WSOP report: Event #2, No-Limit Hold 'em, June 5

Poker entered a new age on June 5, 2005 when 2,305 players jammed into the Rio Pavilion to enter the first open event of this year's World Series of Poker. The number of entries amounted to the second largest field in the 36-year history of the WSOP. Only last year's world poker championship, with 2,576 entries, attracted more players. The total prize pool amounted to a whopping $3,180,900. To give this number some perspective, this was more money than was awarded in the main event of the 1998 world championship. Indeed, it's a very good time to be a poker player.

The tournament attracted so many entries that the Rio (Harrah's) and ESPN jointly decided that it would become a three-day event. All events with entries numbering 1,500 or more will now be three day events, as well as all televised events.

Considering the humongous fields and so many new poker faces, it was a surprise to see several familiar names at the final table. Four of the finalists were former gold bracelet winners - Allen Cunningham (with 3 wins), Scott Fischman (with 2 wins), and David "Devilfish" Ulliott as well as An "the Boss" Tran (with one win each). In fact, Fischman arrived as the defending champion in this event.

Based on the starting chip counts, it looked like the final table might end with a Cunningham-Fischman showdown - which is exactly what happened. The final nine players assembled in front of a standing-room-only crowd and ESPN television cameras with the following chip counts:

9th Place: Richard "Heath" Boutwell, $54,075
A few minutes into play, Boutwell was dealt A-Q and went up against pocket jacks. Bouotwell failed to hit his overcards.
8th Place: Randy Edmondsond, $73,160
Randy Edmondson, who was making his third final table appearance at the WSOP (all in Omaha-related events) arrived as the shortest stack. He moved all-in with 9-9 against Allen Cunningham's A-10. An ace flopped and Edmonson was down to just two outs. He missed and ended up in 8th place.
7th Place: An "the Boss" Tran, $104,970
Tran, who got his nickname from his tendency to call everyone "boss," played his final hand and lost with pocket jacks to Cunningham's set of eights.
6th Place: Charlie Huff, $136,780
At this point, Cunningham was dominating play at the final table. He was better than 2 to 1 in chips over all opponents and from the looks on the faces of each player, no one was happy with the way things had gone during the initial hours. Things were about to get really bad for Charlie Huff. The construction tradesman from Ohio was dealt A-5 and found his hand dominated by Scott Fischman's A-K. Neither player made a pair, which meant Fischman's A-K played. Huff departed with $136,780.
5th Place: Liz Lieu, $177,000
Lieu was the first woman to make it to a final table at this year's WSOP. Last year's championship series produced three female gold bracelet winners (Liebert, Duke, and Violette). But Lieu's bid to become this year's first female winner was crushed when she was getting low on chips and went out with a marginal hand in 5th place.
4th Place: Can Kim Hua, $200,395
Can Kim Hua was one of three Vietnamese-born poker pros in the finale. He lasted the longest of the three, but finally went bust with K-J after the flop came Q=J=9. Cunningham had Q-J, good for top two pair. Two blanks fell on turn and river and Can was eliminated.
3rd Place: David "Devilfish" Ulliott, $232,205
The remaining trio was an all-star lineup, as well as a clash of styles and personalities. Each was aggressive in his own right, at times. But Cunningham's significant chip lead clearly gave him an extra arsenal of weapons. Chips counts stood at 1,900,000 for Cunningham; 845,000 for Devilfish; and 680,000 for Fischman. Devilfish, quite likely the most famous poker player in England and easily one of the game's most charismatic personalities, found himself trapped between two very tough opponents. He lost half of his chips to Fischman and then decided to gamble hoping to double up, and ended up walking to the rail. After falling into third place, Devilfish semi-bluffed his way to elimination. Holding the J-10 of hearts, Devilfish moved all-in when the flop came 6=4=3 (with two hearts). Allen Cunningham called the bet with pocket 8s. The middle pair held up.
Runner up: Scott Fischman, $352,125
1st Place: Allen Cunningham, $725,405
Heads-up play began with Allen Cunningham holding the chip lead - approximately 2,200,000 to 1,600,000. It took only five minutes for Cunningham to destroy the defending champion's aspirations of staging a comeback by repeating in this event and winning a third bracelet. On the final hand of the tournament, Fischman got into a raising war with Cunningham on the turn, holding 5-4. The board showed 10=6=3=5. Fischman had a pair with an outside straight draw. Cunningham was delighted to call the all-in raise holding 6-3, good for two pair. A harmless ace fell on the river, which locked up gold bracelet number four for Cunningham.

View final results.

Tournament reporting by Nolan Dalla / worldseriesofpoker.com