If you wanted to see a Pot Limit Omaha clinic, all you needed to do was watch the final table of Event 35 on Friday night. Play after play, read after read was absolutely perfect and Richard Austin made quick work of the remaining players to capture his first WSOP Bracelet. While it was not a very large field, the $5,000 buy in made the payoff over $400,000. This tournament ended just after 8:00pm and is easily the fastest moving final table of the tournament. We saw lots of aggression and some bad timing from the other players at the table. The final hand was typical of the action with all three players committed and Austin obviously coming out on top.
In other tournaments…
Event 36 is moving along very well and as of this posting, there were only 66 players remaining. The bubble was 171 and after it was reached, they never looked back. Chips are continuing to fly and Jonathon Plens holds a small chip lead with 520,000 in his stack. Still a long way to go in this one though and lots of players are well within striking distance.
“You know it baby” is probably being heard quite often in Event 37 as the ever enjoyable Scotty Nguyen holds the chip lead with 317,000. As stated yesterday, this field is packed with superstars and they are all still hanging around. Both Doyle and Todd Brunson have worked their way up the leader board and are only 5,000 in chips apart. Some other notables that are stacking chips are Greg Raymer, Dutch Boyd and Howard Lederer. With only 36 players remaining, this final table is starting to shape up to be an all-star cast.
Event 38 was the only event kicking off today and it is still a little early for overall chip counts, but Kid Poker is making some noise early on in the $2,000 Limit Hold’em event. Erick Lindgren looks to be in trouble and Hellmuth’s stack seems to be growing at a steady pace. This is far and away the slowest day we have had in a while and it seems as though a lot of these players are starting to wear down. This is the break that a lot of them needed, except of course for those in the limit tournament and Stud Championship.
For those of you in the fantasy WSOP leagues, start taking the long days into account as a lot of these old-timers are starting to wear down. Frustration is also taking its toll on a lot of the cash players that are wasting days at a time only to get knocked out right before the bubble. If you want some insight, start reading the Tweets from the players and you can see that these big fields and multiple day tournaments are starting to wear thin. Look for a lot of the younger players and the season tournament pros to really start to shine.
Greg Mueller is always fun to watch, but Wednesday was just something different and special. Every time he wins a hand his cronies start the infamous “Sui” call and you just have to laugh. However, there was nothing funny about his performance as he obliterated one of the tougher fields that we have seen and finished first in the World Championship of no limit poker. His pocket 5’s held up on the final hand for him to win his first WSOP bracelet and yet another millionaire club member in WSOP and Circuit Tour Event winnings.
Angel Guillen also won his first bracelet in Event 32 in only his second WSOP cash ever. He bested a field of 1534 and won over a half million dollars for the three day tourney. He didn’t have the chip lead when he started the day, but all that matters is that he had every chip in play at around 1:00am. Mika Paasonen finished in second and won $326,203.
In other tournaments…
Event 34 is now down to 221 players with Jonas Klausen (920,000) leading the way. While day one was one of the bloodiest we have seen yet, day 2 continued the trend of not being able to get down to the final table once again. There are still 22 players remaining and they are going to have to dig in for a long session on Thursday to decide the winner. The good news is that they will start out on short tables so that should hopefully move play along a little quicker in the beginning.
Event 35 is bringing some fresh meat to the table. There are plenty of players left alive in this one that we have heard barely a word from so far in this year’s WSOP. Robert Mizrachi (15,000) is holding on for dear life, but David ‘Devilfish’ Ulliot (107,000) is making some noise at the top of the leader board. Jeffrey Lisandro (153,000) continues to have a great WSOP in anything but hold’em. His very impressive run in the other variations continues and he is amount the tournament leaders once again and poised to make a run at another final table.
Leo Wolpert knows the daily grind of a poker player all too well. He traded in the life of a professional poker player and decided to return to school to pursue his law degree. However, this summer he was doing an internship in Las Vegas and decided to enter some tournaments. The decision paid off and he will now have a very nice start to paying off all of that tuition with his first $625,682.
The final hand of the heads tournament had Wolpert on the button and limping in to a check from Duthie. The flop came out 10s3s5c and while Duthie was looking to see a free turn, Wolpert fired at the pot with a 120,000 bet. Duthie immediately came right back over the top to push all in and was called by Wolpert who was looking to finally put this tournament away. The cards were turned and while Duthie had hit top pair, he was behind the bottom two pair of Wolpert. The turn and river produced a JhQh and Duthie was out with a second place prize of $386,636.
JC Tran also collected a bracelet on Tuesday Night by winning the Pot Limit Omaha tournament. JC Tran started making his move about half way through the final session and never looked back. This is his second WSOP bracelet overall and will now put him over the $2 million mark in career earnings in the WSOP.
In other tournaments…
The $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. Tournament is still going strong and will likely be playing until the early hours of the morning. There are currently still 4 players left and all are still in relatively good ship as far as chips are concerned. Mitch Schock is the current leader with 1,015,000.
Event 32 is still running a little slow and has not made it down to the final table and it is unlikely that they will by the end of the playing session tonight. With 42 players still alive at this late hour, they are going to have to come back a little early tomorrow to finish this one off. Rui Cao is the current leader at 467,000.
The World Championship Limit Hold’em is also struggling to get down to their number, but there has been some large movements on the overall leader board. Jennifer Harman started the day off as the chip leader with about 165,000 and is currently sitting at 155,000 after about 10 hours of play. As predicted, there are still some very big name professionals still going strong in this one. Kenny Hsuing is the current leader with $410,000.
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.
At one point, it looked like Clements was going to run away with Event 27, the Pot Limit Omaha Hi-low Split 8 or Better Tournament. He was making all the right moves and then in a matter of 13 minutes he went from massive chip leader to the rail. He had to feel as though he had been run over by a train. Once they were heads up, the action continued to be fast and furious and eventually Roland De Wolfe would take down Brett Richey for his first bracelet and the $246,616 first place prize.
The final hand did not hold much drama. A nominal raise was made before the flop and both players watched a flop of 10c8c4d. After De Wolfe checked, Richey made a move on the pot, but was rewarded with a pot bet by De Wolfe. Richey continued the action with an all in and the cards were turned. Richey showed a QdJsw10h9h and De Wolfe showed AdQc8d4h. De Wolfe was in the lead, but Richey has a lot to root for on the turn and river. Both fell harmlessly and Richey only walked with the $152,618 second prize.
Event 26 ended not long after as the $1,500 Limit Hold’em Event did not take long at all to decide a winner. This is far and away the earliest evening so far for the WSOP bracelet events. The tournament came down to Tomas Alenius and Jason Tam. Tam held a considerable chip lead when they went heads up, but Alenius make a Parkeresque comeback and ended up winning the event.
The final hand had Tam raising from the button and Alenius coming right back over the top. Tam was committed at this point and put the rest of his chips in the middle for a 4 bet. The cards were turned and Alenius was way ahead with A4 to Q5. The board didn’t hit either player and Alenius had made the comeback complete by putting on a new piece of jewelry and fattening up his back account with $197,488. Tam received $122,000 for second place.
In other tournaments…
Event 28 still has a rather large field left and while it is early, getting down to a final table will definitely take until the 3am limit. If they don’t get there, they will more than likely have to come back early tomorrow to finish off the event. Joe Simmons is the current chip leader with 485,000.
They are down to the Sweet 16 in the Heads Up Championship and there are still two major names floating around. Both Johnny Chan and Jason Mercier are still alive and playing well. The bubble was 32, so these guys are deep into the cash. At stake would be record tying bracelet for Chan and of course the little matter of the $625,682 for first place. The money really starts to jump from this point forward, so expect some tightening up by the less experienced players.
