Bloggers On The Rail | Poker From The Rail

2011 World Series of Poker Day 22: Another Hellmuth Final Table

Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail

The closest Phil Hellmuth would come to the $10,000 Stud/8 Championship bracelet
(Photo credit: WSOP.com)

Phil Hellmuth really wants to win his 12th World Series of Poker bracelet and is trying to rid himself of this four year draught. He’s only cashed twice this summer but the first was a 2nd place finish to John Juanda. Last night he found himself at his second final table within a week and another tough field.

This time around it was the $10,000 7-Card Stud/8 tournament which would put him back in the mothership facing competition in the form of David Benyamine, Ted Forrest, Joe Tehan, and 2010 November Niner John Racener. Unlike his confident stature during the $10,000 Deuce-to-Seven final table, Hellmuth seemed to be out of sorts for long stretches of time. Those in attendance were also witness to a classic “Poker Brat” rant against Racener for a play he eventually admitted was proper.

Three handed play lasted for nearly 3 hours until Racener finally succumbed but Hellmuth was unable to make up the 3-1 chip deficit, losing out to new bracelet winner Eric Rodawig just a few minutes before WSOP staff would have ended play for the evening.

Hellmuth will be back at it again in the $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship once again trying to pick up bracelet number 12 and shoot down those who say he can no longer win.

Pot Limit Omaha always brings out the gamblers, through in a shorthanded format and they’ll flock to the tables. 507 players put down the $5,000 buyin and only 20% of the field would survive the day. 104 players return for Day 2 with three interesting names leading the pack with Vanessa Selbst, Erick Lindgren, and Shaun Deeb. The field will only need to crush the dreams of 50 plus players to make the money and hopefully sure up the final table.

1 – Vanessa Selbst – 250,300
2 – Erick Lindgren – 208,700
3 – Shaun Deeb – 194,800
4 – Vincent Van Der Fluit – 194,500
5 – Michael “Timex” McDonald – 181,800
6 – Jamie Rosen – 157,200
7 – Greg Brooks – 147,000
8 – Jesper Hougaard – 142,800
9 – John Kabbaj – 138,800
10 – Christopher DeMaci – 137,700

Other Notables: Peter Jetten (134,000), Joseph Cheong (120,700), Brian Rast (105,500), Praz Bansi (93,600), Layne Flack (93,500), Will Failla (91,5000), Jason Senti (89,700), Josh Arieh (85,000), Tom Dwan (81,300), Isaac Baron (76,100), Jeffrey Lisandro (62,800), Matt Affleck (62,400), David Chiu (58,700)

Remember to keep an eye out on our @FullTiltPoker twitter and Facebook page for updates during the day. The Fantasy WSOP contest is also up and running for non-US players, get in the game and challenge your favorite pros.

David Benyamine and Cyndy Violette play out a hand during the $10,000 Stud/8 Championship

Tags: 2011 World Series of Poker, AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, Cyndy Violette, David Benyamine, Phil Hellmuth, WSOP

2011 World Series of Poker: Week 4 Preview

Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail

It was a very busy week at the Rio with 14 new bracelets awarded, two $10,000 Championship events, a handful of small buyin tournaments, and the biggest one day starting field in history.

Bertrand “ElkY” Grosspellier was perhaps the biggest name to capture a bracelet this week when he made it through a tough rock garden field of pros in the $10,000 7-Card Stud Championship for $331,639 and his 1st WSOP bracelet. Five different countries were represented during the bracelet ceremonies with the U.S. continuing to lead the race. The biggest 1st place prize won was taken down by Foster Hays in Event #18 for $735,400. Weekly winners below:

Event #18 – $1,500 No Limit Hold’em – Foster Hays (U.S.) – $735,400
Event #19 – $2,500 Limit Hold’em 6-handed – Darren Woods (U.K.) – $213,431
Event #20 – $1,000 No Limit Hold’em – Jason Somerville (U.S.) – $493,091
Event #21 – $10,000 7-Card Stud Championship – Bertrand Grospellier (France) – $331,639
Event #22 – $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha – Eli Payan (France) – $292,825
Event #23 – $2,500 Eight Game Mix – John Monnette (U.S.) – $278,144
Event #24 – $5,000 No Limit Hold’em Shootout – Mark “xqsays” Radoja (Canada) – $436,568
Event #25 – $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo – Chris Viox (U.S.) – $200,459
Event #26 – $2,500 No Limit Hold’em 6-Handed – Oleksii Kovalchuk (Ukraine) – $689,739
Event #27 – $10,000 Limit Hold’em Championship – Daniel Idema (Canada) – $378,642
Event #28 – $1,500 No Limit Hold’em – Andy Frankenberger (U.S) – $599,153
Event #29 – $2,500 10-Game Mix 6-Handed – Chris Lee (U.S.) – $254,955
Event #30 – $1,000 Seniors No Limit Hold’em Championship – James Hess (U.S.) – $557,435
Event #31 – $3,000 Pot Limit Omaha – Sam Stein (U.S.) – $420,802

Looking at my “Players to Watch” list, it was another week down and another bracelet in the books. I put Andy Frankenberger on the Honorable Mentions list thinking he was worthy keeping an eye on but WPT Player of the Year winners have traditionally not done well during the WSOP. Prior to Event #28 ($1,500 No Limit Hold’em), Frankenberger had yet to cash in a single event. He battled through a field of exactly 2,500 entrants to pickup nearly $600,000 and the bracelet. To date, my list has pulled in over $1,500,000 in prize money along with 3 bracelets and Erik Seidel is in the money of the $10,000 Stud/8 Championship.

Andy Frankenberger – $599,153 (1 final table, 1 bracelet)
John Juanda – $410,067 (1 final table, 1 bracelet)
Phil Hellmuth – $226,907 (1 final table)
Eugene Katchalov – $128,649 (1 final table, 1 bracelet)
Tom Dwan – $67,436
Tim “Tmay420″ West – $51,217
Josh Brikis – $38,421 (1 final table)
Erik Seidel – $20,236
Jonathan Duhamel – $9,738
Allen Cunningham – $8,191
Daniel Negreanu – $4,998

We’ve begun to hit the doldrums in the Rio Convention Center as the days and weeks drag on. The regular players are beginning to show the strains of playing so many events in a short time frame and things are getting testy. Unless something spectacular happens, and that is always possible, these conditions generally last until we are about a week away from the Main Event. Until that time, the grinders will grind, the writers will write, and the chips will continue to fly at an amazing pace.

Your schedule this week includes two $10,000 Championship events in H.O.R.S.E. and Pot Limit Omaha, one Shootout, a handful of low buyin tournaments, and the always fun times with $2,500 Razz. If the players weren’t grumpy enough, Razz should push them off the ledge.

Day 21, June 20th at 12:00 – $5,000 Pot Limit Hold’em 6-Handed
Day 22, June 21st at 12:00 – $2,500 No Limit Hold’em
Day 22, June 21st at 17:00 – $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship
Day 23, June 22nd at 12:00 – $1,500 No Limit Hold’em
Day 23, June 22nd at 17:00 – $2,500 Pot Limit Hold’em/Omaha
Day 24, June 23rd at 12:00 – $5,000 No Limit Hold’em 6-Handed
Day 25, June 24th at 12:00 – $1,500 Limit Hold’em Shootout
Day 25, June 24th at 17:00 – $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha Championship
Day 26, June 25th at 12:00 – $1,500 No Limit Hold’em
Day 26, June 25th at 17:00 – $2,500 Seven Card Razz
Day 27, June 26th at 12:00 – $1,000 No Limit Hold’em

Paul McKinney “smokes” the competition at during the Seniors Championship
(I said it’s been a long summer already)

Tags: 2011 World Series of Poker, AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, Erik Seidel, Josh Brikis, Melanie Weisner, Phil Hellmuth, WSOP

2011 World Series of Poker Day 21: Big Stud, Big Bracelet

Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail

David Benyamine among the leaders of the $10,000 Stud Hi-Lo Championship

It was bound to happen during one of these smaller buyin tournaments, the field would decimate itself so quickly they would actually make the money on Day 1. Event #34 $1,000 No Limit Hold’em was the first to break that dubious barrier this year. 3,144 players began the day and the 323 remaining players made the money on the very last hand dealt. Simple math tells us (assuming 10 full levels) they were dusting off their stack at an impressive 4.7 players per minute. That rate will increase when play restarts as the shortstacks are happy to now shove in their last few chips for the min-cash or courtesy double up.

On the other side of the coin is the $10,000 Stud/8 Championship which has gone through 2 complete days without yet hitting the money. 168 players began, 18 remain, only 16 will make the money. Those returning include 11 time bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth and 8 time bracelet winner Erik Seidel. There is potential here for another historic final table.

1 – Eric Rodawig – 695,000
2 – David Benyamine – 448,000
3 – Mikhail Savinov – 431,000
4 – Ali Eslami – 415,000
5 – Antony Lellouche – 373,000
6 – Joe Tehan – 372,000
7 – Phil Hellmuth – 332,000
8 – Felipe Ramos – 331,000
9 – John Racener – 321,000
10 – Ted Forrest – 280,000

Other Notables: Phil Laak (193,000), Erik Seidel (126,000), Bill Chen (113,000), Justin “BoostedJ” Smith (86,000), Cyndy Violette (53,000), Jon Turner (44,000)

Only one new event with the $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha 6-handed tournament which should draw a great field of online pros, grizzled veterans, and every Euro-grinder in Las Vegas. Two bracelets are “scheduled” to be awarded in the $10,000 Stud/8 Championship and $1,500 No Limit Hold’em.

Amarillo Slim plays the 2011 World Series of Poker Seniors Championship sporting a nice hat

Tags: 2011 World Series of Poker, AlCantHang, Amarillo Slim, Bloggers on the Rail, David Benyamine, Erik Seidel, WSOP

2011 World Series of Poker Day 20: Running of the Lemurs

Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail

Phil Laak reads up on Stud while playing the $10,000 7-Card Stud Hi-Low Championship

“I see dead money.” Quote from an anonymous pro as he walked the Rio hallways today with thousands of other players looking to make their mark in yet another $1,000 No Limit Hold’em event. The tournament floor becomes the “killing fields” as the professional players make a lot of moves early to double up or move along, the amateur players over value their hands and dust off their stacks.

The field will be massive, the beats will be sick, but someone will have a sparkling new bracelet in a few days and a life time of memories.

The big game to watch today will be the completion of the $3,000 Pot Limit Omaha, they battled into the early morning yet still return 26 players. Among those looking for the bracelet are chip leader Sam Stein, Ben “benba” Lamb, Christian “charder30″ Harder, Brock Parker, Adam Junglen, and Tex Barch.

Since they did not finish Day 2 until near 4am, they will have plenty of time to rest before the 4pm restart.

1 – Sam Stein – 843,000
2 – Ben “benba” Lamb – 657,000
3 – Warren Fund – 501,000
4 – Christian “charder30″ Harder – 496,000
5 – Brock Parker – 386,000
6 – Austin Scott – 370,000
7 – Jeremy Harkin – 340,000
8 – Adam Junglen – 231,000
9 – Zimnan Ziyard – 228,000
10 – Henning Dethlefsen – 220,000

The 10-Game Mix will also return for an extra day when they were unable to crown a champion after 10 levels of play. “Friend of the blog” Shaun Deeb had a perfect chance to capture his first WSOP bracelet when he made the final table with a commanding chip lead. He was unable to hold on after a series of unfortunate hands to finish in 4th place in the wee hours of the morning.

Three players remain for the title with Chris Lee holding the lead over Brian Haveson and Travis Pearson.

Michael Binger (also) reading up on Stud while playing the $10k Stud Hi-Lo World Championship

Tags: 2011 World Series of Poker, AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, Michael Binger, Phil Laak, Shaun Deeb, WSOP

2011 World Series of Poker Day 19: Seniors Come Out To Play

Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail

History was made yesterday, just not in the way I was expecting. The heads up match between Mike Sexton and Chris Viox did not last long with the deficit being too much to make up. The lights around the mothership had barely warmed up before the match was over and Voix was the last player standing. Later in the night we had a chance to see a big win in the $10,000 Limit Hold’em Championship with a stacked final table including Barry Greenstein, Nick Schulman, Justin “BoostedJ” Smith, and Isaac Haxton.

The real history made yesterday involved the Seniors Event which drew the biggest tournament field with one starting day. 3,752 quinquagenarian’s and over (look it up) filled the hallways and tables to grind out their championship. The field was so big the WSOP was forced to seat players at special tables far up the Rio hallway near the casino and all other events/restarts were pushed back to accommodate the field.

While I often downplay the significance (in my mind) of these non-open events, I spoke with a player last night after they were done and I was moved slightly off my position. He said, “We’re mostly just a bunch of fun old guys who just want to play some poker.” Can’t argue with that.

The picture above is among my favorites of the WSOP to date. Erick Lindgren standing among the Seniors field looking for his father Richard. He was able to track him down, chat for a bit and then move on to his next event.

There are some big names sticking around in the 10-Game Mix event with online guru (and fan favorite) Shaun “tedsfishfry” Deeb leading the field. Most players have nothing but positive things to say about this format where they must show skill across many games. For those unaware, here is the 10-Game Mix rotation:

No Limit Hold’em, Razz, Limit Hold’em, Badugi (Limit), 7-Card Stud, 2-7 Draw (No Limit), Omaha/8, Pot Limit Omaha, 2-7 Triple Draw (Limit), and 7-Card Stud/8.

I’m not sure whether the champion of this event can be crowned the best all-around player or just someone who manages to dodge their worst played games. We do know that Shaun Deeb has a history of doing well in the big mix cash games, time to see if it translates to his first WSOP bracelet.

1 – Shaun Deeb – 321,700
2 – Brian Haveson – 288,000
3 – Travis Pearson – 258,100
4 – Jason Stern – 220,000
5 – Septimiu Popescu – 217,300
6 – David Benefield – 211,300
7 – Tad Jurgens – 161,000
8 – Don McNamara – 156,000
9 – Roland Israelashvili – 149,000
10 – Daniel Makowsky – 141,200

Other Notables: John D’Agostino (124,600), Matt Vengrin (110,300), David Whitis (1 and certainly a typo in the spreadsheet)

Continuing the theme of big time online players, Ben “benba” Lamb leads the Pot Limit Omaha event followed by Paul “paulgees81″ Volpe, Christian “charder30″ Harder, and Tom “SBRounder” West among others. The never dull, always blasting away 4-card bingo version of the game cruised right along losing nearly 80% of the field on Day 1. If things hold true to form, this event should reach it’s final table 9 before calling it a night at the “hard stop”.

1 – Ben “benba” Lamb – 169,800
2 – Joseph Ressler – 139,300
3 – Paul “paulgees81″ Volpe – 125,200
4 – Mohamad Kowssarie – 124,800
5 – Arthur Morris – 124,300
6 – Brian Roberts – 117,000
7 – Emmanuel Sebag – 103,800
8 – John Patgorski – 102,300
9 – Jeffrey Lisandro – 94,100
10 – Frank Peelen – 91,100

Other Notables: Tex Barch (89,800), Christian “charder30″ Harder (84,100), Brett Richey (69,600), Brock Parker (60,900), Noah Schwartz (56,100), Bill Chen (47,800), Dan Heimiller (36,200), Tom “SBRounder” West (35,100), Erick Lindgren (30,700), John Juanda (29,800), John Racener (29,700)

Tags: 2011 World Series of Poker, AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, Christian Harder, Erick Lindgren, Shaun Deeb, WSOP

2011 World Series of Poker Day 18: Mike Sexton Heads Up For Bracelet

Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail

This is one of the few days I intentionally avoid the Amazon Room, the 2nd of 3 tournaments this summer which are not open to the public (Casino Employees and Ladies Championship being the other two). The Seniors Championship will likely draw one of the biggest fields of the year and more power to them. I just don’t have it in me to fight against a sea of rascals and cranks.

Today I am making an exception as a poker legend shoots for a bracelet.

Mike Sexton might be known best among the younger poker crowd as the voice of the World Poker Tour along with Vince Van Patten. An hour or two each week of witty one liners and canned analysis while they play out each WPT final table. In truth, Sexton is a rare throwback to old time Vegas when the game was grittier. He’s been around more than a quarter century, a long friend to poker legend/sad story Stu Ungar, and former WSOP bracelet winner.

In 1989 he won the $1,500 Seven Card Hi-Lo event and now 21 years later looking to capture the same title. The event hit it’s “hard stop” time with Mike Sexton heads up with Chris Voix but battling more than a 3-to-1 chip deficit. There will be a lot of people on hand at 3pm to watch one of the good guys cement his legend.

1 – Chris Viox – 2,090,000
2 – Mike Sexton – 640,000

The “fun tournament” most players had circled on their calendar returns for Day 2. The $2,500 10-game Mix had a lot of people talking because it introduced Badugi into the tournament schedule. 431 players turned out for the tournament just coming short of a $1,000,000 prizepool. Plenty of big names scattered up and down the leaderboard including Full Tilt’s “Miami John” Cernuto leading the way.

1 – “Miami John” Cernuto – 52,700
2 – David Benefield – 51,700
3 – Rob Hollink – 49,100
4 – Brandon Adams – 47,325
5 – Dan Heimiller – 46,875
6 – Alessandro Ponzio – 44,625
7 – Shaun “tedsfishfry” Deeb – 42,450
8 – Sam Silverman – 41,875
9 – Justin Gardenhire – 41,450
10 – Owais Ahmed – 41,250

Other Notables: John D’Agostino (41,050), Sam Grizzle (40,100), Greg Raymer (39,375), Jordan Morgan (39,000), Jean-Robert Bellande (38,475), Stuart Rutter (37,550), Freddy Deeb (36,350), McLean Karr (35,275)

The final big game of the day will crown a winner in the Limit Hold’em Championship. 14 players will return with one of them grabbing the $378,642 and gold bracelet. Among those still in contention are Justin “BoostedJ” Smith, Nick Schulman, Barry Greenstein, Richard Brodie, Matt Hawrilenko, Hoyt Corkins, and Steve Landfish (yes, that is his real name).

Tags: 2011 World Series of Poker, AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, Mike Sexton, Richard Brodie, WSOP

2011 World Series of Poker Day 17: Another Juanda Final Table

Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail

Gavin Smith visits with Erick Lindgren during the $10,000 Limit Hold’em Championship

“It seems all Juanda does is make final tables.“ Quoting myself when I didn’t go too far out on a limb putting John Juanda on my Players to Watch list before the series kicked off. After winning the Deuce-to-Seven Championship earlier in the week, Juanda found himself at another final table in the 8-Game Mix tournament. After riding a short stack for a long time, he departed in 6th at a table which included Eric Buchman, Brent “Bhanks11″ Hanks, John Racener, and eventual winner John Monette. This was just his second cash of the summer but both went well.

The 5pm tournament yesterday featured an all-star field in the $10,000 Limit Hold’em Championship. As rock solid a crew as you will see in a tournament outside the Player’s Championship and not a soft spot to be seen. Player’s jokingly call this tournament “Min-Bet Championship” but that doesn’t stop them from turning out. A whopping 106 of the starting 152 players return with legends scattered from top to bottom of the chip count leaderboard. Daniel Negreanu leads the way looking to join Juanda with his 5th career bracelet but will have plenty of competition throughout the long day from the likes of Barry Greenstein, Carlos Mortensen, David “Bakes” Baker, Josh Arieh, and Erik Seidel.

They will attempt to play down to the final table but more likely to hit the 10 level “hard stop” rule. Top chip counts and other notables below.

1 – Daniel Negreanu – 118,800
2 – Josh Arieh – 107,500
3 – Mike Pickett – 103,100
4 – Mikhail Smirnov – 95,100
5 – Shawn Buchanan – 92,000
6 – Erik Cajelais – 87,000
7 – Matthew Gallin – 84,500
8 – Carlos Mortensen – 76,600
9 – Mikail Tulchinskiy – 75,900
10 – Maria Ho – 75,700

Other Notables: Barry Greenstein (74,400), Jeff Shulman (66,700), Isaac Haxton (66,300), Alessio Isaia (66,000), Dan Kelly (64,400), Justin “BoostedJ” Smith (64,000), Nick Schulman (61,600), Eric Froehlich (59,700), Erick Lindgren (52,500)

While a lot of the big guns are firing away in the Limit Championship, there are still quite a few interesting players in the $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Low tournament worth tracking. 23 players return for the final day including 2010 WSOP Player of the Year Frank Kassela, ESPN’s Norm Chad, WPT’s (and legend) Mike Sexton, and Kirill Gerasimov. Three strong female players (Kristy Gazes, Karina Jett, and Ming Reslock) are in the field looking to end the long WSOP drought for women.

When asked if this tournament will declare a winner before 10 levels, the WSOP Magic 8-ball said “doubtful”.

Tags: 2011 World Series of Poker, AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, Daniel Negreanu, Erick Lindgren, Gavin Smith, John Juanda, WSOP

2011 World Series of Poker Day 16: Two Bracelets, One Long Day

Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail

A busy day around the Amazon and Pavilion Rooms as two bracelets are scheduled to be awarded if all things work out. If you’ve been listening to me the last few years (and that is doubtful), the Pot Limit Omaha was the only tournament to play down to the final table nine before calling it a night. Juha Vilkki leads the way but followed by Jeff Sarwer, David “Doc” Sands, and Emil Patel.

We have the potential for a very interesting final table if the 8-Game Mix event ever gets there. Still 25 players remain for Day 3 of the tournament that hit it’s “hard stop” time this morning at 3am but featuring a stellar cast of characters including three former November Niner members in the top 10. John Racener leads the pack with Eric Buchman and Ylon Scwartz also representing the last three Main Event final tables. John Juanda will begin the day looking for his second bracelet of the week.

1 – John Racener – 363,600
2 – Mayu Roca Uribe – 327,100
3 – Richard Geyer – 278,800
4 – Adam Kornuth – 241,200
5 – Michele Limongi – 237,800
6 – Brent “Bhanks11″ Hanks – 211,200
7 – Eric Buchman – 203,400
8 – John Monnette – 199,500
9 – John Juanda – 187,000
10 – Ylon Schwartz – 185,300

Other Notables: Marco Traniello (153,500), Shawn Buchanan (126,300), Nikolay Evdakov (38,100), Max Pescatori (24,400)

The big Day 2 to keep an eye on is the $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Low. The small field has a disguised group of players remaining with Cyndy Violette out front followed by Tom Dwan, Mike “GoLeafsGoEh” Leah, Frank Kassela, Kristy Gazes, Norm Chad, and Mike Sexton. 172 players remain of the starting 602 and 1st place picks up $200,459.

1 – Cyndy Violette – 43,400
2 – Hernan Novick – 43,400
3 – Michael Sigel – 41,500
4 – Mike “GoLeafsGoEh” Leah – 36,600
5 – Tom Dwan – 35,500
6 – Hakon Lundberg – 34,400
7 – Alexander Dovzhenko – 33,600
8 – Ming Reslock – 33,500
9 – Norman Chad – 33,400
10 – Frank Kassela – 33,100

Other Notables: David Levi (33,100), Kristy Gazes (31,400), Mike Sexton (27,100), Karina Jett (25,300), Kirill Gerasimov (23,300), Jason Mercier (22,600), Alexander Kravchenko (21,800), Scotty Nguyen (20,100), Justin “BoostedJ” Smith (19,500), David Chiu (18,500)

Low key Perry Friedman this year, not weaves or funny hats

Tags: 2011 World Series of Poker, AlCantHang, Alessio Isaia, Bloggers on the Rail, Perry Friedman, Vitaly Lunkin, WSOP

2011 World Series of Poker Day 13: Juanda Defeats Hellmuth

Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail

I walked to the main ESPN stage (aka The Mothership) as the final table of the Deuce-to-Seven Championship was getting underway. The day started with nine players and needing two knockouts for the “official” final table. The elimination of Greg Raymer and Joe Cassidy created a historical moment as the first time in history every player at the final table was a WSOP bracelet winner, including the last two winners of this event in Nick Schulman and David “Bakes” Bakers.

Phil Hellmuth – 11 bracelets
John Juanda – 4 bracelets
David “Bakes” Baker – 1 bracelet
Nick Schulman – 1 bracelet
Richard Ashby – 1 bracelet
Steve Sung – 1 bracelet
Hasan Habib – 1 bracelet

Phil Hellmuth is one of the best poker players in the world with a record 11 career WSOP bracelets. He looked like he was going to win this tournament. The ever present confident smirk, straight back posture, proven track record. He held a commanding chip lead throughout the final table and seemed poised to capture his 12th bracelet on the exact 4 year anniversary of his last.

One after another the players began dropping and Hellmuth inched closer until he was heads up for the title with John Juanda. The two most accomplished players at the table would battle it out for hours with Hellmuth holding a 3-to-1 chip lead at the start.

Unfortunately for “The Poker Brat”, he ran into one of the best Deuce-to-Seven players in the world. Juanda methodically chipped away at the lead until Hellmuth’s confident demeanor began to change. He was pacing more, talking to himself, no more smirk. Hellmuth takes some heat that his bracelet record does not include a single title in a non-Hold’em game. Sunday morning would not be his day to change those thoughts.

Three hours after the heads up match began, it ended with Hellmuth calling all-in pat with a Queen but Juanda would take his 1 card draw to hit the Jack. Hellmuth was gracious in defeat, shaking Juanda’s hand and thanking his supporters in the crowd.

Juanda’s fifth bracelet puts him elite company with Stu Ungar, Chris Ferguson, Allen Cunningham, Scotty Nguyen, and Ted Forrest.

Tags: 2011 World Series of Poker, AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, John Juanda, Phil Hellmuth, WSOP

2011 World Series of Poker: Week 3 Preview

Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail

Week 2 continued the trend and attendance at the 2011 World Series of Poker seems to be up by more the 10% from last year. The large buyin tournament are up a little on average but the smaller buyin events are blowing away their previous numbers. The lines for the $1,500 and $1,000 tournaments has been stretching down the halls of the Rio convention center with those looking for glory.

This week had a great story from bracelet David Diaz who survived cancer proving that poker is not the end all be all in this world. Phil Hellmuth looked ready to coast to his 12th bracelet only to run into John Juanda’s Deuce-to-Seven skills to pick up his 5th. Brian Rast broke the hearts of every forum fanboy in the land when he defeated Allen “Chainsaw” Kessler heads up for the Pot Limit Hold’em title. Below are your bracelet winners of the week:

Event #8 – $1,000 No Limit Hold’em – Sean Getzwiller (U.S.) – $611,185
Event #9 – $1,500 No Limit Deuce-to-Seven – Matt Perrins (U.K.) – $102,105
Event #10 – $1,500 No Limit Hold’em 6-handed – Geffrey Klein (U.S) – $544,388
Event #11 – $10,000 Omaha/8 Championship – Viacheslav Zhukov (Russia) – $465,215
Event #12 – $1,500 No Limit Hold’em Triple Chance – David Diaz (U.S.) – $352,808
Event #13 – $1,500 No Limit Hold’em Shootout – Andrew Badecker (U.S.) – $369,371
Event #14 – $3,000 Limit Hold’em – Tyler Bonkowski (Canada) – $220,817
Event #15 – $1,500 Pot Limit Hold’em – Brian Rast (U.S.) – $227,232
Event #16 – $10,000 2-7 Draw Lowball (No Limit) – John Juanda (U.S.) – $367,170
Event #17 – $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. – Aaron Steury (U.S.) – $289,283

Catching up on my “Players to Watch” list posted before the series began, it was another solid week especially when there was a lock on a bracelet when Phil Hellmuth and John Juanda went heads up for the Deuce-to-Seven No Limit Championship. Team Poker From the Rail has pulled over $850,000 from the prizepool including two bracelets and four final tables.

John Juanda – $367,170 (1 final table, 1 WSOP bracelet)
Phil Hellmuth – $226,907 (1 final table)
Eugene Katchalov – $122,909 (1 final table, 1 WSOP bracelet)
Tom Dwan – $67,436
Tim “Tmay420″ West – $22,563
Josh Brikis – $19,294 (1 final table)
Jonathan Duhamel – $9,738
Allen Cunningham – $8,191
Erik Seidel – $6,868
Daniel Negreanu – $4,998

This week’s schedule has two of the more anticipated tournaments of the summer. The 8-game and 10-game Mix events will run this week. Both events look to crown the best all around player with 10-game mix including such recently popular games like Badugi. There are two new Championship events (plus the Seniors make an appearance) as well as another $1,500 and $1,000 No Limit Hold’em slaughters.

Day 14, June 13th at 12:00 – $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha
Day 14, June 13th at 17:00 – $2,500 Eight Game Mix
Day 15, June 14th at 12:00 – $5,000 No Limit Hold’em Shootout
Day 15, June 14th at 17:00 – $1,500 Seven Card Stud
Day 16, June 15th at 12:00 – $2,500 No Limit Hold’em 6-Handed
Day 16, June 15th at 17:00 – $10,000 Limit Hold’em Championship
Day 17, June 16th at 17:00 – $2,500 10-Game Mix 6-Handed
Day 18, June 17th at 12:00 – $1,000 Seniors No Limit Hold’em Championship
Day 18, June 17th at 17:00 – $3,000 Pot Limit Omaha
Day 19, June 18th at 12:00 – $1,500 No Limit Hold’em
Day 19, June 18th at 17:00 – $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Low Championship
Day 20, June 19th at 12:00 – $1,000 No Limit Hold’em