Steve Dannenman

[ononimo]

this really puts his play into context ... maybe him winning would have been good for poker after all. drunk donkeys can only get so lucky ...

[KingDan]

And there's this crumpled-up paper with a list of poker do's and don'ts, such as, "Avoid coin flips when you have the big stack." These are rules the 38-year-old CPA from Severn freely shares with his competitors, including some of the world's greatest players, in this no-limit Texas Hold-'em tournament.

[UMTerp]

Another Baltimore Sun Article:


By Bill Ordine
Sun Staff
Originally published July 17, 2005

LAS VEGAS - When Anne Arundel County accountant Steve Dannenmann fell tantalizingly short of winning the World Series of Poker main event yesterday, his reaction was as unwaveringly upbeat - and humorous - as it had been throughout his giddy weeklong run.

After losing an all-in hand to Australian poker pro Joseph Hachem, Dannenmann said: "How could I be disappointed? ... I was the best American player in the World Series of Poker."

In addition to that qualified distinction, Dannenmann had several million other reasons to be happy. The $4.25 million he won for finishing second was eclipsed in series history only by the record-setting $7.5 million pocketed by Hachem and the $5 million awarded to last year's champion, Greg Raymer.

Dannenmann immediately made good on his promise to split his winnings with friend Jerry Ditzel of Severna Park, who put up half of Dannenmann's $10,000 buy-in for the poker tournament.

"He's the only fool who would bet on me," the 38-year-old Severn resident and Brooklyn Park native said.

This year's No-Limit Texas Hold 'Em Championship was decided in the longest poker World Series final table ever, 13 hours, 56 minutes, that started late Friday afternoon and ended after daybreak in Binion's Gambling Hall and Hotel in downtown Las Vegas.

Dannenmann and Hachem had outlasted seven other competitors at the final table, and more than 5,600 players overall who began the event July 7.

In the end, after five hands of head-to-head play between the two, Hachem - who had about a 2-to-1 chip lead over Dannenmann - made an all-in bet after four community cards had been dealt: first the flop, 4, 5 and 6, and then the turn, an ace. The Australian's hole cards were 3 and 7, for a straight. Dannenmann held ace, 3, good for a pair of aces. The local CPA needed a 7 on the last card, the river, to tie and split the pot, but another 4 fell, giving him two pair.

"Thank you, America," said Hachem, who had been supported by a boisterous group of his countrymen who chanted "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi," every time he won a hand.

"I was on a mission, not just for myself but for them as well," he said. "From what I've been told by my friends here, Australia has gone mad."

Dannenmann had his own rooting section of friends and relatives, including his wife, Anita, Ditzel and a handful of pals from a Tuesday night poker game that represents the bulk of the accountant's poker-playing experience.

"I'm not even a Friday night poker guy, I'm a Tuesday night guy," Dannenmann said in the same self-deprecating fashion he has used to describe his poker expertise all week.

"I don't even play much Internet poker," he added, "because you can't talk to other people. And you can't yell, 'Cocktails!'"

Indeed, Dannenmann's charge into contention among the mammoth field began Tuesday when he increased his chip stack about tenfold, to a little more than 2 million, while downing a steady stream of bloody marys and ending the evening with a limousine expedition to the Hard Rock Casino that lasted until 4:30 a.m.

The next day, nursing a hangover and switching to bottled water, he doubled his stack again. Over the next two days, he went back to his favorite cocktail, taken with extra olives, albeit considerably diluted.

What never changed, though, was Dannenmann's adherence to the No. 1 tenet on a list of self-prescribed advice he kept in his pocket: Have fun.

During breaks in the overnight final table session, while other players stewed over their particular circumstances and the cash at stake, Dannenmann called his mother, Mary, in Glen Burnie, with updates. "And Mom, don't forget that trash day is Monday, so get the trash out for me," he ended one conversation, "and please pick up the newspaper from the lawn."

At one point, while he climbed the tournament ladder and his winnings mounted, the tax preparer told an onlooker:

"A million things are going through my mind up there - alternative minimum taxes, write-offs and, you know, this is messing up my vacation in Ocean City. I'm supposed to go fishing and golfing."

Dannenmann, wife Anita and 6-year-old stepson Cody are scheduled to head to the Shore today.
Another time during a break he asked Ditzel for some cash to tip the cocktail waitress who brought drinks to the players. Ditzel, who runs a hazardous-waste removal firm, peeled off a $100 bill. Dannenmann looked at it and said, "Jerry, I'm going to want more than one bottle of water."

While Dannenmann never took himself seriously, his opponents certainly did. The only name poker pro at the final table of nine was Mike "The Mouth" Matusow, and he was the first one eliminated when Dannenmann successfully drew to an inside straight.

Earlier in the tournament, Dannenmann bounced former world champion Russ Hamilton.

And Hachem, the winner, said the affable Dannenmann could be frightening. "He's got a special gear called all-in," said the 39-year-old former chiropractor who emigrated from Lebanon. "I don't like doing that in my game, and he's very good at it."

After the card tournament ended, Dannenmann - sporting the same tan shirt and blue visor he had worn since the main event began - bankrolled everyone in his party at a private craps session at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, where most of the World Series of Poker, which included 45 tournaments of varying poker styles and buy-ins, had been played since June 2.

"Gee, when this thing gets on TV, people are going to see some of the stupid things I did," he said, laughing in a limo ride from Binion's to the Rio. The Vegas poker World Series, a hit for ESPN, is scheduled to be televised beginning Aug. 23 with the championship expected to be aired from mid-October through mid-November.

Unlike other amateurs who have done well at the poker World Series and have gone on to become full-time players sponsored by Internet poker Web sites, Dannenmann said he has no intention of "giving up my day job."

"There are too many people who depend on me doing what I do for them. Besides, [poker is] boring."

Just before leaving Binion's, where the World Series of Poker was born and was played yesterday for the final time, Dannenmann shook his head over his improbable accomplishment.

"You know, I didn't have a clue what was going on - and it nearly worked," he said. "In fact, it did work."

[celiboy]

MoneyMaker won in 2003 and he was a CPA and this guy finishes 2nd and is a CPA....hmmmm, I am a CPA as well....

[NoTalent]

lol this guy sounds pretty funny. This should be amusing to watch on tv.

[RLilley]

GO TO VEGAS! YOU MUST!

[UMTerp]

Yeah, I'm looking forward to the TV broadcast as well. I'd imagine he's provide us with a few funny moments. I have a feeling he's going to take an inordinate amount of criticism here on 2+2 though, especially once the ME airs on ESPN. Some of it will be a little unwarranted though.

Sure, it's fine to critique his play, that's what these boards are here for. He's said time and time again that he's no pro, and has been extremely humble every time I've seen a quote from him. He realizes he was lucky to be there, and doesn't claim to be some super poker player now. It's the personal insults that aren't necessary though, and he'll probably get the same drivel written about him that Moneymaker and Raymer did/do.

Quite a few 2+2 members probably have a better overall game than Dannenman, but the guy doesn't deserve to be hated by them just because he had the run of his life and made a nice score for himself.

[NCAces]

[ QUOTE ]


Beginning of Day Four
Good news for Steve!!

just went on a run of cards. He got bullets on the button and raised the BB like he was stealing. The BB reraised him and Steve thinks and says,"Oh well it's been a fun ride.I'm all-in." The guy calls with AQ. Steve is up to 280K now!!

The comments with the aces was a little excessive (unnecessary) IMO, but whatever works!



[/ QUOTE ]

What's excessive or unnecessary about that comment. If it got the other guy to call his all-in, then it was a hell of a move. I don't think I've ever played a session of poker where someone wasn't lying through their teeth at some point about that cards they held.

NCAces

[joeboe2001]

Crab boy! Crab boy! Oy oy oy!!!

I don't care HOW bad he played--it was a gas to see the local boy do well!!!

And another player from MD finished in the top 18 as well.

[DesD]

He was a funny guy. I got all of the final table players to sign my guest badge before play commenced and Steve wouldn't, saying that he wasn't going to sign anything until it was all over. I caught him during a couple of breaks also and we had some banter over the badge. He was good to his word though and signed it after the last hand.

DesD.