1st  Aaron Katz  Los Angeles, CA $234,940 2nd Richard Gardner-Brown   London, England $121,480 3rd  David Pincus  Davis, CA $67,120 4th  Binh Do  Vancouver, WA $58,740 5th  Blair Rodman  Rancho Mirage, CA $50,340 6th  “Miami John” Cernuto  Las Vegas, NV $41,960 7th  Davood Mehrmand  Frankfurt, Germany $33,560 8th  Cecilia Mortensen  Madrid, Spain $25,180 9th  Jimmy Tran  Las Vegas, NV $16,780 10th  John Scibelli  Las Vegas, NV $9,220 11th  John Myung  Vienna, VA $9,220 12th  Yariv Levi  Van Nuys, CA $9,220 13th  David Templeton  Anchorage, AK $7,560 14th Richard Fong San Francisco, CA $7,560 15th Jason Sagle Copper Cliff, ON $7,560 16th Tuan Nguyen Richmond, CA $5,880 17th Keith Sexton Henderson, NV $5,880 18th Max Stern Las Vegas, NV $5,880 19th Ellix Powers Los Angeles, CA $4,200 20th Kiet Tuan Westminster, CA $4,200 21st David Pham Cerritos, CA $4,200 22nd Andrew Hallenbeck Las Vegas, NV $4,200 23rd Dennis Seagle Las Vegas, NV $4,200 24th Dan Heimiller Las Vegas, NV $4,200 25th Brian Green Alton, Utah $4,200 26th Richard Katz Pittsburgh, PA $4,200 27th James Athanas Jr. Orange, CA $4,200 28th Max Pescatori Milan, Italy $2,940 29th Toto Leonidas Arleta, CA $2,940 30th William Fredrick Chicago, IL $2,940 31st Robert Geers Las Vegas, NV $2,940 32nd Marek Kaiser Kent, WA $2,940 33rd Ralph Chambers Montevallo, AL $2,940 34th Albert Burruano W Seneca, NY $2,940 35th Vince Burgio West Hills, CA $2,940 36th Chris Hinchcliffe Olympia, WA $2,940 37th Scott Silverman Lone Pine, CA $2,520 38th Kenneth Robison Wheelock, TX $2,520 39th Erik Seidel Las Vegas, NV $2,520 40th Robert Labella Henderson, NV $2,520 41st Joseph Zewin Las Vegas, NV $2,520 42nd Thomas Brownscombe Las Vegas, NV $2,520 43rd Hung Ly Garden Grove, CA $2,520 44th Tristan Baum New York, NY $2,520 45th David Dobrofsky Laguna Hills, CA $2,520 46th David Hayano Topanga, CA $2,100 47th Kenneth Regan Fargo, ND $2,100 48th Timothy Lyons Anchorage, AK $2,100 49th Scott Lazar Studio City, CA $2,100 50th Sima Swearingen Beverly Hills, CA $2,100 51st Elizabeth Evans Las Vegas, NV $2,100 52nd Irene Kristal Sherman Oaks, CA $2,100 53rd James Allen Glendale, CA $2,100 54th Andrew Song Toronto, Canada $2,100 55th Logan Trindade Los Angeles, CA $1,680 56th Robert Redman Liberty, MO $1,680 57th Jerome Puckett Ypsilanti, MI $1,680 58th John Hom San Rafael, CA $1,680 59th Chuck Naumann Mill Valley, CA $1,680 60th Andre Boyer Unknown $1,680 61st David Cossio El Paso, TX $1,680 62nd David Warga Tempe, AZ $1,680 63rd Tanya Lieu Las Vegas, NV $1,680

At Final Table, Aaron Katz Survives Cold Run of Cards, Heats Up, then Scorches His Rivals in Limit Hold’em Event

Editorial Note: There are rare moments when poker champions use their moment in the spotlight to push an agenda. Aaron Katz, the winner of the $1,500 buy-in Limit Hold’em event, is such a champion. Immediately after winning this event, he said: “I really want to mention this – the rounds being so much longer (than most tournaments) gave me the opportunity to play my game and not go broke. I didn’t get a playable hand for one hour (an eternity at a final table). This structure is, by far, the best I have ever played with. So, I want to point out that the structure of this tournament was one of the big reasons I ended up winning.”

One of the largest fields for a Limit Hold'em event in the illustrious 35-year history of the World Series of Poker gathered at the Horseshoe Casino in downtown Las Vegas to compete for nearly one million dollars in prize money.

After 595 players had been eliminated on day one, 13 finalists returned on the second day. Two hours after resuming play, the field was down to nine. Three of the finalists had previously played at a WSOP final table – AARON KATZ, and BLAIR RODMAN and “MIAMI JOHN” CERNUTO. Most noteworthy, longtime pro CERNUTO was making his 28th "cash" at the world's most prestigious poker tournament. His goal was to become one of only 34 millionaires in World Series history. With about $850,000 in lifetime earnings, a first or second place finish would put CERNUTO into the “millionaire category. AARON KATZ started out as the chip leader, with $214K.

Fifteen minutes into the finale, the shortest stack at the table, JIMMY TRAN exited in 9th place. TRAN's K-Q was topped by RICHARD GARDNER-BROWN's A-J. TRAN, from Las Vegas, received $16,780.

Spaniard CECILIA DE MORTENSEN, the wife of the 2001 world poker champion (Carlos Mortensen), has enjoyed her own prosperity on the tournament trail. She won a Limit Hold'em event at the Jack Binion World Poker Open last year, and on this day she was making her very first WSOP final table appearance. On her final hand, DE MORTENSEN flopped top pair with A-Q, but a 9 on the turn gave DAVID PINCUS a straight, which meant the pair from Spain would come up short in their bid to become only the third married couple to own "duel" gold bracelets.

Down to seven players, MEHRMAND would be the next to know the painful feeling of elimination. After losing a few pots, he raised “all in” from the blind with his remaining chips and BLAIR RODMAN called and caught a king on the flop – good for top pair. That was enough to bust MEHRMAND who received $33,560 for 7th place.

“MIAMI JOHN” CERNUTO looked to be a force as play became six-handed. But he ran cold at the worst possible time when he failed to drag a pot of any significance over a full round of play (one hour). CERNUTO watched in dismay as his respectable $100K stack dwindled to a point of destitution. He went out in sixth place and added $41,960 to his WSOP lifetime winnings (now, every close to $900,00).

BLAIR RODMAN has his own evolving WSOP resume, which includes 12 times in-the-money. To date, his best finish had been 4th in an Omaha High-Low event ten years ago. He got close, but failed to improve on that finish, by coming in 5th in this event. RODMAN was severely short on chips and committed himself holding an ace, after an ace flopped. However, RICHARD GARDNER-BROWN had an ace with a better kicker, and RODMAN was out. RODMAN’s $50,340 in prize money represents his best windfall ever.

It appeared GARDNER BROWN and PINCUS would battle for the championship, since they enjoyed significant chip advantages over KATZ and DO. Limits increased to $10K-20K.

BINH DO had been “all in” numerous times and survived each time. However, his luck finally ran out when he made his final stand with K-Q, which was steamrolled by AARON KATZ'’ A-Q. DO desperately needed to catch a king, which failed to ride to the rescue. KATZ’s no-pair ace-high took out another player, and the final table was down to the last three. BINH DO, from Vancouver, WA, collected $58,740.

After a short break, everything at the final table changed dramatically. AARON KATZ, who had sat patiently and waited for over an hour hoping desperately to catch a hand and gain back some momentum, went on one of the biggest rushes in recent memory. He won several decisive hands, and as each chip was stacked one-by-one in front of the talkative KATZ, he became more animated and confident. KATZ became relentless with the chip lead, raising and re-raising to the point his arm must have been exhausted. He won 25 of 30 pots at one point, and as day turned to night, KATZ's victory appeared to be a foregone conclusion. KATZ eventually got up to a 7 to 1 chip lead over both of his opponents.

Afterward, DAVID PINCUS insisted that he still had hope that he could come back and win at that point. “As long as you have a chip and a chair, there’s a chance, “ he said.

Unfortunately, there would be no dramatic comeback for PINCUS. He was “all in,” and lost to a flush, held by KATZ. PINCUS was playing in only his third ever WSOP event, and received $67,120.

“I’m just happy to be here,” he said later. “I’m not really a tournament player. I prefer cash games. Just to come to the final table of the World Series is really special for me.”

When heads-up play started, KATZ enjoyed an 8 to 1 chip lead over RICHARD GARDNER-BROWN. KATZ continued to pound away at his opponent, and there seemed to be nothing GARDNER-BROWN could do to stop the onslaught. The final hand was ugly for GARDNER-BROWN. He was forced to call the last bet of the night with 7-3 offsuit, not one of holdem’s premier hands. KATZ had so many chips, that his raise with 9-7 was certain, given the turn of events over the past hour. The final board of the tournament showed: 9-6-8-K-A KATZ had a pair of 9s and his first WSOP victory. GARDNER-BROWN had a second-place finish, worth $121,480.

“If someone had said (I was) going to end up at the final table, I would have jumped over the moon,” GARDNER-BROWN said with a smile. “It’s my first time over here in Vegas. This is only the second time I’ve played limit poker, so I’m ecstatic with the result.”

The new poker champion is AARON KATZ, a 30-year-old poker pro from Los Angeles. KATZ is accustomed to winning big money in side games played in cardrooms throughout Southern California, but this represents his biggest tournament cash, so far. He now has three cashes at the WSOP, with his best performance coming in the 2001 main event – where he finished 22nd and collected $39,000. KATZ’s most common games are $400-800 limit up to (white chip) $1,000-2,000 games, usually spread in the top section at Hollywood Park, the Commerce, and the Hustler.

“I really don’t play that many tournaments. But (some friends) explained to me that there’s a lot of equity in hold’em tournaments. So, I started playing in them,” said KATZ. I guess that ended up as a pretty wise decision.”

When asked about strategy, he added: “I folded just about every hand at one point when I was running cold. I must have folded (90 percent) of my hands because I could not catch a playable hand. But, things eventually turned around.”

KATZ joked afterward about running bad and being low on chips, then drinking a greyhound (cocktail) at the break. “I was bored and getting demoralized. So, I had a drink, a greyhound, during the break to change my luck – and I won the first hand, and the second. Then, I bluffed a few times and won. Once you get an image of (a winner) you can start firing a bit more and they often don’t call.”

With the fourth event of this year’s World Series now concluded, many top names have been seen on the money list. The last two winners – TED FORRST and AARON KATZ – are professional players.

“It seemed like for a while, many of the players winning tournaments were not professionals. Now, it’s kinda’ nice to see some of my friends who are professionals, and myself win a tournament. The terrific structure at the World Series really made all of this possible.”

-- by Nolan Dalla

2004 World Series of Poker