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World Poker Open
Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2004
Event #20 Day 3
No-Limit Texas Holdem
Championship WPT Event
Buy-In:
$10,000 + $200
Players: 367
Prize Pool: $3,455,050
CHIP
COUNTS END OF DAY THREE
SEAT
1: James Tippin Toledo, OH
842,000
SEAT 2: Barry Greenstein Rancho
Pales Verdes, CA 575,000
SEAT 3 Chip Reese Las Vegas,
NV 780,000
SEAT 4: Can Kim Hua Rosemead,
CA 279,000
SEAT 5: Randy Jensen Fort
Collins, CO 1,085,000
SEAT 6: Tony Hartman Richfield,
MN 111,000
PRIZE
MONEY:
1st
-- $1,278,370
2nd -- 656,460
3rd -- 328,230
4th 207,304
5th -- 155,477
6th -- 120,927
PLAYERS
IN THE MONEY:
7.
John Bonetti Houston, TX $86,377
8. Alan Goehring Henderson,
NV 69,101
9. Terry Myers Yuma, AZ 55,281
10. Paul "Eskimo"
Clark New Orleans, LA 41,461
11. Chad Ducharme Bossier
City, LA 41,461
12. George Bunt Bradenton,
FL 41,461
13. Mark Rose Edna, TX 34,550
14. David "Dragon"
Pham Cerritos, CA 34,550
15. Mike Laing Franklin, PA
34,550
16. Tommy Hufnagle Tempe,
AZ 27,640
17. Toto Leonidas Glendale,
CA 27,640
18. Jason Brown Myrtle Beach,
SC 27,640
19. Jim Lester Cincinnati,
OH 20,730
20. David Levi Las Vegas,
NV 20,730
21. Denis Ethier Durham, NC
20,730
22. Tracy Scala Del Ray Beach,
FL 20,730
23. John Frutkin Washington,
DC 20,730
24. Louis J. Asmo Dublin,
OH 20,730
25. Shay Ajay Belgium 20,730
26. David K. B. Germany 20,730
27. Surinder Sunar Wolverhampton,
England 20,730
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Final
Table Bios
Seat
1: JAMES TIPPIN (Toledo, OH) Chip Count
-- $842,000 �I�m dead money,� says James
Tippin � a retired businessman from Toledo,
Ohio. Tippin was making reference to the
derogatory term often used to describe
novice players who supposedly have no
chance to win a big tournament with so
many world-class players. Tippin, age
67, has a retirement home in Las Vegas
and frequently plays in the small daily
tournaments held throughout the city,
which cater mostly to tourists and a few
locals. He has won several of these small
dailies, including tournaments held at
the Orleans and Stardust. However, this
is his first time to make the final table
of a major televised event. It will be
interesting to see how Tippin adjusts
to the bright lights and pressure of playing
for a million-dollar plus first prize.
Tippin has been in the middle of the pack
through the first three days, and made
his big move in the final half-hour of
Day Three, when he rocketed up from $250K
to $842K in chips � mostly at chip-leader
Randy Jensen�s expense. From the way Tippin
has played thus far, he is hardly �dead
money.� Just ask the 361 players on the
rail at the moment who are wishing they
were in Tippin�s seat.
Seat 2: BARRY GREENSTEIN (Rancho Pales
Verdes, CA) Chip Count -- $575,000 Barry
Greenstein is a high-limit cash game pro
who regularly plays $4,000-8,000 limit
and higher. He burst upon the poker tournament
scene a few years ago and has enjoyed
a staggering level of success � with over
$1 million in prize money winnings in
each of the last two years. Greenstein,
49, says he grew up in a poker-playing
family and has been a serious player since
childhood. He started a software company
named Symantecs, made a fortune, and retired
in 1991 at the age of 36. Most incredible
of all � Greenstein donates every penny
of his tournament wins to charity. His
favorite charity is �Children, Incorporated,�
a child sponsorship program which is affiliated
with schools, orphanages, and welfare
centers around the world and in the United
States, helping to provide food, clothing,
and educational needs to children deep
in poverty. His biggest tournament win
was last year at the Hustler Casino, where
he won $1 million. Greenstein has been
a steady force at the JBWPO during all
three days, at or near the top of the
field in chips. He is no stranger to final
tables in the biggest events and won�t
be intimidated by the pressure or the
prize money � which will ultimately be
used to help those who are less fortunate.
Seat
3: DAVID �CHIP� REESE (Las Vegas, NV)
Chip Count -- $780,000 David �Chip� Reese
has been called the greatest poker player
in the world by many of his peers. The
accolades come from poker�s very highest
levels, including Doyle Brunson and others.
Reese, now 52, graduated from Dartmouth
University 30 years ago and made a stopover
in Las Vegas on his way to graduate school
at Stanford. He never left. Reese started
playing poker and built up a million dollar
bankroll within his first two years as
a pro. By the late 70s, Reese was acknowledged
as one of the best seven-card stud players
in the world and contributed to poker�s
landmark literary work �Super/System.�
In the 1980s, Reese entered the super
elite group of poker players who played
for limits way beyond what could possibly
be won in tournaments. For that reason,
Reese hasn�t achieved much personal success
in No-Limit Holdem tournaments in recent
years � because he was often playing in
the cash games winning millions. Reese
is one of the few living members of the
Poker Hall of Fame, and has arguably won
more money playing poker than any man
in history. This is a rare moment to see
one of poker�s living legends, who is
at the top of his game.
Seat
4: CAN KIM HUA (Rosemead, CA) Chip Count
-- $279,000 Can Kim Hua is the 2004 Jack
Binion World Poker Open success story.
He has already won two events at this
year�s tournament � the $500 Omaha High-Low
event (good for $69K) and the $500 Seven-Card
Stud event (earning another $31K). He
is now making his bid to become the first
player in the history of this tournament
to win three events in a single year �
a nearly impossible task considering the
size and talents of the fields. Can Kim
Hua is 46 years old and is a native of
Vietnam. Little is known about the mysterious
Hua, as he has never won or appeared at
a final table prior to this tournament.
This begs the question � how did this
shy, soft-spoken poker player burst upon
the scene so quickly and manage to outplay
opponents who have been playing for much
longer? Hua has been near the chip lead
most of the first three days, but comes
into Day Four with second-lowest in chips.
Even with a small stack, Hua is a force
to be reckoned with.
Seat
5: RANDY JENSEN (Fort Collins, CO) Chip
Count -- $1,085,000 �Loose Cannon� is
the phrase that best describes Randy Jensen,
a.k.a., �The Dream Crusher.� Jensen is
a gambler in the truest sense of the word,
bouncing back and forth between having
a six-figure bankroll and personal bankruptcy,
emulating a level of risk tolerance that
brings memories of poker great, Stu Ungar
to mind. Consider the fact that two years
ago here at the JBWPO, Jensen won $120,000
in a poker tournament � the $500 buy in
Limit Holdem event -- then lost it all
by the next morning playing in a cash
game. Two days later, Jensen made the
final table again and came in with the
chip lead � and finished ninth! Then,
Jensen borrowed money to enter in a satellite,
won it, and then made it into the money
again. �I�m either going to leave here
with a quarter of a million dollars, or
leave broke,� he said at the time. Jensen
is easily the most unpredictable and unorthodox
of the six finalists � certainly capable
to destroying the field if he catches
a good run of cards, or going out in sixth
place, despite coming into Day Four with
the chip lead. Jensen, from Colorado,
is 33-years old and is a real estate investor
when he�s not gambling for high stakes
at the poker table. Jensen says he�s lucky
to have the support of his wife, who urged
him to enter this tournament, despite
having some reservations about attending.
Jensen, with chips, will dictate the pace
of play early at this final table.
Seat
6: TONY HARTMAN (Minneapolis, MN) Chip
Count -- $111,000 Tony Hartman, age 37,
comes to the final table with the biggest
challenge, by far � trying to survive
with the smallest stack amongst the six
finalists. Hartman is noted for his linebacker-build
and thick gold chains, which would make
him an intimidating force either in a
dark alley or at a poker table. He�ll
need to use that �street fighter� image
to be a force in today�s event. In 2002,
he finished 11th in the main event here
at the Jack Binion World Poker Open and
probably should have made the final table
had it not been for a bad run of cards
late on Day Three. Hartman also has several
other cashes to his name � at the World
Series of Poker, the Hall of Fame Classic,
the Four Queens, and other tournaments
including the Canterbury Classic near
his hometown of Minneapolis. In terms
of strategy, Hartman must double up early
so he can acquire enough chips to play
�his game� at the final table.
-- by Nolan Dalla
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