1994 World Series of Poker

A summary of 1994 world series of poker.

It was when all the world was weeping for Forrest Gump and Africa was cheering for the presidency of Nelson Mandela that the gambling arena at the Horseshoe Casino in the United States loudly cheered for the poker challengers who all had aims of pocketing the whopping $1,000,000 cash prize. It was the year 1994, the year that the film Forrest Gump was released and the year that Nelson Mandela gave his Presidency speech. It was also during that year that the World Series of Poker celebrated its silver event.

From April 16, 1994 to May 10, 1994, more than a thousand poker rookies and pros gathered to join the 25th annual World Series of Poker. Among these eager players were legendary poker professionals such as Erik Seidel, Jay Heimowitz, and JC Pearson. There were also new faces who crowded the tables like Rich Korbin, Hugh Vincent, and Russ Hamilton. All players were cautious of their strategies and chips during those days, but the silence in the poker arena was broken when the name Russ Hamilton rocked the final event.

Russ Hamilton wasn't really a new face in the poker world, for he started playing in 1992. Two years after his entrance to this successful poker career, Hamilton's experiences on the poker table became all worth it. But all the excitement in the 1994 WSOP did not come from this player alone. The series of events during this competition proved to be equally nerve-wracking.

Starting from the first day, 506 entrants joined with the $1,500 buy-in, all vying in for the $759,000 prize pool. Annie Duke and Bob Carter were part of this round, but only Steve Sim outlasted the rest of the players with $289,200. Players were down to 105 on the next day and so was the prize pool to $525,000; meanwhile, the buy-in was increased to $5,000. Among the poker players left, Erik Seidel was the final name to pocket the $210,000.

The final event required $10,000 for buy-in, and the organizers were ready to give away $2,680,000 to the champions among the 268 participants. Again, there were legendary and well-known poker pros on this tourney such as Mike Alsaadi, James Courtney, Hugh Vincent, and Russ Hamilton, but even before the last cards were put down, the audience knew that Hamilton would win because of the way he managed his hands. In fact, Hamilton's winning aura intensified because of the careless decision Vincent made with his 10 of clubs and 9 of spades hands, which were nothing compared to Hamilton's full house.

As if that was not exciting enough, the heads-up game became more breathtaking when both players got a pair of 8; Hamilton's cards were K of spade and 8 of hearts, while Vincent had 8 of clubs and 5 of hearts, while the final flop was 9, 8, and 6 of diamonds. Hamilton simply checked to get a free card but Vincent was eager to win, so he raised $100,000. The soon-to-be champ re-raised his opponent's bet with $750,000, which was called by Vincent. Consequently, the 1994 WSOP ended with a mistake for Vincent and a fortune for Russ Hamilton who pocketed a million dollars.

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