2005 World Series of Poker - Week #2 Recap

The fast-paced action continued during the second week of the World Series of Poker. New champions were crowned and more players and media from all over the world converged on the Rio casino in Las Vegas to partake in the largest tournament in the history of poker.

Every day, records are being broken for the prize pools and the fields of players. Satellites have been running around the clock and every few minutes someone wins their buy-in to a different WSOP event. Indeed, Week 2 had a few surprises and established veterans like T.J. Cloutier and Erik Seidel added bracelets to their collection.

Here’s a quick rundown of WSOP bracelet winners from this past week:

• Event #9 $2,000 No Limit Hold’em: Erik Seidel (Las Vegas, NV) $611,795
• Event #10 $2,000 Limit Hold’em: Reza Payvar (Los Angeles, CA) $173,000\
• Event #11 $2,000 Pot-Limit Hold’em: Edward Moncada (No Address) $298,070
• Event #12 $2,000 Pot-Limit Omaha w/ Rebuys: Josh Arieh (Atlanta, GA) $381,600
• Event #13 $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em: T.J. Cloutier (Richardson, TX) $657,100
• Event #14 $2,000 Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo: Steve Hohn (Overland Park, KS) $156,985
• Event #15 $1,500 Limit Shootout: Mark Seif (Indian Village, NV) $181,330

Erik Seidel never again thought he would make it to a final table at the WSOP, let alone win another bracelet. He felt his chances were slim due to the large number of entrants playing in each event. He proved himself wrong. He made two final tables this past week and won his 7th bracelet after he beat out Cyndy Violette to win the $2,000 NL event. Only four other players have more WSOP bracelets than Erik. It appears that he’s finally running well. You now have to consider Erik Seidel as one of the favorites at this year’s $10,000 main event.

Reza Payvar won one of the toughest events played so far this year. The $2,000 Limit event was a marathon tournament that looked like it might never end. John Myung, Toto Leonidas, and Reza Payvar played three-handed for over five hours without any of them getting knocked out. That was one of the most intense tournaments I have ever covered. No one wanted to lose and they all fought back with a short stack. Eventually, Reza Payvar prevailed and won his first bracelet. He definitely earned that victory.

Edward Moncada is an interesting story because he did not list a specific mailing address on his WSOP bio sheet. He likes to travel and move around a lot. He’s a disciplined player and patiently waited for the right times to attack. Moncada beat out a final table made up of players from all over the world; England, Belgium, Lebanon, Mexico, Japan, Armenia, Italy, and the United States. He won his first bracelet and the prize money means that he has more money to travel with.

Josh Arieh beat one of the toughest final tables so far this year that included Erik Seidel, Chris “Jesus” Ferguson, Max Pescatori, Dave Colclough, and Doug Lee. Josh also had to beat Jesus Ferguson heads up to win his second WSOP bracelet. The crowd was definitely rooting for Jesus, but that did not deter Josh from winning it all. He’s an aggressive player and the action swung back and forth once it got heads up. Josh Arieh was portrayed as a bad guy during coverage of last year’s WSOP and he had an opportunity to redeem himself this week with a major win.

T.J. Cloutier proved why he’s arguably the most successful tournament player of all time. He made his 39th final table and won his 6th WSOP bracelet for his victory in the $5,000 NL event. He beat out a table that had excellent players such as John Bonetti and Todd Brunson. T.J. battled health problems over the past year and worked hard on adapting to the bigger fields of players by participating in online tournaments.

Steve Hohn is a seasoned Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo player. He’s come very close to winning this event in previous years with a second and third place finish. This year, he overcame a 5 to 1 chip lead from Mike Wattel to win his first WSOP bracelet. Last year’s winner Cyndy Violette was on the rail cheering on her good friend Mike Wattel.

Former attorney Mark Seif waited until 4:15 AM to win is first WSOP bracelet. The Limit Shootout Event is unique. In order to advance to the second round, you must beat nine other players at your table. The final table featured last year’s winner Kathy Leibert. Unfortunately she finished in seventh place and was unable to win back to back bracelets.

That’s it for now. It’s been another exciting week here in Las Vegas. The crowds are swelling with spectators. The prize pools are gigantic. And the vultures are circling around all the dead money that shows up every day. Next week should be just as crazy. Plus, I’m also going to play in one of the No Limit events, so stay tuned.