Buy-In	$500 + $40
	Prize Pool	$248,805
	Entries	513

Place	Name	Prize
1	Jack Keller (Robinsonville, MS, USA)	$92,058
2	Lamar Hampton (Winter Springs, FL, USA)	$47,273
3	Rick Sheperd (Henderson, NV)	$23,636
4	Jack Smith (Tullahoma, TN)	$14,928
5	Claude Mikesell (Kansas City, KS, USA)	$11,196
6	John Bolten (Overland Park, KS, USA)	$8,708
7	Chris Luck (Oskaloosa, KS)	$6,220
8	Paul Williams (Biloxi, MS)	$4,976
9	Billy Boutte (Lafayette, LA, USA)	$3,981
10	Rick Roberts (Brookhaven, MS)	$2,986
11	Jimmy Karabinas (Park Ridge, IL, USA)	$2,986
12	Hang Lam (Robinsonville, MS)	$2,986
13	David Garrett (Monticello, MS)	$2,488
14	Andrew Kelsall (Lutz, FL, USA)	$2,488
15	William McCool (Greenville, MS, USA)	$2,488
16	Sam Kiger (Columbia, MO)	$1,990
17	Norman Wilson (Augusta, GA)	$1,990
18	Ronnie Braddy (Griffin, GA)	$1,990
19	Kelly Sellers (Alexandria, GA)	$1,493
20	Brian A. Mizok	$1,493
21	Rockey Tripodi (Ellenwood, GA)	$1,493
22	Rip Poulos	$1,493
23	Florencio Lievanan (Woodridge, IL)	$1,493
24	Richard Cahill (Bement, IL)	$1,493
25	Robert Bates (Prairie Village, KS)	$1,493
26	Ted Mills (Plano, TX)	$1,493
27	John Reiss (Omaha, NE, USA)	$1,493

The following was a report filed by Lynn Loomis After an eight year absence from the tournament trail, 1984 World Champion of Poker Jack Keller returned with a vengeance, vanquishing 512 opponents to claim top honors in the second event of the 2001 Jack Binion World Poker Open. For his victory in the $500 buy-in Limit Hold'em competition, Keller was awarded $92,058 in prize money, plus the traditional WPO gold and diamond bracelet. A 58-year-old professional player, he also boasts four World Series of Poker bracelets, a Hall of Fame Poker Classic watch, four Super Bowl of Poker titles, and countless in-the-money finishes from other major tournaments. Keller was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 1994. The former world champ came to the final table as the chip leader, and though he had a setback early on, he quickly regained his position and continued to boost his stack. In the meantime, several of his opponents were eliminated in short order. The first to go was Billy Boutte, who lost two big pots in a row and found himself in sudden jeopardy. Seeing a good chance for survival in A-K, Boutte challenged Paul Williams, who had raised before the flop with Q-10 suited. But a board of J-10-8/7-9 brought Williams a queen-high straight, and Boutte was sent home with ninth place and $3,981. Williams' gain was short-lived, however, as he was soon felled when he raised before the flop with K-7 and was called by Claudie Mikesell, who held pocket eights in the big blind. The flop came J-7-4, but Williams got no more help and was gone in eighth place for $4,976. Short-stacked from the outset, Chris Luck lived up to his name, surviving numerous all-in battles before his luck finally ran out when he raised all in before the flop with A-S 3-S and was called by Jack Keller, who was in the big blind with A-K. A flop of Q-S 10-S 2u held promise for Luck, but when an offsuit 7-Q fell on board, he was outkicked and had to settle for seventh place and $6,220. Keller was now on a roll and dispatched three more opponents in rapid succession. He first took out John Bolten, who called from the big blind with Q-10 against Keller's pocket aces. On fourth street, the board showed Q-J-3/10 and Bolten bet all in with his two pair. But when Keller rivered a king for a straight, Bolten was shot down in sixth place for $8,708. He also cashed in yesterday's Pot-Limit Omaha event, finishing 15th for $1,968. After losing a huge pot to Keller's club flush, Claudie Mikesell was low on ammo and fired his last volley when he again challenged his nemesis, three-betting with pocket sevens before the flop. Keller called with 9-H 6-H and the flop came A-H A-D K-H. The turn brought the 5-H, and when Mikesell failed to fill on the river, he bit the dust in fifth place for $11,196. After forfeiting a big pot to Keller for a bet on the flop, Jack Smith was left close to the green and made his final stand on the very next deal, raising before the flop with K-H 6-H. Keller called from the big blind with J-4 offsuit and bet out on a flop of K-H Q-C J-H. Smith called all in, but when the board denied him another heart, he was crushed in fourth place for $14,928. At three-handed play, Keller held a substantial lead over both Lamar Hampton and Rick Shepherd, who were close to even in chips. Nonetheless, it was more than an hour before Shepherd finally succumbed. After flopping a straight only to see it snapped off when Keller rivered a flush, Shepherd was almost down to the felt. He managed a brief rally, winning several all-in confrontations, then lost it all when he took K-J up against Keller, who held Q-S 10-S. On fourth street, the board showed K-S 6-S 6-S/4-S and Shepherd bet all in. But the river failed to deliver a miracle, and he was washed up in third place for $23,636. "Jack is as strong as he's ever been, and I knew I was in trouble unless I caught some hands," commented Shepherd, a 46-year-old professional competitor who has cashed in several other major tournaments. When heads-up play began, Keller held a 3-to-2 advantage over Hampton, then soon seized an almost insurmountable lead when he turned a full house with Q-10 against Hampton's A-Q. It was all over a few hands later when Keller raised before the flop with A-3 and Hampton called with K-8. On fourth street, the board read A-10-6/A, and Hampton bet all in. But he was drawing dead, and Keller claimed the pot and the title with trip aces. "I know how Jack plays, and my game plan was to hang in there until we got heads up, then play for the title," Hampton said. "Unfortunately, he caught all the cards." Keller agreed, commenting, "I got a real rush against Lamar." For his runner-up finish, Hampton received $47,273. He also placed 17th for $1,790 in the March 26 Pot-Limit Omaha event. A 62-year-old "serious recreational player," he has competed in tournaments since the mid '80s and holds titles from several major events, including the World Series of Poker. The Final Table Chip Standings & Seat Positions
Seat Position/Player	Chip Count
Seat 1: Rick Shepherd (Richmond, IN)	$25,000
Seat 2: Paul Williams (Biloxi, MS)	$19,000
Seat 3: Jack Keller (Robinsonville, MS)	$49,000
Seat 4: Billy Boutte (Lafayette, LA)	$26,000
Seat 5: Chris Luck (Oskaloosa, KS)	$14,000
Seat 6: Jack Smith (Tallahoma, TN)	$18,500
Seat 7: John Bolten (Overland Park, KS)	$26,000
Seat 8: Claudie Mikesell (Kansas City, KS)	$40,500
Seat 9: Lamar Hampton (Casselberry, FL)	$40,000

Jack Keller by Bob Ciaffone I would like to tell you a bit about Jack, partly because I have played an enormous amount of poker with him, and partly because what I have seen written about some other prominent poker personalities diverged a bit from the persons I knew. I would like to give you an accurate picture of Keller. Jack was one of the few poker players who excelled at both tournament and money play. I had a great deal of respect for his poker prowess, as did the other professional players. The best illustration of this I can give you is to describe what happened when all the participants in the 1987 Cajun Cup final event were bid on in a Calcutta auction. The bidders were nearly all made up of the participants themselves, so we are talking about very knowledgeable poker people. Two players went for considerably more than the other participants. One of them was Johnny Chan, who vindicated the opinion of the players by going on to win both the 1987 and 1988 World Series of Poker championships. The other was Jack Keller, who at that time was in the middle of a tremendous poker tournament hot streak. At one time, I wrote an article in which I mentioned how Jack liked to treat a certain poker hand in the betting. The next time I saw him, he asked me to please not do that again. He described it as taking money out of his pocket. I said OK, and kept my word. Now I am no longer bound by what I said; here is how he played. Jack had the most committal poker style I have ever seen in a good player. He did not make probing bets. He bet the full size of the pot like it was part of his personal religious credo never to bet less than the maximum. There is only one time I can remember him betting less than the legal limit in pot-limit Omaha. In a money game, he had raised a pot and gotten called by the weakest player at the table. The flop came down with an ace. The other two cards of the flop were of the same suit. The guy checked, and Jack bet about $800 into a $1,500 pot. I knew instantly what he had, as probably did many of the other veteran players in the game who had played a lot of poker with him. Jack had hit both three aces and the nut-flush draw, and was looking to get called. His oblivious opponent had the flush draw and drew at it. Unfortunately for him, he made the flush on the turn. After the smoke cleared, his whole 7K stack belonged to Jack. In the days before pot-limit Omaha became popular (pre-1983), Jack was best known as a strong seven-card stud player. But even then, he excelled at other poker forms. I remember the first time I ever played poker with Jack. The game was no-limit ace-to-five lowball with the joker. I was sitting next to Seymour Leibowitz, with whom I was quite friendly, having played a lot of lowball with him in Pete’s game in Miami Beach during the winter. I whispered to Seymour, “Is Jack a good lowball player?” knowing that both Jack and Seymour were originally from Pennsylvania, and had played in some of the same games. Seymour’s answer was one word: “Murderous.” For a long time, the only type of high-low poker played in Vegas was seven-card stud without a qualifier. That game is a poor form of poker as soon as everyone in the game knows that you are supposed to go for low. At some point in the early ‘80s, the game was switched to seven-card stud eight-or-better, and they started playing it for big money at the Dunes. I heard that the first week it was spread, Keller won about a hundred grand. He was a versatile player, outstanding at all the major poker forms. In 1983, at Blacky Blackburn’s Stairway to the Stars poker tournament at the Stardust Hotel, the game of pot-limit Omaha was introduced. The action was terrific, with those of us who take to a new poker form rapidly becoming big winners. Jack fell in love with Omaha, and quickly became an outstanding player. In 1984, the year Jack became the poker world champion, he went to Europe, partly to promote pot-limit Omaha over there. The Brits and other European players loved the game, and Omaha quickly became the favorite poker form “across the pond.” In the mid-‘80s, when Omaha came into its own, there were quite a few pot-limit tournaments. I do not know how many times I had to suffer from Jack’s aggressive play at the final table, but it was several. I particularly remember one time when he was a couple of seats to my left, pounding away as usual. I resolved to play a big pot with him at the earliest opportunity, just to get him out of the way (none of this avoiding the other big stacks stuff). “It’s him or me,” I felt. I took the worst of it on a hand and got lucky against him. After the event, he asked me, “Why did you play that hand, Bob?” I told him the truth, that I felt it was worth running a big risk just to get rid of him. There were some subsequent times when I followed that philosophy while playing against Jack, but with less success. Here is a hand I played against Keller that illustrates the type of player he was. In a pot-limit Omaha money game, I raised a pot with two aces. Jack called me. There was about $700 in the pot and we both had more than three grand left. The flop came down with three tens. Jack bet $700 into me, the preflop raiser. Of course, he did not know I had pocket aces, but it is no surprise when an Omaha preflop raiser shows up with them. I do not know another person on the planet who would bet a poker hand that way with such a flop, whether he had four tens or not. I can’t tell you what Jack had, because I wimped out and folded. I felt he was making a psychological move: If I got it in my head that he couldn’t possibly have the nuts on that betting, I would keep calling him down and lose all of my money. On the other hand, maybe he had pocket kings and was trying to find out where he stood, or perhaps he had simply decided on a stone-cold bluff. We are never going to know now. Jack acquired the nickname from the press corps of “Gentleman Jack” when he was working at the Chicago options stock market. Jack never worried about money. I remember one morning in Mississippi, where I was playing with Jack in a pot-limit Omaha game that had gone through the night. I had just gotten up, eaten breakfast, and taken a seat. A phone call came in, and Keller was told his son had just been shot in a robbery attempt at one of his hockshops. Keller quickly pushed all of his money and chips over to his friend Bobby Lockhart, who was sitting next to him in the game, and asked Bobby to take care of them. Jack did not even want to take the time to cash out. He bolted out the door and went straight to the hospital. After a couple of hours went by, Bobby decided to leave the game and go home to bed, so he had me put the money — about seven grand — into my safe-deposit box, in case Jack returned to the cardroom. Jack came back later and told us his son was OK, having received a flesh wound in the arm. I gave Jack his money, and he thanked me, but he was a lot more concerned with his son than anything else. I think that if one were to make a list of the top 10 greatest all-around poker players, Jack Keller would have to be on it. The fact that he was outstanding at both tournament and money play, and played all the major poker forms so well, demonstrated his tremendous poker ability. I am going to miss him as a person and friend — but not as an opponent.