Event #1: No-Limit Hold'em
Location: Las Vegas
Buy-in: $1,000 (+60)
Number of Entries: 379
Total Prize Money: $367,630
The final 36 players were paid, in amounts ranging from $1,471 up to $113,965 for first place. On Day Two, players returned for the final table and were eliminated in the following order:
9th Place: Mitch Mitchener, $7,353
Mitchener arrived at the final table with the lowest chip stack, just 15,000. He failed to catch a break on his initial all-in raise and failed to double up.
8th Place: Robert Roter, $11,029
Roter arrived at the final table tied for third in chips, but was never able to gain momentum. On his biggest hand of the night, Roter was dealt 10-10 and enjoyed a slight pre-flop lead against Dan Pugliese, who had two overcards -- A-J. But the board went from bad to worse and finally showed A=J=K=J=A for any number of full-house combinations. Roter went out a short time later and collected $11,029 for 8th place.
7th Place: Blair Rodman, $14,705
Rodman came in vulnerable in the chip count, and was desperate to make something happen. He tried to pull off a bluff from the blind with a re-raise (holding J-5) after Pugliese made a standard raise from the button with A-K. This time Pugliese had the goods. The A-K held up and Rodman hit the rail at the 7th-place finisher.
6th Place: Larry Tull, $18,382
Tull made his final stand with A-J which was steamrolled by David Taylor's A-K, which played for high card.
5th Place: Sean Habibian, $22,058
Habibian, mostly a middle-limit player, made a nice run by moving up four spots on the money list. Eighth in chips coming into the finale, Habibian looked to be in a good spot to move even higher when he was dealt A-Q suited and made an all-in raise. However, this proved to be a mistake as his hand was dominated by A-K when Habibian failed to score a Queen.
4th Place: Dan Pugliese, $25,734
Pugliese was grinded down to the lowest stack and made his final stand of the night with K-J. When David Tran called the raise with J-J, Pugliese was essentially down to just a few outs, needing a King. Once gain, the underdog hand failed to bark.
3rd Place: Sammy Schenker, $29,410
Schenker arrived second in chips in this event and looked to be the main threat to seize the chip lead away from Tran, who up to this point had the most chips at the table. But Schenker took a tough beat on his final hand and stormed away in disappointment. Schenker had Q-Q and was all-in against Taylor, holding A-J of hearts. When two hearts flopped, the biggest pot of the night to that point was at stake. The turn helped neither player, but then a heart rained down on the river, delivering the pot to Taylor. One might assume that Dave Taylor's biggest break came when play became short-handed and he managed to win the remaining chips. But in reality, Taylor probably never should have made it so far. When the final table was eight-handed, Taylor was getting short-stacked and decided to make a bold stand with 6-6. That turned out to be nearly disastrous, as he ran head first into pocket Queens. Taylor was down to basically two outs, desperately needing one of the two remaining Sixes in the deck. Remarkably, a Six flopped and Taylor not only lived to see another day - he literally rose out of the ashes and destroyed everyone else in his way en route to his first tournament victory. At three handed, Taylor then managed another miracle, catching the third heart for the flush to eliminate Sam Schenker.
Runner up: David Tran, $58,821
1st place: David Taylor, $113,965
When the heads-up duel between Taylor and Tran began, Taylor enjoyed a 2 to 1 chip lead. He was never in serious danger of losing his advantage. Over the next few minutes, Taylor won a few more chips with more aggressive play and decided to call Tran's desperate all-in raise. Tran was a huge favorite with K-10 against Taylor's 10-4. The final board showed A=5=4=10=Q -- good for two pair by Taylor. Tran had come to the final table with the chip lead and played as well as possible under the circumstances. But in the end he was simply run over by a flurry of cards by Taylor.
View final results.