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I’ll never forget about June 26, 2005. I was into the fourth week of covering my fi rst-ever World Series of Poker, where I wrote for LasVegasVegas.com and Fox Sports and covered the WSOP on my blog, Tao of Poker. June 26th seemed like just a regular Sunday in Las Vegas and little did I know that I would be witnessing history.
June 26th was one of the busiest days at the 2005 WSOP. There were three fi nal tables scheduled and four tournaments in total to keep track of (Event #24 $2,500 NL Final Table, Event #25 $2,500 Pot-Limit Hold’em (Day 2), Event #26 $1,000 NL Ladies Event, and Event #27 $5,000 PLO w/ Rebuys).
The Ladies Event at the World Series of Poker got me out of bed early. I put on the cleanest clothes that I had, slicked back the little hair I had, splashed on some cologne, and busted out the camera to take pictures of my favorite female poker players in action. The 2005 Ladies Event was the fi rst year that Harrah’s changed it to a No Limit format, instead of Limit Hold’em like it had been in previous years. The 2005 Ladies Event attracted an astonishing 601 players (up from 201 the year before). It was originally scheduled to be a one-day event.
I walked through the area where the PLO event was being held and noticed that Phil Hellmuth arrived at least an hour and a half late to psyche out his opponents. Scotty Nguyen, David Williams, Erik Seidel, Hasan Habib, and the Devilfi sh all sat at the same table. That qualifi ed for scariest lineup of the day.
As the action continued late into the day, Jerri Thomas, Johnny Chan, Humberto Brenes, and Phil “The Unabomber” Laak all made the fi nal table in the Pot Limit Hold’em event. Before the entire WSOP began, ESPN decided to tape the $2,500 NL event and pass on the Pot Limit Hold’em one. That’s why a table of unfamiliar faces was being taped on the TV featured table while Johnny Chan chased history out on the fl oor away from the cameras. He was pursuing his tenth WSOP bracelet. No other player had ten. Chan had nine and was tied with both Phil Hellmuth and Doyle Brunson.
ESPN sent out their second unit to fi lm the action at Chan’s final table, which featured excellent players in Humberto Brenes, the wacky and unpredictable Phil Laak, and Jerri Thomas. Thomas was tenth on the all-time Women’s Money List and had won over a half a million playing in tournaments. She won a bracelet in 2000 and made seven career fi nal tables at the WSOP. Instead of playing in the Ladies Event, she played in the Pot Limit Hold’em event.
Aside from the Ladies Event, all three of the other tournaments were on their dinner breaks, which were extended so everyone could attend the John Bonetti roast across the hall. John Bonetti was a legendary salty character in poker with a foul mouth and a vicious attitude. He had over $2 million in career earnings, won three bracelets, cashed over twenty-fi ve times, and made over twenty fi nal tables at the WSOP. I hit the bar and listened to Mike Sexton roast Bonetti. He told a few funny stories along with Max Shapiro, who had a good one about watching Bonetti shout obscenities at a video poker machine.
After the roast, I headed back out to the fl oor and kept a close eye on Johnny Chan’s fi nal table. After Phil Laak won a pot, he offered to show his cards for $4. Johnny Chan agreed. Laak fl ipped over A-K and then pestered Chan for the money. “Come on! You’re Johnny Chan, I know you have $4.” “My smallest bill is a $5,” Chan answered. “Toss it over, I got change,” said Laak as he threw a rolled-up $1 bill over to Chan.
Phil Laak was in rare form and entertained the table. He constantly worked the crowd with his antics. He put on a great show for the ESPN cameras. The fun and effervescent Laak relished being in the spotlight. He always got a lot of camera time since he said the weirdest things and often played without his shoes on. He’d even occasionally break into calisthenics during the action.
When Phil Laak won a big hand pre-fl op and offered to show his hand to the other players for $4, however, no one was interested. He then extended the offer to the rail. Jon Eaton and I were standing right behind Laak. We both chipped in $2 each and Laak quickly snatched it out of our hands. He showed us A J . Easily, that was the best $2 that I spent during the entire 2005 WSOP.
Phil Hellmuth and Doyle Brunson constantly stopped by the rail to check on Chan’s progress. Hellmuth knew that Chan had a shot at his tenth bracelet tonight and passive-aggressively tried to tilt Chan by talking smack.
Laak rushed to Chan’s rescue and snapped, “If it weren’t for luck, you’d win every time, right Phil?”
The folks on the rail burst out in laughter and Hellmuth quietly returned to his game. The audience at the fi nal TV table had cleared out and migrated over to Chan’s table. A massive crowd hovered over the table, while the audience at the TV table was virtually empty. Everyone wanted to witness Johnny Chan’s attempt at his tenth bracelet.
Even though he was third in chips with four remaining players, it seemed like it was going to be Johnny Chan’s night, especially after the Orient Express came from behind to knock out Richard Harroch. When Harroch moved his short stack all in with A-J, Chan called with 4-4. Harroch outfl opped Chan when the fl op came down J-8-5. However, on the turn, Chan picked up a gutshot straight draw when a 7 fell. On the river, a 6 spiked and Chan eliminated Harroch in 7th place.
ESPN producers stepped in and sent the remaining four players in the Pot Limit Hold’em tournament on a break until midnight. They wanted to televise Chan’s attempt at making history. They hoped that the current TV event ($2,500 NL) would end quickly. Three players remained and one had a short stack. I likened this awkward situation to a blowout in a college basketball game and the producers cut away from the main game to show a more exciting and competitive game. It’s also like watching a crappy Monday Night Football game because they made the schedule six months in advance and had no idea that their matchup would not be as interesting as other games.
Three fi nal tables. Four tournaments. Chicks playing poker. A John Bonetti roast. Johnny Chan chasing number ten. Talk about a hectic day. I had totally forgotten about the Ladies event, when Amy Calistri wandered over and told me that they were down to 13 players with Jennifer Tilly still alive and looking pretty good. How weird would it be if she and Phil both made a fi nal table... at the same time?
When action resumed for the Pot Limit Hold’em event at midnight, Johnny Chan moved all in with pocket queens and Frank Kassela called with pocket aces. The fl op was K-K-Q. The railbirds exploded with applause. Their hero was still alive. I stood fi ve feet from the table in shock as Chan cracked aces. That hand moved Chan into the chip lead and Kassela was eliminated in fourth place. Then Phil Laak knocked out Richard Osbourne in third place. Laak raised pre-fl op and Osbourne reraised all in. Laak took forever to make a decision and kept running the math over and over in his head. Laak eventually called with K-10 and was behind Osbourne’s weak ace.
“This is what 6% feels like,” he uttered as he stood on the brink of elimination.
Then a ten spiked. The Unabomber fans in the crowd went berserk when Laak caught one of his six outs. He quickly fell on the fl oor and a stunned look fell over Osbourne’s face. Jen Tilly ran over and gave Laak a kiss. ESPN’s producers halted heads-up play until the $2,500 NL event completed. Then the heads-up match would move over to the offi cial TV table, so ESPN could get better coverage, including the usage of hole cams. Laak and Chan went on a break until further notice.
ESPN quickly interviewed Phil Hellmuth and Doyle Brunson while both guys were still playing in the PLO w/ Rebuys event. Hellmuth yapped about how he never roots against anyone because he does not believe in negative things and expending negative energy. He spoke for several minutes about his philosophy and the interview went off into a really serious tone. Doyle Brunson just stood there with a Cheshire Cat grin on his face. When they asked him what he thought about Chan possibly breaking and setting a record he said, “I’m rooting for Johnny. He’s my friend and he’s a great player.”
At 2:01 A.M., after two hours of heads-up play in the $2,500 NL event, Farzad Bonyadi won his third bracelet after he eliminated Lars Bonding. ESPN rushed the players off the stage to set up the heads-up match between Johnny Chan and the Unabomber.
I didn’t want to miss a moment of Chan’s attempt at a tenth bracelet. I grabbed my notebook and pen and sat in the front row, only a few seats away from Doyle Brunson. Laak was outchipped and outmatched once they sat down to play heads up. Plus, Chan was getting all the lucky breaks after cracking aces with queens, and then rivering a straight to avoid elimination. Laak needed a lot of help if he was going to win.
It was an entertaining heads-up match to watch because of the contrasting personalities of the two players. Chan was quiet, calm, and serene at the table, whereas Laak could not sit still and constantly talked. He was a poster child for adult ADD.
On the 16th and fi nal hand of heads-up play, Laak raised to 30k. Chan reraised to 92k. Laak agonized over the call and eventually moved all in. He fl ipped over K-J. Chan showed Q-Q. Although Laak fl opped a jack, his hand did not improve and he was eliminated. Despite the second place fi nish, Laak looked like he enjoyed every moment of playing against one the best players of all time.
Chan quickly embraced his son after he won. His son brought out the “lucky orange,” which Chan placed on the table. Chan doesn’t play in as many tournaments as he used to. That was yet another reason why his win was extra special. Here’s what I wrote for Fox Sports, which appeared on their front page bright and early on Monday morning:
Johnny Chan won his tenth bracelet on one of the busiest days at the WSOP. After his victory early on Monday morning, Johnny Chan holds the record for most WSOP bracelets along with the honorable distinction of becoming the fi rst player ever to win ten. With the fi elds of players swelling to record numbers at this year’s WSOP, it seemed impossible that Chan, Brunson, or Hellmuth could make a fi nal table, let alone win another bracelet. Once again Johnny Chan defi ed the odds. He’s been a fi ghter his entire life and came from behind to win once again. Indeed, Johnny Chan can now boast that he is the most successful player ever to participate in the World Series of Poker. Chan also holds the honor of being the last player to have repeat wins at the Main Event. That might be a record that will never be broken. Time will tell if ten bracelets will become an unattainable milestone or if Johnny Chan can add fi ve more bracelets to his collection likes he wants to do.
The 2005 WSOP was a special year because it seemed as though every single day history was being made. Of course, less than a week after Johnny Chan won his tenth bracelet, his good friend Doyle Brunson equaled his feat when he won his tenth bracelet in Event #31 $5,000 Short-handed NLHE. That was not an easy task considering that the fi nal table included Scotty Nguyen, Minh Ly, Layne Flack, Jason Lester, and Ayaz Mahmood. Brunson easily managed to beat Minh Ly heads up for the victory as he collected his tenth bracelet. Brunson and Chan were now tied for ten as they added some distance between them and Phil Hellmuth, who would be stuck on nine bracelets for another year.
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