Mortensen's Chips, Story Stacks Up
Carlos Mortensen is playing at the feature table in the Red section today, where he's been dazzling us once again with the intricate architecture of his chip stack. He has a below average stack at the moment -- about 28,000 -- but he's nevertheless had has enough chips to be able to impress everyone with their gravity-defying arrangement.
The feature table is set up in a way that spectators can view the action from the rail, and one such observer recently engaged Mortensen in a conversation about the banner hanging nearby commemorating Mortensen's 2001 WSOP Main Event victory. The banner shows a smiling Mortensen sitting behind a stack of chips, cash, and 
as his winning hand.
"That wasn't my hand," explained Mortensen to the railer. In fact, Mortensen used 
to crack Dewey Tomko's pocket aces in the last hand of the 2001 WSOP ME. "That was from my second bracelet," he added, which would be his triumph in the $5,000 limit hold'em event in 2003.
That bit of trivia has frequently inspired prop bets here in the Amazon Room as people challenge others to name the Matador's WSOP ME winning hand, sometimes while standing right under the banner.