Seidel Wins $2,000 NL Hold’em Title; Payvar Takes Limit Crown

Marathon final tables were the theme at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) this weekend, as not even the no-limit players could seem to get their opponents knocked out in a timely fashion.

The first event to be completed was the $2,000 No-Limit Hold’em event, which saw Erik Seidel triumph over a strong set of finalists, including Perry Friedman, Harry Demetriou (in his 2nd final table of the WSOP), and runner-up, Cyndy Violette.

After an insane eight and a half hours and 170 hands, Seidel laid a bad beat on Violette to take the crown. Raising with pocket 8’s, Seidel watched Violette go over the top and push all-in. It took some thought, but Seidel, having Violette covered, called and did not like what he saw: Violette’s pocket 9’s. The $611,795 prize was all but Seidel’s, however, when the flop of 8-5-5 gave him a full house. Violette did not improve and had to settle for the $295,970 award for 2nd place.

As if that final table didn’t last long enough, the $2,000 Limit Hold’em final table, which started a short time after the No-Limit final, took ten hours. This was an example of a downside of the record-setting numbers that registered for the event. Because there were so many people (569), the number of chips in play was staggering. This created massive chip stacks at the final table, with blind levels that were not nearly high enough to force significant action.

As a matter of fact, the final three competitors asked the Tournament Director if they could make the rest of the game no-limit, but the request was denied. He did imply that they could just leave and come back when the blinds were higher, but the three decided to keep playing.

In the end, Reza Payvar was the last man standing, taking home $303,610.

Complete Final Table Results

Event #9 - $2,000 No-Limit Hold’em

1. Erik Seidel - $611,795
2. Cyndy Violette - $295,970
3. Perry Friedman - $196,455
4. Morgan Machina - $170,380
5. Paul Sexton - $147,145
6. Harry Demetriou - $123,915
7. Soulier Fabrice - $103,260
8. Chris Wunderlich - $77,445
9. William Blanda - $51,630

Event #10 - $2,000 Limit Hold’em

1. Siagzar "Reza" Payvar - $303,610
2. Toto Leonidas - $160,185
3. John Myung - $83,755
4. “Miami” John Cernuto - $73,285
5. Tommy Garza - $62,820
6. Rodeen Talebi - $52,350
7. Jay Helfert - $41,880
8. Robert Schulze - $31,410
9. Eric Liebler - $20,940


Originally published June 13, 2005