2005 World Series of Poker - Week #3 Recap

We’ve reached the halfway mark at this year’s WSOP in Las Vegas. The action this past week has been some of the most exciting to date. And the biggest story of the WSOP so far has been some of the best pros in Las Vegas rallying behind a terminally ill poker fan from Tennessee named Charlie Tuttle.

As of today, 24 events began with a total complete prize pool of $28,603,712 up for grabs. There have been 21 bracelet winners in 22 completed events. Mark Seif won his second bracelet inside of a week and Todd Brunson picked up his first. Plus, I got to play in my first ever WSOP event and got my first taste of what it feels like to play in the most prestigious poker tournament in the world.

Here are the bracelet winners from this past week:

• Event #16 $1,500 NL Shootout: Anthony Reategui (Chandler, AZ) $269,100
• Event #17 $2,500 Limit Hold'em: Quinn Do (Seattle, WA) $265,975
• Event #18 $2,000 Stud Hi/Lo: Denis Ethier (North Carolina) $89,838
• Event #19 $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha: Barry Greenstein (RPV, CA) $128,505
• Event #20 $5,000 Pot-Limit Hold’em: Brian Wilson (Ft. Myers, FL) $370,685
• Event #21 $2,500 Omaha 8 or Better: Todd Brunson (Las Vegas, NV) $255,945
• Event #22 $1,500 NL Hold’em: Mark Seif (Indian Village, NV) $611,145

Anthony Reategui went on a rush and ran over his final table that included some tough players like Erick Lindgren, Phil Gordon, Young Phan, Ted Lawson, and Alan Goehring. Phil Gordon had a tough day and finished in third place despite getting no help. “I've never been so card dead ever at a final table,” he told me with a frustrated look on his face. Anthony Reategui amassed such a huge stack that once it got down to three players, it was obvious that he was going to win.

Quinn Do’s professional poker playing friends, John Phan and Liz Lieu, encouraged him to play in larger buy in tournaments. Good thing that he took their advice. He won his first bracelet and beat out a final table that included Captain Tom Franklin, who’s a three time bracelet winner. He also beat out one of Europe’s best upcoming players, Noah Boeken from Amsterdam. Noah won an event on the European Poker Tour.

Denis Ethier came from behind to win his first WSOP bracelet. He beat out actor Chad Brown heads up for the victory. Chad Brown has a history of coming in second place. Last year, he blew a huge chip advantage over Ted Forrest in a Stud event.

Barry Greenstein won his second bracelet in one of the most touching stories at this year’s WSOP. In an emotional speech where he addressed the audience, Barry dedicated his victory to Charlie Tuttle, a courageous man he’s never met before. Charlie was battling terminal cancer and Barry called him a few days earlier to try to lift his spirits. Many other pros such as Max Pescatori, Marcel Luske, Greg “Fossilman” Raymer, Jen Harman, and John Juanda all took time out to call Charlie at home. A day after Barry’s victory, Charlie passed away one day later with the knowledge that the biggest names in poker were rooting for him.

Brian Wilson was sick and almost didn’t play in the Pot-Limit Hold’em event. Good thing he did because he won his first bracelet and beat out a difficult final table that included bracelet winners Allen Cunningham and Cyndy Violette. Brian Wilson had a tough heads up match against “Gentleman” John Gale of London, England, who won an event on the World Poker Tour.

Todd Brunson finally made a name for himself when he won his first WSOP bracelet. For all of his life he was known as Doyle Brunson’s son and it must have been tough trying to overcome that label. Todd went up against two bracelet winners in Nat Kow and Tom Fischer to earn his first bracelet. With his father cheering him on in the stands, he won his first WSOP event.

Mark Seif added his second bracelet to his collection when he won the same $1,500 NL event that I entered. Unfortunately, I was knocked out in 1320th place out of 2013 players in the third largest tournament ever at the WSOP. Mark Seif outlasted another big field to make his second final table this year. He actually won back-to-back events since he left Las Vegas after he won his first bracelet and didn’t enter any other tournaments before he played in event #22. Mark Seif became the first player to win two bracelets this year which is a major accomplishment due to the immense popularity of the 2005 WSOP.

Indeed, it was a special week with Barry Greenstein dedicating his win to Charlie Tuttle, along with Todd Brunson winning his first bracelet, and Mark Seif picking up his second bracelet inside of a week. Stay tuned for more updates. We still have three more weeks of action remaining!