After
Lengthy 20-Year Wait, Atlantic City Pro
Cyndy Violette Wins First
World Series of Poker Gold Bracelet
--
Violette Overpowers Popular Local Pete
Kaufman
in Epic Four-Hour Heads-Up Match
I did it. I finally did it.
-- Cyndy Violette (after her first WSOP
victory)
It�s a clich� to say that the two finalists
in this tournament both �deserved to win.�
But if ever there was a situation where
two players earned a championship through
dedication and perseverance, it was the
$2,000 buy-in Seven-Card Stud High-Low
Split event at the 2004 World Series of
Poker.
CYNDY
VIOLETTE, a high-limit professional poker
player based in Atlantic City, opposed
PETE KAUFMAN, an 80-year-old local most
commonly seen playing in small-buy-in
tournaments in Las Vegas. Both players
effectively �earned� the event�s one and
only gold bracelet through decades of
persistence. Minutes, hours, days, weeks,
months, and years have literally been
spent by these two players at the poker
table making one strategic decision at
a time, surely resulting in the play of
tens of thousands, if not hundreds of
thousands of poker hands. The zenith of
each player�s lifetime of devotion to
the game of poker brought the two finalists
to a heads-up confrontation that clocked
in at well over four hours.
CYNDY VIOLETTE, now in her 40s, started
playing poker professionally at a time
when most young, good-looking twenty-somethings
were either graduating from college, or
getting married and starting families.
She started out dealing blackjack in downtown
Las Vegas back in 1982, and gradually
moved her way to the other side of the
table as a player. VIOLETTE played low-
to middle-limit poker around Las Vegas
and California during the poker boom on
the 80s. Just when it looked like VIOLETTE
might become poker�s youngest and brightest
star, she got married and quit playing
poker for a two-year period. Living in
Washington State, VIOLETTE was away from
the poker scene and gradually realized
she missed the game and the freedom of
the poker playing lifestyle.
After
her divorce, VIOLETTE�s life took a drastic
turn when she visited Atlantic City in
1993, shortly after poker was legalized.
VIOLETTE immediately packed her bags,
moved East, and made a fortune playing
$75-150 seven-card stud, which later evolved
into games with much higher stakes � sometimes
as high as $2,000-$4,000. She was featured
in national magazines and on television,
her photographic smile and humble sincerity,
a glaring contradiction to the image of
the �professional poker player.� Violette
stood out in the testosterone-laden Taj
Mahal like a flower inside steel mill.
Her 100-pound frame and Meg Ryan-like
looks fooled more than a few card players,
who took one look at VIOLETTE and wondered
what in the heck a woman was doing in
the big game.
Yet
for all of VIOLETTE�s financial accomplishments,
the one thing that had eluded her, at
least until this night, was the coveted
World Series of Poker gold bracelet �
the benchmark of achievement in the poker
world. VIOLETTE had cashed at the WSOP
eight times, and came close to winning
a few times. But, she always came up just
short.
VIOLETTE
came into the final tale second in chips
with $65K, to (then chip-leader) GENE
TIMBERLAKE, from Houston, with $102K.
Eliminations from the final table proceeded
as follows:
ROBERT
TURNER � Had plenty of chips with two
tables left, but then came in to the finale
with the second-lowest stack. On his last
hand, Turner had a pair of 7s for high
and a made-low, but lost when Cyndy Violette
and Joe Wynn cut up his chips with better
hands. Turner, a.k.a. �Chip Burner,� has
22 cashes at the WSOP, and over $350,000
in lifetime earnings. He added $11,540
to that amount for 8th place.
JOSEPH
WYNN � Two players were eliminated on
a single hand when Violette picked up
two pair and bested Wynn�s pair of 10s.
Wynn was the shortest stack at the time,
and took 7th place. Wynn, who cashed in
this event four years ago, received $16,080.
LANCE
EDELMAN � Busted on the same hand as Wynn
with two pair � jacks up. Violette�s kings
up prevailed, and the 28-year-old Las
Vegas poker pro was out as the 6th-place
finisher. Edelman collected $20,200.
ANDREW
BLUMEN � Desperately low on chips, Blumen
tried to complete a spade flush, but fell
short and finished with no pair. Violette
had busted yet another player, this time
with a powerhouse pair of 2s. Blumen,
an attorney with 4 cashes at the WSOP,
received $25,560 for 5th place.
JOHN
HOANG � Went out with two-pair, which
lost to Pete Kaufman�s trip-queens. Hoang
had a straight draw to go with tens and
nines, but missed on the end. Hoang, from
Alhambra, CA, won $30.920 in prize money.
GENER TIMBERLAKE � The Houstonian wearing
his trademark cowboy hat made a strong
run, and was favored by many to win when
the final table began. However, he seemed
to run out of gas when play became three-handed.
Timberlake, who plays big cash games,
had been here at the final table before,
coming up short a few years ago with a
second-place finish. This time, he was
knocked out when he ended up with two
pair � 10s and 5s which lost to Violette�s
aces up. �I play my best poker when the
deck is running over me,� said Timberlake
joking in a pre-tournament statement.
Unfortunately, the deck did not run over
Timberlake on this night.
�It�s
frustrating. It�s very frustrating,� Timberlake
said afterward. �How you feel depends
on how you get eliminated. I thought I
played well, but I got ambushed.�
When
asked about the significance of the WSOP
gold bracelet, Timberlake was even more
adamant: Two years ago, I got heads-up
in Limit Hold�em. We played for nearly
three hours. I was offered a deal to take
(extra money) in exchange for the bracelet.
Three times he offered me the money for
the bracelet, and he had the chip lead
each time. I turned him down. So, that�s
how I feel about the bracelet.�
When
heads-up play began, CYNDY VIOLETTE had
about a 2 to 1 chip advantage over PETE
KAUFMAN. Thus began a four-hour marathon,
filled with drama and suspense. Actually,
it looked as if the match would end very
quickly. VIOLETTE was clearly the more
aggressive player early, since KAUFMAN
wouldn�t call a bet unless he had what
looked to be a strong hand. This gave
VIOLETTE multiple bluffing opportunities,
and she took full advantage of KAUFMAN�s
passivity. Yet, on at least a dozen occasions,
KAUFMAN was �all in� and somehow managed
to survive.
One
of the most exciting moments occurred
about an hour into the duel when VIOLETTE
had a chance to scoop, needing a deuce
to win her first title. VIOLETTE slowly
peeled back the seventh and final card
and saw a vast white spot on the face.
It sure looked like a deuce. Milking the
moment for all it was worth, VIOLETTE
peeled the card up slowly and tabled �
a three! So, close, yet again.
VIOLETTE
had the chip lead during the match virtually
the entire way, wavering between an overwhelming
stack advantage at about 8 to 1, to rare
instances when KAUFMAN was nearly even
with his charming adversary. Just when
it seemed VIOLETTE would close the deal
and win, KAUFMAN rallied from the felt
and staged a comeback. Has this been a
boxing match, it would have been the equivalent
of one fighter being knocked down for
a �9 count� several times, then getting
up off the canvass and continuing the
fight for another ten rounds. Violette-Kaufman
meet Ali-Frazier.
There were several lighter moments. At
one point, VIOLETTE asked the tenacious
KAUFMAN, �Aren�t you tired yet? When it
looked as though KAUFMAN was about to
finally be defeated, tournament staff
began making dinner reservations at a
fancy local steakhouse. First, the 8 pm
dinner reservation for ten was moved to
8:30. Then, after KAUFMAN scooped a big
pot, the groups� dinner reservations were
moved back to 10 pm. By 11 pm, stomachs
were grumbling and staff hoped to make
the final seating at 11:30. Finally, at
2 am, some tournament staff were reportedly
seen at a local Taco Bell.
The
key hand of the finale took place when
VIOLETTE won a huge pot with a flush against
KAUFMAN�s trip jacks. VIOLETTE made a
flush on sixth street, and KAUFMAN had
a chance to seize the chip lead if he
could somehow make a full house on the
final card. KAUFMAN failed to improve
and reluctantly called VIOLETTE�s bet
on the end, losing a large portion of
his chips on the hand. After battling
back yet again, KAUFMAN finally went bust
with trips � this time three deuces. The
final hand gave VIOLETTE trip 4s versus
KAUFMAN�s trip 2s. Ten hours after coming
back on the second day, and over four
hours of heads-up play � it was all over.
KAUFMAN,
showing no signs of his age (80) walked
around the table and was the first to
congratulate a radiant VIOLETTE. The crowd
stood an applauded his gritty determination,
having witnessed one of the most enduring
struggles in the 35-year history of the
World Series of Poker. In the crowd were
many friends and associates who knew KAUFMAN,
having seen him around town in the small
buy-in tournaments held everyday in Las
Vegas. To say KAUFMAN is a �late bloomer�
would certainly be an understatement.
He made it into the money in the main
championship event three years ago (at
age 77), made a final table in Limit Hold�em
last year, and became the runner-up in
this event. It�s unknown whether or not
he�s the only octogenarian to make a WSOP
final table � but the prospect seems likely.
He collected $69,100.
CYNDY
VIOLETTE was visibly emotional about winning
her first championship title, and explained
what the victory meant to her: �This was
a personal breakthrough. I�ve felt like
there�s been a block against me winning
tournaments,� VIOLETTE said in a post-tournament
interview. �I�ve been working to break
through and so this victory is really
very important to me.�
�My
preparation this year has been different.
I started doing meditation, positive-affirmation,
and other things (to help me)�.I�ve been
a professional poker player for 18 years
and having a bracelet is something that�s
very important to me. Every time I call
my daughter, I have to tell her I went
out and didn�t make it. She keeps asking
me, �Mom, when are you going to win, already?�
My dad says the same thing. So, my family
started to feel frustrated, too.�
Fortunately,
VIOLETTE�s father was in the audience
and witnessed his duaghter�s personal
triumph. When asked if she had informed
her daughter about the breakthrough win,
VIOLETTE became even more emotional. She
said that was a special phone call she
had been waiting years to make. And with
that -- the interview with ESPN ended.
VIOLETTE picked up her cell phone and
began dialing. One can only imagine the
reaction back in New Jersey to VIOLETTE�s
wonderful surprise news.
CYNDY
VIOLETTE becomes the first female player
to win at the World Series since Jennifer
Harman won in 2002. She is the eighth
female gold bracelet winner in history.
-- by Nolan Dalla
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