WORLD SERIES OF POKER 2002

EVENT #3 OMAHA HI-LO
Sunday, April 21, 2002
$1,500 BUY-IN
$1,500 in chips

IT'S GOOD TO BE THE KING

When one player is dealt a super abundance of huge starting hands, the
proceedings take on the formality of a coronation. No offense intended. This is
not to say our winner isn't a great player, but objectively it can be stated
categorically that he was "run over by the deck." Unusual for a WSOP Final
Table, this event had all the drama of a Royal Tea at the Palace. But then how
does one know what's truly exciting without its opposite sometimes?

There were 339 entrants in the $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo for a total prize pool of
$477,990. Three tables were paid, a total of 27 players.

There was high drama in this event prior to the Final Table, however. It came
during the prolonged battle to get into the money. 28 players for 27 spots.
Multiple all-ins by several players. Breathtaking survival stories. On rushing
blinds. Critical errors. This battle had it all. Lenny St. Germain had three
miracles to move on with his all-ins for the blinds. Ken Flaton would have been
gone but for a bet by Lindy Chambers that forced Steve Hohn to muck the best
low. John Juanda throwing away hand after hand until he had only a chip and a
prayer. Oddly it was none of these players, all hanging on by a thread, that
finished out of the money. Jim Bucci put out the 28th player who had plenty of
chips but thought that a pair of Kings was a good high. Jim made a straight and
a low on the turn and six guys could take a breath for the first time in an
hour.

Co-Tournament Director Steve Morrow thought that a little overtime Sunday night
could get us to a Final Table. The new structure this year at the World Series
is to play until the 12th level or 2 am. Then return the next afternoon at 2 pm
for the completion of the event. Simply put, this is one of the great ideas of
the 21st Century. The wear and tear saved on players and staff by avoiding
those numbing all night marathons has been tremendous. Sunday night, however,
there was only one player to eliminate at 2 pm. Steve said, "play on." Three
short stakes were endangered. Ken Cui and Phil Ivey survived. Ralph Perry did
not. Now everyone could go to bed.

THE FINAL TABLE: 62 mins left of 75. The blinds were $1,500/$3,000. Playing
$3,000/$6,000
Player Hometown Chip Count
Seat 1 Greg Mascio Fullerton CA $113,500
Seat 2 Jim Bucci Hollywood MD $
44,500
Seat 3 Chad Brown New York, NY $ 86,000
Seat 4 Dan Heimiller Las Vegas NV $ 94,500
Seat 5 Ken Cui San Jose CA $ 7,000

Seat 6 Perry Friedman Monterey CA $ 66,500
Seat 7 Hans Pfister Zurich, Switzerland $ 40,500
Seat 8 Paul Rowe Coronado CA $ 26,500
Seat 9 Paul Ivey Atlantic City NJ $
3,500
Seat 10 Dan Kim Laguna Niguel CA $ 26,500

Phil Ivey may have made an extra $1,790 by where the initial button was placed.
With the button in the two seat, Ken Cui was under the gun on the first hand.
He picked up A 2 6 8 and logically raised to go all-in. Dan Heimiller was in
the big blind and called the $3,000 raise with K Q 6 6 heads up. Cui got all
his chips in on a low draw that didn't come. Dan won with 7's and 6's. Ken was
out in 10th before Phil Ivey could play a hand.

Turning down a chance for some equity in his big blind hand, Ivey now had one
chip for his small blind. Phil may not have had high expectations for this
Final Table for when Chad Brown made a flush, Phil went back to the No Limit
tournament he'd entered at 12 noon.

Jim Bucci was a printer at the Washington Post during the Watergate scandal.
When asked about what was memorable about that time, ever the joker, Jim
answered "Lots of overtime." There was nothing funny about Bucci's cards,
though. Three times he was scooped as he couldn't even turn his hand over on
the river. That's how bad he was running. All-in on the button with his last
$4k and A 2 7 8, Jim could only laugh derisively as his day was ended in 8th by
Paul Rowe's K's and 5's and no low.

As bad as Jim Bucci was running, Dan Heimiller's luck was even worse. Nobody
has made more WSOP Final Tables over the last four years than Dan Heimiller.
He's gotten here in every game, under every circumstance. It can only be said
that Dan is one of the greatest all-around players in WSOP history. That is,
until he reaches the Final Table. Then, inexplicably, something awful always
happens to Heimiller. Today that something awful was Perry Friedman. Dan does
have a slight red tint to his hair. Maybe he is Perry's step-child, because
Friedman sure gave him a beating. Dan started the day 2nd in chips with
$94,000. In less than 90 minutes, most of those chips had moved into Perry
Friedman's stack. As the players say, Perry showed Dan "the World's Fair."
Perry Friedman was just starting a day of saying, "Nut, nut." Dan Heimiller
threw in his last chip from the big blind on the hand that Jim Bucci went
all-in on. With that one chip, Dan was guaranteed the higher place over Jim if
they both went out together. Paul Rowe's K's and 5's also put Dan Heimiller out
of his misery in 7th.

Dr. Dan Kim's nemesis wasn't Perry Friedman, it was Chad Brown. The good doctor
had his Final Table practice terminated in two hands with Brown. Dan lost most
of his chips on the first hand when the flop came 5 5 3. Kim had A 2 5 10. He
raised and was reraised by Chad Brown. It was too late to slow down. Kim had to
pay Brown off even though two bricks, Jack and 9, came on the turn and river to
deny Dan a nut low. Brown turned over 5 3 for a full house. Kim soon went
all-in from the small blind with A Q 4 4. It was Chad Brown who finished Kim
off in 6th with A K 4 4 and a King on the flop.

Chad Brown continued on a heater and smoked Paul Rowe in the process. Paul was
the only Omaha Hi-Lo bracelet holder at the table, but was shown no respect for
it. First Paul's stack was decimated by a nut nut from Greg Mascio. Then with
15k left Paul raised on the button with only an A 2 4 5. Chopped Liver it
turned out. Chad Brown made Paul Rowe is boat out to sea in 5th with 10's and
5's and no low.

Of the many European players that come every year to the WSOP, Hans Pfister has
been on of the most consistent winners. With mechanics as precise as a Swiss
watch, Hans knows where everyone's at and what his chances are. But even great
players need some cards. And all the cards were going to the Golden Trio of
Perry Friedman, Greg Mascio and Chad Brown. Meanwhile, Pfister's nut nut draws
were going Pfist! All-in on the blind with Q 10 5 4, Hans couldn't even beat a
pair of 7's by Chad Brown and knifed his way through the crowd in 4th.

With the last three stacks fairly close, Perry Friedman may have made the
costliest mistake of the day by allowing a save off 1st place money. For
immediately after the deal, he went on another of his insane rushes where he
has every card in the deck. In only a few minutes it was obvious that Greg
Mascio and Chad Brown were playing for 2nd place. Not a bad thing! $90,000.
Greg Mascio won that race when Chad Brown went out to yet another nut hand by
Perry Friedman.

With over a 4-1 chip lead, Perry Friedman soon made it 10-1 then 100-1. It was
awesome. You've never seen so many magnificent Omaha Hi-Lo hands. The last hand
was like so many others. Friedman had A 3 4 5, Mascio had K K 7 6. The flop was
3 3 2. When no King arrives on the turn or river, it's good to be the King.

Official Money Winners
1. Perry Friedman $176,860
2. Greg Mascio 90,820
3. Chad Brown 45,400
4. Hans Pfister 28,680
5. Paul Rowe 21,500
6. Dan Kim 16,720
7. Dan Heimiller 11,940
8. Jim Bucci 9,560
9. Phil Ivey 7,640
10. Ken Cui 5,850

11th-12th received $5,740
Ralph Perry and Steve Hohn

13th-15th received $4,780
Jerry Simon, Matt Lefkowitz, Chris Tsiprailidis

16th-18th received $3,820
Dick Turner, Charles DeValliere, Lindy Chambers

19th-27th received $2,860
Eddie Fishman, Tony Vermiglo, Dean Miller, Alejandrino Gambon, David Brody, Ken
Flaton, Lenny St. Germain, Vince Burgio, John Juanda