The Story of the 1999 WSOP Main Event
In 1999, the final year of the millennium saw a first-time winner from Europe create poker history in Las Vegas. The 30th Annual World Series of Poker (WSOP) welcomed a record field of 393 entries in the $10,000 WSOP Main Event. With two Irish players reaching the final trio and 36 players making the money, it was a WSOP unlike any other as the world’s biggest poker festival celebrated its ‘pearl’ anniversary in style at Binion’s Horseshoe in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Early Events Sees Scores for Several Female Stars
The WSOP hosted fewer events in 1999, with just 15 preliminary events before the World Championship. Across the tournaments, only two winners came from overseas: Australia’s Christina Pie (Event #16: $1,000 Ladies Limit Seven Card Stud) and the eventual world champion. Other than those two events, every open event was won by a player from the United States.
Even without Pie’s win in the Ladies Event, it was a sterling World Series for female players. Two women finished as runner-up in open events, with Mimi Tran winning $112,575 in the $2,500 Limit Hold’em event #3, losing heads-up to John Esposito, and Annie Duke taking home $110,000 in the $5,000 No Limit Hold’em event #13, losing to Eli Balas. Famed WSOP crusher Marsha Waggoner came third in the $1,500-entry Limit Omaha Hi-Lo event #15 for $34,630, as Mike Wattel took home the $134,865 top prize and gold bracelet.
Josh Arieh won the first of six WSOP events when he triumphed in the $3,000-entry Limit hold’em event #10. The final table in this tournament was a classic, featuring some of the best players in the world in 1999. South Korea’s Kevin Song made the final, as did John Juanda. Howard ‘The Professor’ Lederer came fifth for $22,815, while Tom Franklin fell three places short in fourth for $30,420. Arieh beat Costa Rican bracelet winner Humberto ‘The Shark’ Brenes heads-up for the $202,800 first-place prize.
Other winners from the 1999 series were Charlie Brahmi (Event #1: $1,500 Limit Hold’em), Paul Clark (Event #2: $1,500 Limit Razz), David Grey (event #4: $2,500 Limit Seven Card Stud), Hassan Kamoer (Event #5: $2,500 Pot Limit Omaha Rebuy), Ronald Long (Event #6: $2,500 Limit Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo), Eric Holum (Event #7: $2,500 No Limit Hold’em), Tom Franklin (Event #8: $2,500 Limit Omaha), Steve Badger (Event #9: $2,500 Limit Omaha Hi-Lo), Mike ‘The Mouth’ Matusow earned his first bracelet (Event #11: $3,500 No Limit Hold’em), and Layne Flack, who also won his first (Event #12: $3,000 Pot Limit Hold’em).
The Skill of the Irish
The 1999 WSOP Main Event saw the record of 350 entries, set in 1998, beaten with 393 buy-ins in 1999. A total of 36 players were paid, with the 1998 fourth-place finisher, Dewey Weum, reaching 23rd place to win $27,950 as he got close again. John Henningan, who would become one of the world’s best mixed game players, reached 19th place for the same payout.
Of the final 14 players, an amazing four were Irish. Ireland had long since sent players to the World Series of Poker, with stars such as Donnacha O’Dea winning gold in Las Vegas. None of the final fourteen included O’Dea, but his name would come back several years later in WSOP folklore.
Mickey Finn busted in 14th place for $39,130, leaving three of the final seven players coming from Ireland. George McKeever ducked out in seventh for $125,775 and the final six were formed. Noel Furlong held a massive lead with 1,544,000 chips – 39% of the chips in play – he was followed in the counts by American Alan Goehring (828,000) and Furlong’s fellow Irishman Padraig Parkinson (674,000). The last three players were all sitting with short stacks, two Americans, the 1996 winner Huckleberry Seed (402,000) and Erik Seidel (167,000), with Swiss player Chris Bigler (319,000) sandwiched between them.
The Luck of the Irish
Mariane Schafer presented the coverage from the 30th anniversary WSOP Main Event as action in the Main Event moved to the final stage with six players remaining. Huckleberry Seed entered the final table fourth in chips but would be the first to leave, his last 500,000 chips called by Noel Furlong. Seed shoved with jack-eight of diamonds and was disconsolate to see that Furlong had called with just ace-three of hearts. The flop sent Seed from his chair, coming down A-Q-3 to give the Irishman two pair. No help came for Seed, and the champion from three years earlier was sent to the rail having earned $167,700.
“If you’re looking back at it, it’s genius,” the commentators, including Phil Hellmuth, said of the call from Furlong. “If you look ahead, maybe not.”
Chris Bigler departed in fifth place for $212,420 when his ace-king lost to Alan Goehring’s pocket deuces before Erik Seidel decided to make a move. The 1988 runner-up had taken 11 years to return to the final table and hoped to go three places further to win it. A superb hero call with just ace-high for his tournament life helped the New Yorker double his short stack, but in the end, Seidel was out, claiming $279,500 in fourth place. His ace-queen lost to Padraig Parkinson’s ace-king as the ‘luck of the Irish’ put an end to Seidel’s dreams of becoming world champion. A queen on the flop gave Seidel hope of doubling up, but the king on the river sent play three-handed.
The Furlong Final
“The best hand held up but it was a situation where they both had to put their money in.” said Phil Hellmuth of the stunning clash.
Parkinson himself missed out on an all-Irish finale when his queen-high lost to his countryman Furlong’s ace-high, a result worth $489,125 to Parkinson, a future star of the industry. In the final hand of the tournament, pocket fives held true for Furlong when the chips went in on a board showing Q-Q-5-2. Alan Goehring had pocket sixes but neither a six or a queen arrived on the river. The eight of spades signalled the first and only Irish Main Event winner in history as Noel Furlong took the million-dollar top prize, Goehring claiming $768,625 in second place.
Over the years that followed, Furlong played much less than others at the final table, including his countryman Parkinson, WSOP legend Erik Seidel, and Main Event champion Huckleberry Seed. Furlong returned to Ireland and largely remained an astute businessman until his passing in the summer of 2021 when he left an estate worth just under $60 million to his family. He lives forever at the WSOP as the first-ever Irish world champion and one of the most beloved winners in the glorious game’s history.
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Noel Furlong | Ireland | $1,000,000 |
| 2nd | Alan Goehring | United States | $768,625 |
| 3rd | Padraig Parkinson | Ireland | $489,125 |
| 4th | Erik Seidel | United States | $279,500 |
| 5th | Chris Bigler | United States | $212,420 |
| 6th | Huck Seed | United States | $167,700 |
1998 WSOP Main Event 2000 WSOP Main Event
About the Author: Paul Seaton has written about poker for over 10 years, interviewing some of the best players ever to play the game such as Daniel Negreanu, Johnny Chan and Phil Hellmuth. Over the years, Paul has reported live from tournaments such as the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas and the European Poker Tour. He has also written for other poker brands where he was Head of Media, as well as BLUFF magazine, where he was Editor.