WSOP Event 17 - $1,000 no-limit hold'em

Jon Friedberg Pulls-Off Stunning Upset Victory

by Nolan Dalla

Number of Entries: 2,891
Total Prize Money: $2,630,810
Defending Champion (2005): Jon Heneghan

Official Results:
1. Jon Friedberg, Las Vegas, NV, $526,185
2. John “The Razor” Phan, Los Angeles, CA, $289,389
3. Mike Pomeroy, Detroit, MI, $157,322
4. Tom Hawkingberry, Pittsburgh, PA, $122,596
5. Kevin O'Donnell, Scottsdale, AZ, $105,232
6. Corey Chaston, Thorold, ON, Canada, $88,132
7. Humberto Brenes, San Jose, Costa Rica, $74,715
8. Mike Halford, Memphis, TN, $61,561
9. Thang T. Luu, Las Vegas, NV, $49,722
10. Carlos Mortensen, Las Vegas, NV, $38,936
11. Karen Black, Whittier, CA, $35,516
12. Lowell Kim, Las Vegas, NV, $32,622
13. Terry Trevathan, Lufkin, TX, $29,991
14. Shane McCarrell, Yuma, AZ, $27,360
15. Matthew Palmucci, Nashua, NH, $24,730
16. Nicholas Hill, Phoenix, AZ, $22,099
17. Wei Chan, Chapel Hill, NC, $19,468
18. Boulos Estafanous, Darien, IL, $16,837
19. Tae Baik, Leonia, NJ, $14,206
20. Richard Sparks, Beverly Hills, CA, $14,206
21. Simon Ford, Albenia, Canada, $14,206
22. David Parde, Beverton, OR, $11,576
23. Mark R Wilds, Biloxi, MS, $11,576
24. Steven Connally, Fountain Valley, CA, $11,576
25. Jonathan N. Dull, Fresno, CA, $9,471
26. Jeffrey Rosenblatt, Mont- Royal Quebec, Canada, $9,471
27. Charlie Ng, Las Vegas, NV, $9,471
28. William Kyle Orvis, Longmont, CO, $7,892
29. Joseph Falcone, Hawley, PA, $7,892
30. Zachary W. Shapiro, Los Angeles, CA, $7,892
31. Jason Stern, San Jose, CA, $7,892
32. John Shipley, Solihull, UK, $7,892
33. Frank G. Huntress, Austin, TX, $7,892
34. Nega A. Marucci, III, Las Vegas, NV, $7,892
35. David Walton, Las Vegas, NV, $7,892
36. George A. Auscomb Jr. Frenkenmuth, MI, $7,892
37. Randy A. Haddox, Houston, TX, $6,314
38. Mark Burtenshaw, Idaho Falls, ID, $6,314
39. Anthony Limantzakis, Salt Lake City, UT, $6,314
40. John Bardwell, Haines City, FL, $6,314
41. Marek Kolk, NA, $6,314
42. John Repetti, Henderson, NV, $6,314
43. Michael W. Chow, Honolulu, HI, $6,314
44. Marlis Sawicki, Etobicoke, ON Canada, $6,314
45. Robert Hutchins, Monterey, CA, $6,314
46. Ronald Peterson, Kalispell, MT, $6,314
47. Greg Mueller , Vancourver, CA, $6,314
48. Matthew Rightnour, Clearfield, PA, $6,314
49. Chris W. McCormack, Las Vegas, NV, $6,314
50. Lore Cargile, San Juan Capistrano, CA, $6,314
51. Ed Apodaca, Elizabeth, CO, $6,314
52. Peter Boysen, Aarbus, Denmark, $6,314
53. John Zaheri, Houston, TX, $6,314
54. William P. Durkee V, Pittsburgh, PA, $6,314
55. David Katz, Venice, CA, $5,262
56. Colby Spere, Henderson, NV, $5,262
57. Ashley Young, Pleasanton, CA, $5,262
58. Gary Long, Naples, FL, $5,262
59. Gregg Goldstein , Las Vegas, NV, $5,262
60. James Russell, Arlington, VA, $5,262
61. Daniel Lowe, Las Vegas, NV, $5,262
62. Joseph M. Ebert, Rochester, NY, $5,262
63. Ronnie R. Rogers, Edwardsburg, MI, $5,262
64. Kevin O'Sullivan, Los Angeles, CA, $5,262
65. Macello Del Grosso, Toronto, ON, Canada, $5,262
66. Thomas J. Hayman, Macomb, MI, $5,262
67. Bryan Connole, Palm Springs, CA, $5,262
68. Yakir Retner, Tel Aviv, Israel, $5,262
69. Todd Miskos, La Salle, ON, Canada, $5,262
70. Carlos Lopez, Dallas, TX, $5,262
71. Michael Katz, Manalapan, NJ, $5,262
72. Steven Zoine, Merrick, NY, $5,262
73. Michael Kilgoris, Huntsville, AL, $5,262
74. Richard Spring, Las Vegas, NV, $5,262
75. Samir Zoudo, Modesto, CA, $5,262
76. Annand Ramdin, Bronx, NY, $5,262
77. Sean Cain, San Jose, CA, $5,262
78. Steve Vincent, Henderson, NV, $5,262
79. Satish Vitha, Cerritos, CA, $5,262
80. Michael Sanderson, Odenton, md, $5,262
81. Paul Finn, Pueblo, CO, $5,262
82. William Vosti, Arroyo Grande, CA, $4,209
83. Peter Lawson, Salt Lake City, UT, $4,209
84. Lara Covert, Lawrence, KS, $4,209
85. Thomas Swanson, Duluth, MN, $4,209
86. Isaac Galazan, Sunny Isles Beach, FL, $4,209
87. Colin McDonnell, Studio City, CA, $4,209
88. Justin Title, Austin, TX, $4,209
89. Erik Sorensen, Copenhagen, Denmark, $4,209
90. Gregg Grivas, Las Vegas, NV, $4,209
91. Dennis Wu, Cleveland, OH, $4,209
92. Camillo Calabrese, Las Vegas, NV, $4,209
93. Randolf W. Sears, Victorville, CA, $4,209
94. Corey W. Souther, Seattle, WA, $4,209
95. Motoyuki Mabuchi, Osaka, Japan, $4,209
96. Kevin Westcott, Blue Island, I, $4,209
97. Clayton D. Connelly, Fort Smith, AR, $4,209
98. Brian Hansen, Colorado Springs, CO, $4,209
99. Kevin Song, Rowland Hgts, CA, $4,209
100. Justin C.V. Tran, Sacramento, CA, $4,209
101. Nhan Le, Huntington Beach, CA, $4,209
102. Mike J. Sanchez, Tucson, AZ, $4,209
103. Jared Smith, Reno, NV, $4,209
104. Matthew H. Engel, Allen, TX, $4,209
105. Brittani Simberg, Santa Monica, CA, $4,209
106. William Shanks, Mays Landing, NJ, $4,209
107. Rick Ruffman, Colts Neck, NJ, $4,209
108. David Scheinbart, Woodland Hills, CA, $4,209
109. Jacinto Lopez, Dallas, TX, $3,157
110. Michael "Mickey" Seagle, Marion, NC, $3,157
111. William Jensen, Silver Springs, MD, $3,157
112. Terry Myers, Yuma, AZ, $3,157
113. Paul Ahmed, Springdale, AR, $3,157
114. Kevin Ho, Gainesville, FL, $3,157
115. Steven J. Mitchell, Hillsboro, WI, $3,157
116. Tom Russo, Peyton, CO, $3,157
117. David Lataille, Surprise, AZ, $3,157
118. Edmund Liu, Davis, CA, $3,157
119. Quinn Do, Los Angeles, CA, $3,157
120. Adam Naglich, Las Vegas, NV, $3,157
121. Jeff Rasmussen, Carmel, IN, $3,157
122. Frank Puleo, St. Louis, MO, $3,157
123. Thomas Hover, Blue Diamond, NV, $3,157
124. Stephen Ladowsky, Toronto, ON, Canada, $3,157
125. Tina Bergstrom, Las Vegas, NV, $3,157
126. Gee Way Lee, Houston, TX, $3,157
127. John Hank Sitton III, Greenville, SC, $3,157
128. Peter M. Falkenstein, Ann Arbor, MI, $3,157
129. Jacob Hoffman, Nappanei, IN, $3,157
130. Brad Mahon, Gilbert, AZ, $3,157
131. Jean Gaspard, Evanston, IL, $3,157
132. Kris Fields, Harrison, OH, $3,157
133. Carl A. Davis, Levelland, TX, $3,157
134. Gary N. Lew, Sugar Land, TX, $3,157
135. Jeremy Armstrong, Beverly Hills, CA, $3,157
136. Sheree Bykoesky, New York, NY, $3,157
137. James Fox, Las Vegas, NV, $3,157
138. Glyn Banks, Smithville, TN, $3,157
140. Gary Gosewehr, Port Washington, WI, $3,157
141. Joe Ramos, Tulane, CA, $3,157
142. Joseph Yun, Honolulu, HI, $3,157
143. Christopher Mudd, Kirksville, MO, $3,157
144. James Thomas, Reno, NV, $3,157
145. Craig Brockman, Las Vegas, NV, $3,157
146. Larry Etherington, Phoenix, AZ, $3,157
147. David Williams, San Marcos, CA, $3,157
148. Anthony Renella, Aurora, IL, $3,157
149. Mark Bonsack, Maple Valley, WA, $3,157
150. Charles Lunn, Toccoa, GA, $3,157
151. Gioi Luong, Westminster, CA, $3,157
152. Ylon Schwartz, Brooklyn, N.Y. $3,157
153. John Huston, Helena, MI, $3,157
154. Kevin Miller, Richmond Heights, MO, $3,157
155. Patrick Breno, NA, $2,368
156. Ryan Larson, Las Vegas, NV, $2,368
157. Randolph Spain, Brewer, ME, $2,368
158. Edward Zakaria, Windsor, ON, Canada, $2,368
159. Joseph Holmes, Weston, FL, $2,368
160. Duane Drushella, Albany, OR, $2,368
161. Stephen Waldo, Corinth, TX, $2,368
162. Richard Steinmetz, Ambridge, PA, $2,368
163. Stanley Davis, De Forest, WI, $2,368
164. Tomishau Krizanie, Oakland Park, FL, $2,368
165. Jason Chung, Houston, TX, $2,368
166. Richard Ferro, Dallas, TX, $2,368
167. Gregg Merkow, Dallas, TX, $2,368
168. Billy Cockman, Jacksonville, FL, $2,368
169. Mats Eriksson, Stockholm, Sweden, $2,368
170. Keith Noblett, Plano, TX, $2,368
171. Jonathan Sedaghati, Tarzana, CA, $2,368
172. Stephen Muszkat, Gordon, NSW, $2,368
173. John Salmon, Maricopa, AZ, $2,368
174. Michael Serrano, Hoffman Estates, IL, $2,368
175. Barry Seedman, Henderson, NV, $2,368
176. Leon Walk, Warren, OH, $2,368
177. Lyly McKeany, Santa Barbara, CA, $2,368
178. Grand "Tony" Cantalupo, Chatsworth, CA, $2,368
179. Matthew Flynn, Milwaukee, WI, $2,368
180. Ross Boatman, London, England, $2,368
181. Dustin Carlton, Mantua, OH, $2,368
182. Robin Schoder, Conifer, CO, $2,368
183. Jon Loshbaugh, Denver, CO, $2,368
184. Theo Osborne, U.K. $2,368
185. Brett Smith, Palmer, AK, $2,368
186. Evan Peterson, Irvine, CA, $2,368
187. Mark Green, Shelbyville, IN, $2,368
188. Andrew Barciz, Scottsdale, AZ, $2,368
189. Arthur Bressher, Manalapan, NJ, $2,368
190. Michael Bokan, Sacramento, CA, $2,368
191. Kully Burnet, Kailua, HI, $2,368
192. Mats Millson, Sweden, $2,368
193. Roy Vagderslvis, London, England, $2,368
194. Jeremy Magal, Vancouver, Canada, $2,368
195. Brandon Adams, NA, $2,368
196. Richard Joel, Conyers, GA, $2,368
197. John Helppi, Helsinki, Finland, $2,368
198. Rick Montijo, Bakersfield, CA, $2,368
198B. Mark Entwistle, NA, $2,368
199. Peter Hedlund, NA, $1,578
200. Terry Huggins, Palo Pinto, TX, $1,578
201. Shannon Fadal, Los Angeles, CA, $1,578
202. Jesse Petrake, NA, $1,578
203. Michael Waiter, Phoenix, AZ, $1,578
204. Gregory Eberlein, Surprise, AZ, $1,578
205. Phillip Tague, Denver, CO, $1,578
206. Eric Stanton, Lexington, KY, $1,578
207. Theodore Mullikin, Gatlinburg, TN, $1,578
208. Christoper Guinnup, Saline, MI, $1,578
209. Talia Kahio, NA, $1,578
210. Michael Tham, New York, NY, $1,578
211. Philip Biho, Lahaina, HI, $1,578
212. Art Diaz, Chula Vista, CA, $1,578
213. Vaughn McClelland, Jersey Shore, PA, $1,578
214. Gavin, NA, $1,578
215. Bret McClame, Bristol, IN, $1,578
216. Michael Q. McArdle, Gainesville, FL, $1,578
217. Roger Pitsimmons, NA, $1,578
218. Michael Airharut, Austin, TX, $1,578
219. Phillip Gurian, NA, $1,578
220. Michael Olson, Wauwatosa, WI, $1,578
221. Jonathan Little, Pensacola, FL, $1,578
222. Philip Ariganello, Ohaou, HI, $1,578
223. John Walliser, Phoenix, AZ, $1,578
224. Kevin Currey, Orlando, FL, $1,578
225. Mark Barre, Pearland, TX, $1,578
226. Steven Federspiel, North Liberty, IA, $1,578
227. James Mattox, Kingsland, GA, $1,578
228. William Forrest, Las Vegas, NV, $1,578
229. Kendall Fukumoto, Honolulu, HI, $1,578
230. Gary Braufman, Las Vegas, NV, $1,578
231. Douglas Smith, Lenexa, KS, $1,578
232. Steven Abt, Meadowbrook, PA, $1,578
233. Charles Blankenship, Middle River Ba, MD, $1,578
234. John Pires, Santa Clara, CA, $1,578
235. Donato Bielli, Broken Arrow, OK, $1,578
236. Parris Holmes, San Antonio, TX, $1,578
237. Scott Mele, Lake Hiawatha, NJ, $1,578
238. Justin Patel, Cary, NC, $1,578
239. Terry Breeden, Spotsylvania, VA, $1,578
240. John Saini, Sulmar, CA, $1,578
241. Daniel Eskola, Stockholm, Sweden, $1,578
242. Richard Basso, Saint Clair Shores, MI, $1,578
243. Jonathan Crawford, Las Vegas, NV, $1,578
244. Ronald Delcamp, Seattle, WA, $1,578
245. David Drews, Los Angeles, CA, $1,578
246. Jared Okun, Tampa, FL, $1,578
247. Marc Aubin, Montreal, Canada, $1,578
248. Kristopher Johnson, Loveland, CO, $1,578
249. Richard Seward, Port Orchard, WA, $1,578
250. Bradford Damm, San Diego, CA, $1,578
251. Michael Gwyn, Woodstock, VA, $1,578
252. David Gibbone, Mt. Royal, NJ, $1,578
253. Branden Lee, Aiea, HI, $1,578
254. Michael Vitullo, Woodland Hls, CA, $1,578
255. Fred Finley, Arvada, CO, $1,578
256. Sandro Gebert, Venice, CA, $1,578
257. Glenn Theobald, Pembroke Pines, FL, $1,578
258. Arnold Kirschenmann, Bakersfield, CA, $1,578
259. Stephen Kujubu, Sacramento, CA, $1,578
260. Kim Austin, Beaufort, SC, $1,578
261. Michael Riebe, Mentor, OH, $1,578
262. Michael Carlin, Golden, CO, $1,578
263. John Rusk, Mahomet, IL, $1,578
264. Markus Gonsalves, San Diego, CA, $1,578
265. Mikhail Vaynshteyn, Alberta, Canada, $1,578
266. James Pittman, Yorba Linda, CA, $1,578
267. Steven Lance, Twinsburg, OH, $1,578
268. Bryan Ellenburg, Valley Vlg, CA, $1,578
269. Shawn Mattaro, Phoenix, AZ, $1,578
270. Erik Behling, Wauuatosa, WI, $1,578

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Janis Joplin once sang, “freedom is just another word for – nothing left to lose.” What the 1969 song lyric meant was that it’s far easier to be daring and take chances when there is not so much at stake. Jon Friedberg, winner of the $1,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em championship certainly understands this. He won the second-largest live poker tournament in history at the 2006 World Series of Poker, presented by Milwaukee’s Best Light.

Friedberg overcame a field of 2,891 players to win over half-a-million dollars in prize money. Only the main event of the 2005 WSOP attracted more entries. A whopping 270 players finished in-the-money.

Friedberg, who won his first-ever gold bracelet, is a 31-year-old MBA graduate from Pepperdine University. He is a businessman and investor with a number of ongoing start-up ventures. Freidberg lives in Las Vegas.

It took two very long days to eliminate 2,882 participants. That left the final nine players, who returned for Day Three. When the final table started, Michael Pomeroy looked to be the player to beat. He enjoyed a sizable chip advantage. In fact, Pomeroy possessed one-third of the total chips in play. Only one former gold bracelet winner was present -- two-time champion Humberto Brenes. He won two WSOP titles in 1993, for Pot-Limit Omaha and Limit Hold’em.

John Phan, $747,000, 1
Michael Pomeroy, $1,325,000, 2
Humberto Brenes, $564,000, 3
Tom Hawkingberry, $675,000, 4
Corey Chaston, $229,000, 5
Mike Halford, $89,000, 6
Kevin O'Donnell, $222,000, 7
Jon Friedberg, $189,000, 8
Thang T. Luu, $314,000, 9

About 15 minutes into play, Thang T. Luu lost most of his chips with ace-jack against pocket kings, and then was eliminated a few hands later. Luu, born in Vietnam and now living in Las Vegas, received $49,722.

Mike Halford went out on the very next hand. He was pot-committed with jack-seven when the flop came Q-7-6 and actually had the best hand against John Phan’s flush draw. However, a heart fell on the river making the flush, which busted Halford. The Las Vegas poker pro now has 2nd, 5th, 8th, and 10th-place finishes at the WSOP over the last two decades. He collected $61,561.

Costa Rican superstar Humberto Brenes’ bid for his first gold bracelet in 13 years was dashed when Mike Pomeroy spiked a queen holding ace-queen versus Brenes’ ace-king. Brenes, who owns several businesses in Central America and also has 41 cashes in his illustrious WSOP career, said adios and was paid $74,715 for seventh place.

Next, Canadian poker player Corey Chasten went out in a three-way pot won by Kevin O’Donnell. Chaston received $88,132 as the sixth-place finisher.

When play became five-handed, Mike Pomeroy increased his chip lead to 2 to 1 and had about half of the chips in play. Kevin O’Donnell was not so fortunate. Fresh off winning the big pot which eliminated Chasten, O’Donnell flopped top pair holding ace-jack. But Jon Friedberg hit a third eight on the river to make three-of-a-kind, which broke O’Donnell. He earned $105,232.

Jon Friedberg started making his move when play was at four-handed. He narrowed the gap with the chip-leader Pomeroy, who busted the next player from the tournament. Tom Hawkingberry, who works as a compressed gas plant operator, exploded when his ace-four was dominated by Pomeroy’s ace-jack. Pomeroy made a gratuitous flush, putting Hawkingberry out in fourth place. He earned $122,596.

Which now brings us to singer Janis Joplin’s poker tournament strategy. In a post-tournament interview which occurred two hours later, Friedberg made an acute observation that summarized his reasons for success. He explained that it is sometimes easier to play a small stack than a big one. “I prefer to come into a tournament as a shorter stack than a big stack,” Friedberg said. “As odd as that sounds, when I am a short stack I feel like I have nothing to lose. But when I come in as a tall stack I am scared to lose my chips and it affects my game. To me, there are definite advantages to coming in with the short stack and I know it is uphill from there. I am willing to gamble, take chances, and play my game -- more so than if I have chips.”

Friedberg’s strategy proved effective. He pushed John Phan out of a few big pots and, in at least one sense, became the victim of his own success. Friedberg seized the chip lead and then annihilated the player who had dominated the final table up to that point. Mike Pomeroy lost all of his chips with queen-three against Friedberg’s pocket fives. Pomeroy caught a queen, but Pomeroy caught a five (making a set), which wrecked Pomeroy’s dreams of victory. Michael Pomeroy, an auto worker from Detroit, raced off with $157,322.

When heads-up play began, Friedberg enjoyed a 4 to 1 chip lead. Later, Friedberg reflected back on his feelings when initially faced with the prospect of playing against John Phan heads-up for the gold bracelet. “I think I needed a 4 to 1 chip lead to beat John. He is one of the very best players in the world. I’ll be honest -- I was scared to death to play him heads-up and even at 4 to1, I was scared to play against him.”

The fear certainly did not show. Phan was never seriously able to threaten Friedberg’s chip lead. About 90 minutes into heads-up play, the final hand of the night was dealt when Phan tried to make a pre-flop steal holding the less-than-desirable queen-four suited. Friedberg called the all-in move holding ace-seven suited. The final board showed 10-9-3-2-7, giving Friedberg a pair of sevens and his first WSOP victory.

As the runner up, John “The Razor” Phan received $289,389 in prize money. He was visibly disappointed with the outcome. “I have to try and keep my head up,” Phan said. “There is always tomorrow in poker. I’ll be back tomorrow.”

Friedberg agreed that he had dodged a bullet by not having to confront Phan from a competitive disadvantage. “(Phan) was the single most feared opponent I had at this table,” Friedberg said. “John is not going to be happy when he sees the (ESPN) television footage of me when I pushed him off some key hands. John is a great player and I feel very fortunate to have come out on top tonight.”

“I started off here on the final table eighth (in the chip count) out of nine players. I had a key double-up hand early. Then, I had a couple of very lucky suck outs and got some chips and was able to win. Every poker player’s dream is to win a World Series of Poker gold bracelet. I came here, and now did it. I really can’t believe it.”

Writer’s Note: 1969’s “Me and Bobby McGee” was actually written by Kris Kristofferson, but it was popularized by Janis Jopin.

Overall Tournament Statistics (through end of Event #17):
Total Entries to Date: 16,912
Total Prize Money Distributed: $30,808,892