In other tournaments…

While the talk of the day was the $50k H.O.R.S.E. tournament, once could not overlook the bracelet that was won by Abe Mosseri in the Triple Chance No Limit Hold’em Event.  Once the event went to heads-up, he used timely aggression again and again on Masayoshi Tanaka and continued to grind away at his stack.  By the time the last hand was dealt, Tanaka had the equivalent of a bb gun in the middle if Iraq.  He can console himself with the $102,313 he takes home for second place.  Abe fattens his bank account with a healthy $166,151.

There will be one more bracelet awarded tonight in Event 54.  This one will go until late (or early depending upon how you look at it) in the morning as there are still 6 players holding onto chips and each and every one of them has over 1,000,000.  Sergey Konkin holds the chip lead with 3,500,000.

The last event that is going on is Event 56.  Lots of action in this one as it is a 6 handed tournament.  A fat $1,003,218 first place prize awaits the winner and the way it looks now, we just may have a big name pro sneak through and snatch one.  David Chiu, Shaun Deeb and Phil Hellmuth are all still alive.  The overall chip leader is Matthew Waxman with 1,150,000 in chips.

In other tournaments…

While it has already been mentioned in a previous post, Jeff Lisandro winning a third bracelet in a single WSOP warrants a quick review. The last time that someone won 3 bracelets in a single season was when Ivey did it in 2002. However, the fact that he has done it in all three versions of 7 Card Stud is simply incredible. He has been playing incredible and is now one of the favorites for player of the year.

Event 45 is down to the final 14 and should be an early finisher on Thursday. This is a tournament that has moved along nicely during each session and with the chip leader having about 30% of the chips in play, the rest of the field is going to have a very tough time of it when they get into pots with him. Expect fast and furious action when this one resumes on Friday.

Event 46, the Omaha Hi/Low Split Event, has made it down to the final 23 and they will play to a winner on Friday. This one has seen some radical changes on the leader board for the entire tournament and it would be no surprise to see that trend continue. Mark Tenner is current chip leader with 285,000 in his stack.

The Mixed Hold’em Event got underway on Wednesday and had a star studded field. Barry Greenstein has taken the chip lead with 177,200 in chips, but the every annoying Hasan Habib is a close second with 165,000. If you don’t remember Habib, he is the one that did this little monkey dance around the tables a few years back every time he eliminated a player. A new rule has been invoked just because of his antics that does not allow a player to leave their seat to celebrate a victory in a hand. Eli Elezra is also high up on the leader board as well as Daniel Negreanu.

Someone else is also making a name for themselves in this game as Michael Craig, an amateur player who blogs for Full Tilt, has now made his third WSOP final table. The fact that he is an amateur and has managed to stick around in these specialty games with loaded fields is quite the feat. However, even this is not enough to steal the stage from Lisandro who has accomplished something that has not been done is 7 years. Congratulations Jeff Lisando and I am sure that we have not heard the last from you this year at the WSOP.

In other tournaments…

The final table of the Seniors Event is now down to 6 players, but it is still going to be some time before this one is settled. Scott Buller has taken over the lead with 2,160,000 in chips, but three other players have at least 1,000,000 in chips. This table is the epitome of a bunch of scared amateurs that have no idea how to work a stack.

Event 45 is trucking along nicely and is down to about 36 players. At the current pace, it would be surprising to see them not get this one down close to a final table by the end of play this evening. Michiel Brummelhuis still holds the chip lead with 570,000.

Mike ‘The Mouth’ Matusow has finally made an appearance deep into a tournament as he still has chips in front of him at the Omaha Hi/Low Split tournament. He is short stacked, but this is also his specialty. It would be nice to get him to the final table and add a little spice to this WSOP.

Matt Graham took down the Pot Limit Omaha Championship in grand form and dominated the last day of play. He was up against 25 world class players and came out on top. He ended up winning $679,379 and his second WSOP bracelet. In order to do so, he had to take down Vitaly Lunkin who is proving to be quite the force in the poker world. If you have not been watching the live feeds, you have no idea what you are missing. This was one of the most exciting final tables yet.

Ray Foley also took home a bracelet on Monday Night in the $1,500 No Limit event. Another huge field of 2715 started out and after three very long days, Foley was the last man standing. This tournament was one of the longest so far in regards to how many hours they played every day. This was definitely a good training ground for how these guys will hold up during the Main Event. Foley took down a first place prize of $657,787 for his first bracelet win.

In other tournaments…

2 of the biggest players in the game did not make it past the final elimination day of the NL Hold’em Shootout event. Jennifer Harman went out in the first round of the day and while Phil Ivey last longer, he did not satisfy his quest to get his third bracelet of this WSOP. 5 players remain and all will start the day off with 900,000 in chips.

The Mixed Hold’em event is always an entertaining one as it tests the skills in both varieties of hold’em. The winner of this event can truly call themselves one of the best poker players in the world as not many people can manage the nuances of both games at the same time. Jon Turner is the current chip leader with 469,200 in chips.

Event 44 was the late starting tournament and they have barely made a dent in this field. Limit events are always tough in the early stages, but as those blinds fly, so do the players to the rail. While there are not very many familiar names at the top of the leader board right now, expect that to change with this specialty version of 7 card stud. Warwick Mirzikinian is the current leader with 59,400 in chips.

This was one of the rare times that we have seen two legitimate hands decide a No Limit tourney late in the night. Baldwin had raised to make it 165,000 from the button. Klausen immediately threw his chips in the middle and Baldwin took little time to make the all in call. Baldwin turned over 1010, but Klausen was only 40-60 underdog with AhQh. A flop of 6JK gave Klausen two more outs as he could now hit a straight, but the turn showed another 6 and he was back to only 6 outs as a 10 would now give Baldwin the boat. A 5s fell harmlessly and it was time to celebrate for Baldwin. Klausen will take home $322,371 for second place.

In other tournaments…

Event 35 continues its road to a final table and now has 11 players left. It seemed like every time someone went all in, they were behind and cracked the larger hand. Sorel Mizzi leads the way with 969,000 and the bulk of the chips are sitting in the top 3 positions. It will be interesting to see if the cards change or the survival rate continues and frustrates the big stacks once play resumes.

Event 36 started with 1695 and ended the day with only 213 players remaining. Your chip leader is Corwin Cole with 185,700 in chips. As you look down the remaining field, you are hard pressed to find any names of significance. No Bonus points for you fantasy poker players in this tournament. It looks like another first timer will get a bracelet and over $500,000 to start off their new career in poker.

If you want to know where all the big names are, all you have to do is look over at the World Championship 7 Card Stud Hi/Low 8 or better tournament. The pattern this year seems to be that the pros are letting the smaller no limit poker events go and sticking to the higher buy ins and the other poker versions because of the much smaller fields. Why should they go through a 2,000 person land mine infested field when they can fight it out against only 200 players in these other games.

This field was no different as only 164 put up the $10,000 for Event 37 and we once again see Jeff Lisandro at the top of the leader board after the first day. He is not the overall leader, but he has a very healthy 110,000 in his stack. There were only 54 eliminations in the first day, but the blinds are up and there are plenty of small stacks that will see early action in day 2.

Jason Mercier won his first WSOP bracelet in Event #5, the $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha event. He did what he was supposed to do as the most talented player on the final table, win! With all of the other professionals coming up short, he finally took one down in a large field. In all, 809 players entered and Jason will take home $237,462 for his efforts. Jason Mercier is a young player, but you would never know it from his demeanor at the tables. Calm, cool and collected is an understatement. This is a name that we are going to hear a lot about in future.

Event #6, the World Championship 7 Card Stud event was also supposed to crown a champion by the end of the evening, but last report still had 2 people remaining. Look for the final results of this tournament in the next report. All we can really say is that Eric Drache and Freddie Ellis are still alive.

Event #7, the $1,500 NL Hold’em event wrapped up day two with only 59 players remaining. This was another huge field with 2791 players starting the tournament. There are very few big names left in this tournament and an unknown by the name of Jason Kalb is currently leading the way with 680,000. Plenty of short stacks in play here and we can expect some fast and furious eliminations when play resumes.

Event #8, the $2,500 Deuce to Seven Draw Lowball wrapped up play with only 7 people remaining. The one name that sticks out like a sore thumb on the leader board is Phil Ivey. While the chip leader has a better than 2:1 advantage on him, we all know his aggressive style could have him up there in a heartbeat. This is the table to watch today! Here are the rankings and chip counts for the remaining players:

1) John Monnette – 259,000
2) Raphael Zimmerman – 238,000
3) Yan Chen – 159,000
4) Elia Ahmadian – 139,900
5) Eric Kesselman – 119,400
6) Phil Ivey – 106,300
7) Rodeen Talebi – 94,500

Wednesday was a busy day as there were also 2 new tournaments starting off. Event #9, the $1,500 No Limit Hold’em 6 Handed event got started with a field of 1459 players. It was an absolute massacre with 1354 players going to the rail on day one. This year’s series has proven the effect that both television and the internet have had on poker. Play is aggressive and fearless. It is tough to recall so many players going out so early in tournaments. As play wrapped up, Doug Lee was leading the way with 200,000 in chips.

The last event of the day was the $2,500 Pot Limit Hold’em/Omaha game. 455 players entered the tournament and almost 300 of them were shown the door. Seidel’s tournament was all but ended when he flopped middle pair on an all in, but it could not hold up against a flush draw that hit on the river. He was left with a mere 125 in chips and they quickly found their way into the center of the table. Day two will resume on Thursday.

So far, this is a pretty interesting WSOP. The early going seems to be fast and furious and then they all slam on the brakes once the final two tables or so are reached. You can see a dramatic change in the way people are playing from that point forward. The pros continue to have a tough time of it, but they are starting to break through. Mercier is an up and coming young player who made his mark and Ivey is still alive on the final table. Two more tournaments get kicked off on Thursday as the craziness continues.