The winners of the $1,500 pot-limit Omaha and $2,000 limit hold’em events were announced, and the $5,000 no-limit hold’em and $3,000 H.O.R.S.E events made their way towards the final stages. The day also saw the start of the $2,000 no-limit hold’em and $2,500 pot-limit hold’em events.
The $1,500 pot-limit Omaha attracted 759 entrants creating a prize pool of $1,036,035. Of the 72 finishers who cashed were Anthony Philips ($12,950) England, Chris Bjorin ($12,950) England, Jesper Hougaard ($5,905) Denmark, Marty Smith ($3,833) Ireland, Michael Cook ($3,522) England, Gerhard Schieber ($3,522) Germany, and David Ulliott ($3,211) England. There were, however, no Europeans at the final table.
Vanessa Selbst played a corker of a game leaving a mass of destruction in her wake, knocking out all but three opponents at the final table. She then went heads up against James Pickering and took down the top prize of $227,933 for her efforts. Selbst is the first woman to win a World Series open event since German Katja Thater in last year’s Razz championship. This is her first gold bracelet. Pickering was eliminated in second place, and took home $145,459.
Henning Granstad from Norway went out in 12th place in the $2,000 limit hold’em tournament. On a board of 7
3
2, Granstad led out with a bet of 3,000. David Baker popped it to 6,000 and Granstad came back over the top, putting the rest of his stack in the middle. Baker called and flipped over K4 while Granstad showed Q
J
. The turn was a 6 and the 9 on the river offered no help to Granstad and he left eleven players behind to compete for the top prize of $204,434.
As play continued, the two players eventually left to go heads-up were Daniel Negreanu and Ugar Marangoz. Negreanu took first prize and his fourth World Series bracelet, while runner-up Ugar Marangoz had to settle for 2nd place and $126,671. This marked Negreanu’s first World Series win since 2004. The second-place finisher Ugur Marangoz is originally from Turkey. He is the highest Turkish-born finisher in the history of the World Series of Poker.
Frenchman David Benyamine was eliminated early on in the $5,000 no-limit hold’em event, followed by Italian Pier Ruscalla at level 11.
Patryk Hildebranski raised from his position under-the-gun, and Ruscalla reraised from the small blind. Hildebranski called, and the two saw a flop of 1033 . Ruscalla bet 15,400 and Hildebranski quickly moved all in. Ruscalla made the call and turned over JJ, an underdog to Hildebranski’s AA. The turn and river didn’t improve Ruscalla, and he was eliminated.
All was not lost for Italy as Claudio Pagano made some waves. After squeaking into day two with a short stack, Zachary King pushed in his last 15,400 pre-flop from middle position with KQ. Pagano deliberated for a few moments and asked for a count before calling with AT. The flop came 964, no help to King. The K on the turn gave Pagano the nut flush to eliminate King. During level 12, Adrian Velasquez was also crippled by Pagano.
The Italian’s rule came to an end however, later in a three-way pot, when he moved all in on a flop of QJ3. Jacobo Fernandez called, and another opponent folded. “You hit big?” Pagano asked, to which his opponent nodded. Fernandez turned over AA as Pagano flipped up 109. The 4 turn and 3 river failed to complete Pagano’s straight draw, and he was eliminated.
Fernandez continued his way up the ranks when later in the game he opened with a raise, and Noah Boeken responded by shoving all in. Fernandez quickly called, tabling KK. Boeken trailed, showing JJ. The flop brought sets for both players, KJ10, leaving Boeken with the case jack for quads or running straight cards for a chop. The 10 on the turn erased any hopes of runner-runner, while the river brought the K, needlessly giving Fernandez the icing on the cake, quads.
Among the 13 to fight it out tomorrow is Swedish player Anders Henriksson.
There was a lot of European action in the $3,000 H.O.R.S.E event.
Midsession Maciek Gracz from Poland did some damage to Matthew Glantz’ chip stack. Glantz had T366 and Gracz had Q2JQ. Glantz raised with the T showing and Gracz called him with the Q. Gracz check-called on 4th street and checked again on 5th. Glantz too checked on 5th street, slowing down a bit. 6th street paired both players, sixes for Glantz and queens for Gracz. Gracz bet out and Glantz dejectedly folded. After the hand Glantz was left with a meagre 6,000. However, later at level 12 Gracz was eliminated, and so was Italian Max Pescatori.
Marco Traniello ran into some bad luck when he raised pre-flop from middle position and James Mackey three-bet him from the small blind. Traniello made the call. Mackey led out at the A84 flop and Traniello swiftly called. Mackey checked the 7 turn and Traniello bet 2,400. Mackey made it 4,800 and Traniello called. Mackey again bet out on the river 3 and Traniello called. Mackey showed 88 for the flopped set and Traniello, perhaps thinking he had won the pot, momentarily flipped over A-K then scrambled to return his cards face down. Traniello was in no danger of elimination with nearly 55,000 in chips left over after the hand.
Dutchman Marcel Luske from the Netherlands played a blinder throughout the event. At level 10 he worked his way up the chip counts when he put an opponent all in after 3rd street. The two then revealed their cards: Luske with (AA)2 and his opponent with (QQ)2. Luske’s next card was the 2 and his two-pair would go on to claim the pot. Later at level 17, when heads up against the player in seat 8, Marcel Luske check raised 6th street and led out for 6,000 on seventh street. Seat 8 called and there was a showdown:
Luske: 7-4-3-A (10-2-A)
Seat 8: 8-7-6-A (X-X-X)
Luske showed the 7-low and took the pot, ending the level with a healthy 130,000 chips.
Facing bets from Kevin "BeLOWaBOVe" Saul on every street, Marcel Luske called him down and as soon as he heard Saul say, "Jack," Luske stood up and threw down his hand face up . He then yelled, "Heya! How do I know!?" as he scooped the pot. Their cards were: Luske: A-8-A-8 (10-6-3)and Saul: 5-A-2-Q ( J X X).
Only 16 players remain and Marcel Luske has claimed the chip lead with 325,000.
Swedish Simon Lindqvist was doing well but Irish Andy Black was eliminated early session in the $2,000 no-limit hold’em event. Black re-appeared in the $2,500 pot-limit hold’em / Omaha event and although at first was doing well, he did not make it through to the next stage.
Black was among chip leaders in the early hours of the event after moving all in before the flop with 66. His opponent showed A8 and the board ran out J2Q7J. Black’s pocket pair held up and he doubled to just around 10,000. “Hard to kill,” he said. It was true in that case, but once Joe Hachem arrived at the table, Black’s number was up.
Black raised before the flop, and Hachem reraised enough to put him all in. The call was made and Black turned over A6. Hachem flipped 88. The board offered no help to Black and he was sent packing.
In the third hour, on a flop of 853, Minh Ly bet the pot (600) and just as seat 9 was about to fold, the floor person came over and told the dealer that the table would be breaking after the hand. Seat 9 made a rash decision to shove all in for 1,550 instead of taking his short stack to a new table. Brit Peter Gould also followed that same logic calling all in for 1,100. Minh Ly made the call and had both players covered.
Minh Ly: Q882
Gould: AQ72
Seat 9: Q764
Minh Ly flopped a set of eights and seat 9 had made an open-ended straight draw. Gould was drawing dead. The turn was the 9 and the river was the 3, filling Ly and eliminating both Gould and seat 9 in the same hand.
Italian Max Pescatori was doing well in the early stages of the event — after being eliminated from the $3,000 H.O.R.S.E event — when he doubled up with pocket aces. On a board reading J109 in a later hand, the player in seat 9 moved all in and after much thought Pescatori followed. When he made the call, his opponent announced that he had top set. “That’s no good,” Pescatori announced as the hands were turned up. Pescatori: 10987 Seat 9: JJ66. The turn was the 2 and the 7 on the river held Pescatori’s straight.
Tomorrow will see the final tables of the $5,000 no-limit hold’em and the $3,000 H.O.R.S.E events, and things will heat up in the in the $2,000 no-limit hold’em and $2,500 pot-limit hold’em / Omaha tournaments. New events beginning on day 15 are the $10,000 World Championship Heads Up No-Limit Hold’em and the $1,500 seven-card razz.
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