Day 21 at the World Series of Poker saw the start of the $10,000 World Championship Omaha High-Low Split 8 or Better and the $1,500 no-limit hold’em events, day two of the $1,500 pot-limit Omaha with rebuys and the $1,500 seven-card stud event, as well as the denouement of the $5,000 World Championship Stud Eight-Or-Better and the $1,500 no-limit hold’em tournaments.
The European bracelet count grew with 24-year-old German Sebastian Ruthenberg’s victory in the $5,000 World
Championship Stud Eight-Or-Better tournament.
The former European Poker Tour finalist had Dutchman Marcel Luske, Annie Duke, and Chris Ferguson to contend with at his final table.
Ruthenberg busted Anonymous in sixth place when the latter got all of his chips into the middle on fifth street and Ruthenberg spiked an ace on sixth street. The ace gave Ruthenberg a pair of aces and a 7-5 low, which scooped the high and the low pot when Anonymous did not improve.
Annie Duke was next out while Luske was fighting doggedly to retain his place at the table when he moved all in for the seventh time at the final table on sixth street against Bob Lauria with following cards exposed for each player:
Lauria: (A
2
)3
87Q
Luske: (A5)10J59
Each player was then dealt their seventh street card facedown and each took a moment before turning over their holdings. Lauria showed down the 7 for a pair of sevens. Luske turned up the 8 and he was eliminated in fourth place, taking home $95,069 in prize money.
Ruthenberg got heads-up with Ferguson and an almighty battle commenced. The penultimate hand of the evening saw another pot grow to gargantuan levels between the two players before they revealed their hands after seventh street:
Ruthenberg: (A-2) A663(9)
Ferguson: (7-8) 21055(10)
Ruthenberg took down the massive pot with aces up and completely turned the heads-up match around. He now held 1.85 million to Ferguson’s 760,000.
In the final hand Ferguson committed the last of his chips on fifth street after a series of bets and raises. Their cards:
Ruthenberg: (6-2) 74Q4x (3 )
Ferguson: (A-9) 5A4Jx (muck)
Ferguson was eliminated in second place, and he took home $202,406 in prize money. Ruthenberg won the tournament, his first bracelet, and $328,756 in prize money.
David Benyamine from France came 10th for $30,667 while Aliaksandr Dzianisau from Russian finished 16th for $12,267.
There was no Euro interest at final of the $1,500 no-limit hold’em championship which saw Mexican Luis Velador triumph over a field of 2,304. He collected $574,734 for first place and his first bracelet.
The highest place Euro finisher was Jamel Maistriaux from Belgium who finished 24th for $15,059. His fellow countryman Pierre Neuville came 40th for $9,434. Richard Toth from Hungary cashed in 53rd for $8,491 while Thomas Kok from the Netherlands finished 55th for $7,574.
The $1,500 pot-limit Omaha with rebuys attracted 320 players vying for the $577,710 first prize. Day 2 saw the field whittled down to the final nine which included Dario Alioto from Italy and Daniel Makowsky from Switzerland.
Fin Thomas Wahlroos was blazing a trail towards the business end of this event. Late in play he raised to 35,000 pre-flop and Francisco Azares made it 110,000. Tino Lechich said, “Alright. You’ve got one,” before moving his final 50,000 all-in. Wahlroos chimed in, “You’ve got two,” and, covered by Azares’s bet, moved all-in. The three revealed their hands:
Azares: KK52
Lechich: AKJJ
Wahlroos: AA102
The flop was a very safe one for Wahlroos: 993. The turn 6 was nearly as innocuous, though it gave Azares a gutshot straight-draw. When the river blanked, Wahlroos was jolted up to 190,000 while Azares was left with only 90,000; Azares would be eliminated only a short time later.
The final table was not to be however for Wahlroos who would bust in 14th for $30,089. Johannes Strassmann from Germany exited in 22nd for $19,257.
Barny Boatman was also in contention until he called the all in bet by the player in seat 6. Both players turned up their hands.
Boatman: 8765
Seat 6: AAQ5
Board: J93A3
Seat 6 turned a set and rivered a full house, not that it was really necessary and Boatman was left with just 8,000.
On the next hand, Boatman put his 8,000 in the middle from under the gun and received three calls, including Layne Flack. The board was checked all around and ran out A654A . Flack turned over A997 for a set of aces. Boatman mucked and made his exit in 28th for $16,849.
Rene Mouritsen from Denmark was eliminated in 31st for $16,849.
Alioto will start the final table fourth in chips while Makowsky starts sixth and they’ll be joined by Layne Flack and Ted Forrest in the hunt for the bracelet.
Day 2 of the $1,500 seven-card stud event started with 71 players remaining out of a field of 381. German Katja Thater busted around level 10 and before the money. No Europeans made the final table with only two cashing — Stefan Rapp of Austria for $3,640 and Daniel Studer of Switzerland for $2,860.
The winner of this event will receive $135,753
The $1,500 no-limit hold’em event attracted 2,447 players chasing the first prize of $610,304. At the end of day 1 Dag
Martin Mikkelsen from Denmark was comfortably chipped while England’s John Shipley was short stacked. 187 players return for day 2 tomorrow.
Event 37, the $10,000 World Championship Omaha High-Low Split 8 or Better, started with 235 players and ended for the day with 123 including Bruno Fitoussi sitting fifth on 84,600 in chips and Englishman Roland de Wolfe in 13th with 69,400. Ram Vaswani, Eugene Katchalov, Thor Hansen, and David Benyamine all remain in contention.
Saturday sees the start of the $2,000 pot-limit hold’em event, day 2 of the $10,000 World Championship Omaha High-Low Split 8 or Better and the $1,500 no-limit hold’em games, and the final tables of the $1,500 seven-card stud and $1,500 pot-limit Omaha with rebuys.
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