WSOP Players Championship Ends, Main Event Kicks off

The latest news from World Series of Poker include a report that the prestigious $50,000 buy-in Players Championship title has ended up in the hands of 25-year-old Matt Ashton from Liverpool, U, who scored his third final table cashout in this WSOP edition. After besting a field full of experienced and skillful pros, the young player won his first WSOP bracelet, the Chip Reese trophy and a main prize of $1.77 million. At the final table he faced Don Nguyen, John Hennigan, David Benyamine, George Danzer, Minh Ly, Mike Wattel and former Canadian WSOP Main Event champ Jonathan Duhamel, while the heads-up was reserved for him and Nguyen. It was a brief affair, and after only seven hands, Nguyen was out, leaving the competition with a hefty runner-up prize of $1,096,254. After this event, WSOP reached its climax - the Main Event – whose first of three starting days has begun alongside anticipation that the whole $10,000 buy-in event will attract thousands of hopefuls, including almost all the serious professionals. After the initial three days, the Day 2 heats will be held on July 9 and 10, while the rest of the process which will end with a final table of nine survivors, will last through to July 15.