2007 WSOP Event #29 – Katja Thater Wins $1,500 Razz

In a tournament that was overshadowed by non-poker events, Katja Thater made a bit of history Tuesday night, becoming one of only a handful of women to ever win an open event at the World Series of Poker, as well as the first since 2004 to accomplish the feat.  That year, Annie Duke, Cyndy Violette, and Kathy Liebert all won bracelets. 

Up until Thater won her bracelet, the story of the Razz tournament was Paul “Eskimo” Clark’s shaky health.  Twice in short succession Monday, Clark had what appeared to be minor seizures at the table.  Both times, the entire tournament was halted while he was attended to, although it was only during the second episode that actual medical professionals gave him assistance.  Clark refused to go to the hospital and continued playing on into the third day.  Perhaps impressively, he did make it all the way to fourth place.  Hopefully, that was worth it. 

In the meantime, Thater was coming off of a disappointing (for her) fifth place finish in the ladies no-limit championship.  Thater, by all accounts, was the best player at that table and, for a large portion of it, dominated play.  Unfortunately, she ran into a harsh run of cards and met a sooner-than-expected demise. 

Thater began the final table in the middle of the pack, although she, as well as everyone else was way behind the chip leader, O’Neil Longson.  With $385,500 in chips, he well outpaced his competition, as the next closest player was Larry St. Jean with $171,000. 

She doubled-up early and then went on to eliminate both Thomas Daubert and Men “The Master” Nguyen on the same hand.  She gave much of it back within the first hour when Clark took the chip lead on massive pot, but she soon resumed her upward climb. 

Eliminating Denny Axel in 5^th place, Clark in 4^th, and Longson in 3^rd, Thater amassed enough chips to go into heads-up with almost a 4-to-1 chip lead.  

With the betting levels at $20,000/$40,000, Larry St. Jean’s $210,000 was in jeopardy as soon as he decided to get involved in a hand.  Despite this, however, he battled through forty hands before finally succumbing to Thater’s dominance.  Thater’s winning hand was 9-3-5-3-8-2-4 for an 8-5 low, whereas St. Jean came up just short with 10-5-7-8-5-4-2 and an 8-7 low. 

In addition to her first World Series of Poker bracelet, Katja Thater won $132,653. 

Final Table Standings 

1. Katja Thater -- $132,653
2. Larry St. Jean -- $73,311
3. O'Neil Longson -- $46,547
4. Paul 'Eskimo' Clark -- $31,186
5. Denny Axel -- $24,204
6. Mark Vos -- $18,836
7. Men Nguyen -- $14,197
8. Thomas Daubert -- $10,473