Regardless of who the player is, it is almost gratifying when you see them get knocked out trying to put a ‘fancy move’ on the table. Hellmuth did exactly that and instead of chasing down his next bracelet, he will once again be watching the final table of the Main Event from the rail. Hellmuth got a little greedy with his AA and he paid the dearest of prices in elimination.
Mourshaki was in early position and fired out a raise of 22,000. It folded around to Hellmuth who was in late position and he flat called. This is all hindsight of course, but just calling gave everyone behind Hellmuth, including two blinds, the odds to make the call regardless of what their hands were. With the amount of money he had left, the move here was for him to push all in and try and get heads-up. Instead, he wanted as many people as possible in the pot and that never bodes well for AA.
Once Hellmuth called, 3 more players joined the dance to a flop of Jc10d5c. This is precisely the type of flop that you do not want to see with AA. Flush and straight draw on the board and someone very well may be sitting with J10. Hellmuth was about to find out the hard way that he made a mistake and it was going to cost him the tournament.
Once the flop hit, Jenkins was first to act and immediately pushed all in. The original raiser and the one person that Hellmuth would have more than likely been heads-up against, Mourshaki, folded his hand and then Hellmuth pushed the rests of his chips into the pot (110,000). Gomez let his hand go and Hsiung made the call putting both players at risk for elimination.
The cards were turned and Hellmuth saw his worst nightmare come true. Jenkins had flopped an open ended straight and was holding 89h, Hellmuth of course had AA with the A of clubs and Hsiung was holding the winning hand at the moment, Jh10c. The turn card fell and gave Jenkins the lead with a 7d. Hellmuth was drawing dead for the outright win at this point and Hsiung was down to 4 outs. However, he had Hellmuth covered so Phil had a small shot at the rest of the board pairing or possibly hitting one of the remaining two A’s to get a small piece and survive. Neither happened as the river was a 3s and Phil was shown the rail. If Phil had pushed all in preflop, he probably would have been able to get Mourshaki isolated and would more than likely have lived to see another day.
While Hellmuth was being shown the door, Ivey has continued on and is not one of the chip leaders of the tournament. He now has 1,276,000 and if far and away the best of the remaining 400 or so players. The overall chip leader is Matt Affleck who has accumulated 1,819,000. It will be interesting to see how he holds up as the numbers get lower and he starts to face off with the likes of Ivey. Other notables that are still alive are Dan Harrington, Joe Sebok, Antonio Esfandiari, Kenny Tran and Vitaly Lunkin.
No, you did not misread that. With day one having 4 sessions and day 2 having 2 sessions, it took 6 days to complete the first two days of the WSOP Main Event for 2009. While there were quite a few early exits from some of the superstars, there were just as many of them that flew to the top of the leader board and have put themselves in a premium position to make an honest run at the title.
The field has to be worried that three of the hottest players in this year’s WSOP are gathering chips in much the same fashion that they did on their way to bracelets already this year. Phil Ivey (376,000), Greg Mueller (287,300) and Jeff Lisandro (229,300) all have formidable stacks and they way that they have been playing this year, people have to be worried when they take a seat at their tables.
Friday marks the first time that all of the players will be sitting in the same room. The field got a rest day on Thursday and everyone comes back fresh for the big run at the final table. The overall chip leader will be Amir Lehavot (610,500) when they get started again. He has caught an amazing run of cards and has a 150,000 chip lead over the next closest player. That is quite amazing at this level of the tournament. It is actually reminiscent of the run that Jamie Gold put together when he won his championship. He continue to hold a huge lead throughout as nobody ever seemed to be able to put the hands together that could make a dent in his stack.
Other notable players that still have chips in front of them are Eric Cloutier (383,500), JC Tran (284,600), Kenny Tran (273,000), Justin Bonomo (223,300), Paul Wasicka (184,900), Dutch Boyd (163,600) and Phil Hellmuth (142,900).
Day 3 should see some decent movement as some of the newbies start to get antsy, especially when they are sitting at a table with one of the big name pros. If any of these players can catch a run of cards, their stack will get humongous as the amateurs seek to be the one that took them out. Someone like Hellmuth could walk out of the session with well over 1,000,000 in chips if the poker gods are looking down at him in a positive way.
Friday September the 19th the second annual World Series of Poker Europe will get underway. The first event will be a No Limit Holdem, it’s a no re-buy event with each player starting with 6000 in chips. This year there are some changes, namely that the event will be played under one roof. The Casino at the Empire will host all four events at the years World Series of Poker Europe. As in Vegas where all the events are played at the Rio, the hope is to start a tradition in London. For all the North American fans out there ESPN will be airing eight hours of coverage from the tournaments in London. An Event has been added this years, making four bracelets up for grabs. The biggest question coming into this years events is will someone from the other side of the pond be able to walk away with one of the coveted bracelets. Last year Europeans won all three events, and the all the Americans will try be to become the first to win a bracelet in Europe.
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.
No, you did not misread that. With day one having 4 sessions and day 2 having 2 sessions, it took 6 days to complete the first two days of the 
