Valley Center, CA (February 18, 2007) – At last year's World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, Osman Kibar was one player and one big hand away from winning a gold bracelet.  He ended up finishing second in the $1,500 buy-in hold'em event (#37).  As a consolation prize, he received a whopping $420,870 in prize money.  But that was still no substitute for the satisfaction of victory.

With the World Series of Poker Circuit much closer to home this year, Mr. Kibar decided to make the 45-minute drive from his home in San Diego to the Harrah's Rincon Casino-Resort, just north of Escondido.  He entered the $1,000 buy-in no-limit hold'em event.  The rest, as they say – is history.

In fact, Mr. Kibar made history tonight by winning his first major poker tournament.  Event #8 at this year's series in Harrah's Rincon attracted 146 entries.  The total prize pool was $141,620.  After 137 players were eliminated on the first day, that left nine players to return to the final table.  Steve Elesky enjoyed the chip lead.  The pesky Osman Kibar was well-behind the average stack from the start, down more than 3 to 1 versus the largest stack.  Seating and chip counts were as follows:

Seat 1:  Mark Fowler          19,400
Seat 2:  Bruce Moller          11,400
Seat 3:  Don Eiges                6,400
Seat 4:  John Zou               45,000
Seat 5:  Tom Maser            53,100
Seat 6:  Mike Perez             22,400
Seat 7:  Steve Elesky          92,200
Seat 8:  Osmar Kibar           27,100
Seat 9:  Keith Winnermans  88,000

On day two, play began promptly at 4 pm.  Just a few minutes into play, Don Eiges went out when he took a bad beat.  His K-Q was cut down by Mark Fowler's K-2, when a deuce flopped.  Mr. Eiges, a business owner who has won and cashed in several smaller poker tournaments, made his first WSOP Circuit cash – good for $2,832.

John Zou suffered through a tough day.  He arrived in decent chip position, but failed to win a hand of any significance during his 45- minute stay in the finale.  Getting low on chips, he tried to steal the blinds with an all-in pre-flop raise holding J-9.  But Steve Elesky called with A-Q and won the hand.  Mr. Zou, who has enjoyed some tournament success in and around southern Californian cardrooms, collected $4,249 for eighth place.

Bruce Moller was all-in three times before finally succumbing to the odds on his final attempt to double up.  He was dealt A-Q and was in the lead versus Steve Elesky's J-10.  But the final board showed J-7-4-K-8 giving Mr. Elesky a pair of jacks to win the pot.  Meanwhile, Mr. Moller went out in seventh place.  The real estate agent from Tucson, AZ collected a commission totaling $5,665

Keith Wintermans got into a jam when he moved all-in holding A-K of diamonds.  That would normally be a good decision, but not when your opponent has two kings.  Steve Elesky was dealt K-K and called.  He had Mr. Wintermans covered by a small margin.  Mr. Wintermans still had outs to an ace, but the bullet card failed to appear which meant another player was eliminated.  Keith Wintermans, a software consultant from Vancouver, BC (Canada) collected $7,081 in American dollars.  That big hand gave Mr. Elesky the chip lead.

One of the most exciting hands of the tournament took place when Mike "The Prince" Perez moved all-in with 10-10 against Tom Maser's A-K.  The flop came A-10-2, giving Mr. Perez a set of tens.  A deuce on the turn improved Mr. Perez's advantage, with a full-house.  But the river brought another ace, giving Mr. Maser a higher full-house.  "The Prince" was dethroned from the final table.  The general contractor from San Diego (originally from Morocco) received $8,497 for fifth place.

Down to four players, Steve Elesky still held the chip lead.  The foursome battled for about an hour before the next player was eliminated.  That occurred when short-stacked Tom Maser moved all-in holding A-4.  He was called by Steve Elesky with A-K.  A king flopped, which basically ended Mr. Maser's hopes of victory.  Tom Maser, a retired attorney from the Lake Tahoe area, collected $11,300 for fourth place.   

With Mr. Elesky's huge stack continuing to grow, it appeared that the other two players were struggling to stay alive, battling for second place (third to second was worth an extra $10,000 in prize money).  This enabled Mr. Elesky to remain aggressive.  But after losing two big hands, the chip lead evened-out with all three players within grasp of being the leader.

Then, Osman Kibar won a huge pot and seized the chip lead for the first time in the tournament.  He bested Mr. Elesky with trip jacks, which altered the leader board changed the dynamics of the final table.  It became Mr. Kibar's turn to be aggressive, which resulted in winning a few extra (small) pots which would not have been his had he held fewer chips. 

The triumvirate see-sawed back and forth for two hours.  Mr. Kibar lost some of his stack to Mark Fowler.  With everyone close to even in chips, the three finalists decided to strike a deal.  Terms were not disclosed.  That meant some faster play in the final stages.  With financial issues settled, all that remained was to compete for the winner's gold ring.

Mark Fowler lost a few hands and eventually went out in third place.  The plumber from Irvine, CA officially collected $14,162 in prize money.

Steve Elesky was poised to win the tournament at one point.  But he was never able to catch the one big hand that might have made him uncatchable in terms of a chip advantage.  On the final hand of the tournament, Mr. Elesky was caught bluffing and ended up losing to Osman Kibar, who made a pair of aces.  That meant Mr. Elesky's official payout was $24,075.  Credit Mr. Elesky for likely being the "Best All Around" player at this year's series in Harrah's Rincon.  He cashed in 4 of the 5 events in which he played and ended up in second place in this event.

Meanwhile, Osman Kibar took the top prize.  He was paid $45,885 and received the WSOP Circuit cold ring, presented to each event winner.  Mr. Kibar, who was born in Izmir Turkey arrived in the United States in 1988.  He is a true Turkish-American success story.  He earned a Ph.D.  At age 35, he now owns and operates a successful firm that assists businesses in high tech development.  He can also now lay claim to being a World Series of Poker champion.

    
by Nolan Dalla

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