Limit Hold'em

$2,000 Buy-in
Entries: 528
Total Prize Money: $1,056,000

1996 Champion: David Chiu

• The Winners.
• The Showdown.
• The Final Table.
• The Final Hand.

1. David Chiu                       $396,000
Lakewood, Colorado
2. Jaan "David" Shu                 $200,640
Anaheim, California
3. Steve Kopp                       $100,320
Las Vegas Nevada
4. Eskimo Clark                      $68,640
New Orleans, Louisiana
5. Mike Halford                      $47,520
Las Vegas, Nevada
6. Moxie Ungar                       $36,960
Lawrenceville, New Jersey
7. Vic Kramer                        $26,400
Sydney, Australia
8. Art Youngblood                    $21,120
Gulfport, Mississippi
9. Randy Zandstra                    $15,840
Ledgewood, New Jersey
10. Stan Singer                      $12,672
Long Beach, California
11. Don Zewin                        $12,672
Las Vegas, Nevada
12. Eli Balas                        $12,672
Las Vegas, Nevada
13. Vahe Rechdouni                   $10,560
Commerce, California
14. Anthony Hamilton                 $10,560
Prestatyn, England
15. Hieu "Tony" Ma                   $10,560
El Monte, California
16. Brenda Jacobus                    $8,448
Las Vegas, Nevada
17. Carmen Valenti                    $8,448
Oneida, New York
18. James Richburg                    $8,448
Henderson, Nevada
19. Thuang "Scotty" Nguyen            $5,280
Las Vegas, Nevada
20. Paco Serus                        $5,280
Las Vegas, Nevada
21. Carl McKelvey                     $5,280
Victoria, Texas
22. Brad Daugherty                    $5,280
Las Vegas, Nevada
23. Keith Sexton                      $5,280
Las Vegas, Nevada
24. Ken Jacobs                        $5,280
Las Vegas, Nevada
25. Bob Jarrett                       $5,280
Windlew, B.C., Canada
26. Patrick Walton                    $5,280
Texas City, Texas
27. Mike Sexton                       $5,280
Las Vegas, Nevada

. This was only the third try for Chiu in a World Series of Poker event and David says he likes the people he works with in Colorado and has no plans to stop dealing and try his hand as a professional player. With solid-aggressive final-table play Chiu managed to accumulate chips steadily. After he eliminated Eskimo Clark with pocket aces and followed that with an ace-queen to jettison Steve Kopp, he held a commanding $800,000 to $200,000 chip lead over David Shu.

. Jaan "David" Shu, 40, who runs an import-export business in California took $200,640 home in only his second try in a WSOP event. David plays occasionally in Southern California but says most of his time is occupied by his business. Shu was struggling at the final table until he found big slick in a $390,000 four-way pot. Two jacks on the flop and a third on the turn gave Eskimo, with pocket sixes, a full house. A king on the river turned the tide for David who temporarily held the chip lead.

. Steve Kopp, a 33-year-old Las Vegas poker pro, received $100,320 for third. Steve has visited the World Series of Poker finals previously with a second in the $5,000 limit hold'em championship. Kopp started the finals in second and held his position with solid professional play throughout.

. Paul "Eskimo" Clark, 48, is no stranger to the finals wherever poker tournaments are held. He holds a Binion's bracelet for seven-card stud along with a multitude of victories in other major events. Eskimo was the chip leader when the final table began and played an aggressive game, but was unable to win the key pots.

. Mike Halford is a 41-year-old Las Vegas poker pro praised by many of his peers as one of the best limit hold'em players in town. He was never able to win a key pot at the final table and played well to finish fifth. Mike previously finished fourth in the 1990 WSOP limit hold'em tournament.

. Moxie Ungar, 78, retired from Gallo Wine 15 years ago and is a regular Las Vegas player. This finish is his third in a WSOP finals.

. This tournament represents the first time in history that an event other than the $10,000 buy-in no-limit World Championship of Poker has produced a million-dollar prize fund. Five hundred and twenty-eight players posted $2,000 each to create this new world record.

. The record-breaking event began at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday and a grueling 16 hours later David Chiu claimed the title at 5:30 a.m. Wednesday.

©1996, Binion's Horseshoe. Some portions ©1996, ConJelCo. All Rights Reserved.