JERRI THOMAS

There were 245 entrants in the $1,500 Buy-In, Seven-Card Stud for a total prize pool of $367,500. 3 tables were paid, a total of 24 players.

The last 16 players were an all-star cast. With some breaks the second eight could have swapped places with the first eight that moved on. When a disgusted Mike Marcos went out in 9th, we were through for Tuesday night.

Coming back Wednesday afternoon, there were three decisive chip leaders and the winner of the 1st Tournament of Champions lurking not far behind. Surely our winner today would come out of this four-man group, right?

THE FINAL TABLE: 35 mins left of 80. The ante is $300, bring-in $500, playing $2,000/$4,000

	Player	Hometown	Chip Count
Seat 1	Rafael Perry	Henderson NV	$17,700
Seat 2	Jerri Thomas	Hamilton OH	$14,800
Seat 3	Richard Tatalovich	Scottsdale AZ	$49,500
Seat 4	Bill Gibes	Las Vegas NV	$78,200
Seat 5	David Chiu	Rowland Hts CA	$41,000
Seat 6	Stan Goldstein	Los Angeles CA	$78,600
Seat 7	Dale Phillips	Darien IL	$12,100
Seat 8	'Tab' Thiptinnakon	Downey CA	$78,100

"I played two hands and lost them both," Rafael Perry said. To give you an idea how hard it is to win a major tournament with a small stack, Perry's $17,700 in chips was only enough for two bullets and he missed with both of them. Amazingly, Jerri Thomas was only one seat over from Rafael and started with even fewer chips. Perry went all-in with a pair of 8's. Richard Tatalovlich wished Rafael 'farewell' when Richard's pair of 3's were joined by a pair of 10's on the river.

Another member of the endangered species list was Dale Phillips. A beautiful move by David Chiu deprived Dale Phillips of most of his chips. Chiu pondered his bet for some time knowing he had Kings. It was enough of an act to get Phillips to bet his Queens as they both went all-in. On Dale's last hand Stan Goldstein started with no Queens and had three ladies by 7th street. All-in Dale Phillips started with 9's and ended with ..... 9's, in 7th place. It's so hard, without chips, to protect yourself from being run down.

One of the greatest Hold'em players alive, David Chiu could never get it going at this Stud table. Around David there is such an air of expectancy. You always think he's going to win every hand he plays. In fact, Chiu won almost no hands and turned out to be mortal after all--at least in Stud. Just like the rest of us, Chiu fell prey to the killer hand in Stud, Aces and spaces. You have to push the hand to avoid giving free cards to a draw, but the Aces so often fail to find any partners. Tab Thiptinnakon had both a flush and a straight draw on 4th street. The 9 high straight came in and David Chiu went out in 5th.

As dominant as David Chiu is in Hold'em, that's how intimidating Stan Goldstein is in Stud. In the early rounds, Stan was running over the table as expected. Goldstein often check-raises on 4th street to see where he's at before the betting level goes up. Usually, this has the effect of giving Stan the free cards he needs to beat you. On his way to a sure victory in this event something strange happened. Everyone started making hands against Goldstein. One would get four hearts up. Another would pair their door card. For over an hour Stan was paying off everyone at the table. Suddenly, amazingly, Goldstein was the short stack. "I never went on tilt," Stan said just before leaving in 4th. Typically, Stan had the best hand with two pair until Tab Thiptinnakon caught a third seven on 5th street. You have the feeling that Stan Goldstein will make many trips back to Final Tables in the future. He's just that strong as a player.

With three players left, the chips were about even. The players decided to take $15k off first and put it on 3rd. It was a good thing for Tab Thiptinnakon. He got a little extra cash for all his efforts. One of the reasons that Tab was even in chips with Jerri Thomas was that he couldn't beat her. In the most memorable hand of the day, Tab made Aces and Kings with a 6 and lost to Jerrri's Aces and Kings with a 10. Then soon after three-handed play began, Tab was pushing two pair when Jerri pulled a third Ace on 5th street. Tab never recovered from that hand. Playing $10,000/$20,000 now and short stacked, Tab had to gamble. He went all-in with a 3 4 5 and drew a bust. Bill Gibes made it two handed with Aces and 4's.

Jerri Thomas wasn't supposed to be here. Although she was 2nd a few years ago in the Women's Stud, this is her first cash in an open event. Like the other short stacks in the beginning, Thomas was almost gone. Her key hand came against Richard Tatalovich early. Jerri made Kings and Queens. Richard had 3 4 5 6 on board two suited. Almost any random card knocks Jerri out of the tournament. She called the last bet and won. "I felt I could win it all if I could just win one hand," Jerri said. That was the one hand.

Head up, Jerri Thomas had a 4-3 chip lead over Bill Gibes. She took $100k, he $90k. At first Gibes took over the aggressor role, raising most hands. Jerri couldn't find a hand on 3rd street to stop him. Gibes was ahead better than 3-2 when Thomas made Q's and 7's to draw back even. She never looked back from that point on. It was Gibes who doesn't have 2 am feedings who got tired. "I was never tired," Jerri added. The last hand was a formality. Thomas made Aces up. Gibes only had a pair of Kings. With the win, Harry Thomas leaped over the rail to hug his wife. "She was in full stroke from the beginning," Harry Thomas said afterward. Now both husband and wife have bracelets. only the second married couple in World Series history to do that.

So at 41, with a teenage boy, Jerri Thomas has a newborn and a new bracelet. We won't ask her what's more important. We already know, mom.