The Orleans Open and The Tournament of Champions

I spent most of July playing at the Orleans Open and the Tournament of Champions. One thing I love about the Orleans Open is that a monitor is used throughout each tournament to display the playing limits, the prize pool, and the time remaining at each limit for all to see. This makes it much easier for players and tournament employees, because there aren't as many questions that need to be asked. Amir Vahedi won two events at the Orleans Open, including the no-limit hold'em championship. Amir is now in second place in the "Player of the Year" standings.

The Tournament of Champions changed its schedule this year to include some preliminary events before the three-day championship. One of the preliminary events was the Linda Johnson charity tag-team event. This event featured the four TOC games (limit hold'em, Omaha eight-or-better, seven-card stud, and no-limit hold'em), and each team represented a different country. Team Vietnam won the event.

The TOC championship event attracted 402 players and awarded a $200,000 first-place prize. When play became no-limit hold'em, the tournament staff decided to take the levels back a few rounds to give the final 27 players more time to maneuver their chips. The following players made the final table: Brian Saltus, T.J. Cloutier, Scotty Nguyen, "Miami" John Cernuto, Andy Gamboa, Dick Corpoz, David Wehner, Steve Zolotow, and Grant Smith, and they finished in the order listed. Congratulations to Brian Saltus, the 2001 TOC champion. Brian also won the no-limit hold'em preliminary event a few days earlier.

During last month's California State Poker Championship at Commerce Casino, "Miami" John Cernuto and his son Tony Cernuto each won an event, of which I am sure they are both very proud.

Bill Seymour will be hosting the New York Texas Hold'em Championships at the Turning Stone Resort and Casino Aug. 19-22. Call and mention Bill Seymour's name to receive a $65 room rate.

Roy Cooke has been promoted to senior columnist, and we look forward to his continued fine contributions of profitable playing-strategy information.

Card Player columnist Spring Cheong won the seven-card stud event at the TOC, and Andy Glazer finished third in the event, his first-ever seven-card stud tournament.

Andy Glazer's report of the final day of the TOC championship event will appear in the next issue.