"You are part of poker history," World Series of Poker commissioner Jeffrey Pollack  told the throng of players here at Horseshoe Casino Council Bluffs. It was opening day of the Harrah's WSOP Circuit tour, the first ever held at this casino, and if the impressive first-day attendance of 531 is any indication, it will not be the last.

This was the sixth stop on the 2006-2007 Circuit tour. It was a bang-bang, nonstop action event that took only until 12:30 on day one to get down to nine players, and a relatively brief 77 hands to complete the next day's final table.

At the end, Rafal Boduch, a 22-year-old truck driver from Elwood Park, Illinois, had all the chips. Victory in this premier event brought him $44,805 and a handsome gold ring trophy. Boduch, who is single, has only been playing poker for a year. He learned his craft playing small tournaments online, and this is just his second live event. He plays nothing but tournaments, and plays aggressively. In fact, he said, playing aggressively was his only strategy at the final table.

This event got down to three players after just 36 hands. They all had plenty of chips, and any one of them could have won it. A little extra aggression and a little extra luck made the difference. On the final hand, for example, runner-up Lee Gardner pushed all in when he paired a 6 on the flop, only to see that Boduch had paired a 7.

Final-table action began at 4 p.m. on day two with blinds of 4,000-8,000 and 1,000 antes and a full hour on the clock. Lee Gardner had the most chips, 191,000, followed by Boduch's 155,000.

Seats and chip counts:

SEAT 1 Randy Stephenson  98,000 
SEAT 2 Lee Gardner          191,000
SEAT 3 Khanh Nguyen         94,000
SEAT 4 Cesar Hernandez   59,000
SEAT 5 Christopher Meek   36,000
SEAT 6 Larry Christensen   60,000
SEAT 7 Rafal Boduch        155,000
SEAT 8 Fred Walker            74,000
SEAT 9 William Wagner      31,000

The first 11 deals saw only one flop, in which William Wagner doubled up with a set of 9s, but then two players exited on the next two hands.

First to go was Cesar Hernandez, a 31-year-old laborer originally from Mexico now living in Sioux City, Nebraska. He moved in from the cutoff seat for 35,000 with pocket 9s and got a call from Wagner, who had As-Ks. Wagner won the coin-toss match when a king rivered, and Hernandez cashed out ninth for $3,090. Hernandez is married with four kids. He's been playing three years, and this is his first circuit try.

A short-chipped Larry Christensen followed him out when his Ad-7d couldn't catch the pocket 8s held by Boduch after the board showed 6-4-3-Q-7. Christensen, 51, is a farmer and rancher from Kennebec, South Dakota who has three children and has played poker for 35 years. He picked up $4,636 for eighth.

Five hands later, Kristopher Meek had all his chips committed in three-way action holding Q-J. Gardner, with Ad-5d, bet the flop of 10d-8c-7d and got heads-up. He missed his flush, but ace-high was all he needed. Meek is a 23-year-old student from Lincoln, Nebraska, and the $6,181 he collected for seventh is the highlight of his five-year poker career. After a 10-minute break, play resumed with blinds of 4,000-8,000 and 1,000 antes and a full hour on the clock.

After a 10-minute break, play resumed with blinds of 6,000-12,000 and 2,000 antes. On the second hand of the new level, Randy Stephenson called a raise by Gardner and went all in. He had K-Q to Gardner's A-5, and when the board came 10-7-3-9-2, once again an ace-high prevailed and we were down to five. Stephenson is a 57-year-old loan officer from Bellevue, Nebraska who describes himself as a "friendly old guy." He's been playing poker for 20 years and this is his first Circuit entrant. His payday for finishing sixth was $7,726.

In the big blind with A-6, Fred Walker was down to 1,000 after calling Khan Nguyen's pre-flop raise on hand 31. A flop of K-7-2 didn't help him, but he had little choice but to toss in his last chip. Nguyen had pocket jacks, and they did the trick when no ace came to rescue Walker, who is 70, from Omaha, Nebraska, and is a retired pool hall owner. He learned to play when he was 7 or 8, and says poker is the main love in his life. Tonight his love brought him $9,721 for finishing fifth.

On hand 36, we got down to the final three when William Wagner, a 45-year-old service technician from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, busted out. He opened for 24,000 with As-5s and called all in when Boduch raised with Ah-7d. A flop of 10s-9c-4d gave him a nut flush draw, but offsuit cards on the turn and river finished him and he settled for $10,816 for fourth. Wagner learned to play poker in Las Vegas five years ago. His biggest score is $31,000 for an online win at PartyPoker. Wagner is married with two children, and is a graduate of the Milwaukee School of Engineering. 

Three-handed, Boduch still had the lead with close to 300,000 of the 798,000 chips in play. After a few hands, Nguyen moved in front after picking up a couple of pots with raises. Then Boduch took over again when Nguyen bet 50,000 after two treys flopped, and then Boduch check-raised all in. Since Boduch was in the big blind, and the pot wasn't raised pre-flop, there was a chance that his opponent had a three. Nguyen wasn't taking chances and folded.

Five hands later, Nguyen opened for 45,000. Boduch moved in, and this time Nguyen called for 220,000. The cards were turned up. Nguyen trailed with Kh-9c to Boduch's Ac-5d. The board of J-4-3-2-6 changed nothing and Nguyen, a programmer originally from Vietnam who now lives in Papillion, Nebraska, ended third and collected $12,362. Nguyen, 46, is married with two children, his hobby is photography, and he learned poker from friends three years ago.

Heads-up, Boduch enjoyed a chip lead of 617,000 to 181,000 for Gardner, a 35-year-old roofing contractor from Topeka, Kansas. The two finalists took a break and returned playing with blinds of 8,000-16,000 and 2,000 antes. Gardner closed the gap on the second hand, doubling through when he moved in with A-10 to beat Boduch's K-5. But a few hands later it was all over. The flop came 7-6-2. Gardner moved in with A-6 and fell to Boduch's A-7 after a 9 and queen came. 

Gardner has been playing poker three years when he was "sucked in" by friends he can't beat in home games. Tonight, though, he was comforted by taking home $23,639.   

—Max Shapiro


For more information, please contact: 
Max Shapiro -- WSOP Media Director at (323) 356-3303
Or visit our official website:  www.worldseriesofpoker.com

World Series of Poker Commissioner – Jeffrey Pollack
Director of Poker Operations for Harrah's Entertainment – Jack Effel
Horseshoe Casino Council Bluffs Poker Room Manager – Gary Margetson