Tenth Place: Chang Chunked
Matthew Chang, an employee of the federal government from Rockville, MD was terminated in tenth place. He was lowest in chips when play was ten-handed and moved all-in on his last hand with . His raise was quickly called by an opponent with . The board came , which meant an early exit for Chang. He collected $1,129.
Ninth Place: "CK the Great" Tells a Great Bad Beat Story
Nine-handed play lasted for two hours. Then, Kelvin "CK the Great" Goode picked up a great hand on which to move all-in when he was dealt . Goode made his move with pocket aces and got a call from Troy "Cowboy" Benjamin, who had plenty of chips and could fade the smallish raise. Goode appeared headed for a double up, but the table ran , which ended up making two pair for Benjamin. Goode, who is a musician from Farmington, CT, collected $1,290 for ninth place.
Eighth Place: "Mack the Knife" Sliced and Diced
Ray "Mack the Knife" McCabe, who owns a successful health food company called "Egg Whites International" scrambled and beat 189 other players, but could not fry the final seven. McCabe arrived at the finale with a healthy stack size but he went out after he gradually became low on chips. He moved in with , which lost to . The final board made no pair for either player, so the played as the highest card. McCabe, who has five WSOP cashes on his record and also chopped last year’s championship in the seniors event played at Rincon, received $1,519 for eighth place.
Seventh Place: Former WSOP Gold Bracelet Winner Ousted
Vince Burgio, a poker pro from West Hills, CA was the only former WSOP gold bracelet winner in the final nine. He doubled up early and appeared to be headed for a showdown with one of the bigger stacks. But Burgio ultimately went out when he took up against two players, and lost. On the hand, Troy "Cowboy" Benjamin had . Stephen Peterson had . An ace on the turn killed off Burgio and the final board showed . Burgio, who was one of the top tournament players of the 1990s, collected $1,875 in prize money.
Sixth Place: Moskowitz Blitzed
Ron "Skwitz" Moskowitz, from San Diego, lasted a good while nursing a short stack, but finally had to play a hand when he was desperately low on chips. He tried to steal a round of blinds and antes with but got called by Stephen Peterson, who tabled with a much bigger stack. The board came which made two pair for Peterson. That put Moskowitz out of the tournament in sixth place with $2,809.
Fifth Place: Strebe Strung
Keith Strebe, from Palm Desert, CA lasted for five hours before finally exiting in fifth place. On his final hand, Strebe was dealt . After the flop came , Strebe moved all in holding a pair of tens. But "Chicago Ali" made a quick call and showed , good for top pair. Strebe failed to improve from that point forward and settled for $3,743 in prize money. This was his second time to cash in a WSOP Circuit event.
Fourth Place: “Cowboy” Bucked
Troy “Cowboy” Benjamin, a heavy equipment operator from San Diego, started the Final Table ranked second in chips. He took over the chip lead for a short time a few hours into play. But Benjamin was unable to sustain his advantage and went out in the late hour with , which ended up missing a club draw. “Chicago Ali” had and had to fade two clubs on the flop, which ended up making only a four-card flush for Benjamin. The board ended up showing , which gave Ali the big pot with pocket nines. Benjamin, who finished in 12th place in an event at the 2005 WSOP in Las Vegas and has done well in other tournaments since then, added $4,678 to his poker bankroll.
Third Place: Piano Player Hits a Sour Note
Stephen Peterson, a musician from Portland, OR had a reasonable shot at victory, but went card dead late. He finally moved all-in with after Ethan van Klaveren had put in a raise with . The bigger pocket pair (nines) held up, giving van Klaveren the pot. This marked Peterson’s third time to make the final table of a major poker tournament and was his highest finish ever in a WSOP-related event. He collected $6,552 in prize money.
Second Place: “Chicago Ali Goes All-In”
“Chicago Ali” experienced one of the most incredible days in tournament poker in quite some time. It’s hard to imagine any player at a major tournament anywhere that went from being chip leader, then down to a single chip, and then back to chip leader, followed by second place finish. That’s exactly what happened to the 53-year-old businessman who was born in Egypt. “Chicago Ali” received $9,258 for his second place finish.
The last hand came when Ali was dealt . After the flop came , Ali moved all-in. Van Klaveren called and showed . He had the best kicker. Ali needed help. The last two cards came followed by the giving both players three-of-a-kind, with 10’s. But Van Klaveren won with the better kicker.
First Place: Ethan van Klaveren Wins
Ethan van Klaveren was absolutely thrilled with his victory. He received $15,079 in prize money. But he said the victory was really amazing because he had always hoped to win a WSOP event. Van Klaveren says he hopes to play in more events and win another WSOP tournament in the future.
Tableside interview with Klaveren moments after his win