive win in $1,000 no-limit hold’em. The
victory brought him $100,727 along with a championship gold ring.

“The cards made me tonight,” Gordon said, and his amazing run was indeed
fueled by sets, flushes and then pocket kings on the final hand. Gordon has
two other $100,000-plus cash-ins. He collected $111,800 for winning the
Mandalay Bay Poker Championship, and $124,800 for finishing second to Dan
Harrington in a $2,500 no-limit event at the 1995 World Series.

When the 16 finalists returned for second-day play, Gordon had a sizeable
lead with 122,400 chips. When final-table action got underway, with 2,000-
4,000 blinds, he had added another 15,000 chips to his stacks. However, he
was now trailing Terry Quinn, who had 165,500.

Seating order and chip counts were:

Gordon was not second-best for long. Starting with hand 20, he went on a
rampage. His first victim was Mark “Pegasus” Smith, 54, a horse-breeder,
who was short-chipped in the big blind with 8-7. Gordon raised, and Smith
had little choice but to call. “Last time he raised he had 8-6,” Smith said later.
“He could have had anything. What Gordon had was A-Q. Smith took the lead
when a 7 flopped, but Gordon finished him when a queen turned. Smith, 54,
is from Lexington, KY and been playing poker for only two years. He picked up
$3,899 for 10th.

On the next hand, retiree Douglas Bruce was all in with A-10 against
Gordon’s pocket 6s. A flop of 7-6-4 gave Gordon a set, leaving Bruce virtually
dead to a miracle runner-runner straight, which never came. Bruce, 60, from
Lawrenceville, GA has been playing poker for 30 years and has a win at a
Gold Strike Poker Classic limit hold’em event. Tonight, he cashed-out $6,499
for ninth.

The carnage continued two hands later. This time the board showed 8d-4d-
2c-8c-6d. Gordon declared all in. Shea McGuire decided to call with pocket 5s
and Gordon turned over Ad-5d for the nut flush. Eighth place paid $9,749.
McGuire, who owns a medical equipment dealership, is 42 and is from
Paducah, Kentucky. He’s been playing the game for 40 years.

Right after that, Ricardo Rodriguez, a 35-year-old poker player originally from
Cuba and now living in Tampa, Florida, issued a challenge: “Does anybody
want to gamble?” he asked, then pushed in all his 50,000 chips. Gordon was
more than happy to gamble with pocket 9s, and promptly flopped a winning
set. Rodriguez, a scuba diving hobbyist, has been playing poker for 10 years
and cashed out for $12,998 in seventh place.

After four quick knock-outs, Gordon now owned about 335,000 of the
837,000 chips in play.

Blinds now moved up to 3,000-6,000. After some back-and-forth play, Gordon
reloaded and started mowing down players again. Next to go was Nick Willie.
After Brian Gibson opened for 18,000, Willie moved in. Gordon called and
Gibson got out of the way. This time Nick had pocket 9s to Willie’s A-K. A river
9 gave Gordon another set and he notched his fifth straight kill. Sixth place
paid $16,248, Willie, 23, is a salesman from Sedalia, Kentucky. He had
another final table here in January.

Gordon suffered a rare beat when Gibson, all in with Ad-5d, outran his Ah-Jh
after a 5 flopped. But Gordon, shrugging off the indignity, promptly got back
on track as he made his sixth straight kill. This time it was Ernie Shepherd, a
retiree. He moved in for about 80,000 with Kh-Js, and Gordon beat him into
the pot with Qh-10h. Gordon got a great flop, Qs-6h-5h, giving him top pair
and a flush draw. A 10 turned to give him a second pair. It also gave
Shepherd a straight draw, but the two pair held up. Shepherd, 60, is a
retired night club owner from Lizella, Georgia. He’s only played poker since
the beginning of this year, and won his seat into this event at Party Poker.
His fifth-place finish was worth $14,497.

Taking a breather, Gordon generously allowed another player to knock
someone out. Gibson moved in for 85,000 with pocket 8s and lost to Quinn’s
pocket 10s when the board hit neither player. Gibson, from Woodway, Texas,
is a 42-year-old attorney who has been playing poker for five years and had
a fifth in an event here in January. His pay-out for fourth was $22,747

Three-handed, Gordon now had about 450,000 to around 210,000 for Craig
Thames and 180,000 for Quinn.

Getting back to work, Gordon now put a crushing beat on Thames, who held
pocket queens and had a seemingly easy call with a set when Gordon moved
in on a flop of Qd-8d-2d. But then Gordon turned over 10d-7d for another
flush, and Thames checked out in third place when he failed to make a
needed full house. Thames, 30, is from Collins, Texas. He’s played four Circuit
events and had three cashes and two final tables. He got $22,006 for third.

Just a couple of hands later it was all over. With the board showing Ac-Jc-6c-
8d, Quinn moved in for 140,000. Gordon had to figure him for either an ace, a
flush draw or a jack. Deciding he would have raised pre-flop with an ace,
Gordon, correctly put Quinn on second pair. Later saying he had to call,
Gordon did so and turned up two red kings. Quinn’s J-5 wasn’t much good,
and Gordon’s remarkable run had just earned him over $100,000.

Quinn, whose nickname is “Venom,” is 55 and from Powell, Ohio. He is a real
estate developer who owns 30 subways and a part-time player. His best
prior cash was for $7,700 in a Reno event. Tonight he got $51,992 for second
place.

Gordon learned poker from his father 10 years ago. He enjoys working out,
fishing and other outdoor activities. He says he plays poker just for fun, and
his style of play varies from passive to aggressive, depending on the cards.
Tonight it was definitely aggressive. The highlight of his poker career? Playing
heads-up against Dan Harrington.

— Max Shapiro

Max Shapiro -- WSOP Media Director

World Series of Poker Commissioner – Jeffrey Pollack
Director of Poker Operations for Harrah’s Entertainment – Jack Effel
Harrah’s Grand Tunica Poker Room Manager – Karen Kaegin

SEAT 1
SEAT 2
SEAT 3
SEAT 4
SEAT 5
SEAT 6
SEAT 7
SEAT 8
SEAT 9
SEAT 10

Craig Thames
Shea McGuire
John Gordon
Brian Gibson
Ernie Shepherd
Nick Willie
Mark Smith
Douglas Bruce
Richard Rodriguez
Terry Quinn