1. Justin Scott Detroit, MI $842,262 2. Farzad Rouhani Gaithersburg, MD $429,065 3. Bob Bright Las Vegas, NV $261,170 4. Gregory Glass Newport Beach, CA $186,550 5. Nathan Templeton Chattanooga, TN $149,240 6. Carl Olson Seattle, WA $130,585 7. Joshua Wakeman Sandwich, IL $111,930 8. Jason Johnson Coral Springs, FL $93,275 9. Bryan Micon Atlanta, GA $74,620 10. Paul Spano $55,965 11. Kendall Fukomoto $52,234 12. Chad Mizner $48,503 13. Jacob Stearley $44,772 14. Angelo Cordi $41,041 15. Deborah Lavigne $37,310 16. Tony Bloom $33,579 17. Stephen Jones $29,848 18. Ryan Fair $26,117 19. Narimal Parmar $22,386 20. Kayshan Muthy $22,386 21. Angel Garcia $22,386 22. Efrain Lopez $18,655 23. Dan Harrington $18,655 24. Graham Smith $18,655 25. Adam Marshall $14,924 26. Eduardo Sants $14,924 27. David Cesiano $14,924 28. Jamys Williams $11,193 29. Jose Severino $11,193 30. Brandon Adams $11,193 31. Eric Cloutier $11,193 32. Kevin Petersen $11,193 33. David Cai $11,193 34. Mike Hofeld $11,193 35. Ian Frazer $11,193 36. Logan Trinidade $11,193 37. Nathan Smith $9,328 38. Kevin Noel $9,328 39. Ylon Schwartz $9,328 40. Jeffrey Tahler $9,328 41. Ferit Gabriellson $9,328 42. John Spanavecchia $9,328 43. Alex Brenes $9,328 44. Michael McIntyre $9,328 45. Marc Karam $9,328 46. Joseph Nolan $9,328 47. Ben Armstrong $9,328 48. George Long $9,328 49. Michael Katz $9,328 50. Tony Pirone $9,328 51. Bobby Poe $9,328 52. Randy Holland $9,328 53. Ryan Armstrong $9,328 54. Tony Nasr $9,328 55. J.P. Vaughan $7,462 56. Mark Hope $7,462 57. Joe Myers $7,462 58. Chris Tsiprailidis $7,462 59. Ryan Moore $7,462 60. Michael Odeh $7,462 61. Ken Koski $7,462 62. T.J. Yurkanin $7,462 63. Hasan Habib $7,462 64. Chris Convery $7,462 65. Randall Witt $7,462 66. Mickey Mills $7,462 67. Karlo Lopez $7,462 68. John Lively $7,462 69. Michael Cribb $7,462 70. Uskov Alexander $7,462 71. Chris Reslock $7,462 72. Claude Marbeleu $7,462 73. Praz Bansi $7,462 74. Blake Mason $7,462 75. Chi Nguyen $7,462 76. Gary Benson $7,462 77. Eric Bush $7,462 78. Jason Levine $7,462 79. Patrick Pezzin $7,462 80. Jeff Han $7,462 81. Paul Andrzejewski $7,462 82. Derek Lawless $5,597 83. Robert Ohl $5,597 84. Les Juliano $5,597 85. David Crouse $5,597 86. Ron Stanley $5,597 87. Brian Fields $5,597 88. Jamad Rashid $5,597 89. Theo Nerantzinis $5,597 90. John Esposito $5,597 91. Mats Iremark $5,597 92. Marcus Collins $5,597 93. Charles Balesteri $5,597 94. Randy McKay $5,597 95. James Basar $5,597 96. Tony Bueti $5,597 97. Jarrod Ankeniman $5,597 98. David Stirling $5,597 99. Jennifer Tilly $5,597 100. Steve Karp $5,597 101. Robert Blechman $5,597 102. Robert Lendgren $5,597 103. Brett Shaffer $5,597 104. David Ross $5,597 105. Doris Homonicki $5,597 106. Richard Marshall $5,597 107. Jeremy Tutre $5,597 108. Zacharia Butler $5,597 109. Joseph Burkley $3,731 110. Dow Sjolestad $3,731 111. John Loisana $3,731 112. Andrew Stirling $3,731 113. Eric Nelson $3,731 114. Joseph Torres $3,731 115. Jeff Bryan $3,731 116. Roy Wilder $3,731 117. David Cussio $3,731 118. Mark Davis $3,731 119. Ron McMillan $3,731 120. Jeff Shulman $3,731 121. Claus Vallo $3,731 122. Harold Cohen $3,731 123. Walter Chambers $3,731 124. Kakoun Haim $3,731 125. Hutson Richarde $3,731 126. Jason Fleurant $3,731 127. James Kilaryian $3,731 128. Johnny Kitchens III $3,731 129. Jeppe Mikkelsen $3,731 130. Greg Hemphill $3,731 131. Jose Barbero $3,731 132. Vegard Nygard $3,731 133. Zack Stewart $3,731 134. Craig Gold $3,731 135. Javier Sarache $3,731 136. Jeffrey Johnson $3,731 137. James Routos $3,731 138. Cong Do $3,731 139. Marc Cipriano $3,731 140. Sean Willis $3,731 141. Tommy Hang $3,731 142. Richard E. Park $3,731 143. Jeffrey Lambert $3,731 144. Brian Malcolm $3,731 145. Anthony Consola $3,731 146. John Vincent $3,731 147. Roger Pape $3,731 148. Orlando Moretti $3,731 149. Amir Nurant $3,731 150. Michael Carroll $3,731 151. Alexander Dokunov $3,731 152. Ernesto Espino $3,731 153. Gregory Vamplew $3,731 154. John Bonetti $2,798 155. Stephen McClean $2,798 156. Adam Greens $2,798 157. Jason Barnett $2,798 158. Jan Selberg $2,798 159. Peter Longmore $2,798 160. Thomas Macey $2,798 161. Jess Susi $2,798 162. Richard Predham $2,798 163. Jeff Samuelson $2,798 164. Aram Zerounian $2,798 165. Craig Hartman $2,798 166. Kevin O'Sullivan $2,798 167. Jason Ryan $2,798 168. Alexander Lieu $2,798 169. Johan Dunder $2,798 170. Troy Van $2,798 171. Michael Clark $2,798 172. Keith Taylor $2,798 173. Mike Caro $2,798 174. Elijah Harrod $2,798 175. Kevin Paulk $2,798 176. Anahit Coalajian $2,798 177. Paul Quadie $2,798 178. Gino Criscione $2,798 179. Che Coye $2,798 180. Brett Marshall $2,798 181. Dan Gatto $2,798 182. Saul Prusoff $2,798 183. Alan Fidellow $2,798 184. Ali Zayeu $2,798 185. Farid Vaghefi $2,798 186. Jerome Saunders $2,798 187. Paul Tschernia $2,798 188. Gregory Cartin $2,798 189. Keith Block $2,798 190. Michelle Law $2,798 191. Patrick Heneghan $2,798 192. James Bates $1,632 193. Peter Calvo $1,632 194. Juan Moranjo $1,632 195. Keith Jacobs $1,632 196. Broc Segura $1,632 197. Emanuel Failla $1,632 198. Gregory Monaldi $1,632 199. Ryan Fronda $1,632 200. Mohammed Shafia $1,632 201. William Thorson $1,632 202. Samuel Silverman $1,632 203. Romain Feriolo $1,632

Easy Money

Justin Scott Wins Gold Bracelet and $842,262

Detroit poker player destroys final table in wire-to-wire victory

Las Vegas, NV – Justin Scott flew into Las Vegas and promptly lost his entire bankroll at a baccarat table. This would not be an unusual story, since millions of visitors arrive in the gambling capital of the world each year and then leave town with less money. Scott’s story is unique because out of the ashes of defeat in the pit, the 22-year-old professional poker player from Detroit scratched together a $2,000 buy-in for the No-Limit Hold’em championship and ended up winning $842,262 at the 2006 World Series of Poker, presented by Milwaukee’s Best Light.

Scott steamrolled over a staggering field of 2,050 players – one of the largest tournaments held thus far at the World Series. After 2,041 players had been eliminated over two long days, nine players took their seats at the final table upon the Rio poker stage. The nine finalists comprised largely an unknown group of poker players. None had previously won a WSOP gold bracelet. When play began, Justin Scott enjoyed a decisive chip lead. Nathan Templeton was second, with everyone else far off in the distance. ESPN television was on hand to film the seven-hour finale, which featured perhaps the most dominant victory by any player yet at this year’s WSOP.

Name - Chip Count - Seat #

Carl Olson 301,000 1
Nathan Templeton 832,000 2
Bob Bright 324,000 3
Jason Johnson 174,000 4
Farzad Rouhani 133,000 5
Greg Glass 267,000 6
Josh Wakeman 319,000 7
Justin Scott 1,500,000 8
Bryan Micon 224,000 9

Bryan Micon, a.k.a. “Neverwinpoker” fulfilled his namesake by being the first player to bust out. Micon took a horrible beat when his pocket kings were trounced by Jason Johnson’s ace-king. Johnson caught two devastating aces on the board to crush Micon. The Atlanta-based poker player took $74,620 for ninth place.

What goes around comes around. After busting-out Micon, Jason Johnson was himself eliminated when his ace-queen lost of Justin Scott’s ace-king. Neither player made a pair, but the king-kicker in Scott’s hand played and Johnson was knocked out. Johnson, a painter from Florida, cashed out for $93,275. Johnson’s elimination would mark the first of seven consecutive players to be eliminated by Scott. His play at this final table was so domineering, that as play progressed spectators could see the growing sense of frustration on the faces of Scott’s powerless opponents.

Dr. Josh Wakeman attended his first WSOP and this was his first-ever final table appearance. The chiropractor from Illinois had his back broken when his ace-jack was upset by Justin Scott’s queen-seven. Two queens flopped, and Dr. Wakeman was discharged in seventh place. In what has been a great year in poker for chiropractors (world champ Joe Hachem’s former profession), Wakeman collected $111,930 in prize money.

The Justin Scott express rolled on. Already ahead in chips by a 3 to 1 count, Scott’s total domination continued. Carl Olson went out next. His pocket sixes were flattened by Scott’s ace-seven. The proverbial toss-up situation with a pair versus two overcards went Scott’s way, when an ace flopped. Olson, a University of Washington graduate who now plays poker professionally, received $130,585 for sixth place.

If there was any thought that Justin Scott might eventually go card dead and take a few hits, it vanished when the chip leader busted out yet another player – this time holding pocket deuces. Scott’s deuce-deuce edged out Nathan Templeton’s queen-ten when the real estate investor from Tennessee failed to connect with a pair. Templeton’s share of the prize poll amounted to $149,240 for fifth place.

By this time, Justin Scott was an immovable force. He amassed the vast majority of the chips still in play, making the spectacle more of a contest for “second place” than any lingering suspense as to who would be the tournament winner. Scott obliterated yet another player when his ace-king broke Greg Glass’ king-ten. Both players flopped top pair when a king came. Drawing slim with two cards still to come, Glass failed to hit a ten. Was Glass half-full or half-empty? It depends on how one views a fourth-place finish. The 40-year-old poker player from California received $186,550 in prize money.

Things were not so bright for Bob Bright. The CEO of a stock trading firm in Las Vegas cashed out as the third-place finisher when his ace-six failed to connect with the board. Justin Scott’s pocket threes held up on the final hand, fizzling out Bright’s chances of a comeback victory. Bright, who won the “Best All-Around” player award at Caesar’s Las Vegas on this year’s WSOP Circuit, had to settle for $261,170 and third place, this time.

Looking at the chip discrepancy going into heads-up play, Farzad Rouhani must have felt like a stalled Hyundai sitting in the middle of the rail road tracks looking up at a roaring freight train. Rouhani was down nearly 13 to 1 – the single-largest lead going into heads-up play at the WSOP in over three years. Scott’s 3,800,000 in chips, festooned in dozens of neat columns looked like the Acropolis compared to Rouhani’s 290,000 shack.

Overlooked in Scott’s extraordinary victory was Rouhani’s remarkable survival skills. Perhaps no player had fewer key cards or bigger hands at this year’s World Series, and yet still managed to win more prize money ($429,065). On the previous day, when play had dwindled down to 35-players, Rouhani had less than 100,000 in chips and made a few key folds holding marginal hands which enabled him to survive longer in the tournament. Rouhani never had many chips in this event, yet still managed to outlast all but the last of 2,050 players.

Rouhani put all of his last chips into the pot as the favorite. His pocket eights were in the lead on the final hand of the tournament. But Scott simply could not be stopped. His queen-six made a pair when a queen landed on board, and Rouhani ended up as the last victim of what can only be described as poker’s closest thing to a massacre.

The new poker champion was interviewed afterward and began with a classic understatement. “I came in with 1.5 million,” Scott said. “I was able to use my chips to run over the table.”

Scott was complimentary toward his opponents, particularly Rouhani. “Maybe I’m going to write a poker book,” he said. “I’m going to put (Rouhani) in it for how to play short-handed in tournaments. He was simply amazing.”

Justin Scott’s trip to Las Vegas may have started off with a wimper. But it certainly ended with a bang. He went from being flat broke to $842,262 richer. “I’m going to pay off the rest of my dad’s home,” Scott said. “Then, I’m going to buy a home for myself.”

A bit of free advice – stay away from the baccarat tables.

By Nolan Dalla

Overall Tournament Statistics (through end of Event #30):

Total Entries to Date: 26,501

Total Prize Money Distributed: $56,462,207

2006 World Series of Poker