One winner emerged on day 34 of the World Series from the $1,500 no-limit hold’em event, while another is in the making , at the time of writing, in the $1,500 limit hold’em shootout. Things have quietened down at the World Series — the calm before the storm so to speak, as players wait with baited breath for the main event, the $10,000 No-Limit World Championship.
The winner of the $1,500 no-limit hold’em struggled to the top after a long day of play. Unfortunately, another victory for Europe was not to be. With a death-like stare (thanks to his contact lenses), Finn Voitto Rintala did his best to stave his opponents off, but his efforts proved fruitless as he was eliminated in ninth place ($57,712).
With blinds at 12,000/24,000, Scott Sitron raised from early position to 60,000. After a few moments of deliberation, Rintala moved all-in for 544,000. Action folded back around to Sitron who made the call, and the two showed their cards:
Rintala: 8
8
Sitron: Q
Q
Rintala needed an 8 but it was not to be. The board came out J42J
A and Rintala was crippled, his stack reduced to a mere 46,000.
Moments later, Rintala moved all-in. He was called by Jeff Courtney and Farzad Rouhani and the flop came down 955. Both players checked and the turn was the Q. At this point, Rouhani bet 40,000, leaving himself only 114,000 behind. Courtney, without too much thought, made the call. The river card was the very interesting 5. Rouhani shrugged and declared all-in. Courtney quietly called and Rouhani tabled Q5 for quad fives. The Finn, showing pocket sixes, saw his dreams go down the swanny as he made his way to the other side of the rail.
That left Russian Andrey Zaichenko as Europe’s only hope, but he didn’t hang around for much longer. The table folded around to the Russian who open-shoved for 770,000 on the button. Scott Sitron quickly called from the small blind and David Daneshgar folded. Sitron had the goods, pocket kings, but that was not the case for Zaichenko, who showed 96. Zaichenko fell even further behind when the flop came KQ2. The 9 turn and A river provided no miracles for the Russian and his day was done. Zaichenko’s seventh place finish was good for $112,116.
Eventually, it was up to Scott Sitron and David Daneshgar to fight it out. Daneshgar made Sitron the runner-up as he took down the $625,443 cash prize and the gold WSOP bracelet. Sitron received $385,974 for his efforts.
Among those making the money earlier in the event were Irishman Peter Marr ($4,043), Dutchman Maurice Angenois ($3,492), and Dane Jeppe Nielson ($3,492). Cashing also for $2,756 were German Christiane Klecz, Lucas Vonfurstenberg from England, Alexandre Besse from Switzerland, Catherine Hearn from England, Spanish Eduardo Handell Conde, Italian Gregory Genoves, Dane Mikkel Madsen, Sarkis Akopyan from Russia, and Finn Ilkka Heikkila.
Europeans fell by the way-side also in the $1,500 limit hold’em shootout.
At level 19, Englishman Spencer Lawrence had Lorenz Guarin covered when he got him all-in. Guarin showed K9 and was a big favourite against Lawrence’s 96, but the board ran 763Q7 to give Lawrence a pair of sixes and Guarin was sent out.
Lawrence then got all of his chips in the middle preflop against Jean-Robert Bellande and showed K10. Bellande was doing better with A9. The flop came 963, giving Bellande a pair. Lawrence still had two overs he could connect with, but the 2 came on the turn and the Q on the river eliminating Lawrence in sixth place. At time of writing, everything is on the line as Matt Graham and Jean-Robert Bellande go heads up for the top prize of $278,180.
The final and biggest event of the 2008 World Series, the $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em World Championship kicks off at 8pm tonight, so stay tuned to CardPlayer.com for more updates and news from the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
