WSOP report: Event #33, No-Limit Hold 'em, July 4, 2005

You want to cheer for Andre Boyer. In addition to being a nice guy, he has his priorities straight. Boyer has been playing in the World Series of Poker for ten years. He's made several final table appearances, but he had never won poker's most coveted prize - a gold bracelet.

Cheered on by his wife, Odette Tremblay, Boyer overcame an overwhelming chip disadvantage and earned a well-deserved victory in the $3,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em championship.

"My wife loves poker even more than I do," Boyer said afterward. "It was really wonderful to have her here with me tonight. I think it is important that two people who are together share something so special."

Boyer's special moment came in an event that attracted a whopping 1,010 entries. Players were eliminated in the following order:

9th Place: John Duthie, $55,750
The first player to exit was John Duthie, the TV Director for the European Poker Tour (EPT). Duthie also won the Poker Million (which actually paid $1.5 million).
8th Place: Morten Jensen, $83,630
Morten Jensen was the shortest stack and moved his last 55,000 into the pot with A-6. Jerry Young had A-Q and called. The flop brought an ace, but Young had the higher kicker.
7th Place: Ken Blanton, $111,505
Ken Blanton showed how dangerous it is to slowplay pocket aces. He started with rockets and let Dennis Perry see a cheap flop. The board didn't look dangerous, J=8=4. Blanton raised all-in after Perry bet out 30,000 - and Perry called instantly. Perry had 8-4, an ugly duckling of a hold'em hand that turned into a pretty swan for Perry.
6th Place: Robert Betts, $139,380
Robert Betts took a horrible beat (and lost a chance to take a huge chip lead) when he re-rasied all-in with Q-Q. Matt Glantz called a huge re-raise with K-Q and spiked a king on the river to take down the 900,000 pot.
5th Place: Mike Carroll, $167,255
Mike Carroll then took the worst of hold'em beats when he was dealt K-K. That's normally a good thing. But when your opponent is dealt A-A, the kings normally end up as a springboard to the rail. Jerry Young made it even more painful for Carroll when he flopped an ace.
4th Place: Dennis Perry, $195,130
Dennis Perry has made it to several final tables on the WSOP Circuit this year, including the main even at the Rio in February. The Kentucky-based retired ironworker looked as if he might challenge Matt Glantz for the chip lead, but he tried to steal a pot at the wrong time. He bet at the pot, was raised, and was forced to call his last 100,000 in chips with two overcards. Unfortunately, Andre Boyer had flopped a set of 3s and Perry was drawing dead.
3rd Place: Jerry Young, $223,010
When play became three-handed, Andre Boyer became very aggressive. He had been down by a 3-to-1 margin earlier and mastered the short-handed game. Boyer took the chip lead about an hour into the trio's bout, and then busted Jerry Young. Boyer crushed Young with A-Q versus K-Q. An ace on the river sealed Young's fate.

Runner up: Matt Glantz, $364,620
When heads-up play began, Andre Boyer had a slight chip lead over Matt Glantz. Over the next two hours, both players made moves to seized away a decisive chip advantage. Then, the cards would turn and the other player would draw back to even. It was a poker tug-of-war that lasted past 1:00 am. Nearing 2;00 am, both players finally decided to take a gamble. Glantz made a pre-flop raise of 100,000 with 2-2. Boyer re-raised 500,000 more with 7-7. Glantz moved all-in and Boyer called. The final board showed A-K-3-3-10. Boyer won with a lucky pair of sevens.

Matt Glantz is a 33-year-old poker pro from Pennsylvania. He made it to final tables at the United States Poker Championship in Atlantic City, and has now cashed four times at this year's WSOP.

1st Place: Andre Boyer, $682,810
Andre Boyer was born in Montreal, Quebec. He is 62-years-old. Boyer, who speaks French, is the television voice for the ESPN equivalent in Canada (RDS), which airs WSOP broadcasts.

Boyer's best finish at the WSOP had been 6th place in the main event in 1996. But this victory was much more fulfilling. Not only did Boyer win his first gold bracelet, but he also earned one of the largest prize payouts at this year's tournament -- $682,810.

View final results.

Tournament reporting by Nolan Dalla / worldseriesofpoker.com