The preliminary events at the 2002 World Series of Poker were once again dominated by names that we still recognize today. Old hands Johnny Chan and Billy Baxter did their usual bracelet-go-round, while John Juanda, Robert Williamson III and John Hennigan were each breaking their bracelet cherries.
In between those groups was the generation of new players who’d started to dominate at the turn of the century. Mike Matusow, Jen Harman and Allen Cunningham were each wining their second bracelets, which Layne Flack won twice. It was Phil Ivey though, in maybe the greatest feat in poker history, won three bracelets in three different games. All at the ripe old age of twenty-six.
It was another Phil Hellmuth—who grabbed the headlines at that year’s Series. It was an off year for Phil, who’d made one final only to lose to Chan. In the Main Event, he was taken down to next to nothing by an New York amateur named Robert Varkonyi. When Phil lost his remaining chips a few hands later, he told the cameras “If Robert Varkonyi wins the World Series, I’ll shave my head.”
From that point on, Varkyoni was unstoppable. He piloted a remarkable run of cards to and through the final table, getting to the heads-up portion of the tournament against England’s Julian Gardner with a T5,100,000-T1,200,000 lead.
With Hellmuth watching on, Varkyoni won the tournament with the hand he felled Phil with: Q-10. Varkyoni raised the preflop to T80,000, which Gardner called. When the flop came Qc-4c-4s, Julian checked, Varkyoni made a small bet, Julian moved all-in and Robert called. Gardner had Jc-8c and needed a club, but when he got it on the river, it made Varkyoni a full house. The amateur was the new world champion.
The aftermath was a circus. Varkyoni seemed lost in the shuffle between the grumblings of pros and Hellmuth’s monopolizing of the camera. A pair of clippers were forced into Varkyoni’s hand. He finally started shaving Hellmuth’s head, almost as if he were doing it to get it over with. For Hellmuth, it was a publicity windfall, one that would ensure his being featured on the most important TV series in poker history a year later.
Gary Wise
gary@wisehandpoker.com
