My friend Mike Paulle has given me permission to post his daily reports for each event of the World Series of Poker this year to the ChipBoard! Below is his report on Event #19. Andy - Las Vegas

WORLD SERIES OF POKER 2002

EVENT #19 NO-LIMIT TEXAS HOLD'EM
Monday, May 6, 2002
$1,500 BUY-IN
$1,500 in chips

BEATING THE BEST

When the New England Patriots beat the St. Louis Rams in the Super Bowl, there
were no criteria to deny that the Pats weren't the best football team in the
world. If you beat the best, you are the best. It's that simple. There are
still two and a half weeks until the Poker 'Super Bowl' winner is known. Until
then, it is clear who the best is right now. He beat the best, back to back.

There were 528 entrants in the $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em for a total prize pool
of $744,480. Four tables were paid, a total of 36 players.

Carlos Mortensen is the reigning World Champion. He got that title by beating
Dewey Tomko with an inferior starting hand to Dewey's and a perfect card on the
river. In a replay Monday night, Tomko went all-in with A Q. Mortonsen called
with the J 5 of Diamonds and made a flush on the river. Instead of 3/4 of a
million dollars Dewey received last May, Dewey Tomko got nothing but another
beating by his nemesis. Tomko was 37th in a field that paid 36. Bizarre how
things turn out, isn't it?

"He's playing perfectly," Johnny Chan said. "I told you," Chan repeated to a
friend in the crowd. "He's playing perfectly." The 'He' Johnny Chan was
referring to was Layne Flack.
Why the praise from the great Chan? Layne raised on the button, $8,000. Erik
Seidel reraised all-in from the small blind for his last $16,000. Layne had the
rockets…pocket Aces. Seidel had pocket Kings. After 14 hours on Monday night
and another three hours on Tuesday afternoon, the Final Table was at last set.
Erik Seidel, in 11th, wouldn't be invited to take a seat.

THE FINAL TABLE 4 mins left of 75. $300 ante. The blinds were $1,000/$2,000.

Player Hometown Chip Count

Seat 1 Jeff Norman Encinitas CA $ 75,300
Seat 2 Carlos Mortonsen Madrid, Spain $107,200
Seat 3 Layne Flack Las Vegas NV $ 88,700
Seat 4 TJ Cloutier Richardson TX $140,500
Seat 5 Roger Guerrette Houston TX $ 17,700
Seat 6 Chris Bjorin London, UK $ 26,300
Seat 7 Phillip Marmorstein Munich, Germany $ 48,500
Seat 8 Adeline Shayegan Huntington Beach CA $ 62,900
Seat 9 John Pires San Jose CA $ 60,300
Seat 10 Johnny Chan Houston TX $168,000

If Erik Seidel doesn't pick up pocket Kings, maybe it's Roger Guerrette that
isn't invited to the Final Table. "It was miracle I got here. I never had any
chips," Roger said upon leaving in 10th place. 'Two-outers' may not be
miracles, but they are the poker equivalent. First, Roger needed a two-outer
then suffered from one. Guerrette reraised all-in on the button with his last
$11k and pocket 3's. He stood up when John Pires showed him pocket Aces. With a
3 on the flop, Roger raised his arms in a cheer. With an Ace on the turn,
Guerrette lowered his arms and quit cheering.

There are lots of ways for pocket 4's to get beat. This may have been the
ugliest. Chris Bjorin had few choices. He raised all-in from late position with
his 4's and his last $18,500. Chris was called by Adeline Shayegan on the
button with the K Q of Clubs. Now a King or a Queen could have come. How about
a straight or a flush? All those hands would beat a pair of 4's. But King high!
When the board paired twice with 8's and 5's, Bjorin's 4's didn't play and
Chris could no longer play in 9th.

The gravel-voiced and sultry Adeline Shayegan was giving the boys all they
could handle for a while. Making the Final Table in the first major she's ever
played in, Adeline may not have been fully aware of the exalted company she was
cavorting with. On the other hand, it wouldn't have been much of a surprise if
she'd asked for autographs. Adeline works in "Marble and Stone Fabrication"
whatever that means, hence the nickname "Stone Lady." Shayegan got crushed by
the rocks around her when her gravel got a little loose. Following a hand in
which she led all the way to the river, until Layne Flack sucked out on her,
Adeline may have tilted just a bit. On her last hand, TJ Cloutier raised in
front of her. Shayegan went all-in over the top with a K Q, again. Johnny Chan
reraised all-in behind her. How's that for company? TJ had to fold. Chan
flopped two pair with his 5 4, leaving Adeline a stoned lady in 8th.

Jeff Norman may have wished he were in Oklahoma instead of pinned between two
aggressive world champions. With Johnny Chan to his right and Carlos Mortonsen
on his left, Jeff Norman could barely breathe. He was valiant and prospered for
a while, but inevitably the unrelenting pressure of having to call all those
raises took its toll on Norman. Jeff first called the big blind from his small
blind position, probably intending to trap Mortonsen if Norman was raised. The
trap was set when Carlos raised $10k. The question was who was the trapped?
Jeff reraised all-in for his last $30k and the A K of Spades. Mortonsen called
with pocket Queens. The trap slammed shut on the trapper, Norman in 7th.

Limp, limp, limp, BLAM! The oft-quoted TJ Cloutier has said wisely, "Never go
broke in an unraised pot." John Pires may not be familiar with that particular
quote. Layne Flack limped in from early position. John Pires called from the
small blind. Johnny Chan checked the big blind option. The flop came 7 3 3.
John Pires didn't hesitate to go all-in for his last $45k with an 8 7. Thank
you very much, Johnny Chan might have said. Chan held a 5 3 in the big blind
and finished with a full house. John Pires had to leave the house. With 6th
money, Pires now has enough to buy one of TJ's books, however.

This was Phillip Marmorstein's second Final Table of this year's WSOP. His play
has been very impressive. Starting 8th in chips, Phillip maneuvered his way to
5th when something awful happened to him. Marmorstein called Layne Flack's
small bet on the flop with his pocket 4's. That was Phillip's doom. The flop
had been 10 10 8. When a 4 came on the turn, there was no turning back for
Phillip. His obituary was written. With a 4 on the river, it was Layne Flack
who got HIS dream card, NOT Phillip Marmonstein. Phillip had made quad 4's and,
of course, went all-in. Perfect for Layne Flack, he'd flopped quad 10's!
Marmorstein had been drawing absolutely dead from the get-go. There is no bad
beat jackpot at the Horseshoe.

Carlos Mortonsen couldn't believe it. He was mumbling to himself in Spanish.
Probably saying, "How could TJ call $150,000 all-in with an A Q?" Well, TJ did.
And with an Ace on the flop, current World Champion Carlos Mortonsen was out of
this event in 4th. His pocket 8's put him behind the 8 ball. Carlos had started
the betting with $15k. TJ came over the top to raise to $50k. Mortonsen went
all-in, TJ covered him. Carlos' reign of terror was over.

What does TJ say in one of his books, "I've lost more money with A Q than with
any other hand." Is it TJ who says that? One of the sages does. Anyway, before
Cloutier could lose a lot of money with A Q, he lost it with A K. TJ was chip
leader three-handed when he called Layne Flack's all-in. Cloutier had the A K
of Spades, Flack had pocket 9's. Layne made 9's full and took over the
prohibitive chip lead. TJ got some money back with pocket Aces against Johnny
Chan's pocket 7's. But then came the A Q.

Any table with Layne Flack at it is ready to gamble. "I play too many hands,"
Layne joked about himself earlier in the day, "I have a disease, 'raise-itis.'"
With this many chips on the table at only the $1k/2k blinds, we could have been
here all night. But not with Layne constantly shoving in the bets. Remember
what Johnny Chan said about Layne, "He's playing perfectly." Flack bet out
$19k. TJ seemed to think that Layne never had a hand. He came over the top
all-in for $150k and A Q. Johnny Chan called all-in with $70k and A K. Layne
Flack called with A K. Layne and Johnny split TJ up and spit him out in 3rd.
Flack got the side pot.

Heads up, Layne had a 9-1 chip lead and Johnny Chan ordered a Jack Daniel's for
Layne. It was his only hope. Actually, Chan had no hope. There have been two
No-Limit Hold'em events in this year's WSOP. Layne Flack has won them both.
Back-to-back Layne Flack, he wants to be called. Mr. Flack, world's greatest
tournament no-limit hold'em player might be another title. Who could say
otherwise? Layne has beaten the best, he must be the best. A little luck
doesn't hurt, though. Layne rivered a third 10 with his 10 7 to suck out on
Johnny Chan's flopped top pair. "He's playing perfectly."

Official Money Winners
1. Layne Flack $268,020
2. Johnny Chan $137,720
3. TJ Cloutier $ 70,720
4. Carlos Mortonsen $ 40,940
5. Phillip Marmorstein $ 29,780
6. John Pires $ 23,820
7. Jeff Norman $ 17,860
8. Adeline Shayegan $ 13,400
9. Chris Bjorin $ 10,420
10. Roger Guerrette $ 8,280

11th-12th received $8,180
Erik Seidel, Roman Abinsay

13th-15th received $7,440
Minh Nguyen, Ken Goldstein, David Pham

16th-18th received $5,960
Alexander Dietrich, Bruce Atkinson, Ian Murphy

19th-27th received $4,460
David Tovmasyan, Perry Friedman, Ron Stanley, Melissa Hayden, John Inashima,
Pierre Peretti, Charles Tsolakides, Paul Sptialnic, Mel Weiner

28th-36th received $2,980
Pat Moore, Jeff Siegal, Nicholas Dileo, Padraig Parkinson, Donnacha O'Dea,
Brian Saltus, Bill Wynes, David Pain, Edward Scharf