The
Long Wait is Finally Over: After 18 Years
and
Multiple Times in the Money, Tom Jacobs
Finally Wins His First Gold Bracelet
It's
good to finally be here alone at the end,
sitting at this table with all the chips.
What a feeling.
--
Tom Jacobs
Since
1985, Tom Jacobs has been in the prize
money twenty times at the World Series
of Poker, and until today he always came
up just short of total victory. His closest
brush with poker fame and fortune came
back in 1992, when he was the runner-up
in the main championship event. But for
Jacobs, the 21st time was a charm, as
the Las Vegan overcame a tough field of
154 and finally waltzed away with his
first gold bracelet. With the victory,
Jacobs now has an astounding $900,000-plus
in career WSOP winnings.
Six
former gold bracelet winners made it to
the final table -- including Phil Hellmuth,
Jr. (8 wins), David Chiu (3 wins), Mike
Matusow (2 wins), Jennifer Harman (2 wins),
Toto Leonidas (1 win), and "Minneapolis
Jim" Meehan (1 win).
Mike
"Motor Mouth" Matusow was the first player
to be eliminated when he went in short-stacked
with K-10, but ran into Jan Sjavik's pocket
aces. Matusow was unable to pull off a
miracle against the rockets, and collected
$6,920 for 10th place.
Next,
Jennifer Harman was knocked-out by Tom
Jacobs when both players caught an ace
on the flop, but Jacobs ended up with
the better kicker. Harman, who came in
lowest in chips, took home $8,580 for
9th place.
Tom
Jacobs (A-J) eliminated David Chiu (J-8)
when Chiu picked up a straight-draw on
the flop (10-9-x), but was unable to catch
the key fifth card. Chui and Jacobs both
spiked a jack in the river for a pair,
which gave Jacobs a $50K pot with the
pair of jacks with an ace kicker. Chiu
collected $10,740 for 8th place.
Ten minutes later, Bill Gazes hit the
rail when his stack gradually plummeted
to the point he was forced to go "all-in"
with A-5. "Minneapolis Jim" Meehan called
from the big blind with 10-8 and spiked
an eight to win the pot. Gazes finished
in 7th place and received $12,880.
1989
World Champion Phil Hellmuth, Jr. came
to the final table very close to the chip
lead, but his two hours at the finale
were "brutal," in his own words. He didn't
manage to win a pot in his final 40 minutes
spent at the table and was gradually blinded
down to his last chip. Four opponents
saw the flop on Hellmuth's final hand
of the day, and repeatedly checked it
around in an effort to eliminate the always-dangerous
Hellmuth. The strategy worked as a pair
of nines bounced Hellmuth out in 6th place
-- good for $15,040.
After
Jan Sjavik, from Oslo, Norway scooped
a $60K pot with pocket aces, he was tied
for the chip lead with Las Vegan, Tom
Jacobs. The two players would end up in
a heads-up match for the championship
some time later. Frenchman Paul Testud
was not so fortunate. He was dealt a pair
of nines, but ran into Sjavik's pocket
kings, which effectively put Testud out
in 5th place. Testud, making his second
final table at this year's World Series
of Poker, received $17,180.
The
final four players battled for two hours
before the next player was eliminated.
In fact, Jim Meehan and Tom Jacobs were
both very low on chips at one point and
both managed to storm back and take the
chip lead at various stages. With the
betting limits up to $5K-10K, Toto Leonidas
was unable to bounce back from defeat.
He saw a 2 to 1 chip advantage vanish
in three consecutive hands when he took
a devastating serious of beats that left
him with just $40K in chips. Leonidas'
final hand came when he held K-x (spades)
and went for a spade flush after three
spades came on the flop. Tom Jacobs was
in the pot instantly holding the A-x of
spades (for the nut flush draw) leaving
Toto with few outs. Leonidas went out
in 4th place and took home $25,780, failing
to capture his second gold bracelet at
this year's tournament.
Jim
Meehan was low on chips again as limits
increased to $6K-12K. He had fought back
twice from chip deficits, but was unable
to rally a third time. Down to just $15K,
he made his final stand of the tournament
on a straight draw with 4-5 but was unable
to top Sjavik's pair of kings. Meehan,
who won a gold bracelet three weeks ago
on Easter Sunday, added $40,880 to his
World Series of Poker winnings.
Down
to the final two, American Tom Jabobs
had a 2 to 1 chip advantage over Norweigian
Jan Sjavik. One of the finalists was due
to win his first gold bracelet. Sjavik
drew even in chips with Jacobs when he
won a big pot with two pair, then Jacobs
very gradually pulled away and slowly
amassed a 4 to 1 chip lead over a 40-minute
period. Sjavik was unable to make any
headway and exactly one-hour into heads-up
play Jacobs won the final hand of the
night.
Sjavik
was dealt K-J and made a pair of kings
on the river, betting his last $16K into
a $32K pot with confidence. However, Jacobs
had the A-J of diamonds and made the nut-high
hand, a diamond flush, on the turn. He
let Sjavik fall into the trap and was
delighted to call Sjavik's final bet of
the night with what amounted to an unbeatable
hand.
Sjavik
congratulated his opponent with a hearty
handshake, as Jabobs told the Norweigian,
"I thought you played terrific." It was
a sign of mutual respect by two very fine
poker players. But ultimately, it was
Jacobs who after years of toiling away
and coming up just short at the World
Series of Poker, finally broke through
18 years after his first final table appearance,
and won his first gold bracelet.
-- by Nolan Dalla
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