BOLIVIAN NOMAD WINS WSOP EVENT #11 $2,000 POT-LIMIT HOLD’EM

Update For a touching story about Marcel Luske and a blogger named Charlie visit Dr. Pauly, Jason and then check out what Felicia is doing.Be sure to visit the World Series of Poker live blog from Dr. Pauly. More photos are now in the 2005 WSOP Photo Gallery. Complete World Series of poker tournament results can be found at Poker Player Newspaper.
The 2005 World Series of Poker Top Money Winners list is available at Poker Player Newspaper.-Prof

“I love my freedom,” Edward Moncada said a few moments after he slapped his first WSOP bracelet on his wrist. “That’s why I move around a lot.”

Edward “Bolivia” Moncada won the Event #11 Pot-Limit Hold’em. He outlasted a field of 540 players who competed for a prize pool worth $993,600 in another grueling three day event at the 2005 World Series of Poker. On his ESPN Player Profile sheet, Edward Moncada listed “No permanent residence” as his hometown. He’s a nomad and enjoys traveling and living in different places. Most recently, he’d been playing smaller tournaments in Southern California and at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. It was a matter of time before he had a major breakthrough.

When play was suspended at the end of day one, Marco Traniello held the chiplead with $124K. By the time day two ended, World Poker Tour Announcer Mike Sexton was knocked out in 10th place. He missed the final TV table by one spot. Here are the final table seat assignments and chip counts:

Seat 1: Steve Hudak (Baltimore, MD) $125K… He’s the baby-faced professional poker player who dropped out of college to play full time.

Seat 2: Edward “Bolivia” Moncada (No known residence) $125K… He’s a part-time janitor and part-time poker player who’s been all over the map the last few years.

Seat 3: Yoshitaka Oku (Tokyo, Japan) $155K… The computer engineer is known as “Yo” to his friends.

Seat 4: Elia Ahmadian (Washington, DC) $74K… Nicknamed “Danger,” He’s a part-owner of a car dealership and a proud graduate of Virginia Tech.

Seat 5: Marco Traniello (Las Vegas, NC) $120K… He’s trying to make a name for himself and prove to the poker world that he’s not just Jen Harman’s husband. Marco is also the current leader in money cashes at this years WSOP with four.

Seat 6: Freddy Deeb (Las Vegas, NV) $127K… The only WSOP bracelet winner at the final table is a cash game specialist. He lists water skiing as his favorite hobby.

Seat 7: Shah Ajay (Belgium) $207K… He’s a businessman originally from Bombay, India.

Seat 8: Shargel Koumi (Birmingham, England) $120K… Born in Cyprus, Shargel is a retired businessman.

Seat 9: David Cossio (El Paso, TX) $166K… He’s a math professor at UTEP.

“Shah Ajay began the final table as the chipleader. The first player from the final table was knocked out within the first orbit. Yoshitaka Oku pushed all in with pocket Kings. Edward Moncada called with A8 and he hit an unbelievable flop of: 8-8-3. Yoshi was eliminated in 9th place and won $19,870 for his efforts. Marco Traniello doubled up when he won a coin flip. His pocket sevens held up against Edward Moncada’s A-10.

Freddy Deeb was the chipleader with 235K until Elia Ahmadian doubled up against him. Freddy’s AQ lost to K6s when Elia flopped a King. That hand seemed to get Elia on a roll. He doubled up on the next hand against Edward Moncada. This was Elia’s first WSOP final table, but he’s got a big tournament win under his belt. Only a few months ago he won the Party Poker Million tournament and took home $290K for that victory. Alas, Elia’s run was short lived. David Cossio’s pocket Kings held up against Elia Ahmadian’s pocket sevens. Elia finished in 8th place and won $29,810.

“Freddy Deeb was still the chipleader until he doubled up Shar’s 88. Freddy Deeb called with KQ. In one of our homegames in New York City, my buddy F Train nicknamed KQo the “Kournikova,” because KQo looks nice but never wins, just like Anna Kournikova.

It appeared that Freddy Deeb was about to double up Marco. Freddy had 55 and Marco had A-T. Marco flopped an ace. Freddy had two outs left in the deck and miraculously hit one of them when a five spiked on the river. Marco was knocked out and collected $39,745 for 7th place.

Shargel Koumi was the next one eliminated. He was sent to the rail by Shah Ajay. Shargel finished in 6th place and won $49,680. Various members of the boisterous crowd cheered their friends on. It was definitely the most lively crowd I’ve seen at this year’s WSOP. Edward Moncada and Steve Hudak both moved all in preflop. It was an exact coin flip with Moncada’s A9 versus Hudak’s QJs. Both men had loud railbirds rooting them on. The crowd exploded with jubilation when Moncada flopped a 9 and he doubled up.

Freddy Deeb finished in fifth place and failed in his quest to win a second WSOP bracelet. Kournikova was his downfall. His KQ lost to David Cossio’s pocket sixes. Cossio flopped a set and Freddy hit part of the flop with top pair. He pushed all in and Cossio quickly called. Freddy won $59,615. Cossio moved into the chiplead with $386K.

Steven Hudak then began his run. With 77 he doubled up against David Cossio’s AQs. He was still the shortstack but had a little more breathing room. A few hands later, Steve Hudak would double up against Shah Ajay. That win would put him in second place in chips. A couple of hands later, another heads up battle between Steve Hudak and Shah Ajay broke out. Steve’s Jacks held up against Ajay’s AQ. Shah Ajay was eliminated in 4th place and collected $69,550 for his efforts.

The board read: 2-4-5-7. David Cossio held two overcards with AQ and moved all in. Steve Hudak called with 3-4o. With just a pair with an open-ended straight draw, Steve Hudak made a gutsy call. The river was an ace which gave Hudak the Wheel straight. David Cossio was knocked out in 3rd place. He returns to El Paso with $79,490 in prize money.

With two players remaining, Edward Moncada took a commanding chiplead after he won a massive pot from Steve Hudak. Moncada moved all in on a flop of J-8-5. Steve Hudak took a while to ponder the call. He eventually pushed with pocket 99s. Moncada showed J-5 for two pair. Steve Hudak was crippled. Moncada had $700K more chips than Hudak.

“Steve Hudak was not about to give up. With KT he doubled up against Edward Moncada’s J7s. Although Moncada flopped a flush draw, he didn’t catch any cards. Moncada’s chiplead dwindled to a 2 to 1 difference. Steve Hudak was back in the hunt.

A few hands later, Edward Moncada raised the minimum and Steve Hudak reraised all in preflop with A8. Moncada called with 88. Steve Hudak did not catch an ace and Edward Moncada won his first WSOP bracelet. Steve Hudak won $159,970 for his second place finish. Edward Moncada picked up $298,070 and his first bracelet.

Despite the big win, the guy with no official address will not settle down. He’ll continue to move around and play a lot of poker along the way. Congrats again to Edward Moncada.