Latest from WSOP

Jul 01, 2013
Latest from WSOP
The action was intense over the weekend with railbirds gathering to watch some of the most anticipated events in this year's WSOP series so far, witnessing event 47: $111,111 buy-in One Drop High Rollers No-Limit Hold'em charity match, another Canadian triumph, and many more other excitements. Speaking of the Event 47, whose buy-in was significantly reduced compared to the year before, it has attracted a handsome entry field of 165 hopefuls, who were all bested by a twenty-six-year old Maryland professional player Anthony "End Boss" Gregg. And a hefty prize it was for the young pro, as he took home not only his first WSOP bracelet but the main prize of $4.8 million as well, this depriving Antonio Esfandiari from repeating his last year's success in the event. The final table seated Gregg, Chris Klodnicki, investment businessman Bill Perkins, Antonio Esfandiari, Richard Fullerton, Martin Jacobson, Brandon Steven and Nick Schulman. The heads up took just 19 hands and was played between Gregg and Chris Klodnicki, who earned himself a rather comforting runner-up prize of $2,985,495. As for the other cashouts in the event, they were the following: 4. Antonio Esfandiari - $1,433,438 5. Richard Fullerton - $1,066,491 6. Martin Jacobson - $807,427 7. Brandon Steven - $621,180 8. Nick Schulman - $485,029 Another great beneficiary of the event is the One Drop Foundation, which helps provide people in impoverished nations with clean water, ant it will get well over half a million dollars from this one event, not counting various other contributions from generous players. The following contest, event 48: the $2,500 buy-in Limit Hold'em (Six Handed) competition, saw Marco Johnson (27) who already took three runner-up cashouts, break the bad spell and finally win a bracelet at this year's WSOP. In order to emerge as the winner among an entry field of 342, Johnson had to defeat the likes of Jeff Thompson, Juha Helppi, Danny Warchol, Mike Schiffman and Maria Ho – all of whom entered the final table. In the end, the heads-up were down to Jeff Thompson and Johnson, whose 2 to 1 chip was enough to defeat his opponent and send him home with a $127,801 second placing paycheck. Commenting on his first WSOP bracelet and the $206,796 main prize win, Johnson said: “It feels really good. If I would have taken second place again, I would have been very upset. So, I'm really happy to be sitting here and not driving home upset. It's a much better experience to be feeling this right now, rather than taking second.” Another two veterans claimed their first WSOP bracelets over the weekend - Brit Barney Boatman of the Hendon Mob and Californian pro Brandon Wong. In event 49, a $1,500 buy-in NLHE tournament, Boatman defeated a massive field of 2,246 players, taking home his first WSOP bracelet after 24 cashes, and a lion's share of the $3,033,450 prize pool - the $546,080 main prize. At the final table he faced Brian O'Donoghue, Van Tran, Taras Kripps, Aditya Prasetyo, Robin Ylitalo, Paul Dasilva, Noah Sandler and Roger Lussier, while in the heads-up O'Donohue gave quite a performance, having almost even chip count as Boatman. It took the latter almost 175 hands before he managed to send home O'Donohue with a second placing prize worth $338,745. In event 50 - a $2,500 buy-in Six-Handed 10-Game Mix, a 38-year-old pro player from Fresno, California, Brandon Wong, won his first WSOP bracelet after prior 21 cashes, claiming the $220,061 first-place prize. The event scored 372 entries, including the likes of Scott Fischman, Freddy Deeb, Gavin Smith, Scotty Nguyen, Robert Williamson III, Marcel Luske, Shawn Buchanan, Vanessa Selbst, Greg Raymer, Scott Abrams, Bruno Fitoussi, Mike Wattel, Loren Klein and Tom McCormick. In the heads-up the American faced Britain's Sebastian Saffari, who wasn't strong enough to take his opponent down, so he left with a runner-up prize of $135,932. As for the other final table pay-outs, they were the following: Philip Sternheimer $87,397 Christopher George $57,954 Scott Abrams $39,564 Loren Klein $27,792 Finally, another – 10th bracelet has been scored by a Canadian player; this time it was Ontario pro Kristen Bicknell (26) who took down the Ladies No-Limit Hold'em Championship, beating the field 953 players to the $173,922 main prize. This was the first WSOP cashout for Bicknell, who faced a fierce final table, which comprised Leanne Haas, Julie Mansacre, Shana Matthews, Connie Bruce, Eleanor Gudger, Chris Priday, Cindy Kerslake and respected poker pro Amanda “MandyB” Baker (32). The heads-up was down to the Canadian and Australian Leanne Haas, who ended up with the runner-up check for $107,616. Another WSOP curiosity over the weekend was when poker legend Doyle Brunson (79) entered the $50,000 buy-in Players Championship over the weekend, despite his Tweet that he was going to give the World Series of Poker a miss this year and turn to some less energy-demanding cash games.
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