Promise of a ripping final was indicated when on hand 10, David Singer got aggressive with his A-10. Call by Vahedi. The flop showed Q-6-2 and Singer bet again, being called by Vahedi holding A-6 and therefore a pair of sixes. When the turn came an Ace he was trapped into betting again and a flat call came. The river did nothing and a bet followed by all-in and call showed Singer the error of his ways. Vahedi had Aces and Sixes and Singer 9th.

Final Chips

Amir Vahedi USD 1,407,000

Tomer Benvisitsi USD 922,000

Sam Farha USD 999,000

Yung Pak USD 360,000

Jason Lester USD 695,000

Dan Harrington USD 574,000

David Grey USD 338,000

Chris Moneymaker USD 2,344,000

David Singer USD 750,000

Only 40 minutes later David Grey was out 8th and the promise of fire was on. However it was slow from here on with Pak playing 4 hands in 4 hours. Farha was aggressive and no one was prepared to do serious battle. Coming up to 4 hours in and 7 o’clock Las Vegas time, Pak found Ace-Ten to go all-in for under $ 200k. Jason Lestor, the experienced gambler from New York, found an Ace-King to call with. The flop was delt swiftly, A-A-3-J-8 and Pak was out 7th.

The Heads-up Battle

The heads up battle started with Chris Moneymaker in commanding lead with just under USD 6,000,000 and Sami Farha around the $ 2.4m figure. The blinds are 20,000-40,000 with antes of 5,000.

Chris is an internet poker player, never really playing tournaments in the real world. Sami is a high stakes Pot Limit Omaha specialist.

Amazingly during the break, Chris Moneymaker offers a deal to split the cash and play for the title. Farha turns it down, thinking the money is what will help him win the title!

Farha, normally a very aggressive heads-up cash player, lost his normal style and began to try and chip away at Moneymaker’s stacks. He made some progress and then got involved on a flop of 2-6-9 (2 spades), betting 300k, only to be raised 800k which he called. The 4th card was 8 spades, check-check. The last card was a 3 and Chris bet all, which Sami passed on after a while.

Chris now near USD 7,000,000, Sami near USD 1,400,000 chips.

With the blinds just called, the flop turns up J-5-4. Chris finds 5-4 in the hole and bets 175,000. Sami is holding J-10 and bets out with all his chips, a bold move giving him no more options. Chris quickly calls. The 4th flop card came an 8 and the 5th flop card another 5, giving Chris a full house Fives over Fours beating Sami’s two pair.

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p> Chris Moneymaker, a qualifier from Pokerstars online cardroom, parleyed his small entry fee into USD 2,500,000 and the crown of Poker Champion of the World.

Final Win

Chris Moneymaker USD 2,500,000

Sam Farha USD 1,300,000

Dan Harrington USD 650,000

Jason Lester USD 440,000

Tomer Benvisitsi USD 320,000

Amir Vahedi USD 650,000

Yung Pak USD 200,000

David Grey USD 160,000

David Singer USD 120,000

written by Jess May