Did Jeff Heiberg Win It on 1st Hand, or did Jeff Siler Just 'F-Bomb' Out?

This final table had everything. Draw-outs, double draw-outs, an excruciating length of well over six hours, an explosive first hand that gave Jeff Heiberg a huge lead, and a controversial ending which runner-up Jeff Siler blamed on an "f-bomb" penalty that he said rattled him and threw his play off, while Heiberg maintained that he won it by better play.

Take your choice.

Where to start? Well, let's start by introducing the winner, go to the first hand, then jump to the dramatic ending. Heiberg is a 58-year-old "petroleum landman" who does title searches for oil companies. He's from Buffalo, Wyoming, learned poker playing satellites and live games four years ago, and his tournament cash-outs include a fourth in an Aussie Millions $1,000 event, a 10th in a $2,000 no-limit shootout at the World Series, and a second in a pot-limit Jack Binion World Poker Open event. His win tonight was worth $62,227.

On the first hand he knocked out two players, jumped from 54,500 chips to 114,000 and held a commanding lead until late in the session when Siler took over.

Now, to the ending. After 137 hands, the two got heads up with Siler now in the lead holding about 250,000 to 150,000 for Heiberg. Frequently coming over the top with good hands, Heiberg ground his opponent down until Siler had about 65,000 left. Then, on the 163rd deal, an incredible hand came down. On a flop of Qs-10s-6h, Siler moved all in. Heiberg had pocket aces, but Siler's Js-9s gave him an open-end straight flush draw, making him about a 52-48 favorite. A king turned and Siler doubled up with a straight. Pumped up, he began walking around and was heard to mutter, "Who's your f___ daddy?" which brought down a penalty. At first he thought it was for 10 minutes, which would finish him. Even after learning that, two-handed, he would only get a two-hand penalty, costing him 22,000 chips, he said he was still "totally upset." Whatever the case, a couple of hands later, the flop came Kc-8d-4c. Heiberg bet 70,000 with Ks-10d, and Siler pushed in with 8c-7c, He was drawing dead when a king turned, and cashed out second for $32,650.

For his part, Heiberg dismissed Siler's beef as an "excuse" and said he deserved the win because he played a confident, patient game and earlier had sensed a "burnout" in Siler.

Okay, back to the beginning again. Action at the final table commenced with blinds of 800-1,600, 200 antes and just 30 seconds left. In the lead with 70,500 chips was Dr. Patrick Sweeney.

Seats and chip counts

The first hand sent sent Heiberg soaring into a huge lead. In middle position, Deb Blair pushed in all her 44,500 with A-J, Heiberg called with pocket kings, and then Rick Benish, with only 11,000 chips to work with, also called with Q-7. When the board showed K-7-5-Q, Benish was dead to Heiberg's set of kings, and Blair could only be rescued if a river 10 gave her a straight. It didn't. Two players busted out and Heiberg had his big lead.

Benish, who got $3,841 for ninth, is a 35-year-old software engineer from Westby, Wisconson. He has a masters in computer science and has been playing for four years.

Blair, 38, is a call center manager who lives in Tucson, Arizona, where she won the Arizona Ladies Texas Hold'em Championship. She's married with two children, and played for 2-1/2 years. Eighth paid $5,762.

Six hands later, with blinds of 1,000-2,000, Siler was granted a miracle survival. Short-chipped in the cut-off seat, he tried an all-in move with 10d-7d. He found himself an 81-19 underdog against Paul Elfelt's Ad-Ac, but was rescued when two 7s flopped.

On hand 23, Dr. Sweeney, a physician and ophthalmologist from Plano, Texas, raised all in for 36,000 holding Ah-Jh. Heiberg had the lead with pocket 8s, and ended up making a 9-high straight. Sweeney, 39, earned $7,682 for seventh. He's played poker for three years and this was his fourth final table in his last four events.

Two players now got knocked out back-to-back. On hand 28, now playing with 1,500-3,000 blinds and 400 antes, David Seidman opened for 10,000 with A-K, Heiberg re-raised with pocket 9s, and Seidman pushed in for about 40,000. Big slick went down the drain when a board of 10-3-2-5-Q hit, and Seidman finished sixth, worth $9,603. Seidman, 28, from Chicago, is a trader. He's played 14 years, learning from books and playing. This is his poker highlight.

On the next hand, Mark Lessin went out in fifth place when his pocket queens went up against Everett Carlton's two cowboys. Lessin, 45, is from Lake Park, Minnesota and owns Tires Plus. He's been playing two years, won a seat in the championship event here, and tonight won $11,524 for fifth.

With a new level and blinds of 2,000-4,000 with 500 antes, Heiman still had a big lead of about 220,000 of the 396,000 chips in play. A lot more hands went by with several river suck-outs. Then, on hand 68, Heiman opened for 16,000 with A-K, and Elfelt moved in for 32,000 with A-Q. As the dealer's hand slid over the flop, Elfelt saw a queen and yelled, "Yeah!" But then the other two cards - a jack and a 10 - came into view, and Elfelt realized that Heiman had flopped a straight.

Elfelt, 46, from Brookfield, Wisconsin, is an entrepreneur who owns businesses that include a business card printing company, and also invests in real estate. His brother taught him 30 years ago once he had some money from a paper route. He enjoys hunting and fishing and tonight collected $15,365 for fourth place.

By the next break, a rough count showed Heiberg had about 200,000 chips to 122,000 for Siler, 74,000 for Carlton. As that level neared an end, Heiberg made what he thought was his one bad play. With a board of 7-6-5-4, Siler bet 60,000 and Heiberg raised him all in. Heiberg had a trey for the ignorant end of the straight, while Siler had the 8. But Heiberg still led when blinds went to 4,000-8,000 with `1,000 antes.

On hand 137, Carlton went out, muttering "Unbelievable, unbelievable." With 8c-6c, he flopped two pair when the board came 10-8-6 and raised all in when Siler, with pocket aces, bet out. But then a 10 turned, giving Siler aces-up. Carlton, 52, is from St. Paul, Minnesota, and is toying with turning pro. He's been playing four years and has had several cash-outs, notably $92,715 for finishing seventh in a $1,000 no-limit event at the WSOP last year. Third place tonight paid $19,206.

Heads-up, Siler led with about 250,000 to 150,000 for Heiberg. Play dragged on, even more since Siler sometimes thought very long before acting, once for about 10 minutes.

After Heiberg doggedly climbed back into the lead, came the penalty and conclusion. Siler, 36, is a pro from Kansas City, Missouri. He's been playing 25 years. A graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, he saw service in the in the Mideast as an Army captain. Siler has several small tournament wins and a $33,830 cash-out at a WPT Bellagio event. Despite his grumblings, he still made $32,227 for second.

--Max Shapiro

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Max Shapiro -- WSOP Media Director at (323) 356-3303
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