1. Mark Seif Incline Village, NV $611,145 2. Minh Nguyen Lake Elsinore, CA $329,975 3. Bill Gazes Miami, FL $202,790 4. Webber Kang Dallas, TX $175,010 5. Peter Lee Queens, NY $147,230 6. Greg ‘Fossilman’ Raymer Stonington, CT $119,450 7. Steve Carter Frisco, TX $91,670 8. Steve Rassi Morton, IL $63,895 9. David ‘Devilfish’ Ulliott Hull, England $47,225 10. Farzad Rouhani Germantown, MD $30,555 11. Markus Stranzinger Vienna, Austria $30,555 12. David Slowik Las Vegas, NV $30,555 13. Richard Sharpe Las Vegas, NV $25,000 14. Toto Leonidas Los Angeles, CA $25,000 15. Ylon Schwartz Brooklyn, NY $25,000 16. Massoud Nikjovian Alexandria, VA $19,445 17. Krisha Augerot Seattle, WA $19,445 18. Joshua Wienheimer Everson, WA $19,445 19. James Mordue Brentwood, CA $13,890 20. Walter Thompson, Jr. St. Croix, U.S.V.I. $13,890 21. Jason Comis Zepherhills, FL $13,890 22. Arkadiy Tsinis Las Vegas, NV $13,890 23. Long Duc Nguyen Las Vegas, NV $13,890 24. Eric Sonstegard Moorepark, CA $13,890 25. Chris Ferguson Pacific Palisades, CA $13,890 26. Asher Derei Sherman Oaks, CA $13,890 27. Joshua Weiss La Jolla, CA $13,890 28. James Quigley Sylvania, OH $9,725 29. Mark Comton Longview, TX $9,725 30. Karen Janowski Plainview, NY $9,725 31. Kris Fields Fairfield, OH $9,725 32. Dannie Perry Palos Verdes, CA $9,725 33. C T Law Nanthorpe, England $9,725 34. Jean Michael Kabbaj London, England $9,725 35. Joseph Nekrasz London, England $9,725 36. Domenico Italiano Bulleen, Australia $9,725 37. Manfred Daries Wiedo, Germany $8,055 38. Daniel Hicks Valrico, FL $8,055 39. Robert Spicuzzo Lexington, KY $8,055 40. Andrew Rosskamm New York, NY $8,055 41. Brian McCann Reseda, CA $8,055 42. Chad Persohn Schnellville, IN $8,055 43. Gabriel Nassif Paris, France $8,055 44. Stephen A Mazer Pontiac, Mayland $8,055 45. Tim Martz Butte, MT $8,055 46. Jeremy Harkin Vancouver, WA $6,530 47. Raul Paez Spain $6,530 48. Eugene Katchalov Brooklyn, NY $6,530 49. Beng Hooi Beh Dianella, West Australia $6,530 50. Jim Pechac Phoenix, AZ $6,530 51. Donald Vines Las Vegas, NV $6,530 52. Chris Ziajka Naples, FL $6,530 53. Louis Asmo Las Vegas, NV $6,530 54. Henry K. Nowokowski Austria $6,530 55. Guy Brockwell Las Vegas, NV $5,555 56. Rydin Staffan Sweden $5,555 57. Dick Carson Las Vegas, NV $5,555 58. Claus Nielsen Las Vegas, NV $5,555 59. Mark Muchnik Henderson, NV $5,555 60. Bradford Daugherty Las Vegas, NV $5,555 61. Leon Kunkel Hialeah, FL $5,555 62. Ki Chul Kim Duluth, GA $5,555 63. Donald Moseley Houston, TX $5,555 64. Sergio Ferruccio Ontario, Canada $4,860 65. Lee Markholt Eatonville, WA $4,860 66. Paul Keating New Hope, PA $4,860 67. Evelyn Ng Ontario, Canada $4,860 68. Michael Mizrachi Hollywood, FL $4,860 69. James Bradley Blountville, TN $4,860 70. Scott Jones Aurora, CO $4,860 71. Lin Wang White Plains, NY $4,860 72. Peter Carini Newark, CA $4,860 73. Jean Harlan Las Vegas, NV $4,165 74. Mario Orozco Carrollton, TX $4,165 75. Erik Royston Novi, MI $4,165 76. Jason Goldsmith Manchester, NH $4,165 77. Lloyd Shin Coppell, TX $4,165 78. Mike Wernick Birmingham, England $4,165 79. Marcello Del Grosso Ontario, Canada $4,165 80. Raymond Davis Commerce, CA $4,165 81. Jason Glatzer Manville, NJ $4,165 82. Randy McKay Finley, ND $3,470 83. Manuel Regis Los Angeles, CA $3,470 84. Dino Erardi Pacific Grove, CA $3,470 85. Mike Hofeld Egg Harbor Twnshp, NJ $3,470 86. Lee Biars Baltimore, MD $3,470 87. William Jesernig Kennewick, WA $3,470 88. Harold Kizzare Birmingham, AL $3,470 89. Jimmy Lindsey Midland, TX $3,470 90. Joanne Liu Palo Alto, CA $3,470 91. Robert Binelli London, England $3,055 92. John Capossela New Rochelle, NY $3,055 93. Jason Thalas Ft Lauderdale, FL $3,055 94. Adam Ali Allston, MA $3,055 95. Jason Chung Houston, TX $3,055 96. Jimmy Parker Yukon, OK $3,055 97. Kirk Maberry Lubbock, TX $3,055 98. Morgan Machina Mission Viejo, CA $3,055 99. James Lester, Jr. Cincinnati, OH $3,055 100. Owen Crowe Nova Scotia, Canada $3,055 101. Dave Colclough England $2,780 102. Mohammad Hamid Chicago, IL $2,780 103. Kenneth Pitts Las Vegas, NV $2,780 104. Roberto Macatangay Arcadia, CA $2,780 105. Arash Ghaneian Marina Del Rey, CA $2,780 106. Matthew Zoorob Colorado $2,780 107. Mark Edwards Inverness, CA $2,780 108. Randy Edmonson Columbu $2,780 109. Chris Dymond Gillette, WY $2,780 110. Maria Ho Arcadia, CA $2,780 111. Lonnie Alexander Las Vegas, NV $2,500 112. Ben Callihan Las Vegas, NV $2,500 113. Charles Pate Bainbridge, OH $2,500 114. Ken James Las Vegas, NV $2,500 115. Suju Abraham Wylie, TX $2,500 116. Gregg Turk Sterling, VA $2,500 117. Mehoi Vatan Orange, CA $2,500 118. Jeff Schwarze Carol Stream, IL $2,500 119. Chris McIntyre New London, CT $2,500 120. Ray Haskell Tampa, FL $2,500 121. Marcus Holling III Scottsdale, AZ $2,500 122. Troy Gabaldon Corona, CA $2,500 123. Bahram Kianfar Palm Desert, CA $2,500 124. Jygnesh Patel Glenview, IL $2,500 125. David Sterling W Palm Beach, FL $2,500 126. Wendy Birmingham Ft Worth, TX $2,500 127. Eric Fragas Kailua, HI $2,500 128. Joshua Tieman Lake Zurich, IL $2,500 129. Sima Swearingen Beverly Hills, CA $2,500 130. Robert Lloyd, Jr. Gilroy, CA $2,500 131. Joe Awada Las Vegas, NV $2,500 132. Richard Byrd Mobile, AL $2,500 133. Shawn Johnston Mississippi $2,500 134. David Sternbaum Houston, TX $2,500 135. Josh Schaefer Redwood City, CA $2,500 136. Tom Pniak Las Vegas, NV $2,500 137. John Wells II Corpus Christi, TX $2,500 138. Bobby Sanchez Las Vegas, NV $2,500 139. Darren Annis Margate, England $2,500 140. Luis Santoni Pembroke Pines, FL $2,500 141. William Rodriguez Scottsdale, AZ $2,220 142. Marc Williams Pueblo, CO $2,220 143. Donn Hobson Killbuck, OH $2,220 144. Oliver Butterick Las Vegas, NV $2,220 145. Alex Todd New York, NY $2,220 146. Larry Starkweather Ft Atkinson, WI $2,220 147. Michael Keohan Santa Monica, CA $2,220 148. Shawn Hamamoto Honolulu, HI $2,220 149. Keven Ho Gainsville, FL $2,220 150. Hon Lee Bell Gardens, CA $2,220 151. Gregg Goldberg Orland Park, IL $2,220 152. Jose Soto Bullhead City, AZ $2,220 153. Derrick Huang Addison, TX $2,220 154. Cliff Cantor Los Angeles, CA $2,220 155. Lewis Conte Coral Springs, FL $2,220 156. Jeff Drury Chandler, AZ $2,220 157. Kelly Johnson San Jose, CA $2,220 158. Bob Hume Orlando, FL $2,220 159. Barney Bronson McKinney, TX $2,220 160. Michael Gamboni Scottsdale, AZ $2,220 161. Robert Goldfarb Scottsdale, AZ $2,220 162. John Galbraith Las Vegas, NV $2,220 163. Dan Schmiech Houston, TX $2,220 164. Mickey Finn Germany $2,220 165. Elia Ahmadian Washington DC $2,220 166. Billy Westom Longview, WA $2,220 167. Carmel Petresco Las Vegas, NV $2,220 168. Jon Friedberg Las Vegas, NV $2,220 169. Thomas Vinas Houston, TX $2,220 170. Joseph Greiner Mahopac, NY $2,220 171. Steven Harper Orlando, FL $1,945 172. Steven Hoefs Avalon, CA $1,945 173. Robert Menake Las Vegas, NV $1,945 174. Aviu Shahaf New York, NY $1,945 175. Ronald Blenski Las Vegas, NV $1,945 176. Randy Pfeifer Hamburg, NY $1,945 177. Matthew Tabb Toledo, OH $1,945 178. Stephen Gin Ontario, Canada $1,945 179. Peter Alson Brooklyn, NY $1,945 180. David Taylor Elk Ridge, MD $1,945 181. Niel Wright Leeds, England $1,945 182. Tom Winter Fremont, NE $1,945 183. Phi Nguyen El Monte, CA $1,945 184. Michael Park Pasadena, CA $1,945 185. Greg Hobson Bend, OR $1,945 186. Randy Oser White Plains, NY $1,945 187. Steven Fuhrman Naples, FL $1,945 188. Gary Gregson Laurel, MD $1,945 189. Suzanne Carrillo El Paso, TX $1,945 190. C Jassinowsky Johannesburg, South Africa $1,945 191. John Kurtzeborn Arnold, MO $1,945 192. Charles Satterwate Houston, TX $1,945 193. Peter Sayet Ft Lauderdale, FL $1,945 194. Paul Magriel Las Vegas, NV $1,945 195. Dusty Garcia Clinton, UT $1,945 196. Christopher Zurawski Glenn Ellyn, IL $1,945 197. Paul Niemela Las Vegas, NV $1,945 198. James Massey Cleburne, TX $1,945 199. Christian Thomas Las Vegas, NV $1,945 200. David Singer Mamroneck, NY $1,945

Seif on the Mark:
Mark Seif wins no-limit hold’em championship, earns second gold bracelet this week!

How great a week has this been for Mark Seif? Just six days ago, he won his first gold bracelet ever in the $1,500 buy-in Limit Hold’em Shootout. Seif collected $181,330 for his victory.

A few days later, Seif entered the $1,500 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em event. If climbing the first mountain was high (with 450 entries) this one was poker’s version of Mount Everest. A whopping 2,013 players entered Event #22, making it the third-largest live tournament in history. Seif plastered through a gigantic field, at various points making a mockery of the tournament with his mammoth chip stacks. For instance – in the middle of Day Two, Seif had accumulated so many chips that his innumerable stacks swelled across three table positions. Being stuck next to Mark Seif at the table was akin to sitting in coach next to a hungry elephant on a cross-country flight.

If there was a downside to the elephant man’s first WSOP win earlier this week, it was that it came at 5:00 o’clock in the morning. The victory might have come in prime time for die-hard poker fans following the live Internet coverage over in Kyrgystan, but the remainder of the poker world was snoozing away. Much later in the day, friends of Mark Seif would learn of the former Los Angeles attorney’s breakthrough victory in the world’s most prestigious poker tournament.

This time, Seif did a victory dance on the most majestic of poker stages – at the World Series of Poker in front of the bright lights of ESPN television cameras. Better still, he defeated an all-star poker lineup. In an event which is sure to top ratings when it’s later shown on ESPN, Seif arrived as one of four former gold bracelet winners. It was a stellar finale which included 2004 world champion Greg Raymer (one bracelet), charismatic English playboy David ‘Devilfish’ Ulliott (one bracelet), rock-solid tournament pro Minh Nguyen (two bracelets), and Mark Seif himself arriving as the newest member of the WSOP club of elites (one bracelet, working on number two). The remaining group of players was a colorful cast of characters and talent guaranteed to add flavor to an eclectic final table. At the start of Day Three, players and chip counts were as follows:

THE FINAL TABLE:

SEAT 1: Minh Nguyen 378,000
SEAT 2: David ‘Devil Fish’ Ulliott 338,000
SEAT 3: Steve Rassi 325,000
SEAT 4: Webber Kang 166,000
SEAT 5: Steve Carter 263,000
SEAT 6: Billy Gazes 181,000
SEAT 7: Peter Lee 461,000
SEAT 8: Greg Raymer 613,000
SEAT 9: Mark Seif 305,000

Players were eliminated in the following order:

9th Place – This was David ‘Devilfish’ Ulliott’s second trip to the final table at this year’s WSOP. He finished third in Event #2 – good for $232,205 in prize money. The former London-based jeweler turned-poker pro played a bit too aggressively early, by trying to bluff Greg Raymer out of a big pot. That cost Devilfish over half of his stack when Raymer called down Ulliott with a small pair. About half an hour later, Devilfish tried to pick up the pot with A-7 and got clobbered by Minh Nguyen who made a straight. Dapper Devilfish, wearing a custom-tailored suit waltzed away with $47,225 for 9th place.

8th Place – After Mark Seif seized the chip lead away from Raymer, Steve Rassi lost his last 240,000 in chips with 8-8. Webber Kang covered the raise with A-K and watched with delight when a king fell on the turn. That eliminated the second player at the table. Rassi, a coin dealer from Illinois, added some real currency to his private collection -- $63,895 for 8th place.

7th Place – Steve Carter was desperately low on chips with only 55,000 and tried to take the pot with a marginal hand, which was called down by Bill Gazes. A pair of sixes knocked Cater out of the tournament. The Texas-based owner of a retail store which sells poker supplies collected $91,670 as the 7th-place finisher.

6th Place – Greg ‘Fossilman’ Raymer has certainly been a wonderful representative for game of poker during his year-long reign as world poker champion. He has traveled around the world and made over a hundred public appearances since his 2004 WSOP victory. This was the Fossilman’s first WSOP final-table appearance since last year, and for a time it looked as though he might win his second gold bracelet. But after an early rush, Raymer lost most of his chips and ended up with a disappointing 6th-place finish. Raymer lost a ‘coin flip’ situation with 7-7 to Bill Gazes A-K. That was the first crushing blow. Then, he lost with 3-3 to Webber Kang’s A-J. The one-two punch knocked the Fossilman out of the ring, with $119,450 in prize money.

5th Place – Peter Lee took a tough beat when he moved ‘all in’ holding the best hand with A-7 after the flop came 7-6-4. Mark Seif had plenty of chips with which to call the 200,000 bet. His 9-8 with two overcards to Lee’s pair gave him an outside straight draw. Seif missed the straight but caught a nine on the river to send Lee packing. For Peter Lee, a student from Queens, NY, this was his first time to play at the WSOP. He earned $147,230 – not bad for a first-time effort.

4th Place – The previous big pot gave Seif over a million in chips. Then, what was certainly the biggest hand of the tournament, and arguably the most exciting hand of this year’s WSOP took place. Webber Kang was dealt 10-10. Minh Nguyen was dealt J-J. Bill Gazes was dealt A-K. Kang raised, Nguyen re-raised and Gazes called Nguyen’s ‘all in.’ The flop left the audience in shock. J-10-2. The astonishing spectacle of seeing set-over-set, with another player on a straight draw – with so much money at stake, no less – brought everyone in the room to their feet. Two blanks fell on the turn and river and Minh Nguyen, at least for the moment, had leaped two spots up the pay scale and was guaranteed an extra $150,000. Meanwhile, Webber Kang, who works as a Dallas-based public relations and marketing director, staggered away from the final table as though he’d been struck by lightening. Fourth-place paid $175,010.

3rd Place – It’s a myth that lightening doesn’t strike twice in the same place. Ask Bill Gazes. The dream crushing hand eliminated Gazes as the 3rd place finisher. Gazes, who has finished high in the money several times at the WSOP and has a number of major tournament wins in recent years, collected $202,790.

2nd Place – After the smoke cleared, Seif enjoyed a slight chip lead with about 1.7 million to Nguyen’s 1.3 million. With a WSOP gold bracelet and over a quarter-million dollars on the line (the difference between first and second was $291,000), Nguyen enjoyed a small rush and drew close to even in chips. But over the next twenty minutes, Seif regained his momentum and was clearly ‘in the zone’ when the final hand was dealt:
SEIF – K-K
NGUYEN – A-10 (diamonds)
The flop came K-7-4 with no diamonds. The turn brought a 9. That left Nguyen ‘all in’ and drawing dead. Minh Nguyen was a gracious runner up. He collected $329,975 for second place.

1st Place – The winner was Mark Seif, a 37-year-old professional poker player from Incline Village, NV (located on Lake Tahoe). Seif has played poker as a pro for about five years.

Back in 2001, Seif quit his regular job, as a highly-successful defense attorney. In retrospect, that decision turned out to be a wise one. He won $611,145 for first place. With the previous win amounting to a couple of hundred grand, the total of Seif’s tournament earnings now total $792,475 – plus two gold and diamond bracelets.

Not bad for a week’s ‘work.’

Official Report by Nolan Dalla – World Series of Poker Media Director

World Series of Poker Circuit Director of Operations – Ken Lambert
World Series of Poker Tournament Director – John Grooms
Rio Poker Room Manager – Michael Matts
Rio Poker Tournament Director – Robert Daily

2005 World Series of Poker