Thomas
“Thunder” Keller Bolts to Victory,
Wins $382,020 in No-Limit Hold’em
Event
--
Becomes second 23-year-old to win gold
bracelet
at this year’s World Series
If you don�t know the name Thomas Keller
yet, you soon will. Keller, better known
as �Thunder,� blasted away 253 players
in the $5,000 buy-in No-Limit Texas hold�em
event and collected $382,020. At age 23,
he is one of the youngest players ever
to win a World Series of Poker gold bracelet.
Remarkably, his feat comes only 24-hours
after Scott Fischman, also aged 23, won
his second gold bracelet at this year�s
tournament. This is fast becoming �the
year of the young guns.�
Thunder�s
story is truly remarkable. He was born
in Ann Arbor, MI and graduated from Stanford
University, earning a degree in economics.
Shortly after graduating, Thunder gravitated
to Arizona and immediately began destroying
the games in and around Phoenix. It�s
not an exaggeration to say that from the
moment he arrived on the poker scene,
Thunder dominated the scene. He quickly
moved up from $15-30 to $30-60 to $50-100,
and beyond. By age 22, Thunder was playing
in the highest limit game in the state
of Arizona, routinely crushing the $100-200
game. Thunder�s dominance was so powerful,
he literally became a living legend within
the local scene. Men -- players old enough
to be his father who had played poker
for decades -- sang his praises.
�He�s
the best young poker player in the world,�
said one Arizona local � who goes by the
name Shoe. �I must have played with him
50 times, and fifty times he won. I�ve
never seen anything like him.�
Thunder
reportedly beat the game so consistently,
at one point he cornered the market on
every one of the casino�s $100 chips.
Instead of cashing out at the end of each
session, Thunder stashed his winnings
inside the trunk of his car. After several
months, Thunder�s car was awash in black
chips, rack after rack piled up inside
the back of the car.
Finally,
the day came when the big cash game players
wanted to play poker and there were no
$100 chips left inside the casino. Thunder
had locked up all the black chips -- estimated
to be worth well over a million dollars.
Then and there, Thunder sold off racks
of chips to the players, $10,000 at a
time, directly from the back of his car.
And
so, the date May 4th rolled around and
Thunder decided to enter his first-ever
tournament at the World Series of Poker.
Thunder�s name was absent amongst the
table chatter, as players and onlookers
looked around and began speculating who
might win the 13th event at this year�s
World Series. At one point during the
tournament, all eyes in the room were
on Chris Moneymaker, the defending world
poker champion. Moneymaker had ten percent
of all the chips in play when there were
60 players remaining (he busted out 32nd).
There were other well-known faces, too
� including Mickey Appleman, Billy Baxter,
John Bonetti, Johnny Chan, Eskimo Clark,
Chris Ferguson, Ted Forrest, Jennifer
Harman, Dan Harrington, Dan Heimiller,
Berry Johnston, John Juanda, Howard Lederer,
Toto Leonidas, O�Neil Longson, Carlos
Mortensen, Mike Matusow, Jim Meehan, Daniel
Negreanu, Men Nguyen, Minh Nguyen, Scotty
Nguyen, David Pham, Barry Shulman, Huck
Seed, Erik Seidel, Mike Sexton, Bob Stupak,
Dewey Tomko, Devil Fish Ulliott, Robert
Williamson � all of whom have won gold
bracelets. Also, actor Toby Maguire, known
for his roles in �Spiderman� and �Seabiscuit,�
played in the event.
Amidst
all the poker stars and a bona fide Hollywood
celebrity in the room, Thunder plodded
along and played his best game, and ended
up at the final table second in chips,
to James Sousa�s slight advantage. Players
at the final table busted out as follows:
9th
� FRANK SINOPOLI � The 32-year-old poker
player from Florida went out with 9-9
against pocket kings. Sinopoli was check-raised
after a flop of 7-6-2 and was �all-in.�
A nine failed to rescue Sinopoli � which
meant a 9th place finish worth $23,889.
8th
� PHILLIP MARMORSTEIN � Easily the most
colorful player of the bunch, Marmorstein
came dressed in lederhosen topped by an
Alpine cap and father, reminiscent of
the traditional dress of his na�ve Germany.
Marmorstein, who was born in Munich and
now lives in London, was toppled from
the final table when he lost with A-Q
to a pair of 8s. Marmorstein will soon
be passing through customs with $35,820,
ready to convert to Euros.
7th
� YOUNG PHAN � Seven-handed play continued
for two full hours, making it perhaps
one of the longest seven-handed no-limit
games in WSOP history. Phan, a native
of Vietnam, made his final stand with
A-K versus J-J. Phan failed to hit a pair
and exited in 7th place with $47,760.
Phan, who has been coming to the WSOP
for ten years, has two children and lives
in Irvine, CA.
6th
� PAUL �ESKIMO� CLARK � Clark is legendary
in poker circles as one of the game�s
most eccentric personalities. He gambles
high and never backs away from a proposition.
Clark was �all in� with A-10 against A-J
and failed to pull of the upset. Clark,
originally from New Orleans and now living
in Las Vegas, is a 15-year veteran of
the WSOP who has won three gold bracelets.
He came up short in this event and pocketed
$59,680.
5th
� SALIM �SAM� BATSHON � Originally from
the West Bank of Israel/Palestine, Batshon�s
best finish had been 18th in a No-Limit
Hold�em event here at the WSOP back in
2002. Batshon, who now lives in California,
took a bad beat when his A-8 lost to J-8
after a jack flopped. Batshon received
$71,620.
4th
� LEE WATKINSON � Watkinson, a 38-year-old
finalist from Tacoma, WA went out in 4th
place. He was short-stacked and went �all
in� with 2-2 � losing to a straight. He
collected $83,560.
3rd
� JAMES SOUSA � Sousa is originally from
Boston. He�s won over half-a-million dollars
playing poker during his lifetime, and
spends his extra time handicapping sports,
including baseball. Souosa went out in
third place with second pair, after the
flop came J-J-10. Sousa had a 10, but
lost to Thunder, who had a jack in his
hand and busted his opponent. Sousa took
home six figures -- $107,520.
When
heads-up play began, the chip counts were
as follows:
THUNDER:
$1,009,000
DEKNIJFF: $261,000
Deknijff
had his work cut out, facing a fearless
(and largely unknown) opponent, with a
massive chip advantage. Deknijff, who
goes by the nickname �The Knife� was sliced
and diced when he lost the last hand of
the night. He check-raised �all in� with
K-2 after the flop came 9-4-2. Thunder
wasn�t going anywhere, except directly
to his chips with pocket 10s, good for
an overpair. The board ended up showing
9-4-2-9-9, and Thunder won with the higher
full-house. The runner up, Martin Deknijff
is from Sweden. He collected $210,100.
Immediately
after the tournament, ESPN cameras rolled
and captured the birth of a new poker
star. �Thunder� had managed to do the
unthinkable � winning his first-ever attempt
at the World Series of Poker, playing
in what was one of the toughest No-Limit
Hold�em fields in history. He was also
forthright in discussing how he learned
to play poker so quickly.
�The
Internet is a great teaching tool,� Thunder
said afterward. �The players there don�t
get enough respect.�
When
asked about his goals at his first WSOP
tournament, Thunder replied: �I came in
trying to win it. I�ve always liked jewelry
and I wanted to win the gold bracelet.
Realistically, you want to make the final
table, but when we got down to four-handed,
that�s when I realized I would not be
happy unless I won (first place). And
now, here I am.�
Thomas
�Thunder� Keller, the newest World Series
of Poker champion, was joined at the final
table by his new wife. The happy couple
was married only two weeks ago. As he
departed the Las Vegas Horseshoe with
his new bride, it�s unknown whether or
not Thunder took his winnings in cash,
or check. Someone might want to check
inside Thunder�s trunk, and see.
SECOND-CHANCE
NIGHTLY TOURNAMENTS
– ONLY AT THE HORSESHOE!
Every
night at 10:45, the Horseshoe is hosting
a $225 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em Tournament.
This is the only late-night poker tournament
in Las Vegas. So far, the Second-Chance
Tournament has attracted seven former
World Champions, including the reigning
champion, Chris Moneymaker. Prize-money
for first place has exceed over $10,000
on most nights. Normally, two tables (18
places) are paid. “Late Night at
the World Series of Poker” is hosted
by the sweet-tempered Warren Karp.
-- by Nolan Dalla
|
