2005 World Series of Poker - Final Tournament Report

Copyright © 2005, Tom Howze

Now that the 2005 World Series of Poker has finished, we can tell you what took place in Events #23 through #45. But most importantly we can announce what happened in the Main Event and who won the $7,500,000 top prize and became the 2005 champion.

Event #23 "Seven Card Stud" had a happy Jan Sorensen from Denmark ready to take home $293,275 and a bracelet for winning this tournament. Event #24 "No Limit Hold'Em" was won by the very serious, solid playing Farzad Bonyadi who earned $594,960 for the effort. In Event #25 "Pot-Limit Hold'Em", Johnny Chan won his 10th WSOP bracelet breaking a 3-way tie with him, Doyle Brunson and Phil Hellmuth Jr., setting a record in the process. Johnny picked up a hefty $303,025 as well. Actress Jennifer Tilly turned heads again by winning Event #26 "Ladies No-Limit Hold'Em". She actually dominated final table play against top women poker players in the world to win $158,335 and a bracelet you can't buy in a store anywhere. Expect no less from the girlfriend of Phil "Unabomber" Laak. Phil Ivey overcame a determined Robert Williamson III to win Event #27 "Pot Limit Omaha with Rebuys" earning his 5th gold WSOP bracelet and $630,685. Dan Schmiech won $404,585 by winning against actor Gabe Kaplan in the Event #28 "Limit Hold'em" tournament. Event #29 "No Limit Hold'Em" has Lawrence Gosney as this years champion pocketing $483,195 for the win. Now Event #30 "Seven Card Razz" is actually a little tough to understand and play, but O'Neil Longson proved he could do it and took home $125,690 as proof.

The 3-way tie Johnny Chan broke earlier became a tie again as Doyle Brunson won the Event #31 "No-limit Hold'Em (Short Handed 6/table)" tournament earning his 10th WSOP bracelet and $367,800 once again showing how his legendary reputation was earned. Event #32 "Omaha High-Low Split" was won by David Chiu taking home his 4th bracelet and $347,410. Andre Boyer, a poker analyst for TV station Le Réseau des Sports in Quebec won Event #33 "No Limit Hold'Em" who's skill was rewarded with a $682,810 payday. Event #34 "Seniors No Limit Hold'Em" has a new champion who's name is Paul McKinney. Paul, who is 80 years old, can relax in the sun after depositing $202,725 in his bank account. Rafi Amit won Event #35 "Pot Limit Omaha" and $511,835 after becoming victorious in a heads up battle with Vinny Vinh.

A dominate Todd Witteles won Event #36 "Limit Hold'em" knocking out opponents left and right to take home the bracelet and $347,385. Event #37 "No Limit Hold'Em with Rebuys" was won by Jon Heneghan taking home $611,015 in the process. Event #38 was a super satellite tournament for seats to the Main Event, so no prize pool or list of winners was produced. Event #39 "No Limit 2 to 7 Draw Lowball with Rebuys" had David Grey as the champion who was heralded with $365,135. Event #40 was also a super satellite like #38 so there is nothing to report unfortunately. When it came time for raising money for charity, the media and celebrities in Event #41 showed up at the tables. Randy Bowman of the media won $10,000 for the Noblesville Boys and Girls Club.

Event #42 is the WSOP Main Event, the big tournament where millionaires are born. This year the first place prize was $7,500,000 and every person who made the final table became a millionaire guaranteed. 5,619 entrants competed in the tournament making it the largest in WSOP history. In fact it was so large that it had to be spread out over 9 days. 2004 champion Greg Raymer made it up to 25th place before elimination, receiving $304,680 for his efforts. But it was Joseph Hachem who became champion for this year, pocketing the $7.5 million and a beautiful diamond bracelet that can only be earned by winning the Main Event.

For those who were busted out of the Main Event, they found additional tournaments for play in Events #43, #44 and #45 which were 1 day events. Ron Kirk beat out players like Erik Seidel and Marcel Luske to take home $321,520 for winning the Event #43 "No Limit Hold'Em" tournament. Event #44 "No Limit Hold'Em" was won by John Pires who received $220,935 for his victory. And the Event #45 "No Limit Hold'Em" winner was Willie Tann who happily received his bracelet and $188,335 for 1 day's work! Not bad at all.

Individuals came from across the planet to play in this tournament series. New records were set for attendance, for money won in the WSOP and probably the number of headaches Harrah's had in setting up and running an event of this magnitude. But in the end everyone from the players, the event champions, the media and the staff of Harrah's should be congratulated for creating something to be enjoyed and talked about for years to come.

Writer's Resource Box: Tom Howze is a webmaster for 9 sites that relate to   2005 World Series of Poker and World Poker Tour events, updates and information. 

I Want to Play and Win at Poker

By Tina Napolitano
 

Do you, like many people, walk slowly by the poker room of a casino, trying to see the action and figure out just how it is done, but lack the confidence to actually cross the line between the walkway and the poker table?

If you are a woman you may feel even worse, as most of the players at the table are men, and you must not only cross the line but invade the male space and "their" game of poker.

But poker is a game that can be enjoyed by both males and females of all ages, and lately you can see more and more women at the tables, especially with some of the casinos hosting special "all women's" poker events.

There are many ways to learn how to play poker. Some of the casinos offer short lessons to give you the basic ideas of the game, and then you are thrown into the deep end to sink or swim with the fish or the sharks, as the case may be. You can buy books which introduce you to the game from the very beginning, starting with "There are 52 cards in a deck..." to the more complex strategies that are used by the professionals on the tournament circuit or in the bigger cash action games.

Though the best way to learn and improve yourself with anything is to practice, many of you are saying that practice always costs so much money, either by way of lessons with a professional, or by making silly mistakes and losing your money in a game.

So, one way I would encourage you to learn is on the Internet, practicing with play money to start with. Once you have mastered the game a little, you will be able to hold your own in a real money environment. PokerSchool Online is the only Internet poker school, and it has now been online for over a year.

There have already been some major success stories from PokerSchool members. Most of these players had never been in a real cardroom before, and deciding to learn how to play poker, they logged on and signed up for PokerSchool membership. At just $14.95 per month, or $149.95 annually, this fee will not break the bank.

With the knowledge that they gained from the school's poker teachers, lessons, readings and audio presentations, as well as skills derived from playing with hundreds of others around the world in the PokerSchool virtual cardroom, these students developed not only confidence but playing experience. They then ventured out into the live cardrooms and major poker tournaments and got their names on the winners lists. Recently, three school members went to the World Poker Finals at Foxwoods, and between them took home over $70,000. Not bad for new players!

At the school you will also find a wonderful community spirit, with other players encouraging you to participate and supporting you in your bad times as well as good. In many ways, PokerSchool is not just about poker, it is a way of life for some members. And these are the people who just go out of their way to make PokerSchool what it is today. For example, Friday nights you can tune in to one of the school members who does his own live audio broadcast while playing in the big Friday game. Remember, it only costs you a monthly membership to be a part of this and reap the benefits.

Additionally, PokerSchool offers some wonderful promotions. For example, this is the second year of The Big One, a great event that runs for a whole year and ends in one massive final tournament between all the members. It's great fun and is covered by a live audio broadcast on PokerSchool Online.

Depending on your performance throughout the year, you can obtain different levels of qualification within the school. So if you go to the final event with the highest of qualifications, you could be sharing in the $100,000 worth of sponsorships that PokerSchool offers into live poker events around the world.

PokerSchool has sponsored players into the $10,000 main event of the World Series of Poker, where last year's winner took away a cool 2.0 million dollars in prize money. You can also participate in monthly league tables, and again based on your performance, you can obtain sponsorship points to spend in live events. Manage your play money bankroll, and buy into multi-table tournaments, single table satellites (which are available 24/7, as when one fills up another one comes up for sign up straight away), and also play in the play money cash games. There really is no better place to learn and practice poker than PokerSchool Online

This month, over 100 PokerSchool members from around the world will be meeting for their first ever live convention. This is kindly being hosted by The Goldstrike Casino in Tunica during their popular World Poker Open event.

School members will have their very own live No Limit Hold'em tournament, and a full day of seminars to be hosted by Lou Krieger (Dean of PokerSchool), a well-known poker writer and respected author of Poker for Dummies. Joining Lou will be Nolan Dalla, Donna Blevins and Barry Tanenbaum, who are all teachers in the school.

So put your foot on the poker map, sign up for PokerSchool Online today, and give it as a gift to a friend.

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