2005 Poker Year in Review - Part II

by Lee Munzer | Published: Jan 24, 2006

In Part I of this feature (click here), we made our way through the first five months of exciting tournament poker and industry events. We arrived on the doorstep of the Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Let's walk in and head to the convention area, the focus of the poker world from June 2 through July 13, before players, fans, and the media will make the short drive downtown to Binion's, the historical footprint of the World Series of Poker, and where this year's world champion of poker will be crowned.


Doyle Brunson – Johnny Chan – T.J. Cloutier – Allen Cunningham

Records Ruptured at the Rio

After completing the five-stop (there will be 10 stops in the 2005-2006 season), inaugural, countrywide WSOP Circuit Tour, the traditional series of tournaments debuted. The clean, well-lighted Amazon ballroom accommodated more than 2,000 players, and proved to be a savvy selection to host the greatest series of tournaments in our game. Competitors arrived in droves to go for the gold (and $103 million in prize money) at the 2005 WSOP.

During the six-week run, star stature was enhanced when Josh Arieh, Freddy Bonyadi, Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan, David Chiu, T.J. Cloutier, Allen Cunningham, Barry Greenstein, David Grey, Phil Ivey, and O'Neil Longson added to their shiny armlet collection. For his consistent performance (a win and three other final tables), Cunningham captured WSOP best player honors and drove away in the award, a Toyota Tundra pickup. Erik Seidel made three final tables, and nabbed his seventh bracelet. T.J. Cloutier took down his sixth bracelet in the $5,000 no-limit hold'em tourney. Phil Ivey collected his fifth gold bracelet, becoming the youngest player to reach that mark.

Mark Seif pulled off a sensational feat when he scored multiple gold, taking home a combined $792,475 and his first and second bracelets within seven days. While players have won more than one bracelet in a year – and Ted Forrest, Phil Hellmuth Jr., and Phil Ivey have won thrice in an annum – doubling against the huge fields of '05 merits high praise.

Youth and maturity were also served. Eric Froelich, just four months past his 21st birthday, became the youngest bracelet winner in WSOP history when he picked up $361,910 at the $1,500 buy-in limit hold'em tourney. Paul McKinney, now 80, became the oldest WSOP winner by outlasting 824 opponents to snag the seniors event.


Phil Ivey – Erik Seidel – Todd Brunson – Mark Seif

Ken Norton won the WBC heavyweight boxing championship in 1978. His son, Ken Norton Jr., played on winning Super Bowl teams (San Francisco and Dallas). Al Unser won the Indy 500 race four times. His son Al Unser Jr. won the race twice. Now our game has father and son WSOP champions in Doyle and Todd Brunson. Todd, a feared high-stakes player, broke through in the $2,500 Omaha eight-or-better event. Doyle downed 300 adversaries to walk away with his 10th piece of WSOP jewelry a week later. Texas Dolly arrived at this all-time record number of Series victories a scant 48 hours after Johnny Chan, his respected foe, got there.

Las Vegan Todd "Dan Druff" Witteles, a new-breed Internet player who holds a master's degree in computer science, defied deductive reasoning and mathematical probability. He finished third against 1,048 foes in the $1,500 limit hold'em tournament and defeated 405 adversaries in the $3,000 limit hold'em event. He entered only those events in 2005. Now, that's a strong batting average!

Perhaps the greatest shocker came (not to those who have played with her) when Jennifer Tilly annihilated the women's field to give poker yet another boost by wearing her gold and appearing on talk shows, declaring her love for the game. Two months later, the talented actress who has appeared in more than 60 movies, captured the WPT Ladies Night III championship.

The main event was a spectacle to behold, and epitomized poker's progress to national recognition and prominence. A whopping 5,619 hopefuls entered the tourney seeking poker immortality and the winner's share of the $52 million purse. After six days of work and thousands of flops, nine players remained. On day seven, a grueling 14 hours was required to separate the eventual winner, Melbourne's Joe Hachem, from his newly acquired band of millionaire friends. The mortgage banker and former chiropractor came from down under and rose to the top of the poker world, capturing $7.5 million, the biggest prize in poker history. Joe earned the respect of fans and peers worldwide with his outstanding play and professional demeanor.


Barry Greenstein – Ted Forrest – Phil Hellmuth Jr. – John Juanda

A Cool Connection: Champs, Celebs, and Charities

The day after the WSOP concluded, a group of poker players and screen stars celebrated Phil Hellmuth Jr.'s birthday at Quixote Studios in Hollywood. Sure, I know that very few of us care that Phil is now in his 40s. I mention the party because it brings two of the cool things about our passion for poker into perspective. Celebrities have embraced the game and the game has embraced charitable contributions. Attendees played a tournament that benefited AIDS Project Los Angeles.

One of the most ardent poker players I know is James Woods. The actor's HollywoodPoker.com website hosted its first-anniversary party at the Montmartre Lounge in Hollywood, where a silent auction was held and nearly $50,000 was raised via online charity tourneys. The American Red Cross Gulf Relief and Dennis Quaid's charity, International Hospital for Children, shared the proceeds. Those who joined Quaid and co-hosts Woods and Vince Van Patten included Wayne Gretzky, Alana Curry, Rebecca Romijn, Chris Jones, Shannon Elizabeth, and Katey Lohmann.

Poker players make sustained, generous contributions to a wide range of deserving organizations, and we continually add charitable events to our calendar. We even have an online site (BenefitPoker.org) that was created this past October to bring people together to play poker for charity. More than 80 percent of all funds generated during their online poker tournaments are donated directly to charities.

De Wolfe De Winner in De Paris Event

As July passed by, Roland De Wolfe put himself in the hunt for the WPT Grand Prix de Paris $12,200 buy-in event by climbing to third place at the end of day two. He moved up to a strong second when the chips were bagged after day three. His goal was to step up one spot as sixhanded play began at the final table. De Wolfe accomplished his objective and won $600,898. If you're looking to make a WPT television appearance, the Grand Prix de Paris is a good event to enter, as there were only 160 players.


Steve Dannenmann – Jennifer Tilly – Al "T" Ardebili James Caporuscio & Ralph Pecorale

Contests During the Canicular Days

Trailing his four remaining adversaries at 3:22 p.m. while playing in the WSOP Circuit championship event in Tunica, Gregg Merkow steadily picked up chips as others departed. More than seven hours and 109 hands later, he took the lead and never relinquished it, collecting $561,175 and a cherished gold/diamond ring.

The Legends of Poker, held at The Bicycle Casino in California, spread 32 tournaments from July through early September. The championship event, a $5,000 buy-in WPT tourney, attracted 839 contenders (a WPT record), including all-world legend Doyle Brunson, the defending champ. Alas, Doyle and many other well-known pros faded during the first four days of play. Alex Kahaner, playing in his first tournament, outlasted the talented, affable actor Kenna James to snag $1,150,900. Kahaner won dramatically when he caught the K, one of his six river "outs," on the final hand.

Katrina's Catastrophic Consequence

In early September, lives, homes, and possessions were swept away by Hurricane Katrina. Cousin Rita was less severe, but caused considerable hardship. As always, poker players responded to people in need. In a coordinated effort on an Internet poker forum, funds were raised and volunteers drove into the distressed regions of Mississippi and New Orleans to distribute cash, food, water, and clothing. Online sites and brick-and-mortar casinos held special Katrina Relief tournaments and forwarded all or part of the entry fees to the Red Cross.

The Logo Look
As poker proliferates, issues that we never could have imagined a scant five years ago have surfaced. One is logos on players' clothing. Sponsors want their wares displayed prominently (picture NASCAR drivers' clothing). Players seem willing to comply. But, tournament hosts and television producers have not always been on the same page. So, after much discussion, the WPT adopted a policy that was introduced at this year's Borgata Poker Open. Players are now allowed to wear a single breast-pocket logo of 6 square inches or less. No more than two players at a final table may wear logos from a single entity (such as ParadisePoker). So, what happens if more than two players sponsored by Paradise arrive at the final table? In typical poker style, the involved players draw (high card) for the right to display their sponsor's logo.

Oh, by the way, there was a WPT event held at the beautiful Borgata. Jersey City's Al "T" Ardebili, a touring pro who had cashed in six previous major events during the year, put an exclamation point on his fine campaign by turning away 514 opponents to capture the prestigious Borgata Poker Open and $1,498,650. I am frequently asked if poker can continue to grow. Last year, 302 players attended this event.


Kenna James – Hoyt Corkins – Joseph Hachem – Minh Ly

Folks, Do Not Adjust Your Picture

Fuchsia, bright yellow, lime green, pink, ruby red, salmon, and black: These were the predominant colors on Johnny Chan's silk shirt as he sat across from Todd Brunson, who wore a solid beige crewneck cotton tee shirt under a black leather jacket. The two were a contrast in fashion, but almost a replica in playing style as they battled to determine the Poker Superstars II champion. This invitational series of matches began with 24 star players. It was taped at Casino Morongo in Cabazon, California, and telecast on Fox Sports Network almost every Sunday evening from mid-March through November. Michael Konik, a terrific poker analyst, made the 34 episodes highly interesting and educational. He often speculated on what the players were thinking when they made moves. After falling to Brunson in the first match of the two-out-of-three finale, Chan battled back, aided by some excellent cards, to win the next two matches and the $400,000 first prize.

Taking a Title at the Trump Taj

A strong final table featuring the renowned Men Nguyen, savvy Steve Brecher, and consistently excellent John Juanda was formed, but James Caporuscio stole the 2005 U.S. Poker Championship from these professionals. He pocketed the $831,532 first-place prize by besting Ralph Pecorale. If getting past some of the best players in the game wasn't enough of a long shot for these amateurs, it turns out that the two New Yorkers are good friends and play in the same home game together. That must be one tough nickel-and-dime gathering.

Petulant Poker at the Palace

Still playing at the top of his game (as he repeatedly told the viewing audience during his televised trek to the final table at the 2005 WSOP main event), Mike "The Mouth" Matusow bested the field of players who had qualified for the WSOP Tournament of Champions (TOC) at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas in early November. The Henderson, Nevada, resident picked up his second $1 million check this year. Say what you will about Mike's shenanigans at the table, but he can play poker. Mike's task became a bit more difficult when the "goalposts were moved." Harrah's management (feeling the fizz from a prominent soft drink sponsor) acquiesced to allow Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan, and Phil Hellmuth Jr. to play in the freeroll event despite the fact that they had not qualified under the published guidelines (by either making the WSOP championship final table or achieving a top-20 finish in a Circuit tournament). What's up with that?

Hellmuth provided plenty of fireworks at the final table with his excellent play and gamesmanship. He walked away with $250,000 for his third-place finish. Soft-spoken but hard-charging Hoyt Corkins finished second. For those who thought Steven Dannenmann was a $4 million fun-loving fluke (he finished second to Hachem in the world championship this year), the Maryland resident came in fifth out of 114 in this event, so although the verdict may still be in doubt, the affable chip mover should move up to a hung jury, at worst. Did I say affable? After being rebuffed when asking Hellmuth to stack his chips neatly like everyone else, and then accusing Hellmuth of trying to make it difficult to count his chips, Steve looked at Phil and told him off: "You, above everyone else, should know the rules. But, you aren't a professional, you're a punk!"


Dan Harrington – James Woods – Mike Matusow – Nick Schulman

Minh Wins

The action was just as interesting, but the players more congenial, when 420 of the best met at the breathtaking Bellagio Hotel and Casino for Festa al Lago IV, a series of 10 no-limit hold'em tournaments. Now splitting time between high-stakes cash games and the tournament trail, Minh Ly outlasted Dan Harrington to win $1,060,050 and a beautiful gold bracelet in the main event, now known as the Doyle Brunson North American No-Limit Hold'em Poker Championship.

Demonstrating that it is not mandatory to build a huge stack on day one, Ly languished in 132nd place after the first day's action concluded. He moved up steadily and took the chip lead when six players remained.

A Sign of the Times
Poker knows no limitations. Tournament Director Robert Thompson II received some dactylology assistance from renowned interpreter Jerry Bass during the first-annual Las Vegas World Deaf Poker Tournament at the Palms Casino Resort. This no-limit hold'em event benefited two nonprofit organizations (the Southern Nevada Coalition of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and the Southern Nevada Silver Knights), and was won by Robert Brooke, who played solidly and held off the aggressive Ramon Cotton. The champ left with $11,620 and a commemorative plaque.

Fall Frenzy on Foxwoods' Felt
Nick Schulman's Thanksgiving celebration came a week early this year when he turned away 782 opponents to capture the 2005 World Poker Finals championship event at the megacasino Foxwoods. The youngest-ever winner of a WPT event (he's 21), Schulman took home a whopping $2,167,500 in cash, a wampum belt, and a seat in the season four WPT Championship. Nick vaulted from 12th place to the lead during day four, and went to the final table with nearly 45 percent of the chips in play. He arrived at heads-up play with a 2-to-1 chip advantage. Tony Licastro finished second and grossed more than $1 million for his five-day effort. The two didn't have an easy road during the three-and-a-half-hour finale with Lyle Berman, Bill Gazes, and Allen Cunningham seated at the final table.

Ivey – Imperturbable, Imposing, and Immortal in Monaco
Phil Ivey has had another great year. He added a beautiful etched-glass vase to his trophy collection and beefed up his bank account by $1 million (pretax) when he vanquished an invitation-only field of 112 to win the Monte Carlo Millions tournament at the Casino de Monte Carlo. His success in France marked Ivey's sixth final-table appearance of the year, a great accomplishment considering he plays a limited schedule of major events.

December in the Desert

The Bellagio-hosted Five-Diamond Poker Classic has become the focus of poker fans each December. Last year, Daniel Negreanu won the main event to (temporarily) become the all-time leading money winner on the WPT. His victory enabled the young Canadian to vault over David Pham to garner 2004's Card Player tournament Player of the Year (POY) title. In 2005, John Phan led the POY race for most of the year, but Men Nguyen, who had been oddly absent from the top 20 in points midway through the year, roared back and kept cutting into Phan's lead as the weeks passed. Finally, Nguyen reached two final tables at Bellagio to move past Phan. Would Men keep his lead and capture the 2005 POY title? The race was so close that at least 15 players remained in contention as the cards hit the air in the Five-Diamond championship. When the dust settled, Men still had the lead, but not by a sufficient number of points to preclude Phan from overtaking him at the Trump Classic.

The Five-Diamond main event was very exciting. The final table included the often nutty, always entertaining Phil Laak, poker icon Doyle Brunson, Internet star Darrell "Gigabet" Dicken, and chip leader JJ Liu, who was attempting to become the first woman to capture an open WPT event. But after the last hand, Rehne Pedersen was wearing the gold and diamond bracelet. He won $2,078,185 by outlasting Patrik Antonius. The "Helsinki Hit Man" collected a cool $1,046,470 for his second-place finish.

Men Nguyen

Men Trumps John
After being knocked out early in the Five-Diamond main event, both Nguyen and Phan flew east to settle the POY battle at the Trump Classic. Both picked up points, but Men prevailed with a win in the $300 no-limit hold'em event to put an exclamation mark on his victory. Congratulations to Men Nguyen for his excellent run and (wow!) fourth Player of the Year title.

Curtain Comes to a Close on Card and Chip Chronology

The poker community roared during 2005. We made larger charitable contributions than ever before, opened more land-based and online poker rooms, spread more tournaments, furnished increased prize money, conducted a record number of educational seminars and expositions, sold more commemorative items, received better sponsorship opportunities, and generated greater income for those who work in the poker industry. But perhaps the most noticeable area of dramatic growth occurred in the coverage of the game and its personalities. Network and cable television executives realize that poker has incredible appeal, and that its fan base is rapidly expanding. So, on almost any night, I can click through my stored grouping of "favorite" TV stations and catch a poker tournament, and an occasional poker learning type of show. There are numerous tapes, DVDs, and software programs, in addition to the ever-increasing, voluminous written content.

The material available to poker players who have Internet access deserves its own category. I like to think we are leading the way. www.CardPlayer.com offers news, current magazine articles, archived pieces, forums, web mail, pro players' blogs, poker quizzes, a photo gallery, contests, links to other content, and terrific tools for players, including odds calculators and proprietary software that enables players to track and analyze their tournament results. And, we are always expanding. The first issue of Card Player Europe magazine came out in September 2004; Card Player College, another publication, followed a year later; and Card Player, the acknowledged clear leader in the industry for the past 18 years, grew in number of pages, content, and quality again this year. Another expanding area is tournament coverage. We cover all the majors. This year, as the official content provider at the WSOP, we swarmed the Rio and Binion's with a double-digit cast of reporters. Interviews, live updates, and event reports were provided on a daily basis. Before the gold bracelets made it to the wrists of the new champs, our website followers knew the winners, the prize distributions, and the hands they rode to victory. In an age driven by technology, we have met and exceeded the challenge.

While logic tells us the popularity of the game must level off, as a gambling man, I wouldn't bet on that occurrence in 2006. So, onward and upward we go.

May your new year be filled with good health, good news, and good river cards!