Bruce
Corman Wins His First Major Tournament
and $137,740 in the
Four Queens Championship Final
The Four Queens Poker Classic is the
second-longest running poker tournament
in the world. Since the inaugural competition
back in the late 1980s, the Four Queens
championship has long been one of poker's
most coveted titles. The main event was
the 22nd event held at this years tournament
-- which attracted over 2,000 entrants
and distributed over $1.2 million in prize
money. Play began yesterday with 71 players.
After a marathon 16-hour first day, the
nine finalists were determined, as follows:
Seat
1: James Ferrel -- A physician from Phoenix,
AZ
Seat 2: Jerri Thomas -- A housewife and
former WSOP bracelet winner from Hamilton,
OH
Seat 3: David “Devil Fish” Ulliott --
A former jeweler and professional poker
player from Hull, England
Seat 4: Chris Karagulleyan -- A professional
poker player from Glendale, CA
Seat 5: Tom "the Shamrock Kid" McCormick
-- A construction company owner from Fargo,
ND
Seat 6: T. J. Cloutier -- A professional
poker player and former WSOP bracelet
winner from Dallas, TX
Seat 7: Roman Celusta -- A developer from
Woodland Hills, CA
Seat
8: Huck Seed -- A professional poker player
and 1996 World Champion from Las Vegas,
NV
Seat 9: Bruce "Goose" Corman -- A clothing
store owner from Nottingham, England
The
nine finalists began play at 2:00 pm on
Sunday afternoon, with a $500 ante and
blinds set at $1,000-2000. The first casualty
of the final table occurred when Tom McCormick
(a.k.a "The Shamrock Kid") was dealt A-Q.
Chip-leader Chris Karagulleyan was dealt
A-K. Karagulleyan made a pre-flop raise,
and McCormick came over the top with an
"all-in" re-raise. Karagulleyan quickly
called and McCormick knew he was in trouble.
He was right. Essentially drawing to a
queen, the Shamrock Kid failed to catch
a four-leaf clover and was eliminated
in 9th place -- good for $6,890. With
McCormick's stack added to Karagulleyan's,
he was now up to over $220,000 in chips,
with nearly one-third of the total chips
in play.
David
"Devil Fish" Ulliott came to the final
table with the shortest stack and hoped
to use his immense talent and fearless
reputation as a tournament player to get
some chips and become a factor. However,
the Devil Fish took two horrible beats
within a short time frame and was blasted
out of the tournament. In just five hands,
Devil Fish was dealt A-A twice, and K-K
once, and still left the table busted.
Proving that winning a poker tournament
is not just about getting dealt good cards,
Ulliott was first dealt K-K and lost the
hand, then A-A and made a pre-flop raise
(no one called). Then, the crushing blow
came when Devil Fish looked down and saw
A-A (again!). All of Devil Fish's chips
went into the pot against James Ferrel
who called holding Q-Q. The flop came
Q-6-4 -- an absolute nightmare for the
Devil Fish. When two blanks fell on the
turn and river, one of England's brightest
poker stars was on the rail in 8th place
with $8,610. Even experienced poker veteran
T.J. Cloutier remarked what a bad break
it was for the Devil Fish to get dealt
three premium hands and still get busted.
There was more of that to come.
Jerri Thomas, cheered on by her husband
(also a former WSOP bracelet winner) looked
down and found Q-Q. She moved "all-in"
and Englishman Bruce Corman woke up with
A-A. Hoping for "deja vu all over again,"
Mrs. Thomas was praying for a queen to
flop. But, the two colorful ladies remained
hidden away in the deck and didn't reveal
themselves which put another lady out
of the tournament -- in 7th place good
for $12,050 in prize money.
After 30 minutes of ante-stealing, player
maneuvering, and chips revolving around
the table -- Roman Celusta found himself
short-stacked with only about $20,000
remaining. He found a hand to go with
(A-K) and his "all in" raise was called
by James Ferrel with A-Q. When the flop
came A-A-K, Celusta breathed a huge sigh
of relief. That fortunate hand moved Celusta
up at least one place in the prize standings
when just a few hands later 1996 World
Champion Huck Seed went all-in with J-J
against Bruce Corman's A-K (spades). In
one of the most stunning hands of the
tournament, the flop came 10-7-6 (all
spades). Remarkably, Corman had flopped
the nut flush. It was a key hand that
put Corman close to Karagullyen in chips
and changed the balance of power at the
final table. Seed was out in 6th place
with $15,500.
The hand also was worth a $6,000 bonus
to Celusta -- who was still short on chips.
With so few chips remaining, he moved
all-in with K-10 (diamonds) and was called
reluctantly by chip-leader Karagulleyan
in the big blind with 8-4. The final board
showed 8-7-6-J-2 -- giving Karagulleyan
a pair and Celusta $18,940 for his 5th
place finish.
James Ferrel then made his move and over
the next four hands increased his stack
size from about $120,000 up to $187,000.
The increase put Ferrel much closer to
Karagulleyan ($240,000) and Corman ($200,000).
Meanwhile, T.J. Cloutier was still holding
his own with $85,000.
No one could have predicted what would
happen next. The most stunning hand of
the 2002 Four Queens championship event
took place when Corman was dealt K-K.
To his immediate left, Ferrel looked down
and woke up with pocket aces. The two
players couldn't get their chips into
the pot fast enough. A-A versus K-K is
usually a nightmare for the poor unfortunate
player holding the kings, but in this
case one player's nightmare turned into
an absolute dream when the flop came K-7-2.
The crowd gasped in disbelief. Corman
had stunned the crowd by catching a much-needed
miracle king. No ace came to rescue Ferrel
from his plight, which put him out in
4th place with $24,100. Interestingly
enough, Ferrel had out-flopped the Devil
Fish earlier at the final table with his
Q-Q, and now it was payback time. Losing
with pocket aces hurts.
Down
to three players, the chips count stood
as follows:
Karagulleyan -- $260,000
Cloutier -- $75,000
Corman -- $385,000
The
trio played on for nearly an hour. Cloutier's
strategy was quite interesting -- hoping
the two larger stacks would go to war
and one player would be knocked-out, which
would enable him to move up a notch in
the prize money (a $38,000 jump to the
next level). It was the same strategy
Cloutier used so effectively in the 2002
World Championship, when he outlasted
almost everyone at the final table and
got into a head-up match against (eventual
winner) Chris "Jesus" Ferguson. In that
tournament, Cloutier remained patient
and with second-place locked up, overcame
an 11-1 chip disadvantage to draw nearly
even with Ferguson. Cloutier has the idea
if he can get it head up against anyone
-- even with a big chip disadvantage --
he can use his vast depth of knowledge
and no-limit experience to outplay his
opponent. The strategy almost worked.
Corman
and Karagulleyan got into a direct confrontation
when Karagulleyan tried to run a bluff
past his opponent. Corman called the bluff
with a weak-ace (there was an ace on board)
and Karagulleyan lost half of his chips.
Corman had gone to a 5-1 chip lead over
his remaining two opponents. Cloutier
managed to win even more chips when his
A-K topped Corman's A-7. Then, Cloutier
-- showing why his reputation as a phenomenal
tournament player is justified -- made
a masterful laydown with J-10 holding
two pair. Cloutier made two pair on the
turn, which also made Karagulleyan a flush
(three hearts were on board). On the river,
Karagulleyan moved "all in," and Cloutier
thought long and hard about calling but
finally folded. Karagulleyan then revealed
two hearts, which only served to reinforce
Cloutier's excellent sense of discipline.
But
talent and experience is only part of
winning at tournament poker. It all comes
down to catching cards, flops, and timing
-- and the combination thereof. Cloutier
made a pre-flop raise and called Corman's
"all in" re-raise. Cloutier showed A-6
(clubs) and was dismayed to see Corman
with A-K. With several bad beats fresh
on everyone's mind, Cloutier shouted,
"Let me draw out on somebody!" But alas,
there were no more bad beats left in the
deck. Neither player made a pair and the
A-K played. Cloutier finished 3rd with
$41,320.
Down
to two players, the chips count stood
as follows:
Karagulleyan -- $56,000
Corman -- $654,000
Karagulleyan
was down about 10-1 in chips. In the closing
minutes, Karagulleyan showed some spark
and it appeared he might ignite a comeback.
He increased his stack up to $148,000
and was within one big hand of drawing
even with Corman. At that point, Corman
called for the clock to be stopped and
decided he didn't want to gamble for $58,000
(the difference between first and second
place prize money). An arrangement was
made between the two players (specifics
were not disclosed) and Corman by virtue
of his 3 to 1 chip advantage was awarded
the championship.
Chris
Karagulleyan is a Lebanese-born Armenian
who now lives in Southern California.
He took second place. The winner, Bruce
"the Goose" Corman is from Nottingham,
England. He was given the nickname "Loose
as a Goose" by David "Devil Fish" Ulliott.
This was Corman's first major tournament
victory. Corman owns a clothing store
and says he only plays poker "as a hobby."
He comes to the United States about 4
to 5 times per year for tournaments for
three reasons, he says: (1) The prize
money is higher (2) Most tournaments are
non-smoking, and (3) He prefers the daytime
playing hours (most European tournaments
begin at night). The prize pool of the
final championship event brought the total
prize money distribution up to over a
million dollars -- to $1,254,718. As players
and attendees alike departed the special
tournament area at the Four Queens Casino-Hotel
in downtown Las Vegas, Tournament Producer
Bonnie Damiano and Tournament Director
David Lamb and the entire poker staff
were congratulated by many for running
an exceptional tournament. There's a very
good reason why the Four Queens Classic
remains one of the most prestigious and
longest running poker tournaments in the
world.
Nolan Dalla
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