World Series Of Poker Dealer’s Choice Event Attracts Larger Entry Field
406 entries this year compared to 364 in last year’s competition
The World Series of Poker $1,500 buy-in Dealer’s Choice event this year is in the record books, with 406 entries, an improvement over last year’s field of 364.
Denver player Jeremy Harkin (44) emerged the winner this year, taking the lion’s share of the $548,100 prize pool at $129,882, along with his first gold bracelet.
Harkin, who has played in every WSOP since 2003 and has 15 previous cashes, is mainly a cash game player who nevertheless excelled in the event, in which twenty variations of the game are played.
It was a tough entry field that saw respected players registering such as two-time WSOP bracelet winner Frankie O’Dell, John Hennigan, Chris Klodnicki, Mike Leah, Jeff Lisandro, Chris Vitch, Jimmy Fricke, and Tommy Hang.
In the heads up Harkin faced Frankie O’Dell and managed to eliminate him at second place for $80,256.
Brazilian Restaurant Owner Wins A Million At World Series Of Poker
Roberly Felicio claims his first WSOP bracelet and $1 million in prize money after winning the $565 buy-in COLOSSUS No-Limit Hold’em
13,070 entrants were recorded for this year’s World Series of Poker $565 buy-in COLOSSUS No-Limit Hold’em competition, creating a major prize pool worth $6,535,000, and Brazilian restaurant owner and player Roberly Felicio bested the field to enjoy the biggest pay-day of his career – a million dollars.
The turnout was disappointing compared with previous COLLOSSUS fields which have recorded 18,054 (2017), 21,613 (2016), 22,374 (2015) entries.
In a final table that lasted for 243 hands, and included tough opponents like John Racener, Tim Miles and Scott Margereson, Felicio not only survived but prospered to enter the heads up against Sang Liu, albeit at a chip disadvantage, cheered on by fellow Brazilian players like Andre Akkari, Felipe Ramos and Bruno Politano.
It appeared at one point that Sang Lui could not be defeated, so strong was his chip position and confidence, but the cards favoured the Brazilian who managed to stay in the game and around the 27th hand of the heads up ultimately dispatch a very tough opponent with the second placing prize of $500,000.
Other final table vashes included:
- Joel Wurtzel $300,000
- Scott Margereson $220,040
- Tim Miles $166,091
- Song Choe $126,158
- Gunther Dumsky $96,431
- John Racener $74,178
- Steven Jones $57,425
Justin Bonomo Wins $10,000 Heads-Up Championship
US online and live tourney poker pro’s hot streak continues
Barely ten days ago US online and live tourney poker pro Justin Bonomo claimed the $5 million main prize in the PokerGO – Poker Central $300,000 buy-in Super High Roller Bowl, an achievement which reprised a similar victory in March this year when he took home $4.8 million after winning the $250,000 buy-in Super High Roller Bowl Macau.
His latest victory in the World Series of Poker $10,000 buy-in NoLimit Heads Up Championship Friday delivered a more modest reward at $185,965, but was accompanied by Bonomo’s second WSOP bracelet, and it was the latter that had more emotional gravitas for a relatively young professional player, who has already racked up career earnings in excess of $32 million – $4 million in WSOP events.
The NL Heads Up event format required Bonomo to come out tops in seven separate heads-up matches, and he played and bested the likes of David Peters, David Laka, Jake Schindler, Niall Farrell and Mark McGovern to get to the final day of play.
His final obstacle to victory was UK cash games ace Jason McConnon, whom Bonomo acknowledged turned out to be his biggest challenge; Bonomo was generous in his respect for McConnon, saying after the game:
“In the final match, I simply caught much hotter cards than I did in the semifinal match. “I didn’t know who my opponent was before the start of the tournament, but I looked him up online and he plays high-stakes cash online. He’s just the type of guy that knows all the spots inside and out. Definitely not someone that you want to face in a heads-up tournament.”
As it turned out, Bonomo dominated the final match, grinding down McConnon’s stack to ultimately claim the win and send the Brit home with a runner up prize worth $114,933.
Other results included:
3rd: Juan Pardo Dominguez – $73,179
4th: Martijn Gerrits – $73,179
5th: Jan Eric Schwippert – $31,086
6th: Mark McGovern – $31,086
7th: Nicolai Morris – $31,086
8th: Kahle Burns – $31,086
Russian Victory In World Series Of Poker H.O.R.S.E. Event
Andrey Zhigalov wins first bracelet and $202,787
The multi-game variant World Series of Poker $1,500 buy-in H.O.R.S.E. event has concluded in victory for Russian player Andrey Zhigalov (29), with an extra day required to complete the gruelling heads up stage.
By 3 am on Friday (the third day of the event), and after 14 hours of intense competitive poker (three of them heads up), Zhigalov was still locked in combat with US player Timothy Frazin, albeit with a good lead, when the organisers called time and added an additional day for the duo to complete.
On the fourth day the Russian deployed his chip lead, building momentum by repeatedly winning pots and putting Frazin under increased pressure. His US opponent was unable to reverse the situation despite a valiant effort, and in under half an hour Zhigalov was able to end the contest, dispatching Frazin with the second placing prize of $125,336 and taking the honours, his first WSOP bracelet and the main prize of $202,787 back to Mother Russia.
Zhigalov, who is also a successful online player, told reporters that he has made the poker pilgrimage to the World Series of Poker for the past five years, with his optimum game variant limit mixed games.
He has 16 WSOP cashes to his credit, although none as large as this one. When he’s not hammering the mixed games, the Russian works as an accountant for a software company.
The event attracted an entry field of 731 which created a prize pool worth $986,850.
Other final table cashes included:
3rd: Bradley Smith – $87,769
4th: Matt Woodward – $62,379
5th: Nicholas Derke – $45,006
6th: Sandeep Vasudevan – $32,971
7th: Scott Clements – $24,531
8th: JW Smith – $18,541
Ognyan Dimov Triumphs In World Series Of Poker $1,500 NLHE 6-Max Event
Ognyan Dimov from Bulgaria victorious, coming back from short-handed at final table featuring four former WSOP bracelet winners
Bulgarian player Ognyan Dimov (28) claimed his first World Series of Poker bracelet and $378,743 in prize money over the weekend in taking down Event 17, a $1,500 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em 6-Max competition, after besting a stellar field of 1,662 that generated a prize pool of $2,245,750 from which 250 players cashed.
Final table action in the event began with Joey Weissman the clear chip leader at the six-player final table, which included four former bracelet winners – Weissman, Nick Schulman, Ryan D’Angelo, and Yue Du.
Dimov was at that stage one of the low stacks, but he went on a heater during the three-hour five-handed stage of the game, eliminating his last four opponents in barely more than an hour.
Dimov’s last obstacle to the win was 30-year-old Antonio Barbato from the Italian city of Milan, who started at a chip disadvantage and was not able to stop the cresting Dimov wave, which swept him away to a runner-up exit and $233,992 pay day (his biggest to date) after just a few more hands.
Other final table cashes included:
3rd: Nick Schulman, $163,785
4th: Ryan D’Angelo, $116,118
5th: Joey Weissman, $83,396
6th: Yue Du, $60,686
Friedman Wins $10,000 Dealer’S Choice Championship At World Series Of Poker
Ohio poker pro shows his skill in 20-variant poker competition
Ohio poker pro Adam Friedman (36) earned his second World Series of Poker bracelet and $292,375 at the Rio in Las Vegas Sunday after besting Stuart Rutter in the heads up stage of the $10,000 buy-in Dealers Choice Championship. The event attracted a field of 111.
So intense was the action in the scheduled three-day competition that an additional day was set aside to enable the completion of the heads up.
Overall, the event showcased a remarkable performance by Friedman. Over the twenty variants of the game included in the event; he was either holding the lead or near the top of the chip counts from the start of final table action right through to his successful finale against Rutter…yet his discipline and calm demeanour never appeared to slip.
By the end of the third day there were still three players left, and in the early hours of the morning the organisers decided to bag up and return for an additional day to complete the event. Friedman held the chip lead but on the following day he lost it to Rutter, who doubled up to eliminate third placed Alexey Makarov for $127,487, giving him the chip lead on entering the heads up against Friedman.
Rutter’s advantage was not to last long, however, as Friedman immediately closed the gap through a significant pot and regained the lead, which he then skilfully leveraged over the next few hands into a win that left Rutter with a second placing prize of $181,258.
Other final table cashes looked like this:
4th: Chris Klodnicki – $90,713
5th: David ‘ODB’ Baker – $65,308
6th: Marco Johnson – $47,579
WSOP Well Underway – Latest Results
Events 19, 20 and 22 in the history books
Latest results in from the World Series of Poker (WSOP) saw local Las Vegas pro Craig Varnell (43) top a 2,419-entry field in Event 19, $565 Pot-Limit Omaha, ultimately defeating Seth Zimmerman in a ping-pong-style heads-up duel.
Varnell pocketed $181,790 for his trouble and a coveted WSOP bracelet. Zimmerman earned a $112,347 payday for his second-place finish and Omar Mehmood, came in third for $81,852.
Other final table results were:
4: Maxine Heroux, $60,190
5: Christopher Trang, $44,677
6: Jonathan Duhamel, $33,477
7: Shaome Yang, $25,325
8: Jason Lipiner, $19,344
9: Ilian Li, $14,920
Jeremy Wien conquered Event 20, $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em after what has been described as an “epic heads-up battle”.
Wien outplayed a field of 518 players for a $537,710 payday and his first gold bracelet, ultimately defeating 21-year-old Spanish pro David Laka in a four-hour heads-up duel, lasting almost half the time it took for the whole final table play.
“It’s pretty surreal. I never really actually expected that it will ever happen but I dreamed about it,” Wien said.
Final table results were:
1: Jeremy Wien $537,710
2: David Laka $332,328
3: Eric Blair $228,307
4: Jake Schindler $159,575
5: John Amato $113,510
6: Shawn Buchanan $82,199
7: David Peters $60,618
8: Richard Tuhrim $45,538
Englishman Philip Long took down Event 22, $1,500 Eight Game Mix to win his first WSOP bracelet while denying Daniel Negreanu his seventh.
Long (29) defeated a field of 480 entries and ultimately Kevin Malis in heads-up play to take the the second-largest cash of his WSOP career, $147,348,
Negreanu finished in third-place and the colourful John Racener in fourth.
Final Table Payouts were:
1: Philip Long, $147,348
2: Kevin Malis, $91,042
3: Daniel Negreanu, $59,788
4: John Racener, $40,151
5: Per Hildebrand, $27,587
6: Nicholas Derke, $19,404
New York Derivatives Trader Wins World Series Of Poker NLHE Big Blind Ante Event
Maiden bracelet and a $527,710 pay day for Jeremy Wein
New York derivatives Jeremy Wein won his first World Series of Poker bracelet and the main prize of $537,710 in Las Vegas this week, taking down the $5,000 buy-in NLHE big blind ante event after besting a field of 518.
Wein played a strong event, entering the final day’s action second in chips only to top pro player Shawn Buchanan, but little known Spanish player David Laka overtook them both, led the action for much of the day, and went on to not only enter the final table with a solid lead, but mow down most of its players.
That enabled Laka to enter the heads up stage against Wein with a 4 to 1 chip lead, but Wein remained composed and competent, fighting his way back into contention in a heads up encounter that went on for around three hours.
Laka’s luck literally ran out when he suffered a cooler at a critical stage which enabled Wein to eliminate him.
Laka’s impressive talent was recognised with a runner up pay day of $332,328, with the other final table cashed including:
- Eric Blair $228,307
- Jake Schindler $159,575
- John Amato $113,510
- Shawn Buchanan $82,199
- David Peters $60,618
- Richard Tuhrim $45,538
- Patrick Truong $34,862
Rast Takes Down Wsop $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Single Draw
Bittersweet as Doyle Brunson plays last WSOP event of his career
Brian Rast won the WSOP $10,000 NO-LIMIT 2-7 SINGLE DRAW event, his fourth bracelet and over a quarter of a million Dollars in prize money.
Rast graciously bowed to the star of the show despite winning the event, it being ten-time bracelet winner Doyle Brunson’s swan song, a historical event in WSOP history.
Brunson left the table in sixth place, but Rast prior to the game said if he didn’t take home the gold, he was rooting for Brunson to leave the game on top.
“I could really appreciate from that perspective how special it was that Doyle came, he actually played a tournament this year and final tabled it. And you know everyone was pulling for Doyle and I can understand that. And you know, outside of me, I was pulling for Doyle too.”
Rast outplayed 95 entries ultimately defeating Mike Wattel heads-up. His $259,670 payday pushes his WSOP earnings just shy of the $6 million mark.
Final Table Results:
1: Brian Rast – $259,670
2: Mike Wattel – $160,489
3: Dario Sammartino – $114,023
4: James Alexander – $81,986
5: Shawn Sheikhan – $59,669
6: Doyle Brunson – $43,963
7: John Hennigan – $32,796
