2001 United States Poker Championship

The Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City recently played host to the 2001 United States Poker Championship. Prior to this tournament, it appeared that John Juanda had virtually locked up the Card Player 2001 Player of the Year award. Only the unthinkable could happen for a different player to win the award. Well, it did! Men "The Master" Nguyen made five final tables, taking a first, two seconds, and two fifths, to capture the award. I told both Men and John that either one of them could win the Player of the Year award depending on their finish in the $7,500 no-limit hold'em championship. If Men finished sixth or better, he would win; if not, John needed to finish in the top seven without Men making the final table to garner the award. A complete Player of the Year cover story will appear two issues from now, in the Feb. 1, 2002, issue.

A total of 76 world-class players competed to win the $228,000 first prize and the U.S. Poker Championship. What I like to do at these events is watch what the superstars do, and put it in my memory bank. Every once in a while, a poker great will give advice, and that is worth more than the buy-in to a championship event. Before the championship started, I had breakfast with my dad, Adam Schoenfeld, and Mickey Appleman. In my opinion, Mickey is one of the greatest no-limit hold'em players around, as well as a true gentleman at the table. He gave some advice to Adam and me. He said, "Play your game, don't be afraid of others, and have a game plan." My game plan was to come back with some chips on the second day, accumulate chips during day No. 2, and make the final table. I did everything well, but I forgot to make the final table. Boohoo!

The final nine players were poker studs, and it appeared that they were all playing for second place, because Men "The Master" Nguyen had such a huge chip lead. The others at the final table were Scott Byron, Satish Vitha, John Urpsis, "Syracuse" Chris Tsiprailidis, Tony Ma, T.J. Cloutier, Adam Schoenfeld, and John Juanda. That is right, both John and Men made the final table. When it got down to the final four players (Men, John, T.J., and Adam), Adam said, "Let's count up all of our titles. We'll start with me. I have none! T.J., how about you?" After Adam got a little lucky and knocked out T.J., he stood little chance of moving up because Men's and John's chip stacks were overwhelming. Men "The Master" Nguyen and John Juanda got heads up. This was a dream matchup, because they were the top two tournament players this year and were battling for a couple hundred thousand dollars. John battled from behind and almost got even with Men when all the money went in before the flop. Men had 10-10, and John had A-K suited. John didn't hit the ace or king, and Men was the champion. Congratulations to both Men and John for having such an incredible tournament poker year in 2001.