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Kentuckian Tops Largest Field in World Poker Open History: Shane Shields wins first poker tournament and $174,663
 The largest poker tournament in the history of the Jack Binion World Poker Open ended with a rare expression of sentimentality. Shane Shields, a 35-year-old realtor from Union, KY had just defeated a monstrous field of 1,449 players in the $500 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em event and was asked an innocent question about what it meant to have his father at his side, watching his son win his first poker tournament. For a brief moment, Shields was unable to speak. His silence said everything. Indeed, poker may be a game of masked emotions, but in the end, we are all human -- even poker champions.
To date, the largest tournament in JBWPO history had been 918 players in this same event last year. That number was absolutely shattered in 2005, as 50 percent more players turned out to play in the event jointly hosted by the Gold Strike and Horseshoe Casinos. The tournament was so large, in fact, 249 players started as alternates.
After playing for 12 hours on the previous day, the nine finalists took their seats at the final table, as every bleacher seat was filled, and spectators stood five deep around the rail. Players were eliminated in the following order:
9th Place – Tournament pro An Tran outflopped Jarmon Peddy when his pocket Jacks cracked Peddy’s pocket Queens. When a Jack appeared, Peddy hit the rail ten minutes into the finale. Peddy collected $13,435 for 9th place.
8th Place – Michael Don Fess, who started this tournament as one of the last alternates on a long list, went ‘all in’ with A-4 and was saddened to see his opponent make two pair (Ks and 10s), ending Fess’ hopes for victory. Fess, a sculptor from Little Rock, AR carved out a nice payoff for himself, receiving $20,154 for 8th place.
7th Place – Bob Cochran arrived at the final table third in chips, but never was able to generate enough momentum to make him a force. He ran into a horrible spot when he was ‘all in’ with A-K versus A-A and predictably lost. Cochran, a real estate broker from California closed the deal good for $26,872 in prize money.
6th Place – Tim Vance, a 43-year-old contractor from Dupo, IL lost with 10-10 versus Q-Q and became the 6th-place finisher. Vance, playing for the first time at the JBWPO, collected $33,589.
5th Place – Kevin Kelly, a 21-year-old college student from the Dallas-Ft. Worth area became short-stacked and lost with Q-J to An Tran’s J-J. This was Kelly’s first live poker tournament and it would be hard to imagine a more thrilling performance or payoff for someone so new to the poker scene. He added $40,307 to his tuition fund.
4th Place – Richard Henderson made the most of his opportunity at the final table. He arrived lowest in chips and was outchipped by the leader by more than a 10 to 1 margin throughout. Yet, he still managed to survive over two hours and clawed his way up into fourth place. Henderson, a 74-year-old retiree from Alexandria, LA, finally went out with A-7 against An Tran’s 8-8. Tran spiked an 8 on the river to knock out Henderson. Interestingly, this was Henderson’s first significant final table appearance in twenty years. He made the final table at the Super Bowl of Poker (in Reno, NV) way back in 1985.
3rd Place – Dale Hackney was a crowd favorite. Cheered on by a large contingent of supporters, the farmer from Michigan had a chance to seize control when play became three-handed, but lost in a heartbreaking coin-flip situation. He raised pre-flop and then reluctantly called an ‘all in” re-raise by Shane Shields. Shields showed 6-6. Hackney showed A-10. In what was clearly the most critical hand of the tournament, Shields caught a third 6 making trips, which left Hackney with few chips. Had Hackney managed to win the close-to-even proposition, Hackney very well might have won the tournament. It wasn’t to be. Hackney received $53,743 for third place.
Heads-up play between relatively unknown Shane Shields and longtime Las Vegas-based tournament poker veteran An Tran started with Shields holding a 3 to 1 chip advantage. That quickly vanished when Tran doubled up with a pair of 7s against Shields’ pair of 6s. Then, fearing Tran might try to bowl over his less-experienced adversary, Shields became the aggressor and essentially took Tran’s every last chip over the next 45-minutes. In a duel that produced few showdowns, Shields bet just about every flop – forcing Tran into some difficult decisions. Tran later explained his uncharacteristic passiveness by revealing he missed “just about every flop” during the final hour.
Ground down to a 5 to 1 disadvantage, Tran had to take drastic action and did just that – at the worst possible moment. Tran tried to bluff Shields with a pre-flop ‘all in’ re-raise holding a weak 10-7 and was horrified to see Shields call instantly with pocket kings. The flop gave Tran some hope, as 10-9-6 appeared. Tran had several ‘outs’ with a pair and a straight-draw. But two blanks fell on the turn and river, crushing Tran’s comeback hopes. An “the Boss” Tran received $92,707 as the runner up.
“It’s very intimidating to come in and play heads up against someone you have seen on TV (Tran),” Shields said afterward. “But now that I have done this, I think the toughest part was just getting here to the final table, especially with such a large (field).”
When asked what he’ll do with the $174,663 in prize money, Shields who is married and has four children jokingly remarked, “I’m sure my wife will find out something to do with the money.”
Here’s a suggestion for Mrs. Shields: Let Shane play in a few more tournaments. He’s a winner and a now – a poker champion.
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2005 Jack Binion World Poker Open Results
Gold Strike Casino-Resort, Tunica, MS
Daily Report January 8, 2005
Event #2
No-Limit Texas Hold’em
Buy-In: $500
Number of Entries: 1,449
Prize Money: $675,776
Official Results:
1. Shane Shields of Union, KY won $174,663
2. An “the Boss” Tran from Las Vegas, NV won $93,000
3. Dale Hackney from Durand, MI wins $53,743
4. Richard Henderson from Alexandria, LA won $47,026
5. Kevin Kelly Arlington,
TX won $40,307
6. Tim Vance Dupo, IL $33,589
7. Bob Cochran Menifee, CA won $26,827
8. Michael Fess Little Rock, AR won $20,154
9. Jarmon Peddy Whitehouse, TX won $13,435
10. Milton Peel - $7,389
11. Tim McGinty - $7,389
12. Eric Spencer - $7,389
13. Asher Derei - $6,046
14. Jordan Thompson - $6,046
15. Jeff Houston - $6,046
16. Keith Collier - $4,848
17. Steven Applebaum - $4,848
18. Bill O’Connor - $4,848
19. Jeremy Jones - $3,463
20. Seth Tracy - $3,463
21. Clint Steelman - $3,463
22. Jake Naumer - $3,463
23. Tommy Mix - $3,463
24. P. Sinthavong -$3,463
25. Adam Hovermale - $3,463
26. Norm Ketchum - $3,463
27. Bill Ingram - $3,463
28. Ellianne Munoz - $2,424
29. Ryan Norton - $2,424
30. Randy Edmonson - $2,424
31. Chin Wee - $2,424
32. Bo Toft - $2,424
33. Johnny Price - $2,424
34. George Ohlman - $2,424
35. Robert Pecoraro - $2,424
36. John Lee - $2,424
37. Sue Rozell - $2,008
38. Puan Hoe - $2,008
39. Dariene Payne - $2,008
40. Kevin Bott - $2,008
41. Nisim Cohen - $2,008
42. Dennis Richardson - $2,008
43. Behman Zakari - $2,008
44. Fred Koubi - $2,008
45. Randy Norman - $2,008
46. Doug Saab - $1,662
47. Randy Murfin - $1,662
48. Mike Wisniewski - $1,662
49. Richard Jacobs - $1,662
50. Bert Tilley - $1,662
51. Samuel Suggs - $1,662
52. Kenneth Summitt - $1,662
53. Jerry Gobbell - $1,662
54. David Reda - $1,662
55. Scott Niebling - $1,385
56. Derek Leforte - $1,385
57. Brian Burney - $1,385
58. Doug Paxton - $1,385
59. Pete Giacomini - $1,385
60. David Walker - $1,385
61. David Clark - $1,385
62. Mike Savino - $1,385
63. Gary Weck - $1,385
64. Brian Gray - $1,247
65. Jerry Staubo - $1,247
66. Dirk Oswald - $1,247
67. Tom Eberharde - $1,247
68. Jimmy Green - $1,247
69. Chris Hughes - $1,247
70. K.D. Groves - $1,247
71. Scott Hunter - $1,247
72. Brad Meador - $1,247
73. Frank Allan - $970
74. John Averill - $970
75. B.J. McBrayer - $970
76. Matt Murse - $970
77. Mike Fountain - $970
78. Kelly Hawkins - $970
79. Scott Ward - $970
80. Bill Guillory - $970
81. Bob Galinson - $970
Final Table Started at: 4:00 pm CST
Final Table Ended at: 8:10 pm CST
Report by Nolan Dalla – JBWPO Media Director
Tournament Director – David Eglseder
Co-Tournament Director (Horseshoe) – Ken Lambert, Jr.
Co-Tournament Director (Gold Strike) – Robert McGovern
click for Schedule of Events
Click for Results Main Page
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