The $10,000 World Championship Seven-Card-Stud and the $2,500 no-limit hold’em events found their champions on day 11 of the World Series. The final table is set for the $1,000 Ladies No-Limit World Championship, eighteen players are left in the $2,000 Omaha high-low split 8-or-better event, and play continues in the $1,500 no-limit hold’em shootout and the $5,000 two-seven lowball with rebuys event.
Alexander Kostritsyn was eliminated in third place ($163,372) in the $10,000 World Championship Seven-Card-Stud event. The Russian raised all-in on fifth street and Eric Brooks made the call. Their cards after seventh street were: Kostritsyn with (K
4)4
K
3
10(10) and Brooks with (A8)7A710(K).
Eric Brooks took on Fu Wong for his first gold bracelet and was successful, earning him $415,856. Fu Wong received $259,910 for second place. Brooks won’t see a single cent of his winnings, as he is donating 100 percent of it to the Decision Education Foundation. Russian Alexander Kravchenko cashed for $29,704 in 13th place.
Two hands into play of the $2,500 no-limit hold’em final table, Frenchman Nicholas Levi was all-in for 225,000 and Steve Merrifield made the call. Levi showed down pocket sevens which were in a race against the A10 of Merrifield. The board ran out 1066810 and Levi exited the table in ninth place. Duncan Bell went heads-up against Steve Merrifield to win this year’s 13th event.
Levi has only four major live cashes in his career. He has a European Poker Tour final table, a 6-handed World Series of Poker, and a World Series of Poker Europe cash, and he also finished 27th in the WSOPE main event in London. Levi added one more to the collection with this ninth place finish.
Europeans who cashed in this event were: Jacques Zaicik, France ($22,170), Pascal Baumgartner, Switzerland ($17,351), Matthias Kuerschner, Germany ($14,138), Asger Boye, Denmark ($10,925), Mihai Manole, Romania ($10,925), Peter Robinson, England ($10,925), Anthony Phillips, England ($9,961), David Gent, Scotland ($8,997), Nicholas Gibson, England ($8,033), Vladamir Poleshchuk, Russia ($7,069), and Jamel Maistriaux, Belgium ($6,426).
The final eighteen have been decided in the $1,000 Ladies No-Limit World Championship. Nine women now prepare to go into battle for the $244,702 top cash prize and a gold bracelet.
As the $2,000 Omaha high-low split 8-or-better event moved towards its final stage, Europeans disappeared off the tables. One of them was the Italian pirate Max Pescatori.
Short on chips at level 11, Pescatori knew it was a matter of time before he would have to make a move. He chose to do it with AK83, making a reraise from late position. Although he chose a mediocre hand, it could not have worked out better for him. The flop came A24, giving Pescatori the nut flush. His opponent had a set of aces, but the board didn’t pair and Pescatori doubled up to about 10,000 chips.
One level later, with the board showing AQ662, Max Pescatori bet 2,400 and Dave Stann quickly called. Pescatori showed AQ76 for a full house, while Stann held KJ53 for a six low and half the pot. At the end of the level Pescatori had about 10,000 chips, while Stann was at around 30,000 chips.
"I have no pair and no draw," said Max Pescatori at level 14, after his 2,000 chip bet on a flop of K92 was raised by a player behind. His fold left him with only 2,500 in chips.
Shortly after, Pescatori called his last few chips with A-8-4-3 against Max Stern’s A-K-Q-3. Stern paired both the ace and king, the board stayed high, and Pescatori exited in 54th place. 18 players remain to compete for the top prize of $226,448.
Noah Boeken from the Netherlands was knocked out by Alex Triner in the $1,500 no-limit hold’em shootout. With blinds at
800/1,600 Triner fired a bet of 3,300 into the pot after a flop of Q104. Boeken raised to 25,000 total and after much thought, Triner moved all in. Boeken called instantly and the players showed the following: Triner: KK Boeken: AQ. The turn was the 2 — no help to Boeken who needed an ace or queen to win the hand. The river was the nail in the coffin as the K crippled Boeken, leaving him with just 3,500 in chips and doubling Triner to over 141,000. A few hands later, Boeken busted out.
Russia’s Sergey Rybachenko was heads up against Paul Ferner. Rybachenko had a chip lead of 195,000 to 105,000. It took all of ten minutes for the winner to be declared. On a flop of Q93, Ferner bet 3,000. Rybachenko came over the top the whole way, moving all in. Ferner quickly called and turned over A9 thinking his second pair could be good, but the bad news came when Rybachenko revealed his Q6. The turn was the 8 and the river sealed the victory for Rybachenko when the K hit the felt.
Two notable European players sent to the rail in the $5,000 two-seven lowball with rebuys were Dane Gus Hansen and Ireland’s Andy Black.
Hansen moved all in only to have Mickey Appleman put in a substantial reraise behind him. Appleman’s bet pushed the remaining players out of the hand, and Gus was in bad shape. Appleman showed an 8-6 low while Hansen drew to a King high and was eliminated from the tournament. He then moved to a vacant table near the tournament area to continue his massage.
Tomorrow will see the winner of the $1,000 Ladies No-Limit World Championship Event, and play will heat up at the $2,000 Omaha high-low split eight-or-better and the $1,500 no-limit shootout. Players will begin competing for top prize of the $1,500 pot-limit Omaha tournament, and the $2,000 limit hold’em will mark this WSOP’s twentieth event.
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