The match that has been going on between Tom Dwan and Patrik Antonius was eating up many a headline before the WSOP, but was pretty much put on hold once the series started. Antonius was holding the lead at the time, and now that the WSOP is finally over, these two can get back to what they started.
When Dwan put the original challenge out, there were plenty of players that said they wanted a piece of him, but Dwan stated, “There looks to be a lot of interest in people wanting to play me, but they never seem to appear online.” That being the case, he has taken his challenge live and will be putting up $500,000 to play anyone for 500 hands in either Omaha or No Limit Hold’em.
All of the matches will take place in London and will start out with $500/$1,000 blinds. The match cannot end until someone is broke or the 500 hands have been played out. Rumor has it that 4 players have stepped up to take on Dwan in his latest challenge, but no details have been released as of yet as to who they are.
Dwan continues to be one of the hottest young names in the game and with his latest circus act, he pretty much assures himself that he will remain in the limelight. While his online play speaks for itself, his live play comes under a lot of fire as he plays very aggressively and recklessly. He has benefited from some incredible cards during his days on the High Limit Poker show, but still donked off a lot of money as he refused to ever back off. The style did manage to get him some large payoffs as the session was winding down, but you have to question how that will work in a heads-up match.
He no longer has the benefit of the element of surprise as everyone knows his name and how he plays. Antonius is proving that he is very beatable if you are patient and don’t get caught up in letting him bully you out of pots. Dwan is not afraid to throw a large amount of money at the pot in order to take it down regardless of what he has in his hand. You better be prepared to fight back when you have something or he will walk all over you.
Antonius has laid down the blueprint of how to beat him so far, but will other players follow his lead. When he pushes, you have to push back and when you get a hand, you have to make him pay. The ideal match would have him up against Doyle Brunson, Phil Ivey or Daniel Negreanu. All three of those players treat chips as weapons and have no problem mixing it up with middle cards. The fireworks would surely be going off if they sit across from Dwan in London.
All of a sudden, second bracelet is becoming a common headline theme in this year’s WSOP. Not only that, but Full Tilt Pros in particular are constantly showing up on leader boards and winning tournaments. The latest addition is of course Greg Mueller as he took down the Limit Hold’em Shootout event. He now has two bracelets this year and gets to add another $194,854 to his bankroll.
While Mueller was at the top of the leader board throughout this tournament, the heads up battle was anything but easy. Marc Naalden gave him everything he could handle and actually looked as though he was going to win this at one point. The cards ended up changing and Mueller was able to take down the event. Naalden won $120,614 for second place.
In other tournaments…
The $50 K H.O.R.S.E. Event continues on and they are now down to 19 players and should be playing down to a champion on Monday. Vitaly Lunkin continues to impress with his play and while he was not able to dramatically increase his overall chip lead, he is still in first place with 1,527,000. Freddy Deeb is having a wonderful tournament and you can expect to continue to see him among the leaders. The one notable downfall has been Gus Hansen. At one time, he was way ahead of the field, but he has since come back to reality and now only has 801,000 in chips.
Event 51 players have already played to the max time for the last two days and will be back early on Monday to try and finish this event. We knew they were in trouble with a low elimination number in day one and with 30 players left, they will have to come back at 1pm to play down to a winner. Thibaut Durand has taken over the lead and has 1,650,000 in his stack.
The Triple Chance Tournament has been a lot of fun to watch and has some interesting names at the top of the leader board. Of course, Jeff Lisandro is making his customary appearance, but Antonio Esfandiari is finally being heard from and sits in the top 5. John Juanda is also still kicking in this one, but his stack is screaming for help with only 42,600 in chips.
Event 53 is well under way and has only 143 players left in the field of 467. Allie Prescot is the current chip leader with 52,500, but there is still some high powered talent close behind. Most notably, Annie Duke is sitting in 6th place with 36,600 and Daniel Negreanu rounds out the top 10 with 33,100 in chips.
Well, if you are going to cash, you might as well make it a big one and Mike Eise did exactly that by bursting into the World Series of Poker stats with a huge $639,331 first place win in Event 28. The unknown player was in a groove from day one as he ousted seasoned veterans Amarillo Slim and JC Tran. He continued on his ways right up and through the final table. If destiny has a child, Mike Eise was it on this day.
The final hand of the tournament had Eise on button and doubling the blinds. Chang called the small raise to see a flop of 3c6d3s. Chang checked it down, but Eise stayed aggressive and moved all his chips to the middle of the table. Chang immediately called and everyone thought he was sitting on a monster, but he only turned over AhJd. Eise did not have anything either, but he hid have two live cards with his 8h7d. When the dealer turned a 7h and the room full of Eise supporters let out a roar that would have made a football crowd happy. The river was a harmless 5s and Eise Wins. Change would receive $392,494 for second place.
In other tournaments…
The Heads-Up Championship reached its final table after the shocking upset of Johnny Chen. He had his opponent dead to rights and all in and somehow he managed to hit a 3 outer. From that point on, it was all downhill. While he still had a huge chip lead at this point, momentum was clearly shifting. He had his opponent all in again with the best of it and lost not only the hand, but the chip lead as well. He never saw the better of it again and was soon out of the tournament falling short of his quest for an 11th bracelet.
The final table was reached in Event 30 and while John Juanda is still alive, he is the short stack at the table with only 129,000 left in his stack. JC Tran is also alive with 387,000, but the overall chip leader is Ross Boatman with 718,000 in his stack.
The H.O.R.S.E. event failed to get down to a final table and still has a rather large field of 23 players remaining. With this being a limit event, these players are coming back early and better dig in for a marathon session. This one will end in the wee hours of the morning. The overall leader is Fabrice Soulier with 351,000, but Shannon Shore is hot on his heels with 323,500.
Event 32 has shrunk from its initial 1534 person field down to 261 and should continue down to the final table today. However, if it follows the recent trend of tables slowing down dramatically on day 2, we could see another long session for the eventual champion. The bubble on this one is 171 player and we should see that fairly early in day 2.
The World Championship of Limit Hold’em did not even come close to where they needed to be. With only 185 players starting, they still have 157 left in the field. These late starting tournaments are creating very long day 2 and day 3’s for the field. This is something they are going to have to look at next year and possibly get these going a little earlier. Notable players that have already been felted are Jeff Lisandro, Gabe Kaplan, Phil Ivey, Phil Hellmuth, John Juanda, Daniel Negreanu, Mike Matusow and Gavin Smith. Jennifer Harman is the day one leader with 127,600 in chips.
His internet reputation had preceded him, but now there is no doubt that Brock Parker is the real deal. Just a few short days ago the quiet and seemingly emotionless young man surprised Daniel Negreanu by overcoming a huge chip deficit and defeating him in heads up play. Once again, Brock was at it on a shorthanded table, this time in No Limit, proving that his internet prowess has transferred over nicely to the live felt.
Parker and Serock had a great heads up battle, but when the pots were big, Parker was the one that was holding onto the winning hand. This was pretty much the same thing that happened in Event 14 as he didn’t want all the hands, but he won the ones that shifted the chips. Here is the recap of the final hand.
Brock had just won a big hand and had Serock on the ropes. Serock was on the button and raised it to 200,000. Brock came right back over top of him to make it 1,000,000 and Serock pushed all in. Brock made the immediate call and turned over QQ to Serock’s 1010. The board came out 7sAs2cKc and a Qc on the river just added insult to injury. Brock takes down the tournament, the bracelet and a huge payday of $552,745.00. Serock will get $341,783.00 for second place.
In other tournaments…
Event 20, $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha, has finally achieved their final table. Someone that we have not heard much from lately in the world of poker is still alive in this and the res t of the table better watch out. Eric Seidel is sitting in third place with about as much as the leader, but he is easily the best player left at this table. The players will pick it up at 2:00pm on Thursday to decide the bracelet winner. Here is your final table:
John-Paul Kelly – 627,000 Jason Dewitt – 476,000 Eric Seidel – 337,000 Kyle Carlston – 320,000 Marc Tschirch – 268,000 Andrew Radel – 250,000 Kirk Steward – 231,000 Aaron Virchis – 191,000 Ravi Raghavan – 145,000
The $3,000 H.O.R.S.E. event still has 21 players remaining and Gavin Smith (121,000) is still alive, but far down the board. The leader at the end of the day was Zac Fellows (471,000). These guys have a long day ahead of them as they will play till they have a winner on Thursday. There are coming back a little earlier to get it going and will start play at 1:00pm.
Event 22, the $1,500 NL Hold’em Shootout was a pure bloodbath with 900 of the 1,000 entrants hitting the rail on day one. Day 2 will start with 10 tables and everyone is at 45,000. If you are unfamiliar with how the shootouts work, they must play down to a winner at each table before the next round wins. Once this round is over, we will have our final table and everyone will have 450,000 in chips when they start play.
Event 23, the World Championship NL 2-7 Draw Lowball has also gotten underway and it is packed with pros. Featuring the smallest field of any event, only 96 players, everyone wanted in for a bracelet shot. There are still 60 players remaining and they should have no problems making a quick day of it down to the final table. Roland de Wolfe leads the way with 180,300 in chips.
The $5,000 No Limit Hold’em Tournament, Event 15, ended with Lemke outlasting Fabian Quoss in one of the more entertaining tournaments of this young WSOP. This group of players proved to be one of the toughest and Lemke earned every penny of his $692, 658. For his Quoss takes home a healthy paycheck of $427,912. Here is the recap of the final hand.
Lemke was on the button with Ad8c and limped in. Quoss, AsQd, made it 360,000 and Lemke immediately made a move on the pot by pushing all in. Quoss made the instacall and the cards were turned over. Lemke was a huge dog, but things got very interesting with a flop of 9hJs10h. If either of the player hit their kicker card, the other one would hit a straight. The turn card was exactly what Quoss did not want to see as a Qc hit, pairing him up but also giving Lemke the straight. A harmless Jd fell on the river and Lemke scooped up the pot and the championship.
Event 16, the $1,500 Seven Card Stud Tournament, was packed with big names throughout, but one rose to the top in Jeff Lissandro. He had been putting on a clinic the entire tournament and managed to ride the wave through to the end. He bested a field of 359 players to earn his second bracelet (both coming in 7 Stud events) and $124,959. Here is a recap of the final hand.
Lisandro had the force bet with a 5d showing and Pardey completed the wager with a Kh showing. Lisandro immediately came over the top and got the call from Pardey. Lisandro got a Ks on 4th street to Pardey’s 8s. Lisandro bet after a check from Pardey. Pardey check raised to go all in and LIsandro called. Lisandro was holding a AK which made Pardey turn ghost white. The hand was meant to go Lisandro’s way as he ended up with a flush when all 7 cards were dealt out. Pardey walked with $77,230 for second place.
In other tournaments…
Event 17, Ladies NL Hold’em World Championship, has reached its final table and there will be no movie stars or big names getting the jewelry this year. Lisa Parsons would seem to be the player with the most experience with two previous cashes. When all is said and done, we are going to have yet another first time bracelet winner. Lori Bender leads the way with 643,000 in chips.
The World Championship Omaha HL/8 or Better, Event 18, fell a little short of a final table, but will play through to a winner on Tuesday Night. John Monnette has a significant chip lead with 1,141,000 in his stack, almost double that of the rest of the field. However, he has his work cut out for him as he still has a hungry Daniel Negreanu in the field along with Annie Duke, Daniel Alaei and Toto Leonidas to name a few. This definitely ranks as one of the stronger fields that we have seen get this far in a tournament.
Events 19 and 20 had just gotten underway on Monday and a now familiar name is at the top of one of the leader boards. Brock Parker has taken the momentum from upsetting Daniel Negreanu in the Limit Hold’em event Sunday night. He is currently at 138,900 and in 6th place. There are still plenty of monsters left in the field and with almost 200 players remaining, anything can happen here.
Lisa Hamilton was crowned the Ladies Champion in a tournament that for some reason has been under much scrutiny. Poker purists think that the tournament should not be a bracelet event as it is a restricted tournament. There is not men’s only bracelet event so why do the women get one? I cannot recall a year where this was such a hot topic, but whatever the beef from the rest of the players, Lisa gets the new jewelry for her big night on the town and $195,334 to pay the check.
While the bracelet has still not been awarded, the story of the day is the Omaha Hi/Low 8 or Better World Championship. Daniel Negreanu made his second final table and while he did not win, he was in the middle of a little bit of controversy and a lot of entertainment.
Daniel was literally down to one chip and somehow managed to win what seemed like a million hands in a row and actually got back up to over 500,000 in chips. Prior to his run, there was a discrepancy as Monnette was about to throw in his last chip when Clements showed his hand. He quickly pulled the chip back, but Negreanu was rightfully upset as he could now end up getting knocked out and lose about $30,000 in prize money.
After that controversy was put to bet, yet another small one was stirred up as one of the players at the table objected to Daniel celebrating so much with each win. Please keep in mind that he pretty much knew he was the next one out and was just having fun with the crowd. This was not anything that was directed at any one player nor was it reminiscent of the ridiculous celebrations by Khan that warranted a new rule being issued in the WSOP.
Negreanu is on quite a roll already this year and you can be pretty confident that this will not be the last final table of the year for him. It would be very surprising if he did not make at least one more final table and possibly snag a bracelet at some point. One thing is for sure, Kid Poker is great for the game and is easily one of the best if not the best player in the game right now.
As of this posting, there were still 3 players alive with most of the chips sitting in front of Danny Alaei. It is going to take a huge swing for him to lose this event, but the Limit Tournament from the other night is proof that anything can happen.
In a show of genuine emotion, Ville Wahlbeck celebrated his countries first win of a WSOP event. He could not have picked a better year with the new bracelet ceremony reminding everyone of the Olympic presentation of a medal. There won’t be a dry Finnish eye in the house as their national anthem is played. Wahlbeck defeated David Chiu who will walk away with $304,176 and second place played a great tournament, but destiny was with Ville.
The final hand of the tournament was during at Omaha-8 game. Chui was holding A5910 to Wahlbeck’s AQ88. He made a pre-flop all in move and Wahlbeck made the call. Both players missed the flop of JJ5, but the turn but Chui ahead with a 10d. However, Walhbeck picked up additional outs as he could now hit a straight in addition to his Q. Of course, the river hits continued to pop and a K showed up to give Wahlbeck both the straight and a World Championship.
Event 11 finally came to a close with Anthony Harb becoming yet another first time bracelet winner. In a tournament that seemed destined for a big name player to take down, Harb put away the likes of TJ Cloutier, Tom McEvoy and Phil Hellmuth. For his efforts, he not only gets the bracelet, but an influx of $569,199 to his bank account.
The final hand of the tournament ended when Rho flopped tow pair, but waited for the turn to make his move. If he would have gone all in off the flop of 98K, we will never know, but the J that hit on the turn sealed his fate. He pushed and Harb made the instacall with a Q10 sitting in his hand. The river was a blank (for once) and Harb won the bracelet. As the tournament director tried to affix the jewelry, Harb gave the classic quote, “Look how fat my wrist it.” Well it just gained a little more in circumference with a great new bracelet.
In other tournaments…
Phil Ivey was making a legitimate attempt at his second bracelet in Event 13, but just as the break was coming he managed to get the worst of it in a huge hand and will be the short stack as play resumes. They are down to 20 players from the original 1088 person field and will play to a bracelet on Sunday. Greg Merkow now leads the field with 932,000 in chips. Daniel Negreanu has once again made it to one of the top spots of the leader board in Event 14. With only 11 players left, he is by far the best at the tables. Daniel took this event down last season and it would be absolutely incredible to see him manage to do the same again here. After a miserable 2007 WSOP, Daniel bounced back with some decent success in 2008 with 5 cashes, 2 final tables and one bracelet. He has already had two cashes (including this one) in this year’s event and if he can manage to win the bracelet here, he is poised at a run of his best WSOP ever.
Events 15 and 16 both wrapped up their first days in fine fashion. Only 165 players remain from the original field of 655 in Event 15. Calixto Clemenceau leads the way with 186,300 in chips. Event 16 has also had a very good amount of eliminations as the late starting tournament of the day. Only 97 players remain from a starting field of 359. That is rather unbelievable considering the fact that this is a Seven Card Stud Event. David Levi is at the top of the leader board with 49.600 in chips, but there are still a ton of big name players left in this one including Jason Mercier (already has a bracelet this year), Dutch Boyd, Jeff Lisaandro, Thor Hansen and Eli Elezra. The pros still have a legitimate shot at taking this one down.
All of a sudden, second bracelet is becoming a common headline theme in this year’s 
