Shulman tops 4,128 in Seniors

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The impact of "Black Friday" can be seen far and wide at the 2012 World Series of Poker. Field sizes and buy-ins have been reduced to encourage more action, but even with those significant changes, the majority of open events at the WSOP aren't receiving the same turnouts as they had over the past few years. There was one demographic that was primarily unaffected by Black Friday: the Seniors.

While I'm not saying Seniors don't play online poker, it seems there were fewer players devastated by the Department of Justice's indictments in the 50-and-up age range compared to the majority of the younger player base. As a result, the Seniors came out in full force to play at the WSOP, and created the largest single-day tournament in WSOP history, breaking the record set in the same event a year ago. In 2011, we were amazed at the 3,752-player field, and with stated predictions initially hovering around 3,500 players, the turnout of 4,128 players blew all expectations out of the water.

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WSOP.comAllyn Jaffrey Shulman turned her $1,000 buy-in into $603,713 after four days of play in the Seniors event.

Incredibly, that wasn't the only piece of history made during the four-day event. Allyn Jaffrey Shulman defeated the massive field to win her first bracelet and become the first female champion at the WSOP after a record-long drought of 249 consecutive open events. Additionally, this was the first time three members of the same family made a final table during one week at the WSOP. Her husband, 2009 WSOP Europe main event champion Barry Shulman, finished eighth in Event 19, and her step-son Jeff Shulman finished third in Event 20. Shulman turned her $1,000 buy-in into $603,713.

"I'm happy for myself, but I'm happy for all women that I won this," said Shulman. "Showing that any woman can win a poker tournament and I'd like to see more of them out there playing, feeling comfortable with going at it with the boys and winning."

Shulman, a writer, consultant and former criminal defense attorney, defeated 2008 main event third-place finisher Dennis Phillips heads-up for the bracelet. She became the second female to win this event, joining 2006 champion Claire Miller.

"As years go by, women become more and more comfortable in all fields," she said. "For example, when I was a beginning lawyer, there were quite a lot of male lawyers and not a lot of female lawyers. So slowly, in different fields, women are breaking into those fields and pretty soon it will be all even."

As if competing at a WSOP final table wasn't challenging enough, Shulman was also coping with the passing of her best friend, and used her memory to keep collected during an anxiety-filled experience.

"I felt an odd calmness like I was going to win the tournament," said Shulman. "My best friend recently passed away, and she had given me the necklace that I was wearing, so sometimes, just to calm myself, I would just hold the necklace and think of my friend, Stephanie, and just try to stay very calm and focused and not let a loss do anything to me. Because in the game of poker, you win, you lose, there are good beats, there are bad beats.

"I just tried to have my best friend help me, and my father also just helped me keep a calmness and a focus."

In addition to the massive first-place prize, Shulman was also awarded the Golden Eagle trophy that is engraved with the winner's name and is passed on from champion to champion each year.

The only bracelet winner at the final table was a two-time champion and familiar face to televised poker fans, Hoyt Corkins. The "Alabama Cowboy" finished third for $199,023, his largest cash at the WSOP since his victory in 2007.

Other notable finishers include Marcel Luske (40th), Can Kim Hua (48th) and Humberto Brenes (244th).

Below are the complete results of Event 29 at the 2012 World Series of Poker:

Event 29: Seniors Event no-limit hold 'em
Buy-in: $1,000
Entries: 4,128
Prize pool: $3,715,200
Players in the money: 423

1. Allyn Jaffrey Shulman ($603,713)
2. Dennis Phillips ($372,895)
3. Bob Phelps ($270,727)
4. Hoyt Corkins ($199,023)
5. William Stabler ($147,605)
6. Stuart Spear ($110,416)
7. William Thomson ($83,332)
8. Martin Fitzmaurice ($63,418)
9. Harold Lilie ($48,669)
10. Carolyn Tulloch ($37,672)
11. Jim McCrink ($37,672)
12. Kevin DeTienne ($37,672)
13. Radwan Khuri ($29,387)
14. Clifton Green ($29,387)
15. Harold Kruger ($29,387)
16. Loyal Gwathmey ($23,146)
17. Anthony Wise ($23,146)
18. Christopher Underwood ($23,146)
19. Robert Kaplan ($18,353)
20. Travis Newberry ($18,353)
21. Gregory Maynard ($18,353)
22. Jose Franco ($18,353)
23. Frank Longinotti ($18,353)
24. Roberto Rodrigues ($18,353)
25. Rodney Clarida ($18,353)
26. James Slabon ($18,353)
27. John Freemon ($18,353)
28. Charles Edwards ($14,675)
29. Gary Haglund ($14,675)
30. Robert Backlund ($14,675)
31. Douglas Ficken ($14,675)
32. Kim Heiman ($14,675)
33. James Ditaranto ($14,675)
34. Theodore Fitzgerald ($14,675)
35. Steven Friedlander ($14,675)
36. Timothy Ebenhoeh ($14,675)
37. Ronald Halliday ($11,851)
38. Mark Bendure ($11,851)
39. Steven Karr ($11,851)
40. Marcel Luske ($11,851)
41. Chapman ($11,851)
42. Annette Mucci ($11,851)
43. Steven Merfeld ($11,851)
44. Robert Herlien ($11,851)
45. Franklin Margolis ($11,851)
46. Ricky Gore ($9,622)
47. Donald Phillips ($9,622)
48. Can Kim Hua ($9,622)
49. Keith Williams ($9,622)
50. Carlos Cunha ($9,622)
51. Jay Goldenberg ($9,622)
52. Alfred Contarino ($9,622)
53. Freddie Ardoin ($9,622)
54. James Evans ($9,622)
55. Donald Wiggins ($7,876)
56. William Annas ($7,876)
57. Thomas C Geist ($7,876)
58. Kevin Young ($7,876)
59. John Roveto ($7,876)
60. William Oconnor ($7,876)
61. Daniel Garner ($7,876)
62. Leon Chambers ($7,876)
63. Leon Riley ($7,876)
64. Brian Cudd ($6,502)
65. Mitchell Hecht ($6,502)
66. Steven Wagner ($6,502)
67. John Merchant ($6,502)
68. Frederick Roll ($6,502)
69. William Thompson ($6,502)
70. Robert Damon ($6,502)
71. Mari Louise Morelli ($6,502)
72. Olegs Pavlucuks ($6,502)
73. Michael Mueller ($5,424)
74. Mark Napolitano ($5,424)
75. Ming Huang ($5,424)
76. Joseph Schulman ($5,424)
77. Robert Goulding ($5,424)
78. Jill McDonald ($5,424)
79. Glenn Woodcock ($5,424)
80. Randall Parker ($5,424)
81. Randy Allen ($5,424)
82. Laurie Morgan ($4,533)
83. Scott Malone ($4,533)
84. Robert Brandon ($4,533)
85. Donavan Diseth ($4,533)
86. Frank Petronizo ($4,533)
87. Dale Hanke ($4,533)
88. Jean Boutin ($4,533)
89. David Hoote ($4,533)
90. Aubrey Vincent ($4,533)
91. Gary Askew ($3,827)
92. Peter Moore ($3,827)
93. Gil Sellers ($3,827)
94. Edward Melissari ($3,827)
95. Alexandr Orlov ($3,827)
96. Roy Jones ($3,827)
97. Chris Bjorn ($3,827)
98. Harold Rawls ($3,827)
99. Steven Kaker ($3,827)
100. Did Not Report ($3,269)
101. Richard Amano ($3,269)
102. Michael Stawski ($3,269)
103. Raymond Matthaei ($3,269)
104. Chrisopher Louie ($3,269)
105. Wilton Cravey ($3,269)
106. Fulvio Falda ($3,269)
107. Michel Abecassis ($3,269)
108. Marilyn Guess ($3,269)
109. William Pridey ($3,269)
110. Glenn Bernier ($3,269)
111. Santana Norohna ($3,269)
112. Francis Sansone ($3,269)
113. Timothy Little ($3,269)
114. John Liebenthal ($3,269)
115. Sidney Meadows ($3,269)
116. David Espinosa ($3,269)
117. Michael Sprando ($3,269)
118. Steven Rosebro ($3,269)
119. Steven Blomberg ($3,269)
120. Scott Auerbach ($3,269)
121. Sara Swenson ($3,269)
122. Bennedict Grylewicz ($3,269)
123. Jackie Craig ($3,269)
124. Gary Braufman ($3,269)
125. David Vida ($3,269)
126. Kanajett Hathaitham ($3,269)
127. Dong Tao ($3,269)
128. Diane Casino ($3,269)
129. Curtis Clark ($3,269)
130. Michael Mojica ($3,269)
131. Robert McWilliams ($3,269)
132. Dolph Arnold ($3,269)
133. Jay Hong ($3,269)
134. Gordon Baryla ($3,269)
135. Robert Goldstein ($3,269)
136. Kraig Perry ($3,269)
137. Hoyet Williams ($3,269)
138. Johnny Landreth ($3,269)
139. James Roy ($3,269)
140. Randy Toogood ($3,269)
141. Dean Schultz ($3,269)
142. Loren Cloninger ($3,269)
143. Daniel Genachte ($3,269)
144. William Carter ($3,269)
145. Robert Boller ($3,269)
146. John Sanchez ($3,269)
147. Michael Yaw ($3,269)
148. Patrick Maguire ($3,269)
149. Joseph Mattingly ($3,269)
150. Scott Veitzer ($3,269)
151. Stephen Barbella ($3,269)
152. Bruce Battistoni ($3,269)
153. Randall Rapp ($3,269)
154. Gerald Schmehl ($3,269)
155. Kenneth Harbaugh ($3,269)
156. Allan Berlowitz ($3,269)
157. Thomas Symonds ($3,269)
158. Mary Walker ($3,269)
159. Jill Hipke ($3,269)
160. John Johanson ($3,269)
161. Richard Fearnely ($3,269)
162. James Warren ($3,269)
163. Alan Denkenson ($2,786)
164. Jonathan Goetze ($2,786)
165. David Kalb ($2,786)
166. Michael Wood ($2,786)
167. Elliott Yost ($2,786)
168. Steven Schwartz ($2,786)
169. David Cubeta ($2,786)
170. John Bakovic ($2,786)
171. Fredrick Herlacher ($2,786)
172. Larry Daigle ($2,786)
173. Frank Presley ($2,786)
174. George Bronstein ($2,786)
175. Dennis Carlston ($2,786)
176. John Jacobs ($2,786)
177. William Napier ($2,786)
178. John Tobias ($2,786)
179. Dirk Churchill ($2,786)
180. Marsha Genard ($2,786)
181. Randy Belmont ($2,786)
182. Shawn Lawrence ($2,786)
183. Bradley Newman ($2,786)
184. Gary Glover ($2,786)
185. David Perkola ($2,786)
186. William Sindelar ($2,786)
187. Cornelius Stone ($2,786)
188. Randal Heeb ($2,786)
189. Jeff Banghart ($2,786)
190. Darrell Hopkins ($2,786)
191. Patrick Fenton ($2,786)
192. Robert Mills ($2,786)
193. Stephen Archbell ($2,786)
194. David Revels ($2,786)
195. Danny Walker ($2,786)
196. Everardus Zwartjens ($2,786)
197. Gary Owens ($2,786)
198. Peter Netherton ($2,786)
199. John Solis ($2,786)
200. Kim Rasmussen ($2,786)
201. Charles Foster ($2,786)
202. James Polanski ($2,786)
203. David Tuffing ($2,786)
204. Roger Polark ($2,786)
205. Jeffery Hudson ($2,786)
206. Robert Foster ($2,786)
207. Marty Gorenc ($2,786)
208. James Mcconville ($2,786)
209. John Carruthers ($2,786)
210. Kevin Landry ($2,786)
211. Darrell Mead ($2,786)
212. Michael Jacobs ($2,786)
213. Clyde Craig ($2,786)
214. Terry Wong ($2,786)
215. John Peterson ($2,786)
216. Thomas Robinson ($2,786)
217. Perry Green ($2,786)
218. Myles Kamei ($2,786)
219. Everett Goad ($2,786)
220. Stephen Baldwin ($2,786)
221. Scott Sanford ($2,786)
222. Jim Rumptz ($2,786)
223. Robert Cramer ($2,786)
224. Konstantin Novoa ($2,786)
225. Gregory Brask ($2,786)
226. Michael Lefrank ($2,415)
227. Mark Wates ($2,415)
228. Ted Rogers ($2,415)
229. Lyle Padgett ($2,415)
230. Dean Phelps ($2,415)
231. James Molloy ($2,415)
232. Francis Krumrey ($2,415)
233. Andrew Constantin ($2,415)
234. Dan Barnett ($2,415)
235. Steven Baker ($2,415)
236. John Strzemp ($2,415)
237. Vincent Frigeria ($2,415)
238. William Mince ($2,415)
239. Richard Lysinger ($2,415)
240. William Donnelly ($2,415)
241. Miles Lewis ($2,415)
242. Gary Conrad ($2,415)
243. John Hover ($2,415)
244. Humberto Brenes ($2,415)
245. Robert Lausch ($2,415)
246. Jose Morales ($2,415)
247. Kenneth Blanton ($2,415)
248. Raymond Perez ($2,415)
249. Charles Barker ($2,415)
250. Susie Isaacs ($2,415)
251. John Parker ($2,415)
252. David Garcia ($2,415)
253. Peter Giordano ($2,415)
254. Al Adler ($2,415)
255. Axel Reese ($2,415)
256. Roy Lengthorn ($2,415)
257. Daniel Oneill ($2,415)
258. Steven Choi ($2,415)
259. Robert Wittman ($2,415)
260. Donal Ascare ($2,415)
261. Scott Strable ($2,415)
262. Christopher Corriere ($2,415)
263. Frank Athey ($2,415)
264. Roy Davis ($2,415)
265. Sarah Casey ($2,415)
266. Steve Gersch ($2,415)
267. Kurt Klanderud ($2,415)
268. Peter Bierschbach ($2,415)
269. Richard Fink ($2,415)
270. Michael Brigante ($2,415)
271. Stephen Shaw ($2,415)
272. William Titcomb ($2,415)
273. Robert A Bailey ($2,415)
274. Charles Foster ($2,415)
275. Jack Deutsch ($2,415)
276. Dario Derenzi ($2,415)
277. John Lawrence ($2,415)
278. William Glasz ($2,415)
279. Joseph Labounty ($2,415)
280. Donald Baker ($2,415)
281. Derek Payne ($2,415)
282. Michael Kuryllo ($2,415)
283. William McCulley ($2,415)
284. Thomas O'Neal ($2,415)
285. Glen Biddle ($2,415)
286. Reid Wissner ($2,415)
287. Charles Randall ($2,415)
288. Daniel Orr ($2,415)
289. Rolland Jones ($2,118)
290. Denise Grove ($2,118)
291. Richard Haile ($2,118)
292. Kevin McBride ($2,118)
293. Ronald Saifman ($2,118)
294. James Lomax ($2,118)
295. Brian Easter ($2,118)
296. Christopher Manfredi ($2,118)
297. Donald Morton ($2,118)
298. Tom McCormick ($2,118)
299. Ravinder Bedi ($2,118)
300. Seyed Edalat ($2,118)
301. Dennis McCartney ($2,118)
302. Ravi Goklaney ($2,118)
303. Robert Willis ($2,118)
304. Mary Bachmann ($2,118)
305. Manouchehr Jafari ($2,118)
306. Salvador Yniguez ($2,118)
307. Gary Lee ($2,118)
308. John Waddell ($2,118)
309. Bruce Finstad ($2,118)
310. Steven Mitlenberger ($2,118)
311. Rudy Miller ($2,118)
312. John Llewllyn ($2,118)
313. Patrick Paris ($2,118)
314. Scott Mayfield ($2,118)
315. Christophe Grange ($2,118)
316. Daniel Clark ($2,118)
317. David Warling ($2,118)
318. Frank Goulard ($2,118)
319. Thomas Woods Jr. ($2,118)
320. David Roepke ($2,118)
321. Peter Bronstein ($2,118)
322. Gary Aliengena ($2,118)
323. Roger Oelke ($2,118)
324. Harris Schnall ($2,118)
325. James Thompson ($2,118)
326. Toto Leonidas ($2,118)
327. Osvaldo Marchi ($2,118)
328. Barry Smith ($2,118)
329. Terry Hansel ($2,118)
330. Joseph Miller ($2,118)
331. Joseph Wimsett ($2,118)
332. James Wolf ($2,118)
333. Roy Rubick ($2,118)
334. Brian Wrzesinki ($2,118)
335. Lane Strauss ($2,118)
336. James Litnar ($2,118)
337. Martin Rawitz ($2,118)
338. Jay Helfert ($2,118)
339. Jonathan Hildner ($2,118)
340. Ronald Stanley ($2,118)
341. Mark Lofthouse ($2,118)
342. Rochelle Levy ($2,118)
343. George Mosby ($2,118)
344. Mark Tenner ($2,118)
345. Paul Niemela ($2,118)
346. Edmond Ikuma ($2,118)
347. Larry Landgraf ($2,118)
348. Lynn Snelgrove ($2,118)
349. Dennis McAdams ($2,118)
350. Mark Meurrens ($2,118)
351. Earl Merritt ($2,118)

352. Lesli Spear ($1,858)
353. Barry Wrzesinski ($1,858)
354. Camillo Calabrese ($1,858)
355. Larry Wright ($1,858)
356. Joe Martindale ($1,858)
357. Marla Schwartz ($1,858)
358. Dao Bac ($1,858)
359. Timothy Wottle ($1,858)
360. Xiamei Zuo ($1,858)
361. Edmond Schwartz ($1,858)
362. Orlando Rodriguez ($1,858)
363. Mike Lisanti ($1,858)
364. Larry Grove ($1,858)
365. Bill Andraus ($1,858)
366. Lora Stewart ($1,858)
367. Sharon Allen ($1,858)
368. Michael Miller ($1,858)
369. Franciso Miranda ($1,858)
370. Bruce Vandervort ($1,858)
371. Mark Eastham ($1,858)
372. Richard Atkinson ($1,858)
373. Dean Chambers ($1,858)
374. Armin Eckl ($1,858)
375. David Rosenau ($1,858)
376. Daniel Dinzik ($1,858)
377. Alan Barroll ($1,858)
378. Stephen Bailey ($1,858)
379. George Kleinman ($1,858)
380. Michael McGreevy ($1,858)
381. Michael Watters ($1,858)
382. Michael Simons ($1,858)
383. James Pronger ($1,858)
384. Michael Cushing ($1,858)
385. Lyles Carr ($1,858)
386. Daniel Larios ($1,858)
387. Stephen Bell ($1,858)
388. Richard Griffith ($1,858)
389. Norman Shill ($1,858)
390. Kenneth Pyle ($1,858)
391. Carolyn Burauer ($1,858)
392. Chris Marr ($1,858)
393. Sandy Smith ($1,858)
394. Kenneth Pinsky ($1,858)
395. Barbara Luher ($1,858)
396. Richard Pumilia ($1,858)
397. John Brown ($1,858)
398. James Wood ($1,858)
399. Lawrence Landau ($1,858)
400. Scott Wanzer ($1,858)
401. Jean-Paul Pasqualini ($1,858)
402. Jack Sheppard ($1,858)
403. Jimmie Kiser ($1,858)
404. Henry So ($1,858)
405. Joel Rosenberg ($1,858)
406. Carl Wilhite ($1,858)
407. John Delaney ($1,858)
408. John Shay ($1,858)
409. Gery Smith ($1,858)
410. Edward Lombardi ($1,858)
411. Terry Tadlock ($1,858)
412. Linh Reiter ($1,858)
413. Phillip Haddad ($1,858)
414. Steven Williams ($1,858)
415. Michael Geimer ($1,858)
416. Hal Lubarsky ($1,858)
417. Jaime Quintero ($1,858)
418. Errol Rosen ($1,858)
419. Johnny Ludwig ($1,858)
420. Oscar Warren ($1,858)
421. Skip Bales ($1,858)
422. Jerry Richard ($1,858)
423. Dan Rice ($1,858)

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Andrew Feldman

ESPN.com

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Andrew Feldman is ESPN.com's Poker Editor. He is the host of the Poker Edge Podcast and co-host of ESPN Inside Deal. Andrew has covered the poker industry for ESPN since 2004.