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1993 marked the beginning of a new prosperity for the World Series of Poker. The recession was over and the cups of many overflowed; poker was beginning to change into the young man’s game it is today, with two of its youngest and brightest –Phil Hellmuth and Ted Forrest—winning three bracelets a piece despite both still being in their twenties.
After the previous year’s dip in attendance, the Main Event saw an increase of nineteen entrants to 220. While Forrest and Hellmuth failed to thrive, for the first time in Main Event history, two women managed to money, with Marsh Waggoner and Wendeen Eolis finishing twentieth and nineteenth respectively.
Amongst the thriving pros, Jim Bechtel was en route to becoming just the second amateur to win the title. A cotton farmer by trade, Bechtel wasn’t a stranger to the series, though he’d never had a performance like the one he’d put up in the Big One. He was responsible for the exits of fourth place finisher Monsour Matloubi and third place finisher John Bonetti, the latter in one of the most talked about hands on poker history, with Bechtel’s flopped set besting Bonetti’s top pair-top kicker.
The Bonetti exodus left Bechtel heads-up with Glen Cozen. A fellow amateur who made his primary living as the chief financial officer for a southern California orthopedics company, Cozen arrived in the final by playing ultra-tight poker, choosing to hold on as long as possible to maximize his placing rather than try to double up in order to take a real shot at the title. The gambit worked; the difference between second and third was $210,000. Cozen held just T70,000 to Bechtel’s T2,130,000 when they met heads-up for the championship.
On just the third hand of heads-up play, Cozen moved all-in rather than get blinded off, and Bechtel called blind, turning over Jc-6h. Cozen only had 7s-4d and needed help from the board. He didn’t get it; the cards would come 10d-8s-3c 2c 5d, leaving Bechtel’s jack-high the best hand and giving him the championship.
Gary Wise
gary@wisehandpoker.com
