The U.S. Poker Championship and the 2002 Player of the Year

The United States Poker Championship is held at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City each December. I was so physically and mentally tired after Bellagio's tournament that I decided not to fly to Atlantic City. The $7,500 no-limit hold'em championship at the USPC has been quite important over the past few years because of the Card Player Player of the Year award. Two years ago, Tony Ma would have been the player of the year if he had finished one spot higher in the event. Instead, David Pham won the 2000 Player of the Year award. Last year, Men "The Master" Nguyen and John Juanda were so close in points that it went down to the final event again. Men won the award after winning the championship event at the USPC. As it turns out, Juanda finished second in this championship event and was second in the 2001 Player of the Year race.

This year wasn't any different. T.J. Cloutier had a lead of a few hundred points over John Juanda going into the final event at the USPC. John ended up finishing seventh in the event and narrowly missed out on winning the Player of the Year award again. For a competitor, winning is so much more important than getting second place. This really is the case in poker. How many times have you won money in a tournament, and sometimes a lot of money, and been upset with your finish? Even winning $1 million in the championship event of the World Series of Poker might make some people sick, because they had a chance for the glory of winning it all. Anyhow, I am sure John is a little upset after coming so close in back-to-back years. But don't feel bad, John. The Buffalo Bills were one of the greatest football teams ever, and they never won a Super Bowl. Although you won't be able to wear the Player of the Year bracelet that T.J. Cloutier will be wearing proudly, you can take the money you won in 2002 and buy yourself a bracelet factory.

Now that the 2002 POY competition has concluded, we can all start off fresh in 2003. There will be a few changes in this year's system that will be discussed in the next issue. For example, a first-place finish will have a higher weighting than in the past.

OK, let's get back to the USPC championship event. The final table consisted of John Hennigan, Erik Seidel, Eric Buchman, Charlie Bae, Robert Toft, Tony Popejoy, John Juanda, William Shapiro, and Patrick Kelly. Hennigan and Seidel got heads up, and Hennigan won after a back-and-forth battle. Along with the cash, John received an anniversary watch and a Harley-Davidson, which were added by the Taj Mahal in honor if its 25th anniversary. Hennigan, who also goes by the name "Johnny World" or "Flakes," is a high-limit side-action player who has done very well in the past few tournament championship events he has played in. Congratulations, "Johnny World," you beat out another tough field.

I must be honest, seeing Erik Seidel on a Harley would have made my year.