
The 36th Annual World Series of Poker (WSOP) ran from June 2 to July 15, 2005 from the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.
This was the first year that the WSOP wasn’t held at Binion’s Horseshoe, apart from the final two days of the marquee $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em World Championship that would play out from Binion’s Horseshoe.
A staggering turnout of 5,619 players in the Main Event would be more than double the previous year as Joe Hachem of Melbourne, Australia, defeated Steve Dannenmann of Baltimore, Maryland to collect $7.5 million in prize money. Both Hachem and Dannenmann are involved in great hands throughout the Main Event, but both are not featured in the 2005 WSOP Main Event Top 5 Hands video on PokerGO.
The countdown’s theme is coolers, and it begins with one where Jennifer Harman of Las Vegas, Nevada, improves to a full house, but unfortunately runs into the straight flush of Cory Zeidman of Coral Springs, Florida. Actor Oliver Hudson of Los Angeles, California, is dealt a monstrous bad beat on the first hand of the day to be eliminated, while the next hand in the countdown sees Shawn Sheikhan of Las Vegas, Nevada, survive with a runner-runner straight.
Next up is 15-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth of Palo Alto, California, who is rivered on the feature table and follows it with his infamous quote of, “This guy can’t even spell poker.” The final hand for 2005 comes from the final table where Mike Matusow of Las Vegas, Nevada, is dealt pocket kings against the pocket aces of Scott Lazar of Studio City, California. For the at-risk Lazar, a double was expected until a king fell on the flop. However, the turn and river would change the fate for both players in one of the biggest hands in WSOP Main Event history.
Watch PokerGO’s 2005 WSOP Main Event Top 5 hands now to see where each hand ranks.
About the World Series of Poker
The World Series of Poker® is the largest, richest and most prestigious gaming event in the world, having awarded more than $3.29 billion in prize money and the prestigious gold bracelet, globally recognized as the sport’s top prize. Featuring a comprehensive slate of tournaments in every major poker variation, the WSOP is poker’s longest-running tournament in the world, dating back to 1970. In 2019, the event attracted 187,298 entrants from 118 different countries to the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas and awarded more than $293 million in prize money. In addition, the WSOP has formed groundbreaking alliances in broadcasting, digital media and corporate sponsorships, while successfully expanding the brand internationally with the advent of WSOP Europe in 2007 and the WSOP Asia-Pacific in 2013 and the WSOP International Circuit Series in 2015. All WSOP events are subject to the then-current and applicable WSOP tournament rules. For more information, please visit www.wsop.com.