She holds all the cards

09.07.2008, Lesen Sie hier den Bericht über «She holds all the cards».

by Arnold M. Knightly

By Las Vegas Gaming Wire

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Lori Jensen's name will not ring out with even the most hard-core of poker aficionados, but she has used the professional poker circuit to pay her way through school and travel the country.

Jensen has sat at the same table with champions, hopefuls and characters -- but as a dealer, not a player.

Jensen's story is just one among the 158 stories of white-shirted, black-vested dealers in the Amazon ballroom preparing themselves for the first wave of players vying for the millions and prestige that accompany being champion of the main event.

Jensen, who began dealing in 2000 while at University of California, Los Angeles, is one of an unknown number of dealers who travel tournament-to-tournament to earn steady cash in between school and life.

She has traveled to tournaments in Mississippi, Missouri and her hometown of Reno over the years.

"It's just convenient to do tournaments in between school," she said.

Entertainer Wayne Newton kicked off the main event at noon by leading the packed ballroom through a version of "Viva Las Vegas," accompanied by the UNLV Marching Band.

"Shuffle up and deal," hollered Newton, who was flanked by tournament officials and showgirls, to begin play.

Players from Thursday's round, which was scheduled to run until approximately 1 a.m. today, will return Tuesday to continue play.

More than 1,000 players started out Thursday, among them comedian Ray Romano, actors Jason Alexander and Makhi Phifer and poker pros Scotty Nguyen, Barry Greenstein and Dan Harrington.

The rest of the opening round will be held through Sunday, when the number of players and this year's prize package will be finalized.

The first phase of the main event will run through July 14, when the final table of nine players will be determined.

In a new, made-for-TV and publicity hype twist, those nine players will return Nov. 9, when the field will be cut to two players.

The final two will return the next day to decide the champion in a final game.

A two-hour prime-time special will run on ESPN Nov. 11.

Last year's main event drew 6,358 players who competed for a prize pool of $59.8 million.

Jerry Yang of Temecula, Calif., won the world championship last year and collected $8.25 million.

Prize pools are funded by player entry fees. Series owner Harrah's Entertainment collects a percentage of the entry fees, depending upon the size of the buy-in.

For $10,000 buy-in events, Harrah's takes 6 percent.

Players from a record 104 countries have played in this year's series of 55 events, which kicked off May 30.

So far, this year's event has set at least one record.

Moscow-based Nikolay Evdakov extended his record Sunday of cashes in a single year to 10 by placing 28th in the $10,000 buy-in Omaha event.

The previous record was eight cashes set by four players in 2006 and 2007.

Evdakov has earned $228,527 this year, finishing as high as 12th in a single event.

To earn money, players must finish in the top 10 percent in a tournament.

While Jensen's day at her fourth main event was just beginning, Fort Worth, Texas, resident Barry Clancy's dreams of poker greatness came to an abrupt end about 30 minutes after play began. His pair of aces -- the best starting hand in Texas hold 'em -- was beaten by Rocco Lazazzaro and his jacks when a third jack came on the river, the final card of the hand.

"Total luck, bro, total luck," said Lazazzaro, 50, of Las Vegas. "No master pokermanship here, right?"

The 54-year-old Clancy, who was the first player eliminated Thursday, apparently made a hasty exit from the ballroom while tournament officials and television sponsor ESPN searched for the player.

Harrah's Entertainment purchased the World Series of Poker in 2004 from the Binion family, moving the event in 2005 to the Rio, away from the tournament's original home at Binion's in downtown Las Vegas.

Jensen said the tournament has changed a lot over the years since Harrah's took ownership, with more opportunities to work around the country.

However, she seemed resigned on Thursday that she will deal her final hand by the middle of July.

"This is probably my last tournament, anywhere," she said.

Über World Series of Poker (WSOP):

Die World Series of Poker, oder kurz WSOP, ist eine Reihe von Pokerturnieren, die jedes Jahr in Las Vegas ausgetragen werden.

Die World Series of Poker finden jährlich im Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas statt.

Die World Series of Poker ist die grösste und prestigeträchtigste Pokerveranstaltung der Welt. Mit einer umfassenden Liste von Turnieren in allen wichtigen Pokervarianten ist die WSOP das am längsten laufende Pokerturnier der Welt und geht auf das Jahr 1970 zurück.

Darüber hinaus hat die WSOP bahnbrechende Allianzen in den Bereichen Rundfunk, digitale Medien und Unternehmenssponsoring gebildet und die Marke mit der Einführung der WSOP Europe im Jahr 2007 und der WSOP Asia-Pacific im Jahr 2013 sowie der WSOP International Circuit Series im Jahr 2015 erfolgreich international ausgebaut.

Ursprünglich wurden die Tourniere in Las Vegas Downtown im Binion's Horseshoe Casino ausgetragen. Im Jahre 2005 kaufte Caesars den Brand WSOP. Seit diesem Datum werden die Pokermeisterschaften im Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino durchgeführt.

Gewinner der letzten Jahre des WSOP-Championship-Mainevent

2020: Damian Salas 2019: Hossein Ensan 2018: John Cynn 2017: Scott Blumstein 2016: Qui Nguyen 2015: Joe McKeehen 2014: Martin Jacobson 2013: Ryan Riess 2012: Greg Merson 2011: Pius Heinz 2010: Jonathan Duhamel 2009: Joe Cada 2008: Peter Eastgate 2007: Jerry Yang 2006: Jamie Gold 2005: Joe Hachem 2004: Greg "Fossil Man" Raymer 2003: Chris Moneymaker 2002: Robert Varkonyi 2001: Carlos Mortensen 2000: Chris "Jesus" Ferguson 1999: J.J. "Noel" Furlong 1998: Scotty Nguyen 1997: Stu Ungar 1996: Huck Seed 1995: Dan Harrington 1994: Russ Hamilton 1993: Jim Bechtel 1992: Hamid Dastmalchi 1991: Brad Daugherty 1990: Mansour Matloubi 1989: Phil Hellmuth Jr. 1988: Johnny Chan 1987: Johnny Chan 1986: Berry Johnston 1985: Bill Smith 1984: Jack Keller 1983: Tom McEvoy 1982: Jack Strauss 1981: Stu Ungar 1980: Stu Ungar 1979: Hal Fowler 1978: Bobby Baldwin 1977: Doyle Brunson 1976: Doyle Brunson 1975: Sailor Roberts 1974: Johnny Moss 1973: Puggy Pearson 1972: Amarillo Slim Preston 1971: Johnny Moss 1970: Johnny Moss

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