Some of the players that failed to make it through the day were Mike Matusow, Jennifer Tilley, Phil Laak, Gus Hansen, Eli Elezra, Todd Brunson, Gavin Smith, Amarillo Slim and Tony G.  While they will be watching from the side lines, Chris Ferguson, Andy Black, Greg Mueller, Mike Sexton and Thor Hansen have all managed to get through to the next session.

Day 2b should be interesting as the field for this session will be much larger.  A lot of players chose to play in the 2 late Day 1’s and we will see about 3,500 players start the day off before they combine fields to move forward.  It was also interesting that a lot of the professionals chose to start off on the later days as they knew they would also be packed with a lot of the amateurs that were getting satellite tickets into the Main Event.

We have talked many times about how difficult it is for the pros to navigate through large fields because of the fact that everyone wants to be the person that can say, “I took out (fill in name of pro here).”  Not only that, but by playing in one of the first two sessions, you would get a significant more amount of rest in compared to the later days when the fields get combined.  Make no mistake about it, these players will wear down with the grind that they are faced with.

We are a long way from the bubble as the top 648 players get paid.  You can expect that stage not be reached until Friday at the earliest.  When that time approached, play will come to grinding halt as everyone can smell the money and do not want to be the person that goes out on the bubble in the largest stage that poker sees every year.

Strap in and get ready for another long session of poker on Wednesday.  They will hopefully get this field down to under 1,000 players, leaving less than 2,000 overall to go into Day 3.  That is when the real fun begins as we will have all of the players in the same room for the first time since the tournament has started.

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.

The big names were out in force. Among those playing were Marco Traniello, Daniel Negreanu, Roland de Wolfe, Brian Townsend, Nenad Medic, Jennifer Tilly, David “DevilFish” Ulliott, John Juanda, Phil Laak, Tom “Durrrr” Dwan, Chris “Jesus” Ferguson, Doyle Brunson, Mel Judah, Gavin Smith, David Williams, Annette Obrestad, Gus Hansen, Juan Carlos Mortensen, Allen Cunningham, and Jean-Robert Bellande.

The first big name to get knocked out was Allen Cunningham. He apparently showed up about an hour late to the event. Sometime during the second level he was eliminated. John Tabatabai apparently got a good portion of his chips. He claimed that Cunningham had made an incredibly ridiculous bluff.

During the first couple of levels, Jack Effel tried to get a Turbo £1,000 satellite going for the World Series of Poker Europe Main Event. 362 players total had registered for the event, which happened to be the exact number as last year’s event. I guess he was trying to push the number over that so they can claim growth in the event. Apparently noone took Jack up on his offer as the field remained at 362 players after the registration period was completed.

Jeff Madsen was one of the next big names to bite the dust. He was the victim of a player that probably 100,000 players have lost to in the past, Doyle Brunson. The flop was 7d-6h-7s when a player in seat one bet 1,100. Madsen moved all in for 3,900 and Brunson made the call. Seat one folded. Brunson had 7c-9c for a set of sevens. Madsen held 9d-8d for a straight draw. The turn fell the Ks and the river the 9h, filling up Brunson’s boat and sending Madsen to the rail. Doyle Brunson just goes to show that no matter how old you are, you can still play poker at a high level.

Sorel Mizzi was eliminated during level 3. Mizzi made a reraise to 2,625 and Florian Langmann made the call. On a flop of 6s-7h-3c, Langmann bet 7,500. Mizzi tanked for a bit before moving all in. Langmann made the call showing Ah-Ad. Mizzi showed As-Kc. The turn fell the 3d and the river the 7d and Mizzi was eliminated.

Sean Deeb made a bit of a splash during the Pot Limit Omaha event here at the WSOP Europe. His deep run will not be repeated in the Main Event. He was all in on a flop of Ac-6s-10. He held Ad-Jd, and his opponent held As-Qs. The turn fell the 9d and the river the 2h, and Deeb was eliminated.

Juan Carlos Mortensen was next to fall to Brian Powell. Powell raised to 850 preflop, and Mortensen raised all-in to 5,500. Powell made the call and showed As-9s. Mortensen showed 4s-4h. The flop hit Powell like a ton of bricks when it fell 9c-5h-9d. Mortensen would need a four, or he would be done. The turn fell the Ks and river the 6d and Mortensen was out.

Daniel Negreanu took the chip lead about the mid way of Day 1b. Preflop, Negreanu raised to 800 and was called by Lars Hougaard from the big blind. The flop fell 9h-8d-6. Hougaard checked to Negreanu, who bet out 800. Hougaard check-raised to 3,200, and Negranu appeared to go into the tank. Negreanu said, “Hmmm. I have to think about the best way to approach this.” He then moved all in for 50,000. Hougaard started talking to himself and Negreanu asked, “You have a pair AND a straight draw? OK, so you hit your miracle flop and have to fold?” Hougaard then proceeded to fold his hand. Negreanu showed 6c-6s for the set of sixes. After the hand, Negreanu moved up to 95,000 in chips and was the chip leader.

The winner of the PLO bracelet, Theo Jorgensen, moved all in preflop for 2,775. Barry Greenstein made the call. Greenstein held Ah-Ad and Jorgensen held 7c-7h. The board missed both players, and Jorgensen will have to settle for just one bracelet at the WSOP Europe this year. Gus Hansen soon followed. On a flop of 3-4-7, Hansen was all-in against Jennifer Tilly. Tilly held A-A and Hansen 3-4 for two pair. The board paired on the turn when a 7 fell, giving Tilly a better two pair. These pairs held up and Hansen was gone.

The World Series of Poker Europe will have a new Main Event Champion. Annette Obrestad was all-in with pocket Kings against the A-Q of Marco Traniello. Unfortunately for Obrestad, Traniello spiked an Ace and Obrestad will not repeat as Main Event Champion.

Gavin Smith got a taste of his own medicine in tonight’s event. He was all in with pocket Kings. His opponent held 9c-10c. The board flopped an open ended straight draw when the board fell J-8-6. The turn missed both players, but the river Q gave Smith’s opponent a straight and sent Smith to the rail.

Day 1b of the World Series of Poker saw 203 players come together to take their shot at the last bracelet of the World Series of Poker Europe. 97 players survived the session and will join the 86 players from Day 1a on Monday to continue play. Many top names were able to survive Day 1b. Among those are Doyle Brunson, Chris Ferguson, Scotty Nguyen, Surinder Sunar, Barry Grenstein, Jennifer Tilly, Nenad Medic, and John Juanda. Daniel Negranu lost the chip lead for a while, but was able to regain it by the end of the day. Below are the current chip leaders for day 1b.

Daniel Negreanu 154050
Jamie Rosen 139225
David Benefield 126775
Sargon Ruya 114100
Jean Thorel 98675
Marco Traniello 96750
Mikael Norinder 91650
Yuval Bronshtein 85675
Roland de Wolfe 84000
Talal Shakerchi 83025

Play for Day 2 of the World Series of Poker Main Event continued on Monday at 1 p.m. London time.

Many big names put up the cash for this event. Daniel Negreanu, Jens Voertmann, Gus Hansen, Mike “The Mouth” Matusow, Josh Arieh, Brandon Cantu, Patrik Antonius, Ross Boatman, Phil Hellmuth, Nanad Medic, Layne Flack, John Juanda, Freddy Deeb, Eli Elezra, David Benyamine, Barny Boatman, Andy Black, Tom “Durrrr” Dwan, Thor Hansen, Doyle Brunson, Allen Cunningham, Erik Seidel, Robert Willaimson III, Chris Ferguson, and Andy Bloch all were on hand as well as many other known players.

This event gave each player the option of a free 10,000 chip rebuy that could either be taken at the beginning of their tournament or at the any time during the first 3 levels. Daniel Negreanu was the first big name to be eliminated from the event. He apparently took his rebuy at the start of the event and proceeded to lose it in quick fashion.

Action was hot and heavy early on. The 2007 WSOP Europe Pot Limit Omaha Champion Dario Alioto was eliminated shortly after Negreanu. Jens Voertmann was also eliminated around the same time. Voertmann won the $3,000 H.O.R.S.E. event at the WSOP in Vegas in June.

Gus Hansen was eliminated by Jason Mercier. At showdown the board showed Ad-8-6d-Q-J. Mercier held 8-7-6-4 for two pair and Hansen held 9-7-5-3 for a couple of draws that missed. Mike “The Mouth” Matusow did not make it to the dinner break in this event. We aren’t sure of how he was eliminated but when someone mentioned how quiet it was, we realized it was due to his departure.

Josh Arieh and Phil Ivey were eliminated not long after the dinner break. Arieh was all in against Donnacha O’Dea. Arieh had a straight and O’Dea a set of aces. The river card paired the board, giving O’Dea the full house and Arieh the shaft. Phil Ivey was down to around 3,000 after the dinner break and shortly was eliminated. He’s probably looking for Mike Matusow to try and start a Chinese Poker game.

Sherkhan Farnood was playing in this event while playing the £2,500 H.O.R.S.E. final table. On a board of 4h-Qh-3s-9h-Jd, Farnood was all in against Erik Seidel and Andreas Krause. Farnood showed Qs-8s-10c-9c for the nut straight. Seidel only held a pair of aces. Krause mucked his hand. After the hand Farnood tripled up to 37,000.

Annette Obrestad was soon eliminated by David Williams. Obrestad had flopped a full house with the board showing 5-5-7 on the flop. She had a 5-7 in her hand. Sadly, Williams had pocket sevens for the nut boat. As a result, Obrestad floated down the river.

This event will not bring John Phan his third bracelet of the year. On a flop of 8h-7h-7c, Phan bet out 3,000. Jani Sointula raised the size of the pot, followed by Phan moving all-in. Sointula called. Phan showed Ad-Ah-8c-10c for aces up. Sointula showed Qs-8s-5h-6h for two pair and the straight flush draw. The turn fell the Kh, giving Sointula the flush and the river card fell the Kc, sealing the win for Sointula.

Three big names were eliminated in short order. First Richard Ashby was eliminated by Surindar Sunar. Soon afterwards, Sunar was eliminated when his two pair were outdrawn by another opponents better two pair. Patrik Antonius went all in holding a pair of queens but the hand was outdrawn and he was sent to the rail as well.

Barry Greenstein was eliminated by Neil Channing. As a result Greenstein is short another copy of his book. Channing made the final table in the Event #1 of the World Series of Poker Europe. Adam Junglen and Tom “Durrrr” Dwan didn’t fare much better and were eliminated shortly after the beginning of the last level of the night.

David Williams had a roller coaster of a day. He was down to just 13,000 chips at one point in the evening but increased it to over 100,000 by the last level. Part of that stack came at the expense of Jeff Madsen. Williams crippled Madsen when he flopped a set of kings, outdrawing Madsens’ aces. Then shortly afterwards, Madsen was all in with a straight draw and a pair. Williams had a pair of queens and a backdoor flush draw. The board came running hearts to fill out Williams’ flush and Madsen was out the door.

Jason Mercier finished the day as the chip leader with 209,800 in chips. Shaun Deeb was next with 190,700. Bruno Fitoussi was the high pro of the day with 123,700. Other notables are David Williams at 122,400, Phil Laak at 111,400, and Andy Bloch at 109,200. Chris Ferguson, Erik Seidel, Robert Williamson III and Allen Cunningham are all around the middle of the field. Doyle Brunson is still alive in his hunt for his 11th bracelet, but he is one of the short stacks with 36,500. Don’t count him out however as this a few well timed pots could turn him from a short stack to a chip leader.

Many pros bit the dust in this day one, including fan favorite Daniel Negreanu. David Benyamine and Phil Hellmuth also did not make it through the day. 2007 $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. Champion Freddy Deeb couldn’t find any magic on this day.

The day started with 165 players but in the end only 45 players remained in this Pot Limit Omaha Championship. While the pace of play on Day 1 was fast and furious, expect Thursday’s play to be a little more subdued due to the large stacks that will be in play. Players will return at 3 P.M. on Thursday London time to make a march towards the final table in this event.

Barry Greenstein was the first casualty of the day. Shortly after the beginning of play, Greenstein was all in with A-10 against John Phan’s A-9. Phan caught a nine on the flop, and Greenstein was left hoping to catch one of the remaining 10’s. A ten did not arrive and Phan now has a copy of Ace on the River.

Bruno Fitoussi busted out shortly afterwards in an Omaha 8 round when his pair of kings were no match for Bruce Yamron’s sixes and fives. Fitoussi was the runner-up in the 2007 $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event at the World Series of Poker. Freddy Deeb was the winner of the event.

Phil Hellmuth has received a tough table draw for this Day 2. His opponents include Phil Ivey, Howard Lederer, Mark Gregorich, Sherkhan Farnood, and Gary Jones. Gus Hansen started razzing Phil when he asked Howard Lederer if Phil was the 7th or 8th best player at the table. Lederer would not respond, but Hellmuth mentioned that he had only played 5 hands to that point.

Jean-Robert Bellande was voted off the island in a stud round when his queens ran into Ivo Donev’s kings up. Brandon Cantu was out shortly afterwards. In a holdem round with a flop of 8d-4h-3d, Cantu bet out and was raised by Yuval Bronshtein. This was enough to put Cantu all-in. Bronshtein showed 8s-8c for a set and Cantu showed Qh-Jc. Cantu needed running straight cards to win, but they did not come and Cantu hit the rail.

Sadly a few hands later saw the end to one of the more entertaining players, Mike “The Mouth” Matusow. In a holdem hand against Gus Hansen, Matsow called bets from Hansen all the way to the river, where he was all in. The board showed Jd-Js-Jc-Ks-Qc when Hansen tabled pocket threes for a full house. Matusow only held ace high and was gone.

John Phan was involved in a three way pot that included Max Pescatori and Raul Paez. On a flop of Qs-Kh-5h, Phan bet out the last of his stack and was called by both opponents. Pescatori bet both the turn of the 3d and the river of the 6d. At showdown, Pescatori showed Ad-Kc-5c-3c for two pair, Paez showed As-3h-4c-Jc for the low, and Phan showed Ah-Jd-7h-6s, for a pair and a weaker low. As a result, Phan is eliminated from this H.O.R.S.E. event.

As we began to approach the bubble, Andy Bloch was all in during a holdem round. He had hit a pair of sevens on the flop, but John Juanda he flopped a pair of kings. Neither player improved and Bloch was eliminated from today’s event. Bloch was the runner up of the first ever $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event at the World Series of Poker. He came up on the short end of the marathon heads-up match with the late Chip Reese.

The two Phil’s have been tangling a bit today. First, Ivey sucked out on a hand against Hellmuth when he caught a queen on seventh in a stud round. The very next hand, Ivey caught a straight flush in five cards to move his chips up to 100,000. Then, a few hands later, David Williams completed showing (X-X) 4c. Ivey raised showing (X-X) Jc and Hellmuth called showing (X-X) Ad. Williams followed along.

Ivey bet out on fourth and fifth, with Williams folding on fourth and Hellmuth calling along. Hellmuth then bet out on sixth showing (X-X) Ad-Qs-6c-5h. Ivey raised showing a board of (X-X) Jc-7s-Kh-4d. Hellmuth three-bet and Ivey made the call. At showdown, Hellmuth showed a bluff and Ivey showed a pair of kings to take another big pot off of Hellmuth.

Howard Lederer has been the biggest surprise of this Day 2 thus far. He has been near the chip lead a good portion of the day. In one hand in a stud round, Lederer was able to eliminate both Gus Hansen and Barny Boatman with kings up. After the hand he was up to 85,000 but moved up to around 100,000 not long afterwards.

As we got closer to the bubble, both John Juanda and Robert Williamson III were eliminated. Both were eliminated during a stud 8 round. Joe Beevers finished in 18th place when his 7-6 low in razz ran into a perfect 6 of Jeff Lisandro.

Max Pescatori ended up being the bubble boy for this event. In a hand against Sherkhan Farnood, Pescatori was all in on Sixth Street showing Ah-5d-2h-8h-3s-7d for a wheel draw and a seven low. Farnood showed 4h-6d-8s-5c-As-7s for an eight high straight and a weaker seven low. A 3h on the river gave Farnood a seven high straight and a six low. Pascatori did not catch a four and he was eliminated.

David Williams was the first player to make the money with a 16th place finish. In an Omaha 8 round, with the flop showing 10c-3h-Kd, Yuval Bronshtein bet out 2,000 and Raul Paez raised to 4,000. Williams made the call and Bronshtein three bet to 6,000. Williams four bet but only for a few hundred more. Both opponents made the call. The turn of the 10s fell and Bronshtein bet out 4,000. Paez made the call. At showdown Bronstein showed 10d-3c-2h-5h for tens full. Paez flashed pocket threes for a weaker full house and Williams mucked his hand. He then went and collected his £4,812 for his finish.

Play will continue until we reach a final table. Of course, Harrah’s has been known to make strange decisions regarding ending tournaments early. The rest of today’s coverage will conclude in the next post.

Last years winners will be trying to defend there titles and make history by becoming the first player to win two World Series of Poker Europe bracelets. Thomas Bihl won last years HORSE event when he beat Jennifer Harman heads up. Last year the HORSE final table was littered with poker superstars like Jennifer Harman, Chris “Jesus” Ferguson and Kirk Morrison, no doubt the event directors will be looking for a similar showing. You can expect the HORSE tournament to be full of poker greats again this year because it will be the hardest bracelet to win in my opinion. Last years Pot Limit Omaha event was won by Dario Alioto, he also managed to make a final table in Pot Limit Omaha at the World Series in Las Vegas this year. Omaha last year brought out some big names who made big cashes Tony G finished third and Roland De Wolfe had a respectable eleventh place finish.

Last years Main Event in Europe looked as if a familiar face may win his first World Series bracelet ever in Europe. Gus Hansen was cruising, but he busted out tenth, the favorite was gone and it was anybody’s tournament. Up and coming superstar Annette Obrestad, showed her potential by taking home her first bracelet. Annette showed the world her aggressive bluffing style and may just have won the biggest tournament by a women in poker history. No doubt Obrestad will show up at this years World Series looking to build on the success she found last year. There were a lot of big names players in the top thirty last year and the event organizers will be looking for much of the same. Last year Patrik Antonius finished 29th, Erik Lindgren finished 26th, Annie Duke is 21st and Kenny Tran almost made the final table finishing in 16th.

Predictions

Event #1 – No Limit Hold’ em – The North American pros will be geared up and put a lot effort in to trying to win this event. Look for some good showing by top names players like Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu and Erik Lindgren. I think the North Americans will have to wait as Annette Obrestad wins her second World Series of Poker bracelet. Annette will be looking to prove that she is here to stay and be the first player to win two World Series of Poker will do just that.

Event #2 – HORSE – In my opinion the HORSE event is the most intriguing event at every World Series of Poker. The big names always show up and you can be assured that they will be at the final table. Scotty Nguyen won the HORSE world championship in Las Vegas at the World Series and I think you will see a lot of the same names fighting for the win in Europe. Look for another good result from Erik Lindgren, he is a great all around player and is confident after his player of the year at the World Series in Vegas. The first American to win a World Series of Poker Europe will be Chris “Jesus” Ferguson, and it will come in this event.

Event #3 – Pot Limit Omaha – Omaha has become a big game in the poker world, probably fits right behind Texas Hold’ em on the popularity scale. Europeans tend to be well rounded Omaha players and I think they will come away with another bracelet in this tournament. Last years winner Dario Alioto will have a good showing again, but I think he will come up short as Roland De Wolfe takes home the bracelet. Roland is an excellent Omaha player and I think he finally has a big win in this event.

Event #4 – Main Event No Limit Hold’ em – The main event will be everybody’s main goal, all the top pro’s want to win this title. Last year a lot of big names had big showings at this tournament, but I think you will learn a few new ones this year. Jennifer Harman will have a good showing in this tournament and Patrik Antonius will make the final table. With the bitter taste of last years bubble finish Gus Hansen will redeem himself and win the World Series of Poker Europe Main Event. Gus will be motivated and he will grind out the victory for his first bracelet.

Well we all know predictions are just that, predictions. I think Annette Obrestad, Chris Ferguson, Roland De Wolfe and Gus Hansen win the four bracelets. Of course there is the chance amateur players show up and win some tournaments, but there is no way for me to pick them. I truly enjoyed last years World Series of Poker Europe and I look for the same entertainment value this year. It all gets started on Friday September the 19th and without a doubt someone’s dreams will come true.

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