2007 WSOP Event # 2

Event #4

Pot-Limit Holdem

Buy-In: $1,500

Number of Entries: 781

Total Prize Money: $1,066,065

Date of Tournament: June 3-6, 2007

Tournament Notes:

Michael Spegal won $252,290 for first place. He overcame a decisive chip advantage. He was arrived sixth in the chip count going into the final table, versus several top pros. He overcame the odds and won his first gold bracelet in what was his first-ever cash at the WSOP. This is his third year to play at the WSOP.

On this night of his victory, Michael Spegal was celebrating his ninth wedding anniversary. His wife Jeanne sat at ringside and celebrated their win. She can have the prize money. Ill take the bracelet, Spegal joked. ESPN commentator Norman Chad ribbed Spegal during the post-tournament interview, noting You are the only married man I know of who gets to play poker on his anniversary.

Spegal is 39-year-old former United States Marine. He was born in Newton, IA. He owns an equipment rental and UPS store in southeast Georgia. Spegals poker nickname is Bob Cat Spegal.

The final table lasted approximately five hours. The star-studded field guaranteed a full house, which was packed inside the ESPN poker arena at the Rio. Among the players who came up short were former WSOP gold bracelet winner Jon Freidberg and tournament pro Gavin Smith.

Gavin Smith was the runner up. He battled with Spegal for the win, but ended up with a frustrating second-place showing. Smith is widely considered to be one of the best tournament players NOT to have yet won a WSOP gold bracelet. During the heads-up battle with Spegal, Smith delivered the line of the night when he said to his opponent, Why dont you start playing like a business man and not like a poker player. Stop it!

The ninth-place finisher Marco Traniello has the somewhat shadowy status of being married to one of the best poker players in the world, wife Jennifer Harman. However, it is Traniello who has outperformed just about everyone at WSOP over the past two years. Traniello cashed a whopping seven times at the 2005 World Series. He cashed four times in 2006. Now with a cash in this event, Traniello has a combined total of 12 WSOP cashes dating back to the start of the 2005 WSOP. No other poker player has more in this time frame.

The sixth-place finisher Dr. Bruce Van Horn is a physician (pathologist) from Ada, Oklahoma. He is most famous for being the runner-up in the 1996 main event to Huck Seed. Dr. Van Horns son also played in this event, and cashed. Archie Van Horn took 48th place good for $4,365.

The most popular area inside the tournament room appears to be the Milwaukees Best Light beer garden set up over the poker arena. Spectators can visit the elevated deck and see action on both sides of the room. With tables and chairs for spectators, it may be the only vantage spot in the room to actually watch six tournaments going on all at once, which is what was taking place on this day two final tables, two Day Twos, and two start-up events.

This was the third WSOP poker event this year to be recorded for broadcast by ESPN. The show is expected to debut sometime in July.

Place	Player	Prize
1.	Michael Spiegel	$252,290
2.	Gavin Smith	$155,645
3.	Jon Friedberg	$101,276
4.	William Hill	$67,162
5.	Thomas Savitsky	$47,973
6.	Bruce Van Horn	$36,779
7.	Eric Lynch	$27,718
8.	Jeff Langdon	$20,255
9.	Marco Traniello	$14,925
10.	John (spyder) McCarthy	$10,115
11.	Nick Binger	$10,115
12.	Tony Basile	$10,115
13.	Stephen Jones	$9,050
14.	Bill McNamara	$9,050
15.	Robert Gerstenzang	$9,050
16.	Javad Navran	$7,985
17.	Steven Mills	$7,985
18.	Ken Koski	$7,985
19.	Mark Wilds	$6,921
20.	Josh Patterson	$6,921
21.	Jean-Robert (Bobby) Bellande	$6,921
22.	Graham Wheldon	$6,921
23.	Cody Slaubaugh	$6,921
24.	Frank Margolis	$6,921
25.	Robert Ziph	$6,921
26.	Eugene Todd	$6,921
27.	Jameson Hughes	$6,921
28.	Robert Thies	$5,962
29.	Francois Safieddine	$5,962
30.	Bart Wetsteijn	$5,962
31.	David Roepke	$5,962
32.	Robert Ellis	$5,962
33.	Kenny Chi Wu	$5,962
34.	Andre Webking	$5,962
35.	Nhan Le	$5,962
36.	Shannon Puskarich	$5,962
37.	Matthew Shepsky	$5,962
38.	Shane Beckham	$5,111
39.	Zorn Venture	$5,111
40.	Nick Andricopulos	$5,111
41.	Gilbert Salas	$5,111
42.	Ed Giron	$5,111
43.	Mark Smith	$5,111
44.	Unlknown	$5,111
45.	Kassam (Freddy) Deeb	$5,111
46.	Keith Tilston	$4,365
47.	Kirke Rivkin	$4,365
48.	Archie Van Horn	$4,365
49.	Wallace Darling	$4,365
50.	Colin Shattock	$4,365
51.	Danny Ciaramella	$4,635
52.	Scott Bohlman	$4,365
53.	Robert Firestone	$4,365
54.	Dan Alspach	$4,365
55.	David Hipperson	$3,567
56.	Jan Christoph Von Halle	$3,567
57.	Larry Vickers	$3,567
58.	Kenneth Auker	$3,567
59.	Joe Lazaro	$3,567
60.	Jesse Jamison	$3,567
61.	Ben Sarnoff	$3,567
62.	Katja Thater	$3,567
63.	Ishak Noyan	$3,567
64.	David Plastik	$2,981
65.	Nicholas Rosenberger	$2,981
66.	Lee Kun	$2,981
67.	Nesbitt Coburn	$2,981
68.	Derek Tomimoto	$2,981
69.	Jonathan Snyder	$2,981
70.	Kevin Manley	$2,981
71.	Mark Lowe	$2,981
72.	Jorge Arias	$2,981

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2007 WSOP Event # 2

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