1998

Poker Omnibus W50P

April 22

Farzad Bonyadi Wins $2,000 Limit Hold 'Em for First Bracelet
Defeats record field of 581 for $429,940 in opening event of the 1998 WSOP.

$2,000 Limit Hold 'Em (Event #1, began 4/21)

Winner: Farzad Bonyadi ($429,940)

Entries: 581 (27 paid)

WSOP.com | Hendon

April 23

Doyle Brunson Wins $1,500 Razz for Eighth Bracelet
Defeats field of 155 for $93,000.

$1,500 Seven-Card Razz (Event #2, began 4/22)

Winner: Doyle Brunson ($93,000)

Entries: 155 (16 paid)

WSOP.com | Hendon

April 24

Total WSOP Entries Top 50,000
267 players enter $1,500 Seven-Card Stud to reach the milestone.

$1,500 Limit Omaha (Event #3, began 4/23)

Winner: Michael Shadkin ($109,800)

Entries: 183 (18 paid)

WSOP.com | Hendon

April 25

$1,500 Seven-Card Stud (Event #4, began 4/24)

Winner: Kirk Morrison ($148,185)

Entries: 267 (24 paid)

WSOP.com | Hendon

April 26

Donnacha O'Dea Wins $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha for Ireland's First Bracelet
Defeats field of 139 (119 rebuys) for $154,800.

$1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha (Event #5, began 4/25)

Winner: Donnacha O'Dea ($154,800)

Entries: 139$ (119 rebuys) (18 paid)

WSOP.com | Hendon

April 27

$1,500 Seven-Card Stud Split (Event #6, began 4/26)

Winner: Tommy Hufnagle ($139,305)

Entries: 251 (24 paid)

WSOP.com | Hendon

April 28

$2,000 No-Limit Hold 'Em (Event #7, began 4/27)

Winner: Jeff Ross ($259,000)

Entries: 350 (27 paid)

WSOP.com | Hendon

April 29

$2,000 Limit Omaha 8 or Better (Event #8, began 4/28)

Winner: Chau Giang ($150,960)

Entries: 204 (27 paid)

WSOP.com | Hendon

April 30

Daniel Negreanu Wins $2,000 Pot-Limit Hold 'Em for First Bracelet
Defeats field of 229 for $169,460 at age 23. [At 23 years, 9 months, and 3 days old, there's a 25% chance he became the youngest bracelet winner ever as Jeff Sandow was also 23 when he won in 1977).]

$2,000 Pot-Limit Hold 'Em (Event #9, began 4/29)

Winner: Daniel Negreanu ($169,460)

Entries: 229 (27 paid)

WSOP.com | Hendon

May 1

Artie Cobb Wins $2,500 Seven-Card Stud for Fourth Bracelet
Defeats field of 152 for $152,000. Cobb wears a large green foam rubber frog hat while polishing off Phil Hellmuth heads up.

$2,500 Seven-Card Stud (Event #10, began 4/30)

Winner: Artie Cobb ($152,000)

Entries: 152 (16 paid)

WSOP.com | Hendon

May 2

T.J. Cloutier Wins $2,500 Pot-Limit Omaha for Fourth Bracelet
Defeats field of 82 (54 rebuys), including Doyle Brunson heads up, for $136,000.

$2,500 Pot-Limit Omaha (Event #11, began 5/1)

Winner: T.J. Cloutier ($136,000)

Entries: 82$ (54 rebuys) (9 paid)

WSOP.com | Hendon

May 3

Jesse Alto d. 1998 [age 71] (b. 1/1/1927)
Eight WSOP Main Event Top 9 finishes: 1974 4th, 1975 6th, 1976 2nd, 1978 5th for $21,000, 1984 2nd for $132,000, 1985 6th for $42,000, 1986 4th for $62,700, & 1988 9th for $21,000. Seniors Poker Hall of Fame 1996.
Wikipedia | WSOP.com | Hendon

$2,500 Seven-Card Stud Split (Event #12, began 5/2)

Winner: Bill Gempel ($120,000)

Entries: 120 (16 paid)

WSOP.com | Hendon

May 4

David Chiu Wins $3,000 Limit Hold 'Em for Second Bracelet
Defeats field of 171 for $205,200.

$3,000 Limit Hold 'Em (Event #13, began 5/3)

Winner: David Chiu ($205,200)

Entries: 171 (18 paid)

WSOP.com | Hendon

May 5

$3,000 Limit Omaha 8 or Better (Event #14, began 5/4)

Winner: Paul Rowe ($133,200)

Entries: 111 (18 paid)

WSOP.com | Hendon

May 6

Erik Seidel Wins $5,000 No-Limit Deuce-to-Seven Draw for Fourth Bracelet
Defeats field of 26 (33 rebuys) for $132,750.

$3,000 Pot-Limit Hold 'Em (Event #15, began 5/5)

Winner: Steve Rydel ($206,400)

Entries: 172 (18 paid)

WSOP.com | Hendon

$5,000 No-Limit Deuce-to-Seven Draw (Event #16, began 5/6)

Winner: Erik Seidel ($132,750)

Entries: 26$ (33 rebuys) (5 paid)

WSOP.com | Hendon

May 8

$3,000 No-Limit Hold 'Em (Event #17, began 5/7)

Winner: Ken Buntjer ($268,620)

Entries: 242 (27 paid)

WSOP.com | Hendon

May 9

$5,000 Seven-Card Stud (Event #18, began 5/8)

Winner: Jan Chen ($208,000)

Entries: 104 (17 paid)

WSOP.com | Hendon

May 10

Amanda Thompson Wins $1,000 Ladies Championship for Canada's First Female Bracelet
Defeats field of 100 for $40,000.

$5,000 Limit Hold 'Em (Event #19, began 5/9)

Winner: Patrick Bruel ($224,000)

Entries: 112 (18 paid)

WSOP.com | Hendon

$1,000 Women's Seven-Card Stud (Event #20, began 5/10)

Winner: Amanda Thompson ($40,000)

Entries: 100 (16 paid)

WSOP.com | Hendon

May 11

Matt Damon Plays WSOP Main Event
Doyle Brunson coolers him on first day with pocket aces over pocket kings. Fellow actor Ed Norton also competes.

May 13

Jack Keller Last Champ Standing in Main Event
Exits in 22nd place for $25,000.

Susie Isaacs Finishes Tenth as Last Woman Standing in the WSOP Main Event
Two-time Ladies Champ collects $40,000, outlasting Kathy Liebert by seven places .

May 14

Scotty Nguyen Wins 1998 WSOP Main Event
Defeats field of 350, including Kevin McBride heads up, for $1,000,000 and second bracelet. The majority of the players qualified via supersatellite, including McBride, or single-table satellite, including Nguyen.

$10,000 Main Event - No-Limit Hold 'Em (Event #21, began 5/11)

Winner: Scotty Nguyen ($1,000,000)

Entries: 350 (27 paid)

WSOP.com | Hendon

September 11

Rounders Open in Movie Theaters
SPOILER ALERT: Mike McDermott's final line: "First prize at the World Series of Poker is a million bucks. Does it have my name on it? I don't know. But, I'm gonna find out."

September 17

Ted Binion d. 1998 [age 54] (b. 11/28/1943)
Benny Binion's son became the casino manager of the Horseshoe in 1964. Won both 1983 and 1985 Employee events, which are not considered official bracelets here. His sensational death is one of the main threads in James McManus's "Positively Fifth Street: Murderers, Cheetahs, and Binion's World Series of Poker".
Obituary | Wikipedia

November 22

Stu Ungar d. 1998 [age 45] (b. 9/8/1953)
1980, 1981, & 1997 WSOP Main Event winner ($365,000, $375,000, & $1,000,000). 1990 WSOP Main Event 9th place ($25,050). Two other bracelets: 1981 $10,000 Deuce-to-Seven Draw ($95,000) & 1983 $5,000 Seven-Card Stud ($110,000). Four bracelets from 1980 to 1989 were the most of any player in the decade. Poker Hall of Fame 2001.
Wikipedia | WSOP.com | Hendon

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{ Data is current through January 1, 2023. }