3 WSOP bracelets coming to NorCal

By Arnold Warner

The World Series of Poker has finished 50 of its 57 events and players from all over Northern California have left their mark at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino. Three of them will be going home with gold bracelets and dozens more have cashed, creating a lot of great memories and stories.

Steven Gee, Sacramento

The first NorCal player to win a bracelet this year was Steven Gee of Sacramento, who came in first out of 3,042 players in Event #13: No-Limit Hold’em (June 5 to 9). The buy-in was $1,000 creating a prize pool of $2,737,800. Gee’s take was $472,479 for first but everyone knows it’s all about the hardware!

Gee was born in China, but his family immigrated to America (and Sacramento) when he was five years old, so he’s been a NorCal guy virtually all his life. His poker playing dates all the way back to the 1970s when he was in his twenties and playing Low-ball as a professional. “I started playing at 20 and I made a ton of money and I went broke at 27 like all poker players, you know, because at that time you just want to party,” he said. “So I went broke and went back to school and got my college degree.”

He took his Bachelor’s degree in business administration and accounting from Sacramento State and went to work for CalPERS for 20 years. But about six years ago he found his way back to poker. “I got a divorce and I had more time on my hands, so I walked back into the cardroom and guess what? They don’t play Low-ball anymore. It’s Hold’em now, so I had to learn how to play Hold’em. Then I quit my job three years ago to play poker professionally,” he said.

Up until a year ago he was strictly a limit Hold’em player, but started playing no-limit to practice for tournaments so he could play in the World Series last year. “I played a couple of tournaments locally and I’d never won a tournament in my life. I’ve played five, six tournaments at Lucky Derby, and I made a couple final tables. I never won. I played a couple satellites in Reno, never won. One-table satellites, never won. My biggest cash prize $4,500, I came in like sixth place at the Bay 101 Open. $4,500—that was my biggest cash. I never won a tournament and then at the World Series, boom!”

When asked to describe the overall experience, Gee said, “You sit there and you hope and you wish you could win right? But no one ever really expects to win unless you’re Phil Ivey, right? I just took it day by day. I was just trying to survive the day, play my best poker, make good decisions, just to make a deep run. I never really thought I was going to win until we got down to about 30 players left. And then at that point I was third in chip position and I thought, ‘Man, I’ve got a legitimate shot at winning this tournament,’ and that’s when I focused on winning.

“But I never really got nervous, I didn’t feel the pressure, not until we got head’s up. When we got head’s up and I got that chip lead. I was at a six-to-one chip lead that’s when I felt the pressure because I thought, ‘Man Steve, don’t blow it now, don’t choke now,’ because before that I didn’t really get nervous because no one gave me a chance.

“When I got to the final table my heart was in my throat. I couldn’t even breathe. Even though on the final hand I had A-K against Q-J, I’m the big favorite on that, I couldn’t really breathe. You know I’m bending over before the dealer flops, trying to catch the window. My heart was just stuck in my throat. But when the final river card came it was an unbelievable feeling. At that point I couldn’t contain myself I had to jump up and yell because then it hit me that I actually won the bracelet.”

William Haydon, San Francisco

Our next NorCal champion was San Francisco’s William Haydon who won $630,031 and a bracelet in Event #26: No-Limit Hold’em / Six Handed (June 14 to 17). 1,245 players each put up $2,500 for a prize pool of $2,863,500.

It was the biggest payday ever for the 23-year-old professional who was born in Palo Alto and attended UC Davis on a golf scholarship. He left after just one year though to take up poker full time. Before his WSOP success he had some big scores playing online, including one tournament win worth $500,000 and another good for $160,000.

He came into the final table the shortest stack of the six players, but obviously didn’t let that faze him as he went on to claim the title. “This is pretty much the Holy Grail. If it was between this versus winning a million dollars but no bracelet, I would rather have this,” he said after his victory.

Matt Keikoan, San Rafael

Then, the next day Matt Keikoan of San Rafael (a name which should be familiar to readers of The Cardroom) won Event #29: Limit Hold’em World Championship (June 15 to 18), which was good for $425,969 and the second gold bracelet of his career. There were 171 entries and a prize pool of $1,607,400.

Keikoan said the funny thing was he almost didn’t even play in the event. He was still steaming after busting out of a PLO tournament and couldn’t decide if he wanted to enter the limit Hold’em event or not. “Even at the last minute I was with a friend at the Rio, we were walking around, I mean five minutes before the round was about to start, I still wasn’t sure if I was going to enter it, and I was telling him ‘I don’t know man,’ I kind of felt like I wanted to play it but I wanted to make sure. It was a little more than I wanted to spend on a tournament. So at the last minute I said, ‘Well, I’m just going to have a gamble,’ I’m kind of glad I did,” he said.

And now he’s the World Champion of Limit Hold’em.

“It was a crazy tournament for me,” he added. “It paid 18 places. When we got down to around 22 players I was one of the chip leaders and by the time we got to 20 players I was the shortest player in the tournament. I just lost maybe three or four hands and that’s all it takes at that stage of the tournament when the blinds start getting big. I lost three or four hands and I was down to the felt and I mean I was pretty despondent to be honest with you. I had some friends who had come over because they had heard that I had a big stack and everything and even my mom and dad were there and they come over and I just lost those pots and now I’m sitting with like five big blinds and I’m just thinking, ‘Oh my god this is brutal.’

“Because the series up to that point had been pretty bad for me also. I cashed the first event and then after that I just skunked out, maybe six, seven events in a row. I ­didn’t give up obviously, but I was very despondent, thinking about possibly bubbling after having the big stack. I won a couple pots and then I built it back up again and then when we get to the final table I also got down low. I guess it was when we got head’s up. He had me down to nothing a couple times. But I’ve been pretty fortunate in these, when I’ve gotten to these final tables. I try not to take it for granted. I was thinking about it the other day, if you counted that circuit win that I had last year, in the World Series events I have three final tables and three wins. I mean that’s pretty incredible.”

When asked what he thought the biggest difference was between playing limit as opposted to no-limit in a tournament Keikoan said, “I think one of the big differences is that when you get short in no-limit you can stick your stack in and really have a lot of fold equity. If you have seven or nine big blinds and you shove in it’s hard for people to call. They can’t call unless they have a hand. Whereas in limit, if you have seven or eight big blinds and you raise, you’re going to get called most of the time. So, I really feel like when you get short-stacked in a limit Hold ‘em tournament that’s actually one of the most skillful and probably misplayed part of most people’s tournament game. They don’t know how to play when they get short and that’s a really important part of a tournament.”

In comparing this victory to the one he had in 2008, he thought this one might have felt even better. “That first one, it felt more like a relief. You know, man, I finally won one of these things, you know? The monkey off the back. And this one it was like, yeah! I felt like I could enjoy it more. So now I’ve got two, which puts me in another category I guess. It just feels good. I’ll try to get three now I guess. What do you do? You just keep playing. I went a long time … I went five years with one final table, so I definitely put in some dues. I definitely had some leaks in my game and a part of that is always my fault. I definitely donked off my share of tournaments in the first probably two years of that. But in the last three years I feel like I had a really solid tournament game but still, during that whole stretch, I only made one final table. That kind of shows you what can happen, truly how long you can go and now all of a sudden it’s like bam, bam, bam. It’s pretty amazing the rush I’m on.”

Before moving on to the rest of NorCal’s WSOP results, we’d like to give a nod to The Cardroom’s 2009 NorCal Player of the Year Gerry Davidow, who played in his first WSOP tournament, Event #34: Seniors No-Limit Hold’em Championship which had a $1,000 buy-in, 3,142 entries, and a $2,827,800 prize pool.

Davidow wound up in 245th place which was good for $2,092, certainly a solid showing for his first time out there. Asked if he enjoyed himself, he replied, “Yep, and it was the most exciting thing I ever did in my life. I mean, the only thing that was more exciting was watching my daughter being born. Playing as much as I do, I can’t believe it would get more exciting but I imagine playing the Main Event would be even more exciting.”

NorCal players who have cashed in the first 50 events of the 2010 World Series of Poker

Event #1: Casino Employees No-Limit Hold’em, $500 buy-in, 721 entries, $324,450 prize pool

2nd, Arthur Vea, Union City, $44,079

6th, Kent Washington, Oakland, $11,829

25th, Michael Lopez, Stockton, $2,212

26th, Javier Rincon, Fresno, $2,212

27th, Puangpaga Holmes, Santa Rosa, $2,212

29th, Jacob Crawford, American Canyon, $1,816

31st, Kevin Chiem, San Jose, $1,816

32nd, Vu Pham, Elk Grove, $1,816

37th, Arthur Dupraw, South Lake Tahoe, $1,508

53rd, Jon Nakatani, San Jose, $1,265

Event #3: No-Limit Hold’em, $1,000 buy-in, 4,345 entries, $3,910,500 prize pool

4th, William Mark Davis, McKinleyville, $206,904

7th, Isaac Settle, Clovis, $88,025

12th, Josh Roberts, Folsom, $40,121

18th, Tai Tan Nguyen, Fremont, $24,675

32nd, Paul Hegyi, Elk Grove, $15,642

50th, Lance Oliver, Roseville, $10,206

76th, Cherie Beasley, San Francisco, $5,670

77th, Jamie McCarrel, Lafayette, $5,670

82nd, Jessica Mendoza, San Mateo, $4,731

148th, Brad Anderson, Fresno, $3,363

152nd, Vladimir Ventosa, Pleasant Hill, $3,363

196th, Bradley Miller, Pleasanton, $2,854

219th, Hansen Ni, Campbell, $2,854

242nd, Zachary Hirst, Marina, $2,463

266th, Frank Liu, San Jose, $2,463

312th, Matt Lessinger, Alameda, $2,150

343rd, Michael Hong, Cupertino, $2,150

351st, Brian Koopowitz, Benicia, $2,150

437th, Mark Thompson, Campbell, $1,877

Event #4: Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better, $1,500 buy-in, 818 entries, $1,104,300 prize pool

6th, Michael Cipolla, Fresno, $38,794

7th, Sasha Rosewood, Santa Cruz, $29,584

28th, Jason Stern, San Jose, $6,128

51st, Chuck Thompson, Santa Cruz, $4,295

61st, Ron Ware, Discovery Bay, $3,633

62nd, Spanne Joey, Danville, $3,633

Event #5: No-Limit Hold’em, $1,500 buy-in, 2,092 entries, $2,824,200 prize pool

5th, Tomer Berda, Menlo Park, $117,416

26th, Michael Durette, San Francisco, $15,222

40th, Evan Schwartz, Oakland, $10,280

71st, Jarett Fenlon, Richmond, $6,086

108th, Aaron Kanter, Lodi, $3,516

122nd, Sean Frame, Placerville, $3,516

137th, Gary Tighe, Soquel, 3,163

208th, Jackson Chasengnou, Sacramento, $2,880

Event #7: 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball (Limit), $2,500 buy-in, 291 entries, $669,300 prize pool

3rd, Don McNamara, San Jose, $73,803

Event #11: No-Limit Hold’em, $1,500 buy-in, 2,563 entries, $3,460,050 prize pool

17th, Jason Taus, Dublin, $21,936

42nd, Jacob Solis, Pleasanton, $11,694

102nd, Shawn Lawrence, Fairfield, $3,875

110th, Randall Abraham, San Ramon, $3,875

123rd, Taylor Paur, El Dorado Hills, $3,875

155th, Galen Hall, San Francisco, $3,460

195th, Jerry Yang, Madera, $3,114

201st, Steven Gee, Sacramento, $3,114

209th, Jason Hammerman, Lafayette, $3,114

219th, Tristan Brand, Palo Alto, $3,114

249th, Robert Fulop, San Francisco, $2,802

Event #12: Limit Hold’em, $1,500 buy-in, 625 entries, $843,750 prize pool

5th, Adrian Dresel-Velasquez, Sacramento, $43,647

24th, Avi Mukherjee, Fremont, $5,644

29th, Michael Ma, Modesto, $4,623

45th, Serena Liu, Sunnyvale, $3,839

51st, Gavin Sun, San Francisco, $3,223

63rd, Paul Evans, Mount Shasta, $2,742

Event #13: No-Limit Hold’em, $1,000 buy-in, 3,042 entries, $2,737,800 prize pool

1st, Steven Gee, Sacramento, $472,479

39th, Shawn Lawrence, Fairfield, $8,925

44th, Richard Harroch, San Francisco, $8,925

54th, Evelyn Iraheta, Tracy, $7,364

58th, Kevin Dwyer, Vacaville, $6.132

84th, John Phan, Stockton, $3,750

90th, Emmitt McGill, Novato, $3,750

97th, Felipe Quijano, Fremont, $3,257

140th, Thomas Darman, Berkeley, $2,847

143rd, Kenneth Kubey, Sunnyvale, $2,847

149th, Anthony Winters, Patterson, $2,518

170th, Ahmad Alashkar, Alameda, $2,518

205th, Matthew Betti, Cupertino, $2,244

218th, Omar Mehmood, Foster City, $2,244

225th, Michael Martin, Los Gatos, $2,244

258th, Antonio Gutierrez, Roseville, $2,025

298th, Lawrence Kern, San Francisco, $1,834

320th, Yitshak Flat, Palo Alto, $1,834

Event #14: 2-7 Draw Lowball (No-Limit), $1,500 buy-in, 250 entries, $337,500 prize pool

4th, Derric Haynie, Lincoln, $25,839

5th, Todd Thuan Bui, Sacramento, $18,096

15th, J.C. Tran, Sacramento, $3,601

Event #15: Seven Card Stud Hi-Low Split-8 or Better World Championship, $10,000 buy-in, 170 entries, $1,598,000 prize pool

13th, Marco Johnson, Walnut Creek, $32,439

Event #16: No-Limit Hold’em / Six Handed, $1,500 buy-in, 1,663 entries, $2,245,050 prize pool

96th, Jerry Yang, Madera, $3,636

105th, Jamie McCarrel, Lafayette, $3,636

Event #17: No-Limit Hold’em, $5,000 buy-in, 792 entries, $3,722,400 prize pool

31st, Isaac Baron, Los Gatos, $20,845

50th, Phil Hellmuth, Palo Alto, $14,517

Event #18: Limit Hold’em, $2,000 buy-in, 476 entries, $866,320 prize pool

11th, Duke Lee, San Francisco, $12,561

31st, Jeff Siegal, Daly City, $5,033

45th, Wesley Huff, Alameda, $4,097

Event #22: Ladies No-Limit Hold’em Championship, $1,000 buy-in, 1,054 entries, $948,600 prize pool

5th, Kami Chisholm, San Francisco, $39,860

20th, Amber Chatwin, Sacramento, $5,805

46th, Lisa Jacobs, Merced, $3,500

68th, Khamsy Nuanmanee, Weed, $2,656

102nd, Kelly Giannetti, Davis, $1,802

115th, Beverly Geber, Berkeley, $1,802

Event #23: Limit Hold’em / Six Handed, $2,500 buy-in, 384 entries, $883,200 prize pool

8th, Anh Le, San Jose, $21,991

12th, Eduardo Miranda, Fairfield, $12,382

19th, Casey McCarrel, Lafayette, $7,675

Event #24: No-Limit Hold’em, $1,000 buy-in, 3,289 entries, $2,960,100 prize pool

20th, Grantland Hillman, Oakland, $14,741

83rd, Richard Rinker, Vacaville, $3,966

112th, Christopher Gordon, Fairfield, $2,960

144th, Jason Frost, Livermore, $2,960

182nd, Jamie McCarrel, Lafayette, $2,604

191st, Aaron Henderson, Santa Rosa, $2,308

216th, Matthew Crooks, San Francisco, $2,308

228th, Steven Gee, Sacramento, $2,308

269th, Renae Lindberg, Napa, $2,072

328th, Filip Andretsudis, Berkeley, $1,864

Event #26: No-Limit Hold’em / Six Handed, $2,500 buy-in, 1,245 entries, $2,863,500 prize pool

1st, William Haydon, San Francisco, $630,031

57th, Jerry Yang, Madera, $7,273

98th, Wesley Huff, Alameda, $5,211

Event #27: Seven Card Stud Hi-Low-8 or Better, $1,500 buy-in, 644 entries, $869,400 prize pool

25th, Joshua Karnad, Hollister, $4,729

46th, Omar Mehmood, Foster City, $3,547

Event #29: Limit Hold’em World Championship, $10,000 buy-in, 171 entries, $1,607,400 prize pool

1st, Matt Keikoan, San Rafael, $425,969

Event #30: No-Limit Hold’em, $1,500 buy-in, 2,394 entries, $3,231,900 prize pool

2nd, Christopher Gonzales, Fremont, $360,906

15th, Kent Vanho, Union City, $26,049

25th, James Johnson, Fairfield, $16,644

54th, Anthony Pirone, Richmond, $9,275

56th, William Wilson, Morgan Hill, $7,821

57th, Nghiahiep Nguyen, San Jose, $7,821

153rd, Neil Blumenfield, San Francisco, $3,490

166th, William Pijewski, Oakland, $3,490

176th, Bradford Jensen, Fremont, $3,199

192nd, Howard Andrew, Walnut Creek, $3,199

196th, Isaac Settle, Clovis, $3,199

209th, Alexander Keating, Saratoga, $2,908

219th, Daniel Austin, San Jose, $2,908

Event #31: H.O.R.S.E., $1,500 buy-in, 828 entries, $1,117,800 prize pool

3rd, Dustin Leary, San Mateo, $107,849

27th, Daniel Huseman, Alameda, $5,772

35th, Paul Evans, Mount Shasta, $4,923

Event #32: No-Limit Hold’em / Six Handed, $5,000 buy-in, 568 entries, $2,669,600 prize pool

5th, Orlando Delacruz, Folsom, $117,595

9th, Paul Sheng, San Francisco, $43,941

Event #34: Seniors No-Limit Hold’em Championship, $1,000 buy-in, 3,142 entries, $2,827,800 prize pool

11th, Bruce Angeski, Sacramento, $28,221

61st, Salim Batshon, Foster City, $6,334

95th, Johnnie Linn, Napa, $3,365

100th, Lora Stewart, Elk Grove, $2,940

102nd, David Nelson, Vacaville, $2,940

125th, Jim Stephens, McKinleyville, $2,940

143rd, Gerald Shebar, Palo Alto, $2,940

156th, Walter Shawne Browne, Berkeley, $2,601

164th, Richard Orchid, Chico, $2,601

167th, Michael Vlastnik, Santa Rosa, $2,601

184th, Ronald Maria, Sonora, $2,601

188th, Fred Womack, Stockton, $2,601

196th, Joseph Lavenia, Richmond, $2,318

224th, Terrance Milko, Guerneville, $2,318

231st, James Mudd, San Antonio, $2,318

245th, Gerald Davidow, Fresno, $2,092

251st, Kenneth Morey, San Francisco, $2,092

260th, Gary May, Novato, $2,092

286th, Howard Andrew, Walnut Creek, $1,894

Event #36: No-Limit Hold’em, $1,000 buy-in, 3,102 entries, $2,791,800 prize pool

54th, Ivan Sapozhnikov, Walnut Creek, $7,509

56th, Thomas Langle, San Francisco, $6,253

60th, Frank Sarubbi, Pebble Beach, $6,253

61st, Bernard Ko, Foster City, $6,253

66th, Tim West, Los Altos, $5,248

70th, Russell Britt, Roseville, $5,248

93rd, Suzan Landrum, Folsom, $3,322

109th, David Lucchesi, Walnut Creek, $2,903

167th, Guojun Liu, Milpitas, $2,568

212th, Jim Stephens, McKinleyville, $2,289

231st, Dave Wooster, Pinole, $2,289

239th, John Norberg, Yuba City, $2,065

257th, Weikai Chang, San Francisco, $2,065

262nd, Meng Lim, Vacaville, $2,065

277th, Francisco Scalise, Ceres, $2,065

286th, Gary Isaacson, Byron, $1,870

293rd, Jamie McCarrel, Lafayette, $1,870

302nd, Mitchell Bailey, Modesto, $1,870

324th, Anthony Pirone, Richmond, $1,870

Event #37: H.O.R.S.E., $3,000 buy-in, 478 entries, $1,319,280 prize pool

40th, Martin Corpuz, Mountain View, $6,807

Event #39: No-Limit Hold’em Shootout, $1,500 buy-in, 1,397 entries, $1,885,950 prize pool

13th, J.C. Tran, Sacramento, $8,637

30th, Robert Thompson, Lafayette, $5,620

61st, Derrick Yamada, Sacramento, $5,620

74th, Adolfo Castillo, San Francisco, $5,620

117th, Erik Fladseth, Santa Rosa, $5,620

Event #40: Seven Card Razz, $2,500 buy-in, 365 entries, $839,500 prize pool

31st, Rich Morella, San Jose, $5,423

Event #41: Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better, $1,500 buy-in, 847 entries, $1,143,450 prize pool

7th, Phil Hellmuth, Palo Alto, $30,633

Event #42: No-Limit Hold’em, $1,500 buy-in, 2,521 entries, $3,403,305 prize pool

10th, Michael Swick, San Jose, $34,748

18th, Bernard Ko, Foster City, $21,577

37th, Brian Mintz, Santa Rosa, $11,503

52nd, Samir Zoudo, Modesto, $9,529

56th, Joseph Fraulob, Sacramento, $7,963

57th, Leonard Levenson, Monterey, $7,963

144th, Ken Kao, Santa Clara, $3,403

170th, Richard Golzio, San Jose, $3,403

202nd, Anthony Thompson, Cool, $3,063

238th, William Daymon, McKinleyville, $2,756

242nd, Matt Widdoes, San Francisco, $2,756

258th, Daniel Ross, Fairfield, $2,756

Event #43: H.O.R.S.E. World Championship, $10,000 buy-in, 241 entries, $2,265,400 prize pool

4th, Marco Johnson, Walnut Creek, $181,503

Event #44: Mixed Hold’em (Limit/No-Limit), $2,500 buy-in, 507 entries, $1,166,100 prize pool

20th, Tay Nguyen, Elk Grove, $8,372

22nd, Randy Lew, Union City, $8,372

Event #45: No-Limit Hold’em, $1,500 buy-in, 3,097 entries, $4,180,950 prize pool

21st, Tim West, Los Altos, $20,653

38th, Anthony Winters, Patterson, $13,629

58th, Robert Ross, Stockton, $9,365

59th, John Phan, Stockton, $9,365

92nd, Jeffrey Hutchison, Mammoth Lakes, $4,975

98th, Afrack Vargas, $4,975

140th, Kevin Zeidler, Dixon, $4,348

146th, Joel Criste, Novato, $3,846

165th, Jeffrey Lyman, Santa Rosa, $3,846

168th, Emmitt McGill, Novato, $3,846

237th, Michael Hong, Cupertino, $3,093

238th, Jeremy Tucker, Petaluma, $3,093

258th, Ron Lane, San Jose, $3,093

263rd, Sharon Helldorfer, Pioneer, $3,093

276th, Gary Katz, Lafayette, $3,093

281st, Kevin Fitzgibbons, Morgan Hill, $2,801

292nd, Justin Chauvin, Walnut Creek, $2,801

296th, Tyler Martin, Folson, $2,081

Event #47: No-Limit Hold’em, $1,000 buy-in, 3,128 entries, $2,815,200 prize pool

15th, David Forster, Alameda, $21,986

129th, Justin Goss, Antioch, $2,927

165th, Arthur Baraan, San Jose, $2,589

187th, Kenny Shih, Berkeley, $2,589

196th, Charles Rowan, South Lake Tahoe, $2,308

214th, Yukinori Yamazaki, Oakland, $2,308

222nd, Casey Wichert, Manteca, $2,308

Event #49: No-Limit Hold’em, $1,500 buy-in, 2,543 entries, $3,433,050 prize pool

8th, Erle Mankin, Sacramento, $59,082

42nd, Steven Rubinfeld, Danville, $11,603

57th, Christopher McCabe, San Francisco, $8,033

115th, Michael Hong, Cupertino, $3,845

128th, Kelsey Hendriks, Chico, $3,845

133rd, Anthony Winters, Patterson, $3,845

177th, George Saca, Sacramento, $3,433

187th, Joseph James, Willow Creek, $3,089

189th, Matthew McEwan, San Francisco, $3,089

240th, Timothy Hicks, Walnut Creek, $2,780

244th, Kevin To, Walnut Creek, $2,780

Event #50: Pot-Limit Omaha, $5,000 buy-in, 460 entries, $2,162,000 prize pool

3rd, Daniel Smith, Folsom, $226,923

35th, Matt Lefkowitz, Carmel Valley, $12,561