$2,500 No Limit Hold'em Short Handed-2006 WSOP Results

Event #5
$2,500 No Limit Hold'em Short
Handed/6 Per Table 2006
World Series of Poker
(WSOP)
Tournament Results

Place

1.
2.
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4.
5.
6.
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Name

Dutch Boyd
Joseph Hachem
Jeff Knight
Michael Goodman
Pete Hassett
David Solomon
Mirza Nagji
Daniel Negreanu
Vergard Nygaard
Isaac Sanders
Gioi Duc Luong
Gavin Smith
Todd Nichols
Harry Thomas
Marcus Garza
Gavin Griffin
Takov Nepomniashohig
David Shallow
Behzad Teranie
Craig Gray
Freddy Deeb
Russ Floyd
Karina Jett
Richard Brodie
Jason Loehde
Kathy Lieber
Kenny Hsiung
Rick Fuller
Chau Nguyen
Paul Kraus
Erick Lingren
Ulises Roman
Mike Matusow
Robert Arm
Jim Herndon
Ville Wahlbeck
Joe Pharo
Thor Hansen
James Bechtel
Sawant Ajendrakumar
Brian Peterson Jr.
Joseph Tehan
Logan Trindade
Benjamin Roberts
Daniel Alaei
Aaron Lerner
Amit Rafi
Patricia Nixson
Matthew Keikoan
Doucles Lee
James Lester Jr.
John Hennigan
Gregory Wynn
Cyndy Violette
Kevin Nathan
Michael Kobzeff
Ezra Vdoff
Wendell Barnes
Lorne Dubrowsky
Michael Palizzi
Paul Smith
Jeffrey Lim
Vanessa Rousso
William Chen
Joshua Vieman
Mark Hanawi
Ian Frazer
Daniel Bokesch
Michael Williams
Thomas Macey
Cormel Petresco
Al Ardebeihi
Evan Brown
John Roveto
Steve Ambrose
Beth Shak
Joseph Sebok
Donald Barton
Kyle Brossia
Ali Davaudi
Patrick Antouilus
William Baxter
David Melrose
Antanas Guogv
Charles Jett
Travis Paquette
Barry Greenstein
Terrence Chan
Anita Perl
Steven Rassi

Hometown

Culver City, CA
Melbourne, Australia
Las Vegas, NV
Scarsdale, NY
Riverside, IL
Austin, TX
New York, NY
Las Vegas, NV
Halden, Norway
Boulder, CO
Westminster, CA
Las Vegas, NV
Cave Creek, AZ
Hamilton, OH
San Antonio, TX
Darien, IL
Moscow, Russia
Great Britain
Los Angeles, CA
Portland, OR
Las Vegas, NV
Houston, TX
Las Vegas, NV
Kirkland, WA
Minneopolis, MN
Las Vegas, NV
Cincinnati, OH
Monroe, WA
Dallas, TX
Los Angeles, CA
Las Vegas, NV
Huntington, WV
Las Vegas, NV
Boca Raton, FL
El Paso, TX
Finland
Scottsdale, AZ
El Segundo, CA
Gilbert, AZ
Topeka, KS
Jupiter, FL
Las Vegas, NV
Los Angeles, CA
London, England
Santa Fe Springs, CA
Quebec, Canada
Israel
Las Vegas, NV
Richmond, CA
Calgary, Canada
Cinncinati, OH
Las Vegas, NV
Phoenix, AZ
Los Angeles, CA
Roseville, CA
Westminster, CA
Washington D.C.
Charlton, MA
West Bloomfield, MI
Olympia, WA
Minneopolis, MN
Guymon, OK
Las Vegas, NV
Lafayette Hill, PA
Lake Zurich, IL
Blue Baltimore, MI
London, England
Columbus, OH
Orange County, CA
Chicago, IL
Las Vegas, NV
Ashburn, VA
New York, NY
Atlanta, GA
Waterloo, Ontario
Bryn Mawr, PA
San Fransisco, CA
Pahrump, NV
Perrysburg, OH
Houston, TX
Finland
Las Vegas, NV
Dallas, TX
Lithuania
Las Vegas, NV
Manchester, NH
Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
Vancouver, B.C.
Coral Springs, FL
Morton, IL

Prize

$475,712
$256,800
$153,511
$115,607
$91,917
$68,227
$42,642
$38,852
$35,061
$31,271
$27,480
$23,690
$19,900
$18,004
$16,109
$14,214
$12,319
$10,424
$9,476
$9,476
$9,476
$9,476
$9,476
$9,476
$9,476
$9,476
$9,476
$9,476
$9,476
$9,476
$8,528
$8,528
$8,528
$8,528
$8,528
$8,528
$8,528
$8,528
$8,528
$8,528
$8,528
$8,528
$6,633
$6,633
$6,633
$6,633
$6,633
$6,633
$6,633
$6,633
$6,633
$6,633
$6,633
$6,633
$4,738
$4,738
$4,738
$4,738
$4,738
$4,738
$4,738
$4,738
$4,738
$4,738
$4,738
$4,738
$3,790
$3,790
$3,790
$3,790
$3,790
$3,790
$3,790
$3,790
$3,790
$3,790
$3,790
$3,790
$3,790
$3,790
$3,790
$3,790
$3,790
$3,790
$3,790
$3,790
$3,790
$3,790
$3,790
$3,790

Tournament Report

The Thrill of Victory and Agony of Defeat

Russ “Dutch” Boyd shatters WSOP champ Joe Hachem’s bid for bracelet
number two

Colorful and controversial poker pro wins stunning WSOP victory

Las Vegas, NV – Standing on the upper row of the aluminum rafters looking
down upon the expansive poker combat zone that is the 2006 World Series
of Poker is normally not a very good vantage point. But at 7:38 pm on
Sunday, July 2, 2006 – it very well might have been the best seat in the
house.

Russ “Dutch” Boyd had just won $475,712 and his first WSOP gold bracelet in
the short-handed hold’em world championship. Bent off to the side with his
head bowed in bitter disappointment was the reigning world poker champion
-- Joe Hachem. It was a snapshot that said everything one needs to know
about the inestimable difference between winning and losing. Boyd’s “crew”
screaming in ear-piercing joy, jumping wildly up and down, and finally lifting
the 25-year-old wunderkind up in the air as though he had just hit the game-
winning homer in the bottom of the ninth. In the meantime, emotionally-
wrecked Hachem was curled over in stoned silence with eyes shut, his wife
Jeanie’s arm wrapped around her champion. Greg Raymer, the 2004 WSOP
champion and Hachem’s pal, was there for comfort and support.

The final hand was as amazing as it was shocking. After fighting off 1,066
challengers over three long days and nights, the heads-up duel between
Boyd and Hachem lasted for two full hours. Just when it looked like Hachem
might seize the chip lead, Boyd would suppress his rival’s challenge, each
time leading more and more credence to the notion that – love him or hate
him – Dutch Boyd is a very, very talented poker player.

Hachem pumped his fist in the air when he first saw the hole cards on what
would turn out to be the final hand of the largest short-handed poker
tournament in history. The trap he had set for hours hoping to entrap Boyd
snapped shut, and Boyd was the wounded animal. Replicating the valor and
persistence that rocketed Hachem to the forefront of the poker universe
nearly a year to the day when he won the 2005 World Series of Poker,
Hachem showed ace-queen to Boyd’s ace-five. Hachem’s hand was a huge
favorite. If the ace-queen held up and won, Hachem would suddenly enjoy
his largest chip lead of the tournament. If he lost, it would all be over. So
far, if Hachem was writing a script to win a poker tournament, this is the one
he would write.

There has probably never been a larger gallery watching the final moments of
a live poker tournament than this one. Packed ten deep around the stands
already filled to capacity, everyone was standing -- all eyes in the Rio’s 209-
table poker room fixed on ESPN’s giant television monitors. They all gazed
upward as the flop came A-K-9 of mixed suits. Hachem’s grin turned into a
smile. Boyd’s anxiety turned into distress. A jack on the turn did not help
either player, and it all came down to a single card. One card was the
difference between a quarter-million in extra prize money, and (certainly
more meaningful to these two player) a gold bracelet. Boyd desperately
needed a five. When the overhead lights glared off the white face of what
would be an earth-shattering 3 by 5 inch two-seat voucher of ecstasy and
agony, Hachem knew immediately that he was in trouble. It was a low card,
but not too low. It was a middle card with an undetermined number of
pixels. Then, as the card was tabled, everything suddenly came into focus.
It was – depending on who you were cheering for, a fabulous, agonizing,
beautiful, ugly, breathtaking, painful -- five.

Indeed, poker tournaments can be exhilarating and excruciating things. The
final table started hours earlier with six players:

David Solomon was the first player out. The yoga instructor from Austin,
Texas got short-stacked and moved-in with his last 25,000 in chips holding
king-six. He lost to Mike Goodman’s king-queen suited. Solomon’s poker
wisdom earned him $68,227.

Next, Pete Hassett went out with king-queen against Joe Hachem’s ace-jack.
Hachem caught an ace, good for a pair, and Hassett went bust. Peter
Hassett, a video game tester from Chicago was unplugged from the final
table but did receive $91,917 in prize money.

Mike Goodman was eliminated as the fourth-place finisher. The New York
City-based poker player who recently graduated from college was making his
first-ever WSOP final table appearance. Goodman arrived at the final table
second in the chip count, and ended up falling down a few spots to fourth
place, which paid $115,607.

Jeff Knight said “goodnight” a short time later when he was caught bluffing
on his final hand and was bankrupted by Dutch Boyd. Knight, a professional
gambler (non-poker) from Las Vegas, cashed for $153,511.

That left the blood-match that many, if not most, had been anticipating. In so
many ways, this was a complete contrast of style and character. Dutch Boyd
– brazen, bold, and some would say “brilliant.” Joe Hachem – gracious,
gallant, and good-natured.

There were several notable hands during the final confrontation. But none
was more momentous as – the hand with the five.

“You walk into this room, you look around, and everybody is so good,” Dutch
Boyd said in a post-tournament interview with ESPN’s Norman Chad. “I have
been coming here for four years, and three years I have played in it. This
room is so full of great players that I really never knew if I would be able to
get one of these (gold bracelets).”

“It’s not like they give these away. I look at the names of players who have
won a gold bracelet, players like Doyle (Brunson), T.J. (Cloutier), and Joe
(Hachem)….and it’s just amazing to be sitting here. It’s an incredible feeling.”

Back atop of the rafters taking it in and watching it all end -- the picture was
perfectly clear. Boyd continued his interview perched in front of bundles of
tightly bound hundred-dollar bills, his right tattooed wrist glimmering in
wrapped gold from the battle fought and won. There were photographs
taken. There were more interviews. There was loud celebration.

On the horizon, just over the massive crowd swarming around the latest
WSOP winner, the reigning world poker champion from Australia shuffled
away slowly in dead silence, consoled by his wife – most certainly the only
person on earth who could share and empathize with the pain of the
moment. Hachem tottered passed the scattered tables and players of an
ongoing tournament over in the next section looking for an exit. Slowly, they
began to stand. They began to clap. They began to cheer. They knew a
champion when they saw one.

Report by Nolan Dalla

Overall Tournament Statistics (through end of Event #5):

Total Entries to Date: 7,246

Total Prize Money Distributed: $ 8,763,510

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

UltimatePokerForum.com
The Ultimate Poker Site

2006 World Series of Poker
Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino – Las Vegas
Official Report

Event #5
Short-Handed No Limit Hold’em
Buy-In: $2,500
Number of Entries: 1,068
Total Prize Money: $1,457,820
Defending Champion (2005):
Isaac “The General” Galazan

Name

Pete Hassett
Dutch Boyd
David Solomon
Joeseph Hachem
Michael Goodman
Jeff Knight

Chip Count

$148,000
$909,000
$93,000
$287,000
$575,000
$62,000

Seat #

1
2
3
4
5
6