World Championship of Online Poker 2004

Official Report
July 31, 2004

Limit Texas Hold'em
Buy-in: $200 (+$15)

Started - 7/30/2004 3:00:00 PM (EST)
Finished - 7/31/2004 2:09:12 AM (EST)

"Obiwon" Stages Stunning Comeback - Starts the Final Table Lowest in Chips, then Wins Third Event of WCOOP - Tops Largest Field Ever Assembled for a Major Limit Hold'em Tournament

Seven years ago, the largest Limit Texas Hold'em field in history was recorded at The Orleans Open, in Las Vegas. That watershed poker moment was memorable because the 1,000-player mark was cracked for the first time. Now, poker tournaments with several hundred - even one thousand or more players -- are commonplace.

The third event at this year's World Championship of Online Poker brought 1,272 players together at PokerStars.com. They came from all over the world to play in a tournament that has become the standard game for most modern day poker rooms - "Limit Texas Hold'em."

The entry fee was $200 (plus a $15 entry fee) for those wishing to pay for the chance to earn the title -- "the world's best online limit hold'em player." For others, the entry fee was significantly less. A sizable number of players qualified through online satellites held at PokerStars.com. Many other players gained their entry into the tournament from "Frequent Player Points" alone - which meant the entry fee essentially cost nothing. The total number of entries - 1,272 -- made this event one of the largest limit hold'em events in poker history. A total of 135 places, more than ten percent of the field, were paid from a prize pool which exceeded a quarter of a million dollars

The ultimate winner's screen name was "obiwon" who collected $58,512 in prize money, plus the coveted 14 karat gold bracelet awarded to each world champion at this year's online poker world championships. The gold bracelet is engraved with the name of the event, along with the PokerStar's 2004 WCOOP trade mark.

Players started the tournament with $2,500 in chips with blinds set at $20-40. It took "Obiwon" 981 hands to triumph in the tournament.

The make up of final table was dominated by Americans. Unlike earlier WCOOP events which attracted several top online players from Europe and elsewhere, this finale was decidedly American - no surprise since limit hold'em is played primarily in the United States (pot-limit and no-limit hold'em is more popular outside the U.S.). Seating and chip counts were as follows:

THE FINAL TABLE

Seat 1: MOJOEX1 (388,147 in chips)
Seat 2: gussiedup (243,146 in chips)
Seat 3: SJKennedy72 (282,135 in chips)
Seat 4: 54P30N12M (197,097 in chips)
Seat 5: greektome2 (384,674 in chips)
Seat 6: Sassenage (470,956 in chips)
Seat 7: obiwon (163,154 in chips)
Seat 8: harthgosh (285,003 in chips)
Seat 9: Maverick462 (765,688 in chips)

Incredibly, Obiwon came to the final table lowest in chips. He was at nearly more than a 5 to 1 chip disadvantage to Maverick462 (chip leader when the final table began) and seven other players. Nearly 200 hands later, Obiwon eliminated his last rival. With hundreds of observers watching from their computers all over the world, the final hand came as follows:

THE FINAL HAND

Hand #981
PokerStars Game #581370176: Tournament #1742791, Hold'em Limit - Level XX (40000/80000) - 2004/07/31 - 02:08:50 (ET)
Table '1742791 116' Seat #7 is the button
Seat 2: gussiedup (337,323 in chips)
Seat 7: obiwon (2,842,677 in chips)
obiwon: posts small blind 20000
gussiedup: posts big blind 40000
obiwon: raises 40000 to 80000
gussiedup: raises 40000 to 120000
obiwon: calls 40000
*** FLOP *** [Ts 8d Qh]
gussiedup: bets 40000
obiwon: raises 40000 to 80000
gussiedup: calls 40000
*** TURN *** [Ts 8d Qh] [3s]
gussiedup: checks
obiwon: bets 80000
gussiedup: calls 80000
*** RIVER *** [Ts 8d Qh 3s] [5c]
gussiedup: checks
obiwon: bets 80000
gussiedup: calls 57323 and is all-in
*** SHOW DOWN ***
obiwon: shows [9h Qd] (a pair of Queens)
gussiedup: shows [8c As] (a pair of Eights)
obiwon collected 674646 from pot
Lee Jones [observer] said, "Good match - both players."
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 674646 | Rake 0
Board [Ts 8d Qh 3s 5c]
Seat 2: gussiedup (big blind) showed [8c As] and lost with a pair of Eights
Seat 7: obiwon (button) (small blind) showed [9h Qd] and won (674646) with a pair of Queens

Obiwon's pair of queens was victorious, capping one of the most unlikely comebacks in online tournament history. Obiwon becomes the third PokerStars.com 2004 WCOOP Champion.

Report by Nolan Dalla
Director of Communications - PokerStars.com

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