WSOP report: Event #35, Pot-Limit Omaha, July 5, 2005

The World Series of Poker would not be complete without an episode of controversy. The 2005 Pot-Limit Omaha world championship included an outburst which had the potential to change the outcome of the tournament and swing a quarter of a million dollars in prize money from one player to the other.

After 163 players had been eliminated over a three-day period, play was reduced to the final two players. Rafi Amit faced Vinny Vinh heads-up for the Omaha championship. After playing together for two hours, Amit inadvertently uttered an expletive, which was overheard by several people, including the Tournament Director. WSOP rules are strict when it comes to the use of profanity. Cursing is simply not tolerated.

The Tournament Director stepped in and administered a 10-minute penalty against the offender (Mr. Amit). Such a penalty would normally not be newsworthy, but with only two players remaining in the tournament (with huge prize money and a gold bracelet at stake) the incident defined one of the most exciting final showdowns of the year. Amit, who enjoyed a 5-to-1 chip lead at the time and was within striking distance of finally putting his opponent away, was given a penalty at the worst possible time. For the next 10 minutes the dealer dealt out hands, and Amit lost 24,000 in chips per round. For Amit and his packed gallery of supporters, it was torture to watch. Ten minutes seemed like ten hours. Vinny Vinh, who had been down to his last 120,000 when the penalty was declared, took the chips and was back up to 330,000 when Amit finally got to sit back down at the table.

That set the stage for a fabulous last hour during which both players bantered back and forth and Amit ultimately proved he could overcome any adversity. Amit adopted a "raise or fold" strategy which ultimately served him well. He finally busted Vinh at 4:00 am. The final showdown was so riveting that the crowd actually swelled the longer the two players continued.

When play at the final table began nine hours earlier, Amit arrived as the chip leader. There were two former gold bracelet winners in the finale - Erik Seidel (7-time winner) and Todd Brunson (one-time winner). The remaining players were all seeking their first WSOP win. Players were eliminated in the following order:

9th Place: Istvan Novak, $31,020
Proving once again that Pot-Limit Omaha is very much a European game, of the 18 players who finished in the money in this event, 11 were Europeans. Hungarian Istvan Novak was the first player to make an exit from the finals. He arrived short on chips and was eliminated shortly after play resumed.
8th Place: Erik Seidel, $46,530
Erik Seidel has now made it to three final tables at this year's WSOP. His bid for an eighth gold bracelet ended early. He took a horrible beat with A-A-x-x when he flopped trip aces. Simon "Aces" Trumper caught perfect-perfect to make a straight and Seidel was left shaking his head.
7th Place: Ferit Gabriellson, $62,040
Ferit Gabriellson was playing at the WSOP for the first time. The 30-year-old Swede did not show his final hand. He mucked after Trumper showed a flush.
6th Place: Todd Brunson, $77,550
Todd Brunson went card dead his final two hours and was down to less than 80,000 in chips. He tried to take the pot with an all-in move with an open-ended straight draw. But Rafi Amit made a full house on the hand and Brunson was eliminated. Brunson won his first gold bracelet two weeks ago.
5th Place: Simon "Aces" Trumper, $93,060
Simon "Aces" Trumper may have the most memorable name in the poker world, but that wasn't enough to go the distance. On his bust-out hand, Trumper started with the best cards (A-K-K-8) against fellow countryman Derek Baxter (A-Q-J-10). Two queens flopped. Baxter made things worse for Trumper when a ten fell on the turn, good for a full house.
4th Place: Derek Baxter, $93,060
Derek Baxter had no time to celebrate. He went out about 20 minutes later when he missed a flush draw and Rafi Amit completed a straight. Baxter, a 66-year-old poker pro from Birmingham, UK, has been playing for a living for 45 years. He has also been playing at the WSOP for over two decades.
3rd Place: Jeff Rine, $155,100
Jeff Rine may have played smarter than anyone in the finale, except for the eventual winner. Rine was never up above 150,000 in chips (while the chip leader remained near 1,000,000 during much of the finale). Rine played hands only when he seemed to have the best of it, and his conservative approach served him well. Rine eventually had to start gambling and did so with top pair and a straight draw. But Vinny Vinh made trip aces, and that killed Rine's dreams of a first WSOP victory. Rine finished in 4th place in the No-Limit Shootout last year.

Runner up: Vinny Vinh, $282,280
When heads-up play began, Vinny Vinh and Rafi Amit were very close in chips, with about 830,000 each. It took four long hours to decide the winner. Amit was the more aggressive player and certainly caught a nice rush of cards at key moments. His momentum was nearly derailed with the excruciating 10-penalty. But Amit overcame the loss of chips and ultimately prevailed in the end. On the final hand, Amit was dealt J-10-7-6. Vinh was dealt K-K-5-2. After all of Vinh's chips were in the pot on the turn, the final board showed J-7-2-J-8 - good for a full house (jacks over sevens) for Amit.

1st Place: Rafi Amit, $202,725
Rafi Amit is a 25-year-old poker pro. He has been playing poker for three years. Despite playing in high-limit cash games, this was Amit's first time ever to make it to a WSOP final table. He's now a perfect one-for-one.

Afterward, when asked about how the controversy affected the tournament, Amit brushed off the issue. "Justice prevailed," he said.

View final results.

Tournament reporting by Nolan Dalla / worldseriesofpoker.com