2005 World Series of Poker - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The 2005 World Series of Poker
World Series of Poker
The World Series of Poker is a world-renowned series of poker tournaments held annually in Las Vegas and, since 2005, sponsored by Harrah's Entertainment...

opened play on June 2, continuing through the Main Event No Limit World Championship starting on July 7. The conclusion of the Main Event on July 15 marked the close of play, and the largest prize in sports and/or television history at the time ($7,500,000) was awarded to the winner. ESPN

ESPN

Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....

's broadcast began July 19 with coverage of WSOP Circuit Tournaments, and coverage of the Main Event began October 11 and ended November 15.

All events were held at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino

Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino

The Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino is located off the Las Vegas Strip in the unincorporated area of Paradise, Nevada, USA. It is better known as The Rio and is owned and operated by Caesars Entertainment Inc. The Rio was the first all suite resort in the Las Vegas area...

with the exception of the final two days of the Main Event which were held at Binion's Horseshoe

Binion's Horseshoe

Binion's Horseshoe, also known as the Horseshoe Casino or simply The Horseshoe, was a hotel and casino located in downtown Las Vegas, Nevada on what is now the Fremont Street Experience. The casino was named for its founder, Benny Binion and had 366 rooms, three restaurants and a rooftop pool.The...

. This marked the last time the final table was held at Binion's Horseshoe.

Events

Number	Event	Winner	Prize	Runner-up	Results
1	$500 Casino Employee's No Limit Betting (poker) In the game of poker, the play largely centers on the act of betting, and as such, a protocol has been developed to speed up play, lessen confusion, and increase security while playing... Hold'em	Andy Nguyen	$83,390	Danilo Flores	Results
2	$1,500 No Limit Hold'em	Allen Cunningham Allen Cunningham Allen Cunningham is an American professional poker player.Cunningham studied civil engineering at UCLA before dropping out of school to play poker professionally. At the age of 18, he began playing at in Indian casinos...	$725,405	Scott Fischman Scott Fischman Scott Fischman is an American professional poker player based in Las Vegas, Nevada.Fischman grew up in South Jersey and moved to Las Vegas at the age of 12. He was introduced to poker by a schoolfriend and went on to become a poker dealer at the Sahara and the Mirage...	Results
3	$1,500 Pot Limit Betting (poker) In the game of poker, the play largely centers on the act of betting, and as such, a protocol has been developed to speed up play, lessen confusion, and increase security while playing... Hold'em	Thom Werthmann	$369,535	Layne Flack Layne Flack Layne Flack is an American professional poker player, residing in Montana and Nevada.He met up with Johnny Chan who helped him improve his game and, following a big loss, encouraged Flack to ensure he had a lot of rest before a tournament...	Results
4	$1,500 Limit Betting (poker) In the game of poker, the play largely centers on the act of betting, and as such, a protocol has been developed to speed up play, lessen confusion, and increase security while playing... Hold-em	Eric Froehlich Eric Froehlich Eric Froehlich is an American professional poker player, based in Las Vegas, Nevada. As of 2009, Froehlich's total live tournament winnings exceed $1,300,000. His 16 cashes at the WSOP account for $867,783 of those winnings....	$361,910	Jason Steinhorn	Results
5	$1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo Split	Pat Poels Pat Poels Patrick Poels is an American professional poker player from Mesa, Arizona and a two-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner....	$270,100	John Lukas John Lukas John Lukas is an American poker player who has won two bracelets at the World Series of Poker.He won his first bacelet in 1983, in the $1,000 Limit Razz event, earning $43,000. Lukas won his second bracelet in 1985, in the $1,000 Limit Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo event, earning $74,500.Since then, he...	Results
6	$2,500 Short-Handed No Limit Hold'em	Isaac Galazan	$315,125	Harry Demetriou Harry Demetriou Charidimos Demetriou is a British poker player.-World Series of Poker:Demetriou first became known in poker circles for his 3rd place finish at the $2,000 no limit Texas hold 'em tournament at the 2002 World Series of Poker won by Layne Flack...	Results
7	$1,000 No Limit Hold'Em	Michael Gracz Michael Gracz Maciek Gracz is a Polish professional poker player, based in Raleigh, North Carolina.Gracz learned poker from his father and played regularly whilst studying at North Carolina State University....	$594,460	C. T. Law	Results
8	$1,500 Seven-Card Stud Seven-card stud Seven-card stud is a variant of stud poker. Until the recent increase in popularity of Texas hold 'em, seven-card stud was the most popular poker variant in home games across the United States, and in casinos in the eastern part of the country. Two to eight players is common, though eight may...	Cliff Josephy Cliff Josephy Cliff D. Josephy is an American professional poker player from Syosset, New York.At the 2005 World Series of Poker , Josephy won a bracelet in the $1,500 seven-card stud event, defeating Kirill Gerasimov in the final heads-up confrontation...	$192,150	Kirill Gerasimov Kirill Gerasimov Kirill Gerasimov is a Russian professional poker player.Gerasimov worked as an insurance salesman in Moscow, and started entering poker tournaments throughout Europe in 2001...	Results
9	$2,000 No Limit Hold 'Em	Erik Seidel Erik Seidel Erik Seidel is an American professional poker player from Las Vegas, Nevada who has won eight World Series of Poker bracelets and a World Poker Tour title.In 2010, he was inducted as a member of the Poker Hall of Fame.-Early life:...	$611,795	Cyndy Violette Cyndy Violette Cyndy Violette is an American professional poker player who won a World Series of Poker bracelet in 2004.-Early life:...	Results
10	$2,000 Limit Hold'em	Reza Payvar	$303,610	Toto Leonidas Toto Leonidas Alfredo C. "Toto" Leonidas is an American Poker player with over $3,200,000 in live tournament lifetime winnings. His 24 cashes as the WSOP account for $812,218 of those winnings....	Results
11	$2,000 Pot Limit Hold'Em	Edward Moncada	$298,070	Steven Hudak	Results
12	$2,000 Pot Limit Omaha	Josh Arieh Josh Arieh Joshua Arieh is an American professional poker player. Arieh has been competing in poker competitions since 1999...	$381,600	Chris Ferguson Chris Ferguson Christopher Philip Ferguson is an American professional poker player. He has won five World Series of Poker events, including the 2000 WSOP Main Event, and the 2008 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship. On September 20, 2011, the U.S...	Results
13	$5,000 No Limit Hold'Em	T. J. Cloutier T. J. Cloutier Thomas James "T.J." Cloutier is a professional poker player from Richardson, Texas. He was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2006.-Early years:...	$657,100	Steve Zoine	Results
14	$1,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo Split	Steve Hohn	$156,985	Mike Wattel	Results
15	$1,500 Limit Hold' Em Shootout	Mark Seif Mark Seif Mark Seif is an Egyptian American attorney and professional poker player.-Personal life:Seif was born in Cairo, Egypt before moving with his family at the age of two, to Southern California...	$181,330	William Shaw	Results
16	$1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout	Anthony Reategui Anthony Reategui Anthony Reategui is a professional poker player from Chandler, Arizona. A graduate from Chandler High School, Anthony worked at a Mesa, Arizona car washing facility before his poker career...	$269,100	Paul Kroh	Results
17	$2,500 Limit Hold 'Em	Quinn Do Quinn Do Quinn Do is an American professional poker player, a restaurant owner, and a World Series of Poker bracelet winner with multiple live tournament results adding up to over $1.9 million in career earnings....	$265,975	Qi Chi Chang	Results
18	$1,500 Pot Limit Omaha	Barry Greenstein Barry Greenstein Barry Greenstein is a professional poker player. He has won a number of major events, including three at the World Series of Poker and two on the World Poker Tour. Greenstein donates his profit from tournament winnings to charities, primarily Children, Incorporated, earning him the nickname "the...	$128,505	Paul Vinci	Results
19	$2,000 Seven-Card Stud Hi-Lo Split	Denis Ethier	$160,682	Chad Brown Chad Brown (poker player) Chad Lewis Brown is an American actor, poker player and color commentator, based in Los Angeles, California.-Early life & acting career:...	Results
20	$5,000 Pot Limit Hold 'Em	Brian Wilson Brian Wilson (poker player) Brian "Rookie" Wilson is an American real estate developer and poker player, originally from Rockford, Illinois, now based in Fort Myers, Florida....	$370,685	John Gale John Gale (poker player) John Gale is an English professional poker based in Bushey, Hertfordshire.Gale is a relative newcomer to poker, having only begun playing Texas hold 'em in mid-2004. He first made a name for himself by qualifying for the World Poker Tour 2005 PokerStars Caribbean Poker Adventure tournament in The...	Results
21	$2,500 Omaha Hi-Lo Split	Todd Brunson Todd Brunson Todd Alan Brunson is an American professional poker player and the son of poker legend Doyle Brunson.Although Brunson's father Doyle is a poker player, Brunson did not learn the game when he was young. It was not until he was studying law at Texas Tech University that he learned on his own how to...	$255,945	Allen Kessler	Results
22	$1,500 No Limit Hold'em	Mark Seif Mark Seif Mark Seif is an Egyptian American attorney and professional poker player.-Personal life:Seif was born in Cairo, Egypt before moving with his family at the age of two, to Southern California...	$611,145	Minh Nguyen Minh Nguyen Minh Nguyen is a Vietnamese American professional poker player is a two-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner, residing in Bell Gardens, California....	Results
23	$5,000 Seven-Card Stud	Jan Vang Sørensen	$293,275	Keith Sexton	Results
24	$2,500 No Limit Hold'em	Farzad Bonyadi Farzad Bonyadi Farzad "Freddy" Bonyadi is an Iranian professional poker player based in Aliso Viejo, California, who has won 3 World Series of Poker bracelets....	$594,960	Lars Bonding	Results
25	$2,500 Pot Limit Hold'Em	Johnny Chan Johnny Chan (poker player) Johnny Chan rather than his Chinese birth name. born in Guangzhou, China in 1957) is a Chinese American professional poker player. He has won 10 World Series of Poker bracelets, including 1987 and 1988 World Series of Poker main events consecutively....	$303,025	Phil Laak Phil Laak Philip "Phil" C. Laak is a professional poker player, now residing in Los Angeles, California. Laak holds a World Poker Tour title, a World Series of Poker bracelet and has appeared on numerous nationally-aired television shows.-Early life:...	Results
26	$5,000 Pot Limit Omaha	Phil Ivey Phil Ivey Phillip Dennis "Phil" Ivey Jr. is an American professional poker player who has won eight World Series of Poker bracelets, one World Poker Tour title and appeared at nine World Poker Tour final tables...	$635,603	Robert Williamson III Robert Williamson III Robert Williamson III is an American poker player from Dallas, Texas.Williamson grew up with three sisters and his best friend, Chris Caywood in Granbury, Texas and received B.B.A. degrees in finance and real estate from Angelo State University in San Angelo.He began playing aged 10 or 11, after...	Results
27	$1,000 Ladies' No Limit Hold'em	Jennifer Tilly Jennifer Tilly Jennifer Tilly is an American actress and poker player. She is an Academy Award nominee, and a World Series of Poker Ladies' Event bracelet winner. She is the older sister of actress Meg Tilly.-Early life:...	$158,335	Anh Le	Results
28	$5,000 Limit Hold'em	Dan Schmiech	$404,585	Gabe Kaplan Gabe Kaplan Gabriel W. "Gabe" Kaplan is an American comedian, actor, poker commentator, and professional poker player.He was born in Brooklyn, New York...	Results
29	$2,000 No Limit Hold 'Em	Lawrence Gosney	$483,195	Jarl Lindholt	Results
30	$1,500 Seven-Card Razz Razz (poker) Razz is a form of stud poker that is normally played for ace-to-five low . The object of Razz is to make the lowest possible five-card hand from the seven cards you are dealt. In Razz, straights and flushes do not count against the player for low, and the ace usually plays low...	O'Neil Longson O'Neil Longson O'Neil Longson is an American professional poker player from Las Vegas, Nevada, who has won three bracelets at the World Series of Poker.-Poker career:...	$125,690	Bruno Fitoussi Bruno Fitoussi Bruno Fitoussi is a French professional poker player from Paris.Fitoussi's first televised poker outing was on the original poker show Late Night Poker...	Results
31	$5,000 Short-Handed No Limit Hold'em	Doyle Brunson Doyle Brunson Doyle F. Brunson is an American professional poker player who has played professionally for over 50 years. He is the first two-time World Series of Poker main event champion to win consecutively, a Poker Hall of Fame inductee, and the author of several books on poker.Brunson is the first player to...	$367,800	Minh Ly Minh Ly Minh Hoang Ly is a Vietnamese-American professional poker player based in Temple City, California. He is a regular in "The Big Game" and is married to Lu Binh....	Results
32	$5,000 Omaha Hi-Lo Split	David Chiu David Chiu (poker player) David Chiu is a Chinese American professional poker player, based in Rowland Heights, California, who has won four World Series of Poker bracelets. He is also the winner of the 2008 World Poker Tour's WPT World Championship, and the first winner of the Tournament of Champions of Poker.Chiu was a...	$347,410	Russell Salzer	Results
33	$3,000 No Limit Hold'em	Andre Boyer Andre Boyer (poker player) Andre Boyer is a French-Canadian poker player from Acton Vale in Quebec, Canada, who has won a World Series of Poker bracelet.Boyer first cashed in the World Series of Poker in 1996, and also made the $10,000 No Limit Hold'em Main Event final table that year. He finished in 6th place, winning...	$682,810	Matthew Glantz Matthew Glantz Matthew "Matt" Glantz is a professional poker player from Lafayette Hill, Pennsylvania.Glantz has had success at the World Series of Poker and other poker tournaments...	Results
34	$1,000 Seniors' No Limit Hold'em	Paul McKinney Paul McKinney Paul "Cigar" McKinney is an American poker player who won a World Series of Poker bracelet at the age of 80.- Poker Career :...	$202,725	Robert Hume	Results
35	$10,000 Pot Limit Omaha	Rafi Amit Rafi Amit Rafi Amit , is an Israeli professional poker player, from Holon.Amit has won two bracelets at the World Series of Poker, the first in the 2005 Pot limit Omaha and the second in 2007 in the $1,000 Deuce to Seven Triple Draw Lowball with rebuys event....	$511,835	Vinny Vinh Vinny Vinh Quoc Al "Vinny" Vinh is an Vietnamese American professional poker player with over $2.4 Million in tournament winnings, who became well known at the 2007 World Series of Poker while playing in the $1,000 buy-in No Limit Hold'em event, when he failed to return on the second day of play as the chip...	Results
36	$3,000 Limit Hold'em	Todd Witteles Todd Witteles Todd Witteles is an American professional poker player. A former computer scientist, Witteles made poker his full-time pursuit in 2003.-Poker career:...	$347,385	Daryl Mixan	Results
37	$1,000 No Limit Hold'em	Jiang Chen	$611,015	Paul Deng	Results
38	$1,000 Main Event Satellite
39	$5,000 No Limit 2 to 7 Draw Draw (poker) A poker player is drawing if they have a hand that is incomplete and needs further cards to become valuable. The hand itself is called a draw or drawing hand. For example, in seven-card stud, if four of a player's first five cards are all spades, but the hand is otherwise weak, they are drawing to... Lowball Lowball (poker) Some forms of poker, often called lowball, sometimes called low poker, reward poor poker hands . There are four common variations on this idea, differing in whether aces are treated as high cards or low cards, and whether or not straights and flushes are used. The methods are:* Ace-to-five low:...	David Grey David Grey David F. Grey is an American professional poker player from Henderson, Nevada.Grey is best known as a cash-game player, but he also has several notable poker tournament wins to his name....	$365,135	John Hennigan John Hennigan (poker player) John Hennigan is an American professional poker player from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who, in his career, has won two World Series of Poker bracelets and a World Poker Tour title....	Results
40	$1,000 Main Event Satellite
41	Media/Celebrity Charity Event	Randy Boman	$10,000	Jake Witcher	Results
42	$10,000 World Championship No Limit Hold'em Main Event	Joe Hachem Joe Hachem Joseph Hachem is a Lebanese-Australian professional poker player known for winning the main event of the 2005 World Series of Poker. He was the first Australian to win the main event, which earned him $7.5 million, then a record for all-time biggest tournament prize.The next year, Hachem won his...	$7,500,000	Steve Dannenmann Steve Dannenmann Steven Paul "Steve" Dannenmann is a CPA from Severn, Maryland who gained attention in the poker world for his success in the 2005 World Series of Poker, finishing runner-up to Joe Hachem in the Main Event in his first attempt...	Results
43	$1,500 No Limit Hold'em	Ron Kirk	$321,520	Adam White	Results
44	$1,000 No Limit Hold'em	John Pires	$220,935	Eli Balas Eli Balas Eli Balas is an American professional poker player, based in Las Vegas, Nevada.Balas has won 3 bracelets at the World Series of Poker . He has also finished 2nd in 5 WSOP preliminary events....	Results
45	$1,000 No Limit Hold'em	Willie Tann Willie Tann Willie "The Dice Man" Tann is an English professional poker player.Tann was born in Singapore and came to England to study law in the 1960s.Tann has numerous nicknames on the poker circuit...	$188,335	Matthew Smith	Results

Main Event

There were 5,619 entrants to the main event. Each paid $10,000 to enter what was the largest poker tournament ever played in a brick and mortar casino at the time. Many entrants won their seat in online poker tournaments.

Final table

Place	Name	Prize
1st	Joe Hachem Joe Hachem Joseph Hachem is a Lebanese-Australian professional poker player known for winning the main event of the 2005 World Series of Poker. He was the first Australian to win the main event, which earned him $7.5 million, then a record for all-time biggest tournament prize.The next year, Hachem won his...	$7,500,000
2nd	Steve Dannenmann Steve Dannenmann Steven Paul "Steve" Dannenmann is a CPA from Severn, Maryland who gained attention in the poker world for his success in the 2005 World Series of Poker, finishing runner-up to Joe Hachem in the Main Event in his first attempt...	$4,250,000
3rd	John "Tex" Barch John Barch John Derick "Tex" Barch is a businessman and professional poker player from McKinney, Texas whose rise to fame came in the 2005 World Series of Poker. Barch made the final table at the Main Event, finishing third, behind Steve Dannenmann and eventual champion Joe Hachem.Barch has been playing...	$2,500,000
4th	Aaron Kanter Aaron Kanter Aaron Kanter is a professional poker player from Lodi, California.Kanter's first major success in poker came at the 2005 World Series of Poker main event, where he finished in 4th place and earned $2,000,000...	$2,000,000
5th	Andy Black	$1,750,000
6th	Scott Lazar	$1,500,000
7th	Daniel Bergsdorf	$1,300,000
8th	Brad Kondracki	$1,150,000
9th	Mike Matusow Mike Matusow Michael Matusow is an American professional poker player, residing in Henderson, Nevada. Matusow's nickname of "The Mouth" reflects his reputation for trash-talking at the poker table...	$1,000,000

Other High Finishes

NB: This list is restricted to top 30 finishers with an existing Wikipedia entry.

Place	Name	Prize
11th	Shawn Sheikhan	$600,000
13th	Bernard Lee Bernard Lee (poker player) Bernard Lee is a professional poker player who first came to prominence by finishing 13th in the 2005 World Series of Poker Main Event. Since then, Lee has enjoyed some success in other poker tournaments. In October of 2008, Lee won the $600 No-Limit Hold’em Shoot-out event at the World Poker...	$400,000
15th	Tiffany Williamson Tiffany Williamson Tiffany Williamson is an American corporate lawyer who qualified for the 2005 World Series of Poker in the Gutshot Poker Club. She went on to finish in 15th place, earning $400,000, after having spent just one year learning the game...	$400,000
19th	Minh Ly	$304,680
20th	Phil Ivey	$304,680
22nd	Tom Vu Tom Vu Tuan "Tommy" Vu is a Vietnamese-American poker player, real estate investor and speaker best remembered as an infomercial personality in the late 1980s and early 1990s.-Infomercial career:...	$304,680
25th	Greg Raymer Greg Raymer Gregory Raymer nicknamed "Fossilman," is a professional poker player. He is best known for winning the 2004 World Series of Poker Main Event.-Early life:...	$304,680

Fall of World Champions

Day 1: Jim Bechtel
Jim Bechtel
James Gary "Jim" Bechtel is an American cotton farmer and poker player, based in Gilbert, Arizona. He is best known for winning the 1993 Main Event at the World Series of Poker .- Poker career :...

, Doyle Brunson
Doyle Brunson
Doyle F. Brunson is an American professional poker player who has played professionally for over 50 years. He is the first two-time World Series of Poker main event champion to win consecutively, a Poker Hall of Fame inductee, and the author of several books on poker.Brunson is the first player to...

, Johnny Chan
Johnny Chan (poker player)
Johnny Chan rather than his Chinese birth name. born in Guangzhou, China in 1957) is a Chinese American professional poker player. He has won 10 World Series of Poker bracelets, including 1987 and 1988 World Series of Poker main events consecutively....

, Chris Ferguson
Chris Ferguson
Christopher Philip Ferguson is an American professional poker player. He has won five World Series of Poker events, including the 2000 WSOP Main Event, and the 2008 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship. On September 20, 2011, the U.S...

, Phil Hellmuth
Phil Hellmuth
Phil Hellmuth is an American professional poker player. He is best known for holding a record 11 World Series of Poker bracelets, for winning the Main Event of the 1989 World Series of Poker and for his temperamental, "poker brat" personality...

, Tom McEvoy
Tom McEvoy
Thomas K. McEvoy is a professional poker player and author. He is best known for his win in the 1983 World Series of Poker main event.-Early life:...

, Carlos Mortensen
Carlos Mortensen
Juan Carlos Mortensen is an Ecuadorian professional poker player of Danish descent and the only Hispanic Main Event winner of the World Series of Poker. Mortensen is known for his loose play, bluffing tactics, and interesting chip-stacking style.Mortensen moved from Spain to the United States in...

, Scotty Nguyen
Scotty Nguyen
Thuận B. "Scotty" Nguyễn is a Vietnamese American professional poker player who is a five time World Series of Poker bracelet winner, most notably as the winner of the 1998 World Series of Poker Main Event and the 2008 WSOP $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. World Championship...

, Robert Varkonyi
Robert Varkonyi
Robert Varkonyi is an American poker player, best known for winning the main event of the 2002 World Series of Poker.-Early years:Varkonyi was born in and raised in New York...
Day 2: Dan Harrington
Dan Harrington
Dan Harrington is a professional poker player, best known for winning the main event world championship at the 1995 World Series of Poker. He has earned one World Poker Tour title, two WSOP bracelets, and over six million dollars in tournament cashes in his poker career...

, Chris Moneymaker
Chris Moneymaker
Christopher Bryan Moneymaker is an American poker player who won the main event at the 2003 World Series of Poker . His 2003 win is said to have revolutionized poker because he was the first person to become a world champion by qualifying at an online poker site...

, Huck Seed
Huck Seed
Huckleberry Seed is an American professional poker player best known for winning the main event of the 1996 World Series of Poker.-Early Life:...
Day 3: (none)
Day 4: Russ Hamilton
Russ Hamilton
Russ Hamilton was the 1994 World Series of Poker main event champion. He defeated Hugh Vincent in heads-up play to win $1 million in first-prize money, as well as his body weight in silver. Following his World Series win, Hamilton served as a consultant for Ultimate Bet, an online poker server...
Day 5: (none)
Day 6: Greg Raymer
Greg Raymer
Gregory Raymer nicknamed "Fossilman," is a professional poker player. He is best known for winning the 2004 World Series of Poker Main Event.-Early life:...

Events

Main Event

Final table

Other High Finishes

Fall of World Champions

See also