2006 WSOP Event 16 - Pot-Limit Omaha

Place  PlayerPrize1Lee Watkinson$655,7462M Guttmann$360,6593Mark Dickstein$184,4284Rafi Amit$143,4445Hasan Habib$122,9526Nick Gibson$102,4607Jani Vilmunen$81,9688Thomas Wahlroos  $61,4769Mickey Appleman$40,984  This event is one of the big ones. A ten thousand dollar buy in fee provides a pretty big barrier to entry, but not big enough to keep the 214 players in Event 16 from chipping in. Of course, this is a far cry from the expected 8,000 plus that will darken the Amazon room at the Rio over the course of the Main Event, but then again, this is not No-Limit, nor is it the Championship, but for those two hundred fourteen Pot-Limit Omaha players, it is the game to beat for now. Last year's winner, Rafi Amit from Isreal, is back in the game and looking for a repeat.  With such a high buy in the expected field was filled with pros, which meant that it was all pros busting out in the beginning. Gavin Smith, Phil Laak, Carlos Mortensen, Greg Raymer, Ted Forrest - gone on day one, early.  Day two rocked along with 26 players already in the money, guaranteed at least $12,295. Plenty of pros are still around, like Ben Roberts, Jim McManus, Sam Grizzle and Patrick Antonius. After Ben Robets busted out in tenth, the final table was decided. Scheduled to be a three day event, there was some momentary confustion when the organizers considred playing the final table right away. Cooler heads prevailed, the players were sent off to rest up, and the final table resumed play on Day Three.  Day Three started this way:Player, LocationChip CountJani Vilmunen, Porvoo, Finland$485,000Hasan Habib, Downey, CA$349,000M Guttmann, Melbourne, Australia$283,000Lee Watkinson, Los Angeles,CA$276,000Mark Dickstein, Manhattan, NY$212,000Nick Gibson, Windsor, UK$207,000Thomas Wahlroos, Helsinki, Finland  $168,000Mickey Appleman, Fort Lee, NJ$102,000Rafi Amit, Holon, Isreal$99,000  Then Rafi Amit, the defending champ, was taken out. He took only a fourth place finish, but it is still a huge accomplishment to make it to the final table in back to back years in the same event!  Then it was a battle between M Guttmann and Lee Watkinson to determine the winner. It was a straight in the last hand which gave Watkinson the win!