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Ali Can't Knockout van Klaveren
Ethan van Klaveren, a professional massage therapist from San Francisco, CA won the World Series of Poker Circuit event, along with his first championship gold ring. But it wasn’t just the victory that was memorable. It was the thrilling poker hands along the way, plus a couple of astounding comebacks by the final two players that should put this tournament in the history books.
One of the callers tabled pocket aces.
In the astounding hand, pocket queens, versus pocket kings, versus pocket aces were turned up and all-in.
Then, the real drama started. Wham!
A queen on the flop completely disrupted the Pavilion Arena, the locale of the final table played at Rincon. Things went from crazy to absolute bedlam moments later.
Kaboom! A king fell on the turn, once again completely changing the outcome of the tournament and disrupting the expectations of the players. As if no one could take any more excitement, a harmless blank fell on the river, which meant van Klaveren’s pocket kings ended up making trips and he quadrupled up on a monster hand.
Indeed, it was the kind of night for Ethan van Klaveren.
Ali Yousri, a.k.a. "Chicago Ali" started at the final table as chip leader. But he took several early beats. At one point, he was down to a single 1,000-denomination chip, when the blinds were at 4,000-8,000. The true tale of poker legend Jack Straus in the 1982 World Series of Poker Main Event has been told many times, and Ali nearly pulled off an equally astounding feat.
Starting with just one chip, he went on to win five consecutive pots when he was basically all-in and managed to come all the back to the point where he regained the chip lead when play was three-handed. It was an unthinkable turn of events for Ali to go from chip leader, down to a single chip, and then back to the chip lead, but that’s exactly what happened. The colorful poker personality, born in Egypt and now living in Chicago ended up finishing in second place.
Van Klaveren ended up scooping the biggest prize of his young career, collecting a payout totaling $15,079. Van Klaveren was also presented with his first gold ring, the coveted award which is presented to all champions of WSOP Circuit tournaments held around the country. This was his first time to cash in a WSOP Circuit tournament.
Final Table play began on a Monday afternoon. There were no prior WSOP Circuit gold ring event winners amongst the final nine players, thus guaranteeing a first-time champion. "Chicago Ali" arrived at the Final Table as the chip leader. But Ali lost his advantage early to Troy "Cowboy" Benjamin and later to Stephen Peterson, who were viable forces during most of the seven hour finale. Ethan van Klaveren also jumped into contention after he won the huge pot with pocket kings and acquired some chips.
| Seat | Player | Hometown | Chip Count |
| 1 | Ethan van Klaveren | San Francisco, CA | 125,000 |
| 2 | Ray "Mac the Knife" McCabe | Anaheim Hills, CA | 159,000 |
| 3 | Keith Strebe | Palm Desert, CA | 159,000 |
| 4 | Vince Burgio | West Hills, CA | 97,000 |
| 5 | Stephen Peterson | Portland, OR | 199,000 |
| 6 | Ron "Skwitz" Moskowitz | San Diego, CA | 84,000 |
| 7 | Kelvin "CK the Great" Goode | Farmington, CT | 120,000 |
| 8 | Chicago Ali | Chicago, IL | 334,000 |
| 9 | Troy "Cowboy" Benjamin | San Diego, CA | 220,000 |
. His raise was quickly called by an opponent with 
. The board came 
, which meant an early exit for Chang. He collected $1,129. 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.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.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.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.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.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.
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
