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| Nolan Dalla's Report | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The World Series of Poker would not be complete without an episode of controversy. The 2005 Pot-Limit Omaha world championship included an outburst which had the potential to change the outcome of the tournament and swing a quarter million dollars in prize money from one player to the other. After 163 players had been eliminated over a three-day period, play was reduced to the final two players. Rafi Amit faced Vinny Vinh heads-up for the Omaha championship. After playing together for two hours, Amit inadvertently uttered an expletive which was overheard by several people, including the Tournament Director. WSOP rules are strict when it comes to the use of profanity. The bottom line is – cursing is not tolerated. The Tournament Director stepped in and istered a 10-minute penalty against the offender (Mr. Amit). Such a penalty would normally not be newsworthy, but when it takes place with only two players remaining in the tournament (with huge prize money and a gold bracelet at stake, no less) the incident defined one of the most exciting tournaments of the year. Amit, who enjoyed a 5 to 1 chip lead at the time and was within striking distance of finally putting his opponent away, was given a penalty at the worst possible time. For the next 10 minutes the dealer dealt out hands, and Amit lost 24,000 in chips per round. For Amit and his packed gallery of ers, it was torture to watch. Ten minutes seemed like ten hours. Vinny Vinh, who had been down to his last 120,000 when the penalty was declared, took the chips like fresh oxygen and was back up to 330,000 when Amit finally got to sit back down at the table. That set the stage for a fabulous last hour during which both players bantered back and forth and Amit ultimately proved he could overcome any adversity. Amit adopted a ‘raise or fold’ strategy which ultimately served him well. He toyed with Vinh and finally busted the Vietnamese-born gambler at 4:00 am. The final showdown was so riveting that the crowd actually swelled the longer the two players continued. When Amit snapped on his WSOP gold bracelet for the first time, the prior incident was the last thing on his mind. Rafi Amit had 511,835 reasons to not want to change a thing. When play at the final table began nine hours earlier, Amit arrived as the chip leader. There were two former gold bracelet winners in the finale – Erik Seidel (7-time winner) and Todd Brunson (one-time winner). The remaining players were all seeking their first WSOP win. When heads-up play began, Vinny Vinh and Rafi Amit were very close in chips, with about 830,000 each. It took four long hours to decide the winner. Amit was the more aggressive player and certainly caught a nice rush of cards at key moments. His momentum was nearly derailed when the excruciating 10 minute penalty was given for cursing (swearing). But Amit overcame the loss of chips and ultimately prevailed in the end. On the final hand, Amit was dealt J-10-7-6. Vinh was dealt K-K-5-2. After all of Vinh’s chips were in the pot on the turn, the final board showed J-7-2-J-8 – good for a full house (jacks over sevens) for Amit. Vinny Vinh, a high-stakes poker player from Houston was born in Vietnam. He received $282,280 as the runner up. Rafi Amit is a 25-year-old poker pro. He has been playing poker for three years. Despite playing in high-limit cash games, this was Amit’s first time ever to make it to a WSOP final table. He’s now a perfect one for one. Afterward, when asked about how the controversy affected the tournament, Amit brushed off the issue. “Justice prevailed,” he said.  Official Report by Nolan Dalla – World Series of Poker Media Director |
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