The 5th season of the WPT opened with an exciting event: the
Mirage Poker Showdown. The opening event began with a No Limit Hold’em 6-max event. This type of game has became very popular with young players on the internet, so the older, more experienced players would have to do themselves justice against the younger players.
The competition was fierce with many exciting players competing for the top prize; a huge $1,294,755. All the players had their eyes on first place, and inevitably it was a tough battle to the finish. It kicked off on May 14th 2006, with a $10,000 + $200 buy-in, big enough to attract global attention. This was certainly an event not to be missed.
This 3-day event started with 384 entrants crammed into the Mirage Casino in Las Vegas, NV and after 3 days of grueling poker it was down to the final table with some notable characters in attendance. The short stack was Robert Mizrachi, the ‘Grinder’s’ older brother and early mentor, hoping to emulate some of the success enjoyed by his brother. The top 5 finishers were:
- Steven Frederick in 5th for $166,479
- David Williams at 4th place who took home $221,958
- Devin Porter went out 3rd to leave it heads-up and won $332,937
- Harry Demetriou, the runner-up for $673,272
And the winner of the opening event of the WPT’s 5th season,
Stan Weiss who won the
$1,294,755 first prize. He showed sheer aggression when it was down to the last two, and managed to clinch the title with Ks-5d.
Demetriou, the runner-up held K6 offsuit, dominating Weiss. However his dreams of a WPT title were smashed when the river came the last remaining 5 in the deck, giving 1st place to Weiss and $673,272 for himself.
The previous winner of this event, Gavin Griffin was unable to defend his crown, but the title passes on to a deserved winner in Stan Weiss who started the final table as chip leader and kept up his advantage. He used his chip stack to dominate the play and take away the $1.3 million prize.
Weiss, a professional poker player from Nashville, TN, has had 3 ITM finished in the World Series of Poker. This event, his biggest win by far to date, capped off a good year of poker, as he also won a preliminary event at the Mirage Poker Showdown before this victory.
--Steven Eddleston
