Event #8: No-Limit Texas Hold 'em
Location: Lake Tahoe, Nevada
Buy-in: $500 (+50)
Number of Entries: 182
Total Prize Money: $88,270

Lake Tahoe's $500 buy-in no-limit hold'em tournament, attracted 182 entries competing for $88,270 in prize money. Day One resulted in the elimination of 173 players. The nine finalists returned on Day Two, with Jerry Reed holding a commanding chip lead over the field. Players were eliminated as follows:

9th Place: Dan Owen, $1,764
The final table started out with a bang. Steve Schiccitano was dealt pocket aces, flopped trip aces, and still lost the pot. Owen had K-J, flopped a made-straight, and also had a royal flush redraw. The straight held up and Owen had avoided elimination, at least for the moment. Unfortunately, that would be Owen's only bright moment of the finale, as he was knocked out a few hands later when his ace high failed to pair.
8th Place: Don Mullis, $2,650
Bobby Martin (second in chips) took a beat and then doubled up twice, putting him back into the race. Meanwhile, it took an hour before the next player was eliminated. Don Mullis was short-stacked throughout his stay, and finally went all-in with second pair (9s), losing to Jerry Reed's top pair (aces). Mullis has enjoyed a fabulous Lake Tahoe tournament, to date. This marked his fourth final table appearance, in six tries.
7th Place: Keith Rahman, $3,530
Rahman made an all-in raise from the button with A-9 and was called instantly by Martin in the blind with A-K. Rahman failed to make a pair and went out in 7th place.
6th Place: Josh Ewing, $4,415
Ewing was making his second final table appearance. The 24-year-old Lake Tahoe local was blinded down to felt and ultimately took 6th place.
5th Place: Bobby "Turbo" Martin, $5,295
"Turbo" moved all-in for the fifth time in ten minutes. Unfortunately, he picked the wrong time to be hyper-aggressive. Jerry Reed looked down and saw A-K and called the raise in a flash. Both players flopped an ace, but when a king fell on the turn, Turbo was drawing dead.
4th Place: Mike "Shoes" Gambony, $7,060
Gambony won the Iowa State Poker Championship in 2001 and has also made three WSOP final tables. But his shot at victory in this event hit the rail.
3rd Place: Steve Schicchitano, $8,825
That left three players remaining, with Jerry Reed holding a better than 3-to-1 chip lead over both opponents. The trio played for 90 long minutes before Schicchitano finally had to commit his final chips on a draw. Schicchitano was dealt 9-8 and watched as the flop came 10-10-7. An outside straight draw led Schicchitano to move all-in, which was called by Reed with A-7. The second pair held up.
Runner up: Param Gill, $16,065
1st Place: Jerry Reed, $29,125
The heads-up duel between Reed and Gill began with Reed holding a formidable 222,000-to-52,000 chip advantage. On the first hand of play, Reed was dealt A-A and raised, which caused Gill to fold. That hand would pretty much define the closing chapter of the tournament. Gill managed to survive six hands before the odds ultimately caught up with him and he was eliminated. Reed was dealt 9-5 versus Gill's Q-4, which amounted to two ugly hold 'em hands. But the worst hold 'em hand can sometimes bring a win. The flop brought 7=7=5, putting Reed into the lead. Successive rounds brought two blanks, and Reed was the latest WSOPC champion.

View final results.