Tag: 2011

2011 WSOP Event 19 Recap

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WSOPEvent 19: $2,500 Limit Hold’em  Six Handed of this year’s World Series of Poker brought out 354 entrants to try their hand at winning a WSOP bracelet. These entrants all paid their $2,500, creating a $800k prize pool for the players to compete for. Unlike most tournaments where tables seat 9 players, only 6 players are seated at each table.

354 entrants meant that only the top 36 finishers were paid, and a few top pros were able to sneak into cashing. Justin Bonomo, David Chiu (who has cashed in every WSOP since 1998), Sam Grizzle, and Matt Matros all finished in the money. Barely missing the final table was Richard ‘nutsinho’ Lyndaker, an online nosebleed regular who finished in 7th place.

The final table was made up of players mostly unknown on the tournament circuit. For two of them, Samuel Golbluff and Kim Nguyen, this would be their first cash at the WSOP. Not bad for your first cash to be a final table.

The other players have had their share of success at the WSOP. While none had any titles, each had over $100k in earnings prior to this event. Darren Woods, who’s cashes at the WSOP had all come in $10k championships, would battle Nguyen heads-up for the title.

Nguyen, who was looking to become the first woman to win an open event at the WSOP since Vanessa Selbst in 2008, found herself right where Maria Ho was earlier this year. Sadly, her finish mirrored that of Ho. Woods took the chip lead early and ran with it, slowly chipping away at Nguyen’s stack until he eliminated her in 2nd place, sending her home with just shy of $132k in her first WSOP cash. Meanwhile, Woods collected his first WSOP bracelet and the $213,431.

 

2011 WSOP Event 17 Recap

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WSOPThe first mixed games tournament was played in Event 17: $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. This tournament features 5 games: Hold’em, Omaha Hi-lo 8/b, Razz, 7 Card Stud, and 7 Card Stud Hi-Lo 8/b, all of which are played with a fixed limit.

963 players came out to play, a stunning number for a mixed games event. Very rarely does a non-hold’em event of the same buyin bring more entrants than hold’em one, but it did this year, with this event bringing significantly more than Event 17: $1,500 Pot Limit Hold’em.

Considering the number of entrants in this event, the pros did not comprise a high percentage of those in the money. However, they were still out in force, with their skill taking over in a mixed game format. David Chiu, Cyndy Violette, and Eli Elezra were among those who cashed, at least doubling their entry.

While these players did not make the final table, two players who are having a phenomenal World Series did. Victor Ramdin and David ‘Bakes’ Baker both have 3 cashes this WSOP, with Baker getting back-to-back final tables this event. While they are both doing very well so far, neither were able to turn that into a win this event, bowing out in 9th and 7th respectively.

Michael Chow, Aaron Steury, and Adam Friedman entered the final 9 as the three chip leaders, with significant distance between them and the rest of the field. They cruised until just those three remained. Friedman busted in third to Chow. However, Steury still had a massive 4-1 chip lead. This proved too much for Chow, who took home $178k for his 2nd place finish.

For his win, Steury, a Ft. Wayne, Indiana native, pocketed $289,283 for his victory. He also walked out of the Rio with a shiny bracelet on his wrist, signifying him as a World Series of Poker Champion.

 

2011 WSOP Event 18 Recap

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WSOPYet another of the $1.5k donkaments took place in Event 18: $1,500 No Limit Hold’em. 3,157 entrants came to Vegas this weekend to try their hand at winning a bracelet and a big payday by playing poker for a few days, trying to get their share of the $4.3 million prize pool.

A field this massive makes it difficult for pros to navigate. However, since this event paid an incredible 324 players, many were able to cash this event. Costa Rican Godfather of Poker Humberto Brenes, Erick ‘E-Dog’ Lindgren, Dwyte Pilgrim, and Prahlad Friedman were among the many that finished in the money.

The big story in this event is that it was a FOUR day event. Originally scheduled to be played over three days, this tournament was pushed to a 4th after 6 players remained after the ten level rule was implemented on day three. While a couple of other tournaments also stretched into day 4, none did so with as many as 6 players still remaining.

When the players returned for day 4, 6 remained, with 25 year-old Foster Hays leading the way. He worked to ensure his victory, eliminating four of the other five competitors. His heads-up battle, however, was one that really tested his mettle.

Hays entered heads-up as the massive chip leader, but Casey Helton would not simply be overlooked. Helton battled back, and even held the chip lead at some points in the heads-up match. The final hand shows how close the match was: it took the tournament staff 3 counts to make sure Hays actually had Helton covered. He did, and Helton was sent home $450k richer. Meanwhile, Hays put on a new bracelet and added $735,400 to his bankroll.

2011 WSOP Event 16 Recap

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WSOPEvent 16 of this year’s WSOP has turned into the big story so far. While not much was expected out of the 10k 2-7 Draw Lowball Championship (No Limit) in the way of stories, this tournament changed those expectations incredibly.

Only 126 players were signed up to play this event, creating a $1.2 million prize pool. However, this tournament is not about overcoming a large field to win a bracelet, but who you have to overcome. Frequently, these tournaments are referred to as a pro’s opportunity to buy a bracelet, but after the field that turned out to play this tournament, that may be a hasty argument.

The final table: Phil Hellmuth, Richard Ashby, John Juanda, Steve Sung, Nick Schulman, David ‘Bakes’ Baker, and Hasan Habib (Joe Cassidy and Greg Raymer busted in 8th and 9th respectively). If you were going to try to “buy a bracelet” in this event, you would have to overcome these men to do so. All of the men at the final table each had a WSOP bracelet.

All the stars seemed to be aligning for Phil Hellmuth, who entered the final table as the chip leader. Hellmuth, who was going for his record 12th World Series of Poker bracelet, was trying to earn his first non-Hold’em bracelet. He kept this momentum up, getting heads-up versus John Juanda with a nearly 3-1 chip lead.

Juanda exactly isn’t a slouch, though. Having 4 WSOP bracelets and finishing 4th in this very event in the past two years, Juanda has been called the best 2-7 Lowball player in the world. He lived up to this title against Hellmuth. In a heads-up match that lasted over 4 hours, Juanda slowly picked at Hellmuth’s stack, quietly and methodically, until he sent the 11-time champion to the rail. Hellmuth, while more than disappointed to not have earned the bracelet, still took home $226k. Juanda earned his 5th bracelet and $367,170 for his win, along with the joy of denying the Poker Brat number 12.

 

2011 WSOP Event 15 Recap

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WSOPYet another Hold’em tournament was found in Event 15: $1,500 Pot Limit Hold’em. Unlike No Limit, players in this event are only allowed to bet or raise the value of the pot rather than the entirety of their stack.

765 players registered to play this event, creating a prize pool just over $1 million. All came out with the hope of earning a bracelet by paying one of the smallest buyins in this year’s WSOP. Only one, however, would make true on that wish.

A min-cash would almost double your entry fee, and many well known pros made at least the nearly 3k. John Dolan, Alessio Isaia (with his 3rd cash this WSOP), Hoyt Corkins, and Christian Harder all went deep in this event and made some good profit on their $1,500. However, all would exit the tournament before the final table was formed, either to enter another tournament or watch disappointedly from the rail.

Ted Lawson, Ali Eslami (also cashing for his 3rd time this event), and Allen ‘Chainsaw’ Kessler made this final table very difficult to overcome. While Lawson and Eslami bowed out early, Kessler had his sights strongly set on the bracelet.

To win the bracelet, Kessler would have to overcome lesser-known pro Brian Rast. Rast, who was staked by ‘The Magician’ Antonio Esfandiari, proved too much for the Chainsaw and ended up taking the bracelet and the $227,232 that went along with it. Kessler would have to be satisfied with the 2nd place prize of $120k and the hope of winning his first bracelet some other time.

 

2011 WSOP Event 14 Recap

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WSOPAnother Limit Hold’em tournament was played for Event 14: $3,000 LHE. While being a Hold’em tournament, its limit nature only brought out 337 players to vie for the bracelet, creating a prize pool just shy of $1 million.

Such a small field means that fewer players make the cash, and this event only paid the top 36 finishers. Barely making into the money by finishing in 36th was WSOP bracelet winner David ‘Bakes’ Baker, who was eventually joined in cashing by Marco Traniello (best known as Jen Harman’s husband), Sorel Mizzi, and Victor Ramdin (who celebrated back to back cashes).

The final table brought some TV time to players that had not received much in the past. In fact, former November Niner Jeff Shulman was the only player to have received much, and his run was cut short as he was the first elimination from the final table.

Brandon Demes entered the final table and allowed those chips to carry him into heads-up play against Tyler Bonkowski. However, Bonkowski was too much for him, and sent him to the rail to collect his $136k second place prize.

Bonkowski, who had a handful of cashes in last year’s WSOP, gets his first this year this win. He also collects a new piece of jewelry and $220,817 to parlay into another WSOP victory.

 

2011 WSOP Event 13 Recap

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WSOPEvent 13 of this year’s World Series of Poker, a $1,500 No Limit Hold’em Shootout tournament, had a capped number of entrants at 2,000. This cap never quite came into play, with 1,440 players showing up to play, creating a nearly $2 million prize pool.

How a shootout works: each player is assigned a table, as usual, to begin the tournament. However, as players bust, the tables are not balanced; rather, each plays down to a winner, much like a sit-n-go. Once someone wins the table, they wait until all tables are finished. Once they are, the winners of the individual tables are reseated again with the other winners, and the same thing happens until we are down to 9 or fewer winners. Once that happens, the final table is formed, and the winner of this table is the winner of the tournament.

Considering this is not a traditional tournament structure, the 1,440 entrants is still quite impressive. Many of these players are those we have seen on TV before: former November Niner Filippo Candio, former actress Jen Tilly, WSOP champion Greg Raymer, and Pokerstars spokesman Daniel Negreanu all finished in the money, making at least almost $5k for their efforts.

The final table was stacked with talent. Former bracelet winners David ‘the Dragon’ Pham, Vitaly Lunkin, Dan ‘djk123’ Kelly, and Erik Cajelais were all vying to add another to their trophy case. However, none of these were ever really in contention, with Cajelais outlasting the rest, but still finishing in 5th.

Eventual winner Andrew Badecker made sure to put himself in the best place to win this tournament very early, entering the final table as the chip leader. Throughout the entirety of the final table, he rarely lost the lead, and when he did, he reclaimed it quickly. Eventually, he busted Robbie Verspui, who took home $228k for his second place finish. Badecker, along with the bracelet, also took $369,371 home for his win.

Bodog Mini Poker Series to Award 2012 WSOP Main Event Seat

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While much of poker world is wrapped in the World Series of Poker 2011, Bodog Poker is running its Mini Poker Series and setting eyes on the 2012 WSOP.

Running from Saturday June 11 to Sunday July 10, the Bodog Mini Poker Series is made up of 30 events in all different NL Holdem game structures, each for a $10 + $1 buy-in, most with a guaranteed prize pool of $2,000. In addition, Bodog is hosting a semifinal and final event on July 12 and 14, respectively, for the most successful
players in the series.

The top 3 finishers at each of events 1 – 30 will automatically win seats in the July 14 final. The 4th – 9th place finishers will win seats in the July 12 semifinal. You can also earn a seat in the semifinal by participating in at least 15 different Mini Poker Series tournaments. The top 50 players at the semifinal will then win seats in the final.

Starting June 6, 2011, Bodog Poker has been running Mini Poker Series Event Qualifiers several times each day for $2 + $0.20 buy-ins with 5 seats guaranteed to be awarded at each event. And starting June 11, Bodog adds 5 more daily qualifiers, called Last Chance Qualifiers, for $3 + $0.30 buy-ins with 3 seats guaranteed at each.

The first place winner of the Bodog Mini Poker Series Final will win a $12,000 World Series of Poker prize package that includes a free seat in the 2012 WSOP Main Event.

2011 WSOP Event 12 Recap

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WSOPEvent 12: $1,500 Triple Chance No Limit Hold’em of the 2011 World Series of Poker brought a new spin on a typical NLHE tournament. In this tournament, players started with 1,500 in chips and had two rebuy chips, which each allowed them to acquire 1,500 more chips at any time they want.

This event brought 1,340 entrants to the felt, creating a $1.8 million prize pool, paying 144 players a minimum $2,800. Respected poker writer David Sklansky, as well as Isaac Haxton, Ted Forrest, and Cliff ‘JohnnyBax’ Josephy all finished in the money, earning some money for their efforts.

Very few stars highlighted the final table, but one headliner stood out: Bill ‘the SuperComputer’ Chen. Chen, already the owner of two WSOP bracelets, really wanted to add a third to the mantle. However, he would come up short, exiting the final table in 4th place, taking home a cool $100k.

The eventual winner of the event was David Diaz. Diaz, making his second final table in this event, also claimed his first bracelet with the win. He also pocketed $352,808 for his efforts, a great payday for just a few days’ worth of work.

 

2011 WSOP Event 11 Recap

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WSOPYet another Championship event was held in Event 11: Omaha Hi-Low Split – 8 or better. 202 players ponied up the $10,000 entry fee for their shot at winning a WSOP bracelet and, of course, the first place prize of $465,216.

Of the 202 entrants, many were well known names and faces. Jason Mercier, Shaun and Freddy Deeb, and a man putting together a hot 2011 WSOP run in Alessio Isaia all finished in the money in the event, making just north of $16,000.

The final table also featured some impressive players, including Josh Arieh, Richard Ashby, Steve Billirakis, and George Lind III. Arieh, Ashby, and Billirakis were all trying to add another bracelet to their shelves. Lind, while not having a bracelet of his own, has had his share of success in the past, including being the first Supernova Elite in 2008.

Lind had the best shot of the group, going heads-up against Viacheslav Zhukov. Sadly, the Gilbert, Arizona native came up short on his closest bid for a bracelet, and had to settle for his quarter million second place prize.

Zhukov, well noted for his quiet demeanor, won his first bracelet in this event, and will try to parlay this win into further finishes to come.