The Zach Attack! Hyman Wins at the Wynn

By Owen Laukkanen Mar 12, 2007 | 2 years ago

Zachary Hyman, winner of the Wynn Poker Classic

The final table at the main event of the inaugural Wynn Poker Classic must have seemed like a dream to tournament officials. Featuring three of poker's marquee names in Johnny Chan, Mike "The Mouth" Matusow, and Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi, and two well-respected veterans of the circuit in Chau Giang and Scott Fischman, the final table appeared to be shaping up as a battle between some of poker's greatest heavyweights.

No one could have predicted the beating the pros would wind up taking, with none of their numbers managing to finish higher than fifth in the standings. Before even one of their lesser-known compatriots could pay a visit to the cashier, Giang, Chan, Mizrachi, Fischman and Matusow had fallen, their departures paving the way for a wide-open final four.

Momentum seemed to be headed in Chris Roos' direction until the chip leader for much of the tournament ran into Zachary Hyman's aces after pushing with queens, crippling himself and giving the Santa Barbara-based Hyman all the ammunition he'd need to seal the deal.

I talked to Hyman as he waited for casino cashiers to ship $749,033 in cold, hard cash to his patch of felt shortly after defeating Ted Lawson in heads-up play.

You just took down a ridiculously star-studded event for three quarters of a million, Zachary. How are you feeling?

Zachary Hyman, Wynn Classic - Day 4

It's surreal. I had no expectations at all to make it to where I made it today. I mean, I paid for a non-refundable flight out of here for six o'clock today, so that gives you an idea.

But no, I just got dealt great cards - he goes all-in with queens, I have aces. I mean, everything went my way for the last hour, or even thirty minutes. So, it's awesome; a dream come true. I wanted to make one final table in my life and not only did I make it, but I won it. It's totally a dream come true.

You came into the final table short-stacked and facing the prospect of spending the day with five big name pros. How did you approach it?

Scott Fischman and Zachary Hyman, Wynn Classic - Day 4

I just made the decision to keep playing the way I was playing since Day 1 of the tournament - just play my cards. Obviously I wasn't coming in with the impression I was going to outplay the likes of Matusow, Chau, those guys, so I just played conservative, waited for my hands to come, didn't re-raise when I didn't need to, and got the cards.

What would you say the turning point in the day was for you?

The turning point probably was the hand where Ted bet out $200,000 and I put him all-in with a pair of kings and he had a pair of aces, because if he calls there, I'm done. I'm out of the tournament. I would have had like $100,000 left.

Chris Roos, Wynn Classic - Day 4

So that was a huge play on my part, and it worked out. And then right after that, Chris Roos goes all-in with queens and I have aces, and then I make a set of tens when he moves all-in on a draw, so it worked out.

How did you approach the heads-up match? You seemed to play a very aggressive style.

Yeah, but I was actually getting decent cards when I was heads-up. But you know, I wanted to get it done, so I was willing to gamble and see what happened.

How were the first few days of the tournament for you? How did you get to the final table?

The final table at the Wynn Poker Classic

No real big hands - I think I doubled up one time. Yesterday I had some big hands; I had set over set with Johnny Chan, and I hit a set of jacks when Grinder hit a set of eights, so I mean, those are some big hands right there and those doubled me up both of those times. And then I caught some good cards.

You mentioned earlier in the tournament that you're not a professional player. What do you do when you're not playing poker?

My brother and I run a credit card processing company called Central Payment Corp and we have about 85 employees in Marin County, with about 500 outside salespeople. We process credit card transactions for over 20,000 businesses across America, and it's growing by about a thousand a month.

So poker is definitely not my career, but I love it. It's what I love to do.

How did you get introduced to the game?

Zachary Hyman, Wynn Classic - Day 3

My brother brought me to the Ventura Player's Club, and I played high-stakes poker for my first time - well, $5/$10 No-Limit - and didn't even know what a flush was. That was about two years ago. But I loved it and kept playing it, played a little bit online.

Does this win mean you'll be playing more poker tournaments in the future?

I've been playing pretty much any poker tournament I wanted. We've been lucky enough in business to have had success with another company that we sold in 2003, so I'm just kind of living the life - golfing a lot, playing poker, working. Life is good.

You had quite a cheering section today. Do you want to give shout-outs to anyone?

Zachary Hyman, Wynn Classic - Day 4

Yeah, I'd like to thank my brothers, Matt and Josh, and one of my best friends, Denise, who came out from California. And all my friends and family at home who were constantly calling and texting me and seeing how I was doing. They definitely supported me through the tournament.

Thanks, Zachary, and congrats on the win.

Thank you.

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Zachary Hyman definitely earned his victory tonight, coming into the final table with one of the shortest stacks and tenaciously grinding out his survival. He proved from the get-go that he wasn't afraid to tangle with the bigger names, busting Chau Giang minutes after play began, and later using some heavy-betting to get under the skin of Michael Mizrachi. Though tournament officials at the Wynn would no doubt have liked to have seen one of the pros take home their trophy, Hyman's victory in the face of such a tremendous field is a testament to his ability as a player, and his acquittal of himself at tonight's final table should be proof enough that he deserves the respect of his more gloried opponents.