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With another record-setting field, and the biggest pot in Poker History- a
massive $2 Million- on the table for the taking, the 2002 World Series of
Poker won’t be soon forgotten. Seated at a table with relative unknowns,
Robert Varkonyi played his hands and got his draws to become the 2002 World
Champion.
Amazingly, not one of the player’s at the final table has ever won a WSOP
bracelet. Not one! As a matter of fact, 13 former champions entered this
event, and not one of them even made it into paying 45th position! Despite
this, the table featured some great Poker. While Varkonyi would eventually
take all the chips, his title effort started off with a fizzle, as he almost
immediately doubled up Julian Gardner, depleting his chip stack by almost
$400,000- he was now down to a meager $250,000. At this point one of the
more interesting subplots of the day developed; Phil Hellmuth, in a rare
candid moment, blurted out the fateful words “If Robert Varkonyi wins the
World Series of Poker, I’ll shave my head!” Hellmuth would live to regret
this, however it seemed a safe bet at the time, as Robert had not played
particularly well to this point. Inevitably, the production crew smelled a
story, and barber’s equipment was procured in short order.
At any rate the action unfolded slowly at first, as the table felt itself out.
Ultimately the hand that would secure Varkonyi’s victory would be the
all-conquering Q-10. Q-10? Yes, that modest hand would be the undoing of
Varkonyi’s opponents. Indeed, Phil Hellmuth will have nightmares about it,
as not only was it the hand that eliminated the legendary Hellmuth, but it
would also by the hand that secured Varkonyi’s victory, resulting in a new
hairstyle for Phil. It also took out Chris Ferguson earlier in the
tournament, and with 4 players left, Varkonyi unleashed his secret weapon on
Scott Gray, sending him home early. After eliminating Ralph Perry with
pocket rockets, it was down to Julian Gardner and the ever lucky Varkonyi.
In the final dramatic hand, Gardner thought he had Varkonyi on the spot with
a club flush, but miraculously, that made Gardner’s flush was the wrong one-
it was a 10. Inevitably, this made a flush of 10’s full of Queens out of
Varkonyi’s Q-10, and that final card delivered victory to Robert.
With another successful tournament in the books, the only thing left was to
settle the bets; Robert Varkonyi collected his $2 million, and a man of his
word, Phil Hellmuth paid up on his verbal bet. Varkonyi left Binion’s with a
lot more money, and Hellmuth left with a lot less hair.
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