World Championship of Online Poker 2003

Event 2: $100 Limit Hold 'em

Players: 1,301
Prize pool: $130,100

THE NUMBER TELLS THE STORY

One Thousand Three Hundred and One Entries!

What a mind-boggling number. And there is the entire story in one line. One player has to beat 1,300 to win the title and the $32,525 first place money.

FINAL TABLE: 1,500/3,000 blinds
Seat 1: zippo44 (Honolulu), (416,375 in chips)
Seat 2: Rivahboat (richmond), (242,052 in chips)
Seat 3: Maximus421 (St julien les rosier), (545,368 in chips)
Seat 4: IlPapa (Portsmouth), (245,096 in chips)
Seat 5: C.M. Burns (Davis), (414,376 in chips)
Seat 6: NAVARONE (Prairie Village), (561,164 in chips)
Seat 7: chang lee (Courtice), (82,040 in chips)
Seat 8: TorontoToro (Maple), (366,743 in chips)
Seat 9: Mazak14 (Stockholm), (379,286 in chips)

It took less than five minutes to start eliminating the members of this Final Table. Il Papa, like everyone else, had plenty of luck to get this far. But the luck stopped here. On the tenth hand for this group, Il Papa went all-in when an Ace flopped. Understandably with top pair, he thought he might have the best hand. Unfortunately the Ace on the flop was the case Ace. Il Papa's A 8 was outkicked all right. The chip leader, NAVARONE, was delighted to call with A A for top set. Papa had a brand new bag--Ninth.

The observers, otherwise known as 'railbirds' had a favorite in this event. He was chang lee. Their hearts had been won by chang because he refused to lose. The smallest stack for much of the last hour with two tables to go, chang lee must have survived a dozen all-ins. When brigette11 was finally knocked out 10th to set up the Final Table, chants of CHANG CHANG dominated the chat board.

Still he'd started well behind the others in chips and needed immediate help to stay around.

On Hand #12 chang lee went all-in again and split a pot with the chip leader NAVARONE. Then he won one against Rivahboat with split Aces on the flop. Unlike Il Papa, chang lee's luck didn't stop here. He kept going all-in, as he was forced to as the smallest stack, and winning. He finally was over 100k in chips and out of immediate danger.

CHANG CHANG sang the railbirds.

As always happens at a Final Table someone's cards go completely dead. That someone was zippo44. At this table, he caught zippo. Starting 4th in chips after some miraculous saves at the second table, zippo44 was next to leave in 8th when he couldn't buy a card to save his life. If he saw the flop, he missed it. If he called the flop, he got runner runner nothing. It happened to all of us and it's a sickening feeling. To work so hard for so long to get somewhere and find that you're hardly there at all. Twenty-four minutes in, on Hand #46, zippo44 was put out of his misery. He'd raised NAVARONE's big blind with the best hand, A 9. But the chip leader was catching everything at this point and he called with A 7. NO WAITING. With a 7 on the flop, NAVARONE bet out. Only 6,375 in chips left were not enough to save. He called and zippo44 was zero, nada, no more.
Meanwhile, like Mama Cass in the song, chang lee was getting fat. And Maximus421 edged into the chip lead.

We were now at the 20k/40k blinds, they would go no higher. But that meant that 60,000 in chips were just sitting there every hand for the stealing. And C.M. Burns was the most active thief.

Seat 2: Rivahboat (538226 in chips)
Seat 3: Maximus421 (950368 in chips)
Seat 5: C.M. Burns (184376 in chips)
Seat 6: NAVARONE (905135 in chips)
Seat 7: chang lee (359080 in chips)
Seat 8: TorontoToro (186743 in chips)
Seat 9: Mazak14 (128572 in chips)

In Hand 52, Rivahboat got tired of watching C.M. Burns burn his chips and called the raise. The two capped it before the flop. Then Rivahboat in the small blind was raised again on the flop. He checked the turn with the board:

*** TURN *** [Jh 7d 4s] [Ks]

And the 'boat' never got to the river because he couldn't call Burns' turn bet. C.M. showed pocket Queens.
Amazingly, the pocket Queens came right back to Burns on the next hand. It must be good living, because Burns needed one Queen for a straight on the turn to send Mazak14 out in 7th place. Mazak14 was the shortest stack, but more chips wouldn't have mattered. He wouldn't have been able to protect his hand with a mountain of chips. Mazak raised all-in pre-flop with A K. Burns was in the big blind, with his second pair of pocket Queens in a row, and called the 28k bet naturally.

*** FLOP *** [Kd Jd Tc]
*** TURN *** [Kd Jd Tc] [9d]
*** RIVER *** [Kd Jd Tc 9d] [7d]

Now there were six.

Seat 2: Rivahboat (278226 in chips)
Seat 3: Maximus421 (950368 in chips)
Seat 5: C.M. Burns (712948 in chips)
Seat 6: NAVARONE (885135 in chips)
Seat 7: chang lee (299080 in chips)
Seat 8: TorontoToro (126743 in chips)

And like McGuine and McGuire, chang lee was only getting higher. Here's Hand #66:

C.M. Burns: posts small blind 20000
NAVARONE: posts big blind 40000
chang lee: raises 40000 to 80000
C.M. Burns: calls 60000
NAVARONE: calls 40000
*** FLOP *** [4s 5s 4h]
C.M. Burns: bets 40000
NAVARONE: calls 40000
chang lee: raises 40000 to 80000
NAVARONE: calls 40000
*** TURN *** [4s 5s 4h] [5c]
NAVARONE: checks
chang lee: bets 80000
NAVARONE: calls 80000
*** RIVER *** [4s 5s 4h 5c] [Kh]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
NAVARONE: shows [Qh Ah] (two pair, Fives and Fours)
chang lee: shows [8d 8s] (two pair, Eights and Fives)

CHANG CHANG and the new chip count after that hand:

Seat 2: Rivahboat (258226 in chips)
Seat 3: Maximus421 (830368 in chips)
Seat 5: C.M. Burns (582948 in chips)
Seat 6: NAVARONE (585135 in chips)
Seat 7: chang lee (679080 in chips)
Seat 8: TorontoToro (316743 in chips)

chang lee is 2nd! Unbelievable. This is a guy, who by his own admission, has a career best tournament win until today of $34.00. And who plays in the penny games on PokerStars.com. The railbirds were suggesting he was being channeled by Johnny Chan.

On Hand #73 a few minutes later, we would go to five as we must. TorontoToro is the small stack and makes a move with a suited A 5. But Maximus421 flops two pair with K's and J's and turns full with another Jack to cut the bull. This sends Maximus into the chip lead with over 1,000,000 of the 3.25 million chips on the table.

A few hands later, the crowd favorite chang lee finally crashed back down to earth when he fell in love with pocket 4's and lost over half his precious chips. Maximus wasn't much better with pocket 7's but with a board of [Qd 5s 2c 6d] [Kc] the 7's held up.

But for the loudest crash of the day, no one could top NAVAROME. He started out as chip leader and had nearly one million of them when the rock he was climbing fell on him. Within 20 hands NAVARONE was out gunned and he was out in 5th place without ever showing a hand. First Rivahboat showed him a set of 8's. Then twice NAVARONE called all the way to the river and couldn't beat a pair of 9's. Always he mucked his hand so we couldn't see what his failed draws were.

With four players this was the chip count.
Seat 2: Rivahboat (1153091 in chips)
Seat 3: Maximus421 (1528537 in chips)
Seat 5: C.M. Burns (451792 in chips)
Seat 7: chang lee (119080 in chips)

Four minutes later it was time for chang lee to change seats for one on the rail.

Here is the hero's last hand.

Rivahboat: posts small blind 20000
Maximus421: posts big blind 40000
chang lee: raises 17240 to 57240 and is all-in
Maximus421: calls 17240
*** FLOP *** [Ad 4s 2h]
*** TURN *** [Ad 4s 2h] [5h]
*** RIVER *** [Ad 4s 2h 5h] [Js]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Maximus421: shows [Jh Jc] (three of a kind, Jacks)
chang lee: shows [Ks 9s] (high card Ace)

Now chang lee has a new best tournament result. He went from $34 to $8,456.50 for 4th place. Nice jump. The rail joked that lee could play his penny games forever on that much money.

Three handed now, this was the chip distribution.

Seat 2: Rivahboat (954931 in chips)
Seat 3: Maximus421 (1245777 in chips)
Seat 5: C.M. Burns (1051792 in chips)

With the three survivors fairly even, a huge hand transpired that threatened to end C.M. Burns' night.

Here's Hand #129
C.M. Burns: posts small blind 20000
Rivahboat: posts big blind 40000
Maximus421: folds
C.M. Burns: raises 40000 to 80000
Rivahboat: raises 40000 to 120000
C.M. Burns: raises 40000 to 160000
Betting is capped
Rivahboat: calls 40000
*** FLOP *** [5h 2c 3d]
C.M. Burns: bets 40000
Rivahboat: raises 40000 to 80000
C.M. Burns: raises 40000 to 120000
Rivahboat: raises 40000 to 160000
Betting is capped
C.M. Burns: calls 40000
*** TURN *** [5h 2c 3d] [Kh]
C.M. Burns: bets 80000
Rivahboat: raises 80000 to 160000
C.M. Burns: calls 80000
*** RIVER *** [5h 2c 3d Kh] [2h]
C.M. Burns: checks
Rivahboat: bets 80000
C.M. Burns: calls 80000
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Rivahboat: shows [3h 3s] (a full house, Threes full of Deuces)
C.M. Burns: shows [Ts Tc] (two pair, Tens and Deuces)
Rivahboat collected 1120000 from pot
C.M. Burns said, "dam"

Seat 2: Rivahboat (1714931 in chips)
Seat 3: Maximus421 (1205777 in chips)
Seat 5: C.M. Burns (331792 in chips)

A few minutes later Burns is all-in Rivahboat: raises 40000 to 80000
Maximus421: folds
C.M. Burns: raises 40000 to 120000
Rivahboat: raises 40000 to 160000
Betting is capped
C.M. Burns: calls 11792 and is all-in
*** FLOP *** [8h Kh 9c]
*** TURN *** [8h Kh 9c] [9h]
*** RIVER *** [8h Kh 9c 9h] [5h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
C.M. Burns: shows [Th Td] (a flush, King high)
Rivahboat: shows [Kc Qs] (two pair, Kings and Nines)

C.M. Burns is alive and well again. Now it's Maximus421's turn to hit the skids.

In Hand #145 Burns hits his favorite hand of the night, trip 10's then a little later Burns rivers K's and 7's against Max's made K's and 2's, and Maximus421 never recovers. After 160 hands the chip count has reversed for Burns and Max.

Seat 2: Rivahboat (2063139 in chips)
Seat 3: Maximus421 (395025 in chips)
Seat 5: C.M. Burns (794336 in chips)

In Hand 171, Maximus421 tried to buy Burns off a flopped pair of Kings with pocket 8's. The end was near.
When Maximus421 went all-in with a flopped pair of 7's soon thereafter, Burns already had flopped trip 8's. And Max left in 3rd place.
Heads up now the chips were pretty even. But since the blinds could no longer be raised it would take another couple of hours to get a winner.
During all that time when Burns' aggressiveness kept in the lead, we were never informed of any discussions of a deal.

After so much back and forth between players who'd beaten all but each other in 12 long hours, the end came very swiftly.

C.M. Burns the major blind stealer of this event went on a rush that gave him the title.

Here was the last hand.
Seat 2: Rivahboat (263139 in chips)
Seat 5: C.M. Burns (2989361 in chips)
C.M. Burns: posts small blind 20000
Rivahboat: posts big blind 40000
Rivahboat: raises 40000 to 120000
C.M. Burns: raises 40000 to 160000
Betting is capped
Rivahboat: calls 40000
*** FLOP *** [6s 3d 8h]
Rivahboat: bets 40000
C.M. Burns: calls 40000
*** TURN *** [6s 3d 8h] [3c]
Rivahboat: bets 63139 and is all-in
C.M. Burns: calls 63139
*** RIVER *** [6s 3d 8h 3c] [Jd]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Rivahboat: shows [Ah 9c] (a pair of Threes)
C.M. Burns: shows [Qd Js] (two pair, Jacks and Threes)

Nearly out in third place, C.M. Burns proved that raising whenever possible is the best way to beat a 1,300 player tournament and be the ONE.

PokerStars Tournament #106358, Limit Hold'em
Buy-In: $100.00/$9.00
1301 players
Total Prize Pool: $130100.00
Tournament started - 2003/08/08 - 15:00:00 (EST)
Tournament finished - 2003/08/09 - 03:02:52 (EST)
1: C.M. Burns (Davis), $32525.00 (25%)
2: Rivahboat (richmond), $18214.00 (14%)
3: Maximus421 (St julien les rosier), $11709.00 (9%)
4: chang lee (Courtice), $8456.50 (6.50%)
5: NAVARONE (Prairie Village), $6895.30 (5.30%)
6: TorontoToro (Maple), $5594.30 (4.30%)
7: Mazak14 (Stockholm), $4293.30 (3.30%)
8: zippo44 (Honolulu), $2992.30 (2.30%)
9: IlPapa (Portsmouth), $1951.50 (1.50%)
10: brigitte11 (sun city), $1170.90 (0.90%)
11: DEYA26 (BOULOGNE), $1170.90 (0.90%)
12: sphynx (Woodland Hills), $1170.90 (0.90%)
13: kalson (gotenburg), $1170.90 (0.90%)
14: ChuckB (Richardson), $1170.90 (0.90%)
15: jackal229 (Philadelphia), $1170.90 (0.90%)
16: koala65 (new york), $1170.90 (0.90%)
17: sirio11 (El Paso), $1170.90 (0.90%)
18: Shinomori (Luleå), $1170.90 (0.90%)
19: Rodney King (New York), $585.45 (0.45%)
20: freeway (miami), $585.45 (0.45%)
21: Tex85 (Phoenix), $585.45 (0.45%)
22: cincykyid (Cincinnati), $585.45 (0.45%)
23: sassyandred (twin falls), $585.45 (0.45%)
24: Tater10 (Gurnee), $585.45 (0.45%)
25: must peel (mays landing), $585.45 (0.45%)
26: RazunCajun (Houston), $585.45 (0.45%)
27: ____M____ (NRW), $585.45 (0.45%)
28: dirtyhands1 (safford), $455.35 (0.35%)
29: RAY36 (MEDIA), $455.35 (0.35%)
30: SharonFaye (Henderson), $455.35 (0.35%)
31: BOSS452 (miami), $455.35 (0.35%)
32: Linden_Arden (Shrigley), $455.35 (0.35%)
33: e-tuna (Eskilstuna), $455.35 (0.35%)
34: marti'p (Brownsville), $455.35 (0.35%)
35: buellar (West Palm Beach), $455.35 (0.35%)
36: deadmoney (Oroville), $455.35 (0.35%)
37: trust (Santa Rosa), $390.30 (0.30%)
38: batoelrob (Groningen), $390.30 (0.30%)
39: fillup1230 (staten island), $390.30 (0.30%)
40: TORPEDOS (BADEN), $390.30 (0.30%)
41: Jonaz (Odense), $390.30 (0.30%)
42: Doberman (BrynMawr), $390.30 (0.30%)
43: Nabokov (Las Vegas), $390.30 (0.30%)
44: holy mary (Dublin), $390.30 (0.30%)
45: gallaway (Canyon Lake), $390.30 (0.30%)
46: L JAY (MANCHESTER), $325.25 (0.25%)
47: Huan55 (Toronto), $325.25 (0.25%)
48: shatty77 (Juneau), $325.25 (0.25%)
49: Banker4U69 (Jacksonville), $325.25 (0.25%)
50: fat&50 (royal oak), $325.25 (0.25%)
51: wuping (milpitas), $325.25 (0.25%)
52: Tennex (Melbourne), $325.25 (0.25%)
53: branmuffin (Vero Beach), $325.25 (0.25%)
54: kalkiyali (Stadtlohn), $325.25 (0.25%)
55: MsLyn (Chicago), $325.25 (0.25%)
56: marene (Puerto Vallarta), $325.25 (0.25%)
57: JRMR (Scarborough), $325.25 (0.25%)
58: OLDRATTLER (Greenup), $325.25 (0.25%)
59: Ms Judy (Incline Village), $325.25 (0.25%)
60: Alyssa D (san diego), $325.25 (0.25%)
61: grinner22 (wainfleet st mary,), $325.25 (0.25%)
62: bvdahl (Toyenhaugen), $325.25 (0.25%)
63: fatpat (Houston), $325.25 (0.25%)
64: Pumpkin (Alcatraz), $260.20 (0.20%)
65: SouthSounder (Olympia), $260.20 (0.20%)
66: HOLLYBUG (YAKIMA), $260.20 (0.20%)
67: PeacePiper (Brantford), $260.20 (0.20%)
68: goodgame (miami), $260.20 (0.20%)
69: huelse (Altach), $260.20 (0.20%)
70: StarGlenn (Gothenburg), $260.20 (0.20%)
71: Djorgo (umeå), $260.20 (0.20%)
72: jimwillis (Hobart), $260.20 (0.20%)
73: papawilander (utrecht), $260.20 (0.20%)
74: Sealed Deck (Freehold), $260.20 (0.20%)
75: soho kid 11 (Christchurch), $260.20 (0.20%)
76: Buck101 (Rochester Hills), $260.20 (0.20%)
77: badgirl2 (mays landing), $260.20 (0.20%)
78: draco (Minneapolis), $260.20 (0.20%)
79: Lubeman60 (Loganville), $260.20 (0.20%)
80: ACESLOW5200 (LEMOORE), $260.20 (0.20%)
81: pkrmanjan (colo springs), $260.20 (0.20%)
82: $kgb{||}kgb$ (Brighton), $195.15 (0.15%)
83: PAPA17 (EAST MEADOW), $195.15 (0.15%)
84: SCOZZ (Warren), $195.15 (0.15%)
85: IN USE 2 (Atlanta), $195.15 (0.15%)
86: quad$ (Egg Harbor), $195.15 (0.15%)
87: West1 (Cambs), $195.15 (0.15%)
88: Hookie (Mays Landing), $195.15 (0.15%)
89: KnooKie (Twickenham), $195.15 (0.15%)
90: Surfer Man (San Clemente), $195.15 (0.15%)
91: bogg (Holland), $195.15 (0.15%)
92: badler (PARIS), $195.15 (0.15%)
93: pinballed (los angeles), $195.15 (0.15%)
94: Peck21 (meraux), $195.15 (0.15%)
95: SpicyF (Sjöbo), $195.15 (0.15%)
96: lookout (bristol), $195.15 (0.15%)
97: riskman (waterloo), $195.15 (0.15%)
98: SamENole (Tallahassee), $195.15 (0.15%)
99: Gunslinger3 (Athens), $195.15 (0.15%)

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