Tournament Details

One thing was clear. The money was no mirage. The event, a $10,000 buy-in No-Limit Texas Hold'em tournament, drew two-hundred eighty-one players. Only six made it to the final table for the chance to be featured on the elite World Poker Tour broadcast.

The final table was as strong as they come, featuring the following players:

Seat 1 Lee Watkinson $697,000
Seat 2 Scotty Ngyuen $2,131,000
Seat 3 John Juanda $527,000
Seat 4 Gabe Kaplan $888,000
Seat 5 Jim Meehan $473,000
Seat 6, Eli Elezra $978,000

With the blinds at $10,000/$20,000/$2000, the players folded around to Scotty Ngyuen in the small blind who looked down to find A9 suited in diamonds. He raised more than three times the big blind to $70,000, In the big blind, John Juanda discovered AJ offsuit. While Ngyuen sipped a cup of coffee, Juanda considered his hand, then pushed all his chips in the middle. Without a second thought or second sip of coffee, Ngyuen called. The flop came down A43 rainbow, then paired the three on the turn. Ngyuen hoped the river would bring a nine or chopped pot. But it didn't and Juanda raked a $1,022,000 pot.

Within a few hands, Minneapolis Jim Meehan held pocket jacks and raised in second position to $66,000. Immediately to his left, Eli Elezra picked up Big Slick and re-raised to $195,000. It seemed as though Elezra was in trouble. Undersand, Lee Watkinson folded an ace. Gabe Kaplan folded an ace. Ngyuen folded a king. Though Elezra didn't know it, his outs were drying up like a flower in the desert. When the action got back to Meehan, he pushed in the rest of his chips, forcing Elezra to call $276,000 more. The flop came down with rags, 973. But the turn brought the miracle case ace, leaving Meehan with only two outs, neither of which materialized on the river. Meehan left in sixth place and $94,507

With the blinds up to $15,000/$30,000/$3000, Kaplan began letting other people bet his hands for him, in one instance check-calling top pair against Elezra who bet on the flop and turn with a gutshot straight draw. Elezra bet the pot all the way up to $675,000 for Kaplan before giving up and moving Kaplan into second chip position.

Later in the level, Juanda showed the world good evidence of his world class player status. Facing a $95,000 bet from Elezra, Juanda found AQ offsuit and re-raised to $330,000. After some thought, Elezra moved all in. Juanda thought and thought, stacking his chips, then unstacking them. Finally he said, "Oh, Eli, I'm going to let you outplay me," and mucked. What, perhaps, he didn't know is that he made a world class laydown. Elezra held AK.

The blinds moved up to $25,000/$50,000/$5000 and Kaplan started the betting (and quite a mess) from the button. Meaning to steal the blinds, Kaplan raised to $111,000 with 64 offsuit. It didn't work. In the small blind, Elezra called with KJ offsuit. Then, in the big blind, Lee Watkinson found a pair of nines and pushed all in for $365,000. Kaplan, in a fit of blind-stealing failure, folded his rags and let Elezra do battle with Watkinson. Elezra called for another $255,000. The board, Q4468, did nothing to help Elezra and Watkinson more than doubled up.

Watkinson continued his run a few hands later, when finding AK suited on the button, he pushed all in for $705,000. Ngyuen found AQ offsuit and called. Both players paired their ace on the flop, A98 rainbow, but Watkinson had Ngyuen outkicked and the turn and river did nothing to help Ngyuen. Watkinson doubled up again.

For Ngyuen, who came to the final table with a massive chip stack, nothing seemed to go his way. It was as if every time he thought he saw good cards, their power faded away like a shimmering illusion in the desert. Now with less than $450,000 in chips, Ngyuen moved all in with pocket sixes under the gun. The players folded all the way around to Elezra in the small blind who held pocket jacks. He called and Ngyuen never improved. The four-time WPT finalist busted out in fifth place, taking $129,509 for his efforts.

Sitting third in chips, Kaplan raised it up to $200,000 under the gun with AQ. This time it was his turn to face a pair of jacks. Watkinson pushed his chips in the middle and had Kaplan covered. Kaplan mused for a moment, thinking back to Juanda's world class AQ laydown. The situation was much the same. Like Juanda, Kaplan had a lot of his chips invested invested in the pot. Like Juanda, Kaplan no longer felt nearly as good about his AQ. And the he mused aloud, "Can I be as smart as John Juanda?"' In fact, he could, and mucked his AQ, preferring not to risk the a coin flip versus Watkinson's jacks.

Still, Juanda's stack was fading into the felt and facing a $200,000 buton bet from Watkinson, Juanda said, "I have to do it," and pushed all in for $640,000 with A9 suited. Watkinson called with a pair of fives and the board failed to pay Juanda any respect. Juanda left in fourth place, winning $162,012.

With three player remaining, it was virtually anybody's game. Kaplan held $1.3 million in chips, Elezra had $1.78 million, and Watkinson held $2.61 million. The blinds moved up to $40,000/$80,000/$10,000. Watkinson, who had been playing rather conservatively, changed gears, switching into hyper-aggressive mode, sensing weakness and pouncing, stealing two large pots with nothing better than bottom pair or pre-flop rags.

And then, when Kaplan moved all in for $1.1 million with K7 suited from the button, Watkinson found a hand, AT offsuit. After mumbling to himself for a moment, he called and flopped his ace. Kaplan announced, "I"m just going to go up to my room now and throw up," then left in third place with $256,519.

Moving into heads up play, Watkinson held more than four million dollars in chips to Elezra's $1.67 million. In two hands, Elezra cut into Watkinson's lead, flopping top pair and pushing Watkinson out of the pots with big bets.

Elezra then overtook Watkinson, checking his option in the big blind with AT offsuit against Watkinson's Q8 offsuit. Again, Elezra flopped top pair on a flop of A78. Elezra checked, and let Watkinson bet into him on both the flop and turn, a six. When the river came with a jack, Elezra put in a $200,00 bet and Watkinson made the crying call.

Elezra's good fortune continued when he flopped a set of kings with K6 on a KK2 flop. He checked and Watkinson checked behind with T6. The turn was an ace and Elezra checked again. Watkinson bet $120,000 and Elezra raised to $500,000. Watkinson called and made a pair when the river came with a ten. This time, Elezra bet out $900,000 and Watkinson called, losing with his pair of tens against Elezra's set of kings.

Finally, Watkinson called the big blind with 45 in spades. Elezra found AQ and raised to $620,000. Watkinson decided to make a play at the pot and moved all in for almost $2.2 million. With a simple, "Alright, let's do it," Elezra called. Watkinson never improved and busted out in second place, taking home $513,038.

Leave it to Elezra, a man who makes his home in the desert, to see through the mirage and find reality in his first place finish, taking home $1,024,574 and a seat in the $25,000 WPT Championship.