INTO THE SPOTLIGHT

27 players start out today with a guaranteed $25,000. All hope that's toke money off the $1,000,000 they want.

Seven of the 27 are nearly free rolling, as they'd won their seats in Super Satellites.

But you can't dance without a beat. And this is a day when the beat is especially strong. Today, the best hand before the flop gets beat on, like a boxer who's being paid to lose.

Hearts are broken and dreams shattered as the best hand repeatedly goes down for the count.

Any doubts that the late stages of a poker tournament are dominated by the lucky are dispelled today. The gamblers gamble and win big, the tighter players go home early.

THEY SHOOT HORSES, DON'T THEY?

Today, we don't need to talk to the players after each bust out hand. Every all-in hand is shown face up.

We start with 3 full tables

• 27th - Talk about a tournament freeroll, Farzad "Freddy" Bonyadi has already won over $400,000 at this year's WSOP. He wants more and thinks that pocket Jacks will give it to him. Bobby Hoff has pocket Kings and says "no way." Freddy is the first to leave but he proved that he isn't just a limit holdem player.

• 26th - Jack Fox made 26 friends yesterday by taking out Mike Magee to set up the 3rd day - pay day. But with these friends you don't need enemies. Jack outfoxes himself when he thinks he has a read on Sooyoung Kim.

  Fox comes over the top of Kim with A J of Hearts. Kim brings out the hounds with a pair of Queens. Fox is tree'd when a Queen flops. There's no holding the hounds at bay. Jack is nimble and Jack is quick but Jack can't jump over 26th place.

• 25th - For the first beat of the day, we might as well start with a beauty. Eskimo Clark self-flagellates by only betting 10k from middle position with pocket Aces. Bobby Hoff smooth calls on the button.

  The flop comes K J 8. Clark checks, Hoff goes all-in and Eskimo calls. Baby it's cold outside! Hoff has trip Jacks and Eskimo mushes his sled out the door with $25,000, not exactly the amount Clark had in mind at the start of the day.

• 24th - Bobby Hoff continues his version of "Wipeout" when David Mosley is forced all-in with 10 9. Hoff has yet another premium pair, Queens this time. Mosley is mostly depressed. David gets plane fare back to London.

• 23rd - Rod Peate's chips are turning into peat moss. He goes all-in with pocket 7's only to get bogged down by Lee Salem's Jacks. Rod, who finished 2nd to Tom McEvoy for the Championship some years back, got paid today. His only consolation is that McEvoy didn't.

• 22nd - Scotty Nguyen started the day as chip leader. Here's one reason. Yesterday Scotty flopped quads twice and was paid off both times. Today he's got a new trick, winning with one over card. Jack Keller goes all-in with pocket Queens. Scotty calls with A Q. The flop is A A 2. Keller is in the cellar as the last former Champion out of the running.

• 21st - Thor Hansen has to go all-in with 7 8 of Spades. He catches top pair. The incendiary Bobby Hoff has 3 4 of Spades and rivers a straight. Hoff's rush is still on, and the beat goes on.

• 20th - Vince Burgio came up from the felt on the first day to get here. He goes all-in with his last 30k and an A Q. No one can believe that Dewey Weum calls Vince with an A 8 of Hearts. Dewey believes. Weum turns the nut flush making Vince wince.

• 19th - The beat slows down for one dance as David Kim tries to take the blinds with A Q. Kevin McBride is the new sheriff in town, taking over for Bobby Hoff. Kevin has pocket Kings in the big blind. David Kim loses the last longer bet with Sooyoung Kim and is the first Kim out.

Down to two tables, seats are redrawn.

• 18th - Tommy Jin Joo, in the nine seat, raises 10k. Kevin McBride, who suddenly can do no wrong, in the one seat, calls. Tommy has A 3 of Spades and picks up a flush draw. He bets his case 42k. McBride has Q 10 and calls with the flop Q 5 2. Sam Spade couldn't have found another spade for Tommy Jin Joo, or an Ace either.

• 17th - Twice yesterday, Kathy Liebert won with 9's, as an under pair before the flop. Both times a 9 magically appeared on the flop. The second time her 9's sent Pat Fleming's Kings down in flames and Pat out of the tournament.

  Kathy goes to that well once too often, but in a tragic way for her. Liebert has 9's and Scotty Nguyen has Kings. Again a third nine flops. She must think it's destiny at this point. On the river only a King can save Scotty from beaming up some chips. That's what falls ... along with Kathy Liebert.

• 16th - On table two, Sooyoung Kim is the only surviving Kim in the tournament. He makes the mistake of taking on the only surviving McBride in the tournament. For nearly two hours, no one has been able to beat Kevin McBride. Not with the best hand, not with the worst hand.

  Sooyoung goes all-in with the 4 5 of Spades and picks up a gut shot straight flush draw on the flop. He'd trade all those outs for McBride's top two pair on the flop. Kim is the first eliminated player of the day to get more than $25,000. For playing his heart out and beating eleven players today he gets an extra $5,000.

• 15th - Meanwhile on table one, Scotty Nguyen remains in charge. Out of desperation, Danny Dang goes all-in with Q 9. Scotty has A 6. The flop is Q 8 6, the turn is a 6. Dang, who fought so hard from a low stack on day one, says "dang" or something similar in Vietnamese and leaves.

• 14th - The antes and blinds are starting to really hurt. Mark Weitzman goes all-in with what little he has left. Mark has pocket 6's, and Paul Kroh calls with A 8. The flop is A A J to end Weitzman's day.

• 13th - Now it's Paul Kroh's turn to go all-in. He turns over the J 9 of Clubs and can't believe his eyes when Scotty Nguyen (who else?) shows A 6 of Clubs. The flop comes Q 6 5 with two clubs.

  No problem. Paul only needs a Jack or a nine. Surely there won't be a flush. There are already enough clubs out for a gang war. Scotty eats Kroh with a 2 of Clubs on the turn.

• 12th - It's been so long since we've seen a normal hand, we're almost shocked when Mike Laing's all-in A Q is beaten by T J Cloutier's A K.

• 11th - Bobby Hoff can't beat Kevin McBride with a stick. Hoff had over $500,000 at one time and nearly all of it now sits in McBride's towering stack. How fitting that Bobby's last move is to give his case money to Kevin.

  With an Ace and a straight draw on board, Hoff represents a hand, and bets his last $40k at McBride. Unfortunately, $40k is what McBride took from Hoff the last time they met in a hand. Kevin calls with Queens. Hoff quickly mucks his hand before it can be shown.

• 10th - After day one, no one in this tournament played better than Susie Isaacs. Starting day two with only $4,250, she was 188th out of 198 players. Time after time she had to go all-in. Standing behind her chair, with her arms crossed and jaw set, she looked like a blonde Scarlett O'Hara defending Tara from the hated Yankees.

  Like Scarlett, Susie was finally overwhelmed by the enemy, due to lack of resources, not guts. She went all-in with A 7 only to find the well-supplied Lee Salem with Kings. Well below her desires, but way beyond anyone else expectations for such a small stack in day 2, Susie Isaacs left the field of battle with her head held high.

For the un-final, final table, seats are redrawn again.

• 9th - Paul McKinney hardly ever speaks. Not because he can't, but because he'd have to take a foot long cigar out of his mouth to do so. Although Paul can't smoke cigars in the Pavilion, for three days his cards have been smoking for him. Now, all the way to the un-final, Final Table, his cards have snuffed out. The antes and blinds are $25,000 a round. There is no time to wait.

  From early position, Paul sees one card and goes all-in. Cloutier calls him. McKinney turns over A 2, Cloutier an A Q. Paul McKinney can now smoke all the Havanas he wants. 9th place pays $57,500.

• 8th - In a phenomenal run on day three, the 27th stack by a wide margin at the start of the day, Mark Brochard is finally knocked out, short of the goal. Brochard couldn't afford even one mistake all day and he makes none. Until now.

  Mark can't put T J Cloutier on an over pair. Brochard goes all-in with 8's. Cloutier is happy to oblige with Kings. Brochard has more than enough for air fare back to Paris. 8th pays $75,000.

• 7th - In normal times, this would be the last bust out hand of the day. But these are not normal times, these are the times that try men's souls.

  Jan Lundberg starts off this three player tango, in early position, with an all-in raise of 71k. Jan has two black 10's. Scotty Nguyen, insists on leading and calls with the A Q of Diamonds. To their surprise, Ben Roberts re-raises another 56k all-in. Of course, Roberts has Aces.

  Doesn't bother Scotty, who has more chips than God. What's another $56k, with the worst hand. The flop comes Q 5 4 with two diamonds. Ah, you're way ahead of us. The turn is a Jack.

  Jan Lundberg needs a 10.

  Scotty Nguyen needs a Queen or a diamond.

  Ben Roberts is praying for a blank.

  The magic man tricks them again. Scotty Nguyen pulls the deuce of Diamonds out of his hat and we all go home.

  For the first time in World Series history, the Final Table will start with five players not six.

• 6th - Ben Roberts, who started the final hand with more chips, and collects $37,500 more than 7th place Jan Lundberg.

YOUR NAME IN LIGHTS

By the end of Day Three you move from the shadows into the ultimate spotlight of poker - The Final Table of the Championship Event at the World Series of Poker. This is so huge you can't even say it without capital letters.

Every poker room in the world has a "Main Game." This is the poker world's Main Game.

The winner here gets something money can't buy. They get their picture put up in the Champion's Gallery. For as long as there are humans on this planet, that picture will stay up.

Oh, and $1,000,000 with an engraved gold bracelet for four days work ain't bad either.

Three of the five finalists are veterans. Two are less well known.

The glare from the spotlight tomorrow could blind the less experienced, or it could light up the face of a new star.

Seat 5.	Scotty Nguyen	Henderson NV	$1,184,000
Seat 1.	Kevin McBride	Boca Raton FL	873,000
Seat 3.	T.J. Cloutier	Dallas TX	829,000
Seat 4.	Dewey Weum	Monona WI	376,000
Seat 2.	Lee Salem	San Diego CA	240,000

6.	Ben Roberts	London ENG	$150,000
7.	Jan Lundberg	London ENG	112,500
8.	Mark Brochard	Paris FRANCE	75,000
9.	Paul McKinney	Princeton WV	57,500
10.	Susie Isaacs	Las Vegas	40,000
11.	Mike Laing	Franklin PA	40,000
12.	Bobby Hoff	Cerritos CA	40,000
13.	Paul Kroh	Logandale NV	35,000
14.	Mark Weitzman	Long Beach CA	35,000
15.	Danny Dang	Whittier CA	35,000
16.	Sooyoung Kim	Kent WA	30,000
17.	Kathy Liebert	Las Vegas	30,000
18.	Tommy Jin Joo	Brooklyn NY	30,000
19.	David Kim	Atherton CA	25,000
20.	Vince Burgio	West Hills CA	25,000
21.	Thor Hansen	Oslo NORWAY	25,000
22.	Jack Keller	Lake Cormorant MS	25,000
23.	Rod Peate	Redondo Beach CA	25,000
24.	David Mosely	London ENG	25,000
25.	Eskimo Clark	New Orleans LA	25,000
26.	Jack Fox	Reno NV	25,000
27.	Farzad Bonyadi	Los Angeles CA	25,000

It was sunny out this morning, but had become overcast by 11:00 AM. The Temperature sign atop Binion's Horseshoe read 64 degrees at 11:30 AM on Wednesday morning. There was a 15 mph SW wind gusting to 30 mph. There were rain showers later in the afternoon.

With seven players left, it appeared that it was only a matter of time before Dewey Weum would be the last one out. Dewey had survived several all-ins, and only had about $50,000 to try and cope with the $2,000 ante and $5,000/10,000 blinds.

However, Dewey had a few tricks left. Kevin McBride had an A Q and opened a hand with a $15,000 raise. Dewey raised another $32,000 all-in with a K Q. Dewey doubled through when he got a King on the turn.

Dewey won a few more pots, and then, seven minutes before the end of play on Day 3, he won a $384,000 pot from Scotty Nguyen. Dewey was first in with pocket Kings in the small blind, and made it $50,000 to go. Scotty decided that this was a good time to buy a pot, so he moved all-in with J 8 off. Dewey was pleased to call, and Scotty didn't play his J 8 nearly as well as Huck Seed did a couple of years ago. Neither improved, and Dewey had doubled through again.

Dewey won another hand or so, and ended up increasing his stack nearly tenfold in the last few minutes of Day 3.

About that time, Kevin returned to the table and asked, "Did I win any hands while I was gone?" Jack McClelland asked Kevin to remain in every hand until the action was completed, and there weren't any further problems in this area.

When they were down to two tables, Dewey Weum opens a hand with a $45,000 bet. It's folded to Kevin McBride, who puts $25,000 into the pot and says "Call". Kevin is informed that he needs to put $15,000 more in the pot, and Kevin releases his hand and pulls his money back. Kevin's hand did not touch the muck.

Jack McClelland rules that Kevin can fold, with his $25,000 remaining in the pot, or he can put $15,000 more in the pot and call.

Dewey Weum does not like this decision at all, and is quite vocal about his unhappiness. Dewey believed that the hand should have ended as soon as Kevin released his cards, and the money should have stayed in the pot. Jack McClelland didn't waiver, and play continued.

Dewey bet $50,000 on the flop, Kevin raised $50,000 and Dewey folded.

Dewey was still visibly unhappy for a long time after.

Rudy Lotief supplied an official print out of the entry list for the $10,000 Championship Event, and our listing now matches the computer's records.

ESPN will be doing TV coverage of the Final Table of the $10,000 Championship event, and it is scheduled to be aired on 12 July.

The Final Table will be held in the Special Events room (which has been the location of the 20 table Poker room during the 1998 WSOP) and Vince Van Patten will be the Celebrity Host for the telecast. Bleachers will surround the Final Table in the Special Events room, and a large screen TV will be set up in the Tournament Pavilion.

Family, friends and Press will be seated in the Special Events room, and if there are any left over seats, they will be opened up to the public. A better bet for most people will be the TV coverage in the Pavilion.

$12,482,000 (1998) vs $12,259,000 (1997)

SCOREBOARD

Unknown 20 Minutes
Barry Shulman 20 Minutes
Ray Dehkharghani 20 Minutes
Unknown 20 Minutes
Unknown 20 Minutes
Unknown 20 Minutes
Phil Tanner 20 Minutes
Unknown 20 Minutes
Thi Thi Tran 20 Minutes
Phil Tanner 20 Minutes
Paul Kroh 20 Minutes
Joe Macchiaverna 20 Minutes
Joe Gualtieri 20 Minutes
Ron Stanley 20 Minutes
Mike Schichtman 20 minutes

FINAL LIST

John Aglialoro
Jaggi Alphons
Greg Alston
Lazarou Anastassion
Mickey Appleman
Bill Argyros
Dolph Arnold
Sven Arntzen
Louis Asmo
Bruce Atkinson
Fariborz Azima
Bobby Baldwin
Edgar Barham
Don Barton
Joe Baumgartner
Billy Baxter
Derrick Baxter
Jim Bayton
Jim Bechtel
Paul Begun
Larry Beilfuss
Lyle Berman
Michael Bittan
Chris Bjorin
Andrew Black
Andy Bloch
John Bonetti
Fred Bonyadi
Bill Boston
Andre Boyer
John Bradley
Steve Brecher
Peter Brehm
Alex Brenes
Humberto Brenes
Dan Brings
Marc Jean Brochard
Alan Brodsky
Catherine Brown
Fred Brown
Jim Brown
Patrick Bruel
Doyle Brunson
Todd Brunson
Ken Buntjer
Vince Burgio
Debbie Burkhead
Scott Byron
Pat Callihan
Martin Canavan
Mike Caro
Dick Carson
Brent Carter
"Miami" John Cernuto
Jimmy Cha
Johnny Chan
Xanthos Charalambos
Tony Chaskelson
Percy Chen
David Chiu
Paul "Eskimo" Clark
David Cleary
T.J. Cloutier
Don Coates
Caesar Como
Bruce Corman
Glen Cozzen
Jack Culp
Allen Cunningham
Matt Damon
Danny Dang
Hamid Dastmalchi
Fred David
Cliff Davis
Al DeCarlo
Freddy Deeb
Asher Derei
Annie Duke
Tam Duong
Cal Dykes
Gus Echeverri
Frank Edinger
Mark Edwards
Al Emerson
Barbara Enright
Bob Ensley
Hershey Entin
Mori Eskandani
John Esposito
Super Mario Esquerra
Albert Joseph Ethier
Ali Farsai
Bob Feduniak
Maureen Pang Feduniak
Chris "Jesus" Ferguson
Michael Finn
Bruno Fitoussi
Layne Flack
Ken Flayton
Lewis Flemming
Pat Fleming
Lian Flood
Roy Flowerday
Ted Forrest
Jack Fox
Noli Francisco
John Franjesh
Tom Franklin
Gus Friedman
John Galbraith
Bill Gazes
Chau Giang
John Gledhill
Alan Goehring
John Goodfellow
John Gordon
Jason Gray
Scott Gray
Jack Green
Perry Green
Barry Greenstein
David Grey
Tommy Grimes
Sam Grizzle
Oklahoma Johnny Hale
Gorden L. Hall
Russ Hamilton
Thor Hansen
Jennifer Harmon
Dan Harrington
Gene Harris
Richard Harroch
Mike Hart
Tony Hartman
Chehab Hassan
Gary Haubelt
Pete Haugan
John Heaney
Dan Heimiller
Jay Heimowitz
Phil Hellmuth Jr.
Frank Henderson
Frank Hernandez
Paul Hoenke
Bobby Hoff
Randy Holland
Don Holt
Paul Honas
Ralph Hoots
Kent Hori
Tommy Huffnagle
LA Hung
Susie Isaacs
Ken Jacobs
Tom Jacobs
Gus Jacobson
Bjorn Janson
Tommy Jin-Joo
Berry Johnston
Crews Johnston
Jesse Jones
John Juanda
Mel Judah
Hal Kant
Jim Karambinis
Bob Karp
Casey Kastle
Steve Kaufman
Jack Keller
Robert Kennewick
Morris Kessler
Earl Key
David Kim
Sooyoung Kim
Richard Klamian
"Q" Knopow
Robert Kojfer
Kathy Kolberg
Michael Konik
Brian Koppelman
Vic Kramer
Paul Kroh
Mark Kroon
Brian Kruger
Matti Kuortti
Paul Ladanyi
Mike Laing
Phat Lam
William Lamkin
Frank Landen
Tony Lantz
Vasilios Lazarou
Howard Lederer
Matt Lefkowitz
Ken Lenaard
Gary Lent
Bill Lester
Jason Lester
Ralph Levine
Kathy Liebert
Jaime Ligator
Andy Lin
Bob Loar
R. London
O'Neil Longson
Steve Lott
Hans "Tuna" Lund
Jan Lundberg
Men Thoai Ly
Hieu Ma
Mike Magee
Mike Markos
Paul Martin
Jim Masclher
J.P. Massar
Phil Mazzela
Kevin McBride
Tom McCormick
Tom McEvoy
George McKeever
Carl McKelvy
Paul McKinney
Steve Melton
Milt Meyers
Phyllis Meyers
R.W. Miller
David Monico
Roger Moore
David Mosley
Joel Nacht
Yosh Nakano
Mark Napolitano
Dan Negreanu
Men Nguyen
Scotty Nguyen
Tam Van Nguyen
Jeff Norman
Edward Norton
Don O'Dea
Henry Orenstein
Michael Pancer
Shelby Parrot
J.C. Pearson
Rod Peate
Ralph Perivoskin
Pascal Perrault
Robert Perry
Steve Pestal
Flan "Irish Mike" Pilkington
Cesare Poggi
Dean Potashner
Amarillo Slim Preston
Robert Redman
John Richman
Benjamin Roberts
Donnie Robinson
Blair Rodman
David Roepke
Lucy Rokach
Dana Ronald
Mark Rose
Jose Rosenkrantz
Jeff Rothstein
Paul Rowe
David Rubin
Steve Rydel
Lee Salem
Fred Saliba
Junior Sample
Luis Santoni
Larry Satterwhite
Mike Schichtman
Barry "Doc" Schwartz
Dennis Seagle
Huck Seed
Doug Segers
Erik Seidel
Keith Sexton
Mike Sexton
John Shipley
Hilbert Shirey
Barry Shulman
Larry Sigety
Fred Sigur
Randall Skaggs
Christopher Smith
H.R. Smith
Gary Solomons
Kevin Song
John Spadaveccia
Ron Stanley
Max Stern
Edward Stevens
Al Stonum
Mark Straus
William Strother
John Strzemp
Julien Studley
Bob Stupak
Surinder Sunar
David Tagg
Jim Tarr
Richard Tatalovich
David Tavernier
Alan Tessler
Tab Thiptinnakon
Harry Thomas
Don Thompson
Walter Threadgill
Roy Thung
Judge Thurmand
Tibor Tolnai
Duane Tomko
An Tran
Nhut Tran
Marko Trapani
Chris Tsiprailidis
Greg Turk
Robert Turner
David "Devil Fish" Ulliott
Bruce Van Horn
Peter Vilandos
Cindy Violette
J.J. Volpe
Marsha Waggoner
Rickie Walden
Bob Walker
Jim Waltenburg
Garland Walters
Jack Ward
Jim Ward
Charles Watkins
Lee Watkinson
Ron Weaver
Mel Weiner
Mark Weitzman
David Welch
Justin Westmoreland
Dewey Weum
Charles Wight
Lamar Wilkinson
Buddy Williams
Ronnie Williams
Martyn Wilson
Frank Wong
Lee Wosk
Bruce Yamron
Rick Young
Hertzel Zalewsky
Steve Zolotow

We will announce when the play-by-play of the final table is available for this event.