WSOP report: Event #13, No-Limit Hold'em, June 17

History was made at the end of this event when poker legend T.J. Cloutier won gold bracelet number six. His victory in the $5,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em championship marked his 58th major tournament win during the past 20 years.

More importantly, the $657,100 first prize rocketed him up into second place on the all-time World Series of Poker money-winnings list. It almost didn't happen.

The (now) six-time champ, who has probably taken more bad beats than anyone in WSOP history (recall his disastrous bad beat heads-up versus Chris "Jesus" Ferguson in the 2000 championship), actually drew out on an opponent when play was six-handed, spiking a six-outer that effectively propelled him across the finish line four hours later.

That decisive hand took place when opponent Neal Wang had 9-9 versus Cloutier's A-Q. With the river still to be dealt, Cloutier desperately needed to catch a pair to survive. Wham! A queen fell from the sky, and for an instant, the bad karma of getting all the money in with the best hand, only to lose, had been reversed. "It sure felt good to suck out on someone for a change," Cloutier chuckled later.

Of the 13 events held so far, this final table was unquestionably the most theatrical. It marked the return of the explosive 77-year-old, Brooklyn-born John Bonetti to poker's grandest stage. It also featured a complete newcomer to tournament poker who was making his first-ever final table. Steve Zoine picked up a book by T.J. Cloutier (co-authored with Tom McEvoy), read through it, and decided to come to Las Vegas to see if he could play poker with the very best. He couldn't possibly have imagined that just two days after getting off the plane, he would be sitting across the table from the author, battling him for a gold bracelet. And there was Cloutier himself, less than two years removed from suffering a serious heart attack and now back where he belongs, sitting at a final table, playing for a poker championship.

The total prize pool amounted to $2,190,200. The final table included four former gold bracelet winners - T.J. Cloutier (with 5 wins going in); John Bonetti (with 3 wins); Tony Ma (with 2 wins); and John "World" Hennigan (with 2 wins). But it was 37-year-old self-employed Neal Wang, from Los Angeles, who had a dominant chip lead when play began. With ESPN television cameras rolling, players were eliminated as follows:

10th Place: Gavin Smith, $24,090
Gavin Smith had a disastrously short stay at the final table. The latest poker "millionaire" (Smith won a major tournament here in Las Vegas last month) lost most of his chips with A-Q versus A-K to John Hennigan. Then, desperately low on chips, he made one last futile attempt to get back into contention and was pummeled into defeat by TJ Cloutier. Smith is originally from Canada.
9th Place: Hieu "Tony" Ma, $48,805
Hieu "Tony" Ma, a.k.a. "Tony the Tiger" has won two gold bracelets at the World Series. But he could do no better than 8th place in this event. Ma moved all-in before the flop with A-K and was covered by Cloutier's 3-3. Ma failed to catch a pair which meant the 49-year-old poker pro originally from Vietnam was out.
8th Place: Todd Brunson, $65,705
Although Todd Brunson arrived at the final table on life support with just enough chips to post the blinds, he managed to jump two steps up the money ladder. Brunson failed to ever seriously threaten any of the larger stacks, however, and was finally eliminated when his A-3 was topped by Steven Zoine's K-J. A jack flopped and Brunson was out.
7th Place: Dustin "Neverwin" Woolf, $87,610
Dustin "Neverwin" Woolf was out on his final hand when he was dealt A-7 versus Steven Zoine's 5-5. All of Woolf's chips went into the pot after the flop came A=4=5. Ooops. Bad timing. Zoine flopped a set of fives, turned and full-house, and devoured Woolf's chips. Woolf vanished in 7th place. The key pot gave Zoine the chip lead, a position he would hold for the next three hours.
6th Place: John "World" Hennigan, $109,510
After Cloutier caught his miracle queen to avoid elimination, it was time for another player to leave the poker stage. John "World" Hennigan always makes the "toughest opponent" list any time a poll is taken as to which poker players pose the greatest challenges. Hennigan, a sky-high cash game player who won a gold bracelet last year, appeared to be in good position to challenge the new chip leader. But a few tough beats took away most of Hennigan's stack. He was eliminated four hours into play when his A-10 was flattened by Cloutier's pocket aces.
5th Place: Jason "Doc" Berilgen, $131,410
Jason "Doc" Berilgen was another remarkable success story at this final table. The 27-year-old medical doctor who specializes in treating cancer (currently on staff at world-renowned M.D. Anderson in Houston) was playing at the WSOP for the first time. He managed to finish ahead of 461 of the world's toughest players. Doc Berilgen was dealt 6-6 against John Bonetti's K-K, but he failed to catch a six, which meant the good doctor was discharged.
4th Place: Neal Wang, $153,315
Coming to the final table with the chip lead has been a bad omen. Remarkably, through 13 events only two players have gone on to capture victory thus far, after arriving with the big stack. Neal Wang did not reverse the curse. He came in with nearly a 2 to 1 advantage, lost the lead about midway through, and then finally went out. He was eliminated by Steven Zoine, who was starting to become the table bully.
3rd Place: John Bonetti, $175,215
Each of the last two events here have featured "all gold" when play became three-handed. In Events #11 and #12, each final trio included players who had previously won titles at the World Series. That was almost the case in Event #13 - except that Steven Zoine wouldn't cooperate. Cloutier and Bonetti had eight bracelets between them. Meanwhile, Zoine had stepped off a plane 48 hours earlier, read one poker book (Cloutier's) and was now showing the old masters a thing two about tournament poker.

Cantankerous curmudgeon John Bonetti tottered on the verge of elimination all night and managed to stay in the game with a few well-timed big hands. Muttering profanities under his breath during the cold spells, Bonetti gave the audience the drama it was expecting, playing off his alter-ego and longtime rival Cloutier. The two Texans (Cloutier from Dallas and Bonetti from Houston, by way of his native New York) bantered back and forth while Steven Zoine mostly kept quiet, protecting the chip lead.

Then, a big hand broke out. With both players very close to even in chips, Cloutier was a dealt Q-Q and Bonetti was dealt A-K. It was a classic confrontation in every sense of the word, as both poker legends faced-off to see who would get a chance to play heads-up for another gold bracelet. Cloutier won that privilege when Bonetti failed to pair his overcards. Bonetti, normally one of poker's most combustible personalities when defeated, managed to put on a smile for the television cameras and congratulated his two opponents. It was a great scene to watch Bonetti make it to the finale, and walk away with a big prize only a few days following his 77th birthday.

Runner up: Steven Zoine, $352,620
A final table that was filled with theatrics was about to get a few encores. One of the biggest hands of the tournament took place when Zoine, who had a slight chip lead, was dealt 6-6. Cloutier was dealt J-9. The flop came 10=8=7 and Cloutier had to re-focus his eyes. He flopped the nut straight. Zoine was prepared to be done with the underpair, then after both players checked the flop, a six lan