The young guns of poker were the talk of the town during the 2001 World Series of Poker from Binion’s Horseshoe Casino in downtown Las Vegas. The 27 events that comprised the 32nd annual WSOP were dominated up and down by poker players just coming into their own. As would be the theme over the next several WSOP tournaments, the old guard gradually gave way to the new guard. Ironically, many in the “new guard” in 2001 are considered the established pros in today’s poker world. Take the 2001 WSOP Main Event Champion, Carlos Mortensen. Today, he’s a poker legend. He’s someone who, when he sits down at your table, you cower in fear. In 2001, he had cashed in just one WSOP event prior to the $10,000 buy-in Main Event. He was a nobody and, like many WSOP champs after him, became a recognized name in the poker world by capturing the WSOP Main Event title. Mortensen has since captured World Poker Tour titles and finished atop a European Poker Tour event.
Mortsensen beat out a field of 613 players for a first place prize of $1.5 million. His final table was a gauntlet of established pros. It was truly an outstanding feat to be able to navigate through the sea of sharks at the 2001 WSOP Main Event final table. He defeated long-time pro Dewey Tomko heads up. Tomko walked away with just over one million dollars. Tomko was a three-time bracelet winner. Phil Gordon, another talented, up and coming talented player at the time, finished in fourth place. Phil Hellmuth had already collected seven WSOP bracelets by the time he finished in fifth in the 2001 WSOP Main Event and Mike “The Mouth” Matusow had tasted five final tables and one bracelet; Matusow finished sixth.
Other notable Main Event cashes included Daniel Negreanu (11th), Kevin Song (20th), Jim Bechtel (23rd), Allen Cunningham (27th), WPT Host Mike Sexton (29th), Billy Gazes (42nd), Harry Thomas Jr. (43rd), and David “The Dragon” Pham (44th).
Scotty Nguyen, The Price of Poker as he’s called by some, added two WSOP bracelets to his war chest at the 2001 WSOP. Nguyen took down Event #14, the $2,500 Pot Limit Omaha event, for $178,480. He defeated Jim Lester heads up. Captain Tom Franklin and Billy Gazes also reached the final table. Nguyen also won another Omaha event for his second WSOP bracelet in Event #23, a $5,000 Omaha Hi/Lo tournament, defeating the legendary Phil Hellmuth heads up. As if getting by Hellmuth wasn’t enough, Phil Ivey, Chau Chang, and TJ Cloutier were also facing Nguyen at the final table. Nguyen took home nearly $400,000 for his efforts along with his second and third WSOP bracelets.
Phil Hellmuth captured his seventh WSOP bracelet in Event #5, a $2,000 No Limit Hold’em tournament. TJ Cloutier finished second and Layne Flack finished third in that event, representing five bracelets at the time. Hellmuth’s run in the 2001 WSOP was nothing short of impressive. He cashed in seven of the 27 events, or 26% of the tournaments, including five final tables. He had cashed in seven events total between 1996 and 2000.
Allen Cunningham continued to impress many with his performance at the 2001 WSOP. He brought home gold in the $5,000 Limit Stud event (#21), defeating Mike Danino heads up for $201,760. Shawn Sheikhan finished third. It was Cunningham’s first WSOP bracelet and tenth cash ever. He’d place 27th in the Main Event for his eleventh lifetime cash and walked away from Las Vegas a quarter of a million dollars richer.
Finally, “The Professor” Howard Lederer received his second bracelet at the 2001 WSOP, winning the No Limit Deuce to Seven Lowball event (#18). His other bracelet came one year earlier in the 2000 WSOP. There were just 33 entrants and when the dust settled, Lederer and Freddy Deeb squared off with a $165,870 first place prize on the line. Lederer made his only cash in the 2001 WSOP count.