2007 WSOP Event #18 – Saro Getzoyan Wins $5,000 Limit Hold’em World Championship

The $5,000 fixed-limit hold’em event at the 2007 World Series of Poker was dubbed the “Limit Hold’em World Championship” because it is the largest buy-in fixed-limit tournament in the world (and probably because the WSOP wants to lay claim to the “world championship”).  But even without that title, it most definitely qualified as a “world” championship this year, as seven different countries, Canada, China, France, Iran, Norway, Sweden, and the United States, were represented at the final table.  The championship went to an American whose parents were from Armenia.  Saro Getzoyan won one-third of a million dollars in what was his first WSOP cash ever. 

It was a great run for the Massachusetts software engineer, who hurried to book a flight back home immediately after the final table so he could make it back to work the next day.  Getzoyan started the final table eighth in chips with only $109,000.  The blinds started at $8,000/$15,000 and were going to increase five minutes into final table play, so he needed to win some pots quickly. 

While this was one of those final tables that was not on the main stage and thus did not get much coverage, Getzoyan did (obviously) chip up, watching three opponents fall in the first hour.  Gabriel Nassif leaving in 9^th wasn’t a surprise, as he was the shortest stack to begin play.  Don Todd’s ouster in 8^th wasn’t that crazy either.  The big shock was that within an hour, Ray Dehkharghani, the man with the second most chips to start the final table, was eliminated in 7^th place.  He had lost a lot of chips when he turned a flush, but Thor Hansen rivered quads.  Then, he lost another chunk when his straight draw missed against Geoff Sanford and if things couldn’t get worse, he had his pocket Aces cracked by David Gee’s K-Q, which turned into two pair.  After that hand, Dehkharghani was eliminated when his K-9 did not improve against another K-Q. 

The turning point at the table for Getzoyan was arguably in the third hour when he won a huge pot against David Gee, as his A-A defeated Gee’s K-K.  That took Getzoyan to close to $880,000 and severely damage Gee’s stack.  Gee was knocked out immediately afterwards in 5^th place.   

That big hand gave Getzoyan enough chips to take some big hits, which he did, losing two in a row to Thor Hansen.  Not too long after those, however, he was able to double through Sanford.  Fifteen minutes later, Sanford doubled through Hansen and a few minutes later, just like that Hansen fell to Getzoyan in 4^th place.   

With three players left, Getzoyan had a sizeable chip advantage, $1.2 million versus Thorsson’s $750,000 and Sanford’s $650,000.   

After Sanford took Thorsson out in 3^rd place, it was on to heads-up with Getzoyan at a $1.58 million to $970,000 advantage as they went to dinner. 

The blinds were fairly large during heads-up play, meaning one hand could turn the tide.  The two players jabbed back and forth to start and then traded big pots.  The pots tilted a bit in Sanford’s direction and he actually pulled to almost even.

Almost even was as close as Sanford would get, though.  Getzoyan took three big pots after Sanford’s stack hit its peak, making it so that Sanford would have to go on a massive run to have a chance.  He didn’t have that run in him.  With 8-9, Sanford got all his chips in the pot on a J-8-4 flop, behind Getzoyan’s Q-J.  That top pair was all Getzoyan needed, as Sanford could not improve further and Getzoyan was crowned Limit World Champion. 

Final Table Standings 

1. Saro Getzoyan -- $333,379
2. Geoff Sanford -- $200,511
3. William Thorsson -- $136,493
4. Thor Hansen -- $93,008
5. David Gee -- $68,850
6. Tom Koral -- $54,356
7. Ray Dehkharghani -- $41,069
8. Don Todd -- $30,198
9. Gabriel Nassif -- $21,742