Quick Update on the 2018 WSOP (Part 4)

#poker #tournament #2018 #WSOP 

• Event #32, The $1,000 buy-in Seniors NL Hold’em drew 5,918 entries and created an impressive prize pool of $5,326,200. This tells me one thing, old people like to play poker! In the end Matthew Davis, an amateur player from California took the bracelet and the $662,676 in prize money. This was Matthew’s third cash ever. Attaboy!!
• Event #33, The $50,000 buy-in Poker Players Championship had 87 players and built up the prize pool to $4,176,000. The first place and the bracelet, along with the $1,239,126 prize money was claimed by Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi. This is his fourth overall bracelet and the third time he is winning the $50k buy in championship. He took the same tournament in 2010 and 2012. This score brings his overall tournament earnings to just over $9 million. “The Grinder” defeated a tough final table on his way to his victory. Poker legend Phil Ivey busted out in 9th place and took $111,447 for his effort. Brian Rast, Greg Mueller, Aaron Katz, Benny Glaser, Mike Leah, Dan Smith and John Hennigan soon followed.
• Event #34, The $1,000 buy-in DOUBLE STACK NL Hold’em attracted 5,700 players and built up the prize pool to $5,130,000. In the end, the big money ($644,224) and the bracelet went to Robert Peackock, a Las Vegas native. $644k is a great score, considering that the entry fee was only $1,000.
• Event #35, The $1,500 buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better; Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better; Big O (5-Card PLO/8) attracted 773 players, and brought the prize pool up to just over a million, $1,043,550 to be exact. 116 people made the money, but it was a Chinese player, Yueqi Zhu, who captured the title and the $211,781 to go with it.
• Event #36, The $1,000 buy-in Super Seniors NL Hold’em attracted 2,191 players, and created a prize pool of $1,971,900. The bracelet and the $311,451 in prize money went to Farhintaj Bonyadi, from California. This was her first big cash.
• Event #37, The $1,500 buy-in NL Hold’em event attracted 1,330 players and built the tournament prize pool to $1,795,500. The bracelet and the $319,580 were claimed by Eric Baldwin, a Nevada based poker pro. Several other poker pros made the final table, including Mathew Moore (9th place, $24,032), Michael Finstein (6th place and $55,077), Robert Georato (5th place, $74,434) and Aaron Massey (4th place, $101,819). Ian Steinman went heads up against Eric Baldwin, but had to settle for 2nd place and $197,461.
• Event #38, The $10,000 buy-in Seven Card Stud Championship had 83 entrants and built the prize pool to $780,200. Thirteen people made money in that tournament, and the high honors (bracelet) went to Yaniv Birman, from Los Angeles, California. He pocketed $236,238 for the effort. This was Yaniv’s first WSOP bracelet.
• Event #39, The $1,500 buy-in NL Hold’em Shootout attracted 908 players, and brought the tournament prize pool up to $1,225,800. In the end, it was an amateur player from California, Preston Lee, who captured the title and the $236,498 to go with it. This was Preston’s first major cash. Attaboy! Russian pro, Alexander Lakhov busted out in 8th place, and earned $24,728. Some other pros at the final table included Royce Matheson (7th place and $32,198), Young Phan (6th place, $42,476), Dylan Linde (4th place, $76,829) and Anthony Reategui who took 3rd place and $105,307. But it was an amateur player, Corey Dodd who went heads up, and eventually settled for second place and $146,146.
• Event #40, The $2,500 buy-in Mixed Big Bet tournament attracted 205 players, and generated a prize pool of $461,250. When it was all over, the bracelet and the top prize of $122,138 were claimed by Scott Bohlman, a professional poker player from Illinois. This is Scott’s first bracelet.
• Event #41, The $1,500 buy-in Limit Hold’em tournament attracted 596 players and created a prize pool of $804,600. In the end, the bracelet and the $173,568 went to Robert Nehorayan, from Sherman Oaks, California.

Quick Update on the 2018 WSOP (Part 3)

Picking up right where I left off yesterday.

• Event #25, The $1,500 buy-in Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better tournament drew 596 entrants and created a prize pool of $804,600.  A young British poker professional Benjamin Dobson took the first prize money and the bracelet. He earned $173,528 for his victory. Several poker pros made the final table, including Tom McCormick (5th place, $37,504), Jesse Martin (3rd place and $74,324) and Tim Finne who ended up taking 2nd place and $107,243.
• Event #26, The $1,000 buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha attracted 986 players and created a prize pool of $887,400. The coveted bracelet and the $169,842 went to Filippos Stavrakis from Maryland.
• Event #27, The $10,000 buy-in H.O.R.S.E. tournament drew 166 entries and created a prize pool of $1,560,400. The bracelet and the $414,692 went to John Hennigan, who overcame a stacked final table to gain this victory. The final table was full of poker pros. Australian poker pro Robert Campbell took 9th place and $31,656. Michael Noori went out in 8th place and earned $40,155 for the effort. Next to bust out was Daniel Zack, who earned $52,016 for 7th place. Randy Ohel busted in 5th place and took home $92,808. Laith Salem went out in 3rd place with $179,216 in his pocket. And David “Bakes” Baker went heads up against our champion, but could not do anything against him and ended up in 2nd place with a $256,297 payday.
• Event #28, The $3,000 buy-in NL Hold’em 6-Handed attracted 868 players and built the prize pool to an impressive $2,343,600. Very beautiful Ana Marquez from Spain made the final table, but busted out in 6th place with $67,116. James Mackey ended up in 2nd place with a $285,377 payday. And the first place and the bracelet and the $461,798 went to Gal Yifrach from Los Angeles.
• Event #29, The $1,500 buy-in Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw tournament attracted 356 players, and built the prize pool to $480,600.  Hanh Tran from Austria took the bracelet and the $117,282 in prize money.
• Event #30, The $1,500 buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha attracted 799 players and built the prize pool to $1,078,650. In the end, Ryan Bambrick from New Jersey was crowned champion, and received the bracelet and the $217,123 in prize money.
• Event #31, The $1,500 buy-in Seven Card Stud attracted 310 players and built the prize pool up to $418,500. Several poker pros made the final table, including Michael “Big Score” Moore (7th place, $11,095), Paul Sexton (6th place and $15,096), Frankie O’Dell (5th place, $21,035), Chris “Jesus” Ferguson (4th place, $29,999), and Jeff Lisandro who finished 2nd and got $65,282 for the effort. But it was Steven Albini who captured the title, and the $105,629 go with it.

Daniel Negreanu Video Blog From the 2018 WSOP

You go Danny !  You’re my hero !

Quick Update on the 2018 WSOP (Part 2)

#poker #tournament #2018 #WorldSeries

Continuing with the overview of the 2018 World Series Of Poker, that is currently going at the Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. I pick up right where I left off yesterday, (before I realized how many millionaires were made in the first two weeks of the tournament series.) with event number 17 the $1, 500 no-limit Hold’em 6 handed.

• Event #17, The $1, 500 NL Hold’em 6-Handed attracted 1,663 players, and generated a prize pool of $2,245,050. This was a truly international tournament. Final table saw representatives from United States, Italy, Bulgaria and China. In the end, it was a Bulgarian player, Ognyan Dimov, who took the coveted bracelet and $378,743 in 1st place money. The Bulgarian native overcame a tough final table, stacked with poker talent. Joey Weissman (5th place, $83,396), Ryan D’Angelo (4th place, $116,118) and Nick Schulman (3rd place, $163,785) all fell before an the two amateurs went heads up. In the end, Ognyan Dimov took 1st and left the 2nd for Antonio Barbato from Italy. I doubt Antonio was complaining. This is his first big cash.
• Event #18, The $10,000 buy-in Dealers Choice 6-Handed drew 111 entrants, and had a combined prize pool of $1,043,400. The big prize and the bracelet went to Adam Friedman,  a poker pro from Ohio.  This was Adam’s second WSOP bracelet, and it came with a $293,275 payday. Adam had to defeat an all pro final table. He passed Marco Johnson (6th place, $47,579), David “ODB” Baker (5th place and $65,308), Chris Klodnicki (4th place, $90,713) and Russian poker pro Alexey Makarov (who took 3rd place and $127,487), before going heads up with a British poker pro Stuart Rutter. Rutter finished in 2nd place and took home $181,258.
• Event #19, The $565 buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha attracted 2,419 players, and built up the prize pool to $1,209,500. From those 2419 only 350 made money, with the biggest prize ($181,790) and the bracelet going to Craig Varnell.  Aside from the Colorado based champion, the only other pro at the table was the Canadian Jonathan Duhamel, who took 5th place and $33,477 in prize money. The rest of the final table was amateur.
• Event #20, The $5,000 buy-in Big Blind Antes NL Hold’em saw 518 entries, and generated a prize pool of $2,408,700. The Champion’s bracelet and the $537,710 in prize money went to a New York based poker pro Jeremy Wien. This is Wein’s first WSOP bracelet. To get to the poker world’s top honor Jeremy had to slide past such experienced professionals as David Peters (7th place, $60,618), Shawn Buchanan (6th place, $82,199), Jake Schindler (4th place, $159,575) and Eric Blair who finished 3rd and took home $228, 307.
• Event #21, The $1,500 buy-in NL Hold’em MILLIONAIRE MAKER drew an imressive field of 7,361 entrants, and generated a hefty prize pool of almost 10 million dollars ($9,937,350 to be exact). With 1,105 pay spots, lots of people were looking at some serious money. But at the end, the top prize of $1,173,223 went to a young amateur player from Germany, Arne Kern. This marks Arne’s third ever cash. Attaboy! Arne made it all the way to the top despite the presence of several tough opponents at the Final Table. Ralph Massey took 8th place and $135,383, Barny Boatman ended up in the 7th place and pocketed $175,865, Justin Liberto busted in 5th place and was awarded $303,294, Michael Souza took 4th place and $402,614 and Joe McKeehen ended up in 3rd with $538,276 in tournament winnings.
• Event #22, The $1,500 Eight Game Mix tournament drew 481 players and generated a prize pool of $649,350. The bracelet and the $147,348 top prize went to a young British pro Philip Long. Some other notable names at the Final Table included Per Hildebrand from Sweden (5th place, $27,587), John Racener (4th place and $40,151) and Daniel Negreanu who ended up in 3rd place with $59,788 in prize money.
• Event #23, The $10,000 buy-in NL 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship attracted 95 players and generated a prize pool of $893,000. Wow, talk about a star studded final table! John Hennigan (7th place, $32,796), Doyle Brunson, the Legend Himself (6th place and $43,963), Mike Wattel (3rd place, $160,489) and the top prize goes to Brian Rast. This is Rast’s fourth bracelet.
• Event #24, The $2,620 NL Hold’em THE MARATHON tournament attracted 1,637 players, and generated a prize pool of $3,860,046. Another international Final Table, with players from the United States, Australia, Belgium, Sweden, Germany, Hong Kong and Belarus all fighting for the Gold Bracelet. When it was decided, Michael Addamo from Australia claimed the first place and the $653,581 in prize money.

Quick Update on the 2018 WSOP

#poker #tournament #2018 #WSOP #WorldSeries

Ok people. I don’t know if you follow poker as much as I do, but for those unaware, the biggest poker tournament series of the year is going on in Las Vegas right now. The 2018 49th Annual World Series of Poker will include 78 events, and will finish off the poker season with a $1 million buy in event #78 Big One For The Drop. Since we are about halfway through the series, I thought I would mention some of the notable results.

• Event #1, The $565 buy-in Casino Employees kicked off the 2018 festival by drawing 566 entries, and generating a prize pool of $283,000. At the end, the top prize of $61,909 went to Jordan Hufty, of Michigan. This was his first ever cash, and he goes on to cash twice more in this tournament series :  in Event #7 for over 3k and in Event #17 for 2k. My own state of Ohio was represented at the final table by Kate Kopp from Cleveland.  She went on to take 3rd place and $26,250.
• Event #2, The $10,000 buy-in NL Hold’em Super Turbo Bounty saw 243 entries, and generated a prize pool of $2,284,200. When the dust settled, a poker pro from New York, Elio Fox, claimed the bracelet and the $393,693 top prize. (Elio is having a great summer so far, placing 2nd in Event #3 and earning $1,798,658, and cashing in Event #21 for $8,976). The Final Table was stacked with such pros as Joe Cada (9th place, $27,582), Taylor Black (8th place, $35,671), Alex Foxen (6th place, $63,042), Danny Wong (4th place, $119,659), Paul Volpe (3rd place, $169,195), and Adam Adler who took 2nd place and $243,323.
• Event #3, The $3,000 buy-in NL Hold’em Shootout gathered 363 entries, and generated a prize pool of $980,100. Fifty people made the payday, and Joe Cada ended up on top.  He took the bracelet and the $226,218 in prize money. Some notable names at the final table included Joe McKeehen (3rd place, $101,766) and Harry Lodge (5th place, $55,480), as well as a fairly unknown grinder from Minsk, Belarus by the name of Ihar Soika. (Igor ???)  He took 6th place and $41,559.
• Event #4, The $1,500 buy-in Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better tournament attracted 911 players, and put together a prize pool of $1,229,850. In the end, the top prize of $239,771 went to Julien Martini from France. I have to give a “Thumbs Up” to a couple of local boys that made the final table: Chad Eveslage (6th place, $39,182) from Indiana and William Kopp (4th place, $74,058) from Ohio.
• Event #5, The $100,000 buy-in NL Hold’em High Roller drew 105 entries, which brought the prize pool to a whopping $10,185,000.  The huge buy-in attracted the top professional poker players in the world, so it was not unusual to see names like Fedor Holz (9th place, $240,265), Adrian Mateos (8th place, $295,066), Jason Koon (7th place, $372,894), Stephen Chidwick (6th place, $484,551), Bryn Kenney (5th place, $646,927), Andreas Eiler (4th place, $886,793), Aymon Hata (3rd place, $1,247,230) and Elio Fox who took 2nd place and $1,798,658.
• Event #6, The $365 buy-in NL Hold’em GIANT is STILL IN PROGRESS.
• Event #7, The $565 buy-in NL Hold’em COLOSSUS attracted a massive field of 13,070 players, and put together a prize pool of $6,535,000. After a grueling few days, Roberly Felicio, a Brazilian amateur player emerges as the champion, and takes a cool million for his efforts, while another amateur, Sang Liu finishes 2nd and earns $500,000. A couple of seasoned poker pros made the final table among the amateurs, including John Racener (8th place, $74,178), and Timothy ‘TK’ Miles (5th place, $166,091).
• Event #8, The $2,500 Mixed Triple Draw Lowball saw 321 entries, and created a prize pool of $722,250.  In the end, it was a German poker pro, Johannes Becker, that claimed the bracelet and the $180,455 in cash, while a Las Vegas based Scott Seiver took 2nd place and $111,516. Other notable names at the final table include Christopher Vitch (4th place, $47,166), Luis Velador (6th place, $22,304), and Mike Leah who took 9th place and earned $11,870 for his efforts.
• Event #9, The $10,000 buy-in Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship drew a field of 169 players, and created a prize pool of $1,588,600. First place and the coveted bracelet went to Paul Volpe, a professional poker player from Pennsylvania. He overcame an incredibly tough final table that included well known players like Robert Mizrachi (7th place, $52,866), Dustin Dirksen (6th place, $69,971), Viacheslav Zhukov (5th place, $94,370), and Eli Elezra who took 2nd place and added $258,297 to his lifetime winnings.
• Event #10, The $365 buy-in WSOP.com ONLINE NL Hold’em drew 2,972 players, and created a prize pool of $974,816. The first place and the bracelet went to William Reymond, who earned $154,996 in his first notable cash ever.
• Event #11, The $365 buy-in PLO GIANT is STILL IN PROGRESS.
• Event #12, The $1,500 buy-in Dealers Choice 6-Handed drew a field of 406 players, and created a prize pool of $548,100.  Jeremy Harkin took the first place and $129,882. This was his first gold bracelet. Celebrity actor James Woods also made the final table, but quickly busted out in 5th place. He earned $23,686 for his efforts.
• Event #13, The $1,500 buy-in Big Blind Antes NL Hold’em attracted 1,306 players. The new tournament format was well received by the poker community. Prize pool ended up at $1,763,100, and the top prize and the bracelet went to Benjamin Moon from California. This marks his first cash in a recorded tournament.
• Event #14, The $1,500 buy-in NL 2-7 Lowball Draw tournament had 260 entries, and generated $351,000 for the prize pool. This time, the champion was a Colombian Daniel Ospina. Along with his bracelet, he took home $87,678.
• Event #15, The $1,500 buy-in H.O.R.S.E. drew a field of 731 entrants, and created a prize pool of $986,850. In the end, a Russian player, Andrey Zhigalov claimed the first place and the coveted gold bracelet. He took home $202,787 for his efforts. The final table saw poker pros like Matt Woodward (4th place, $62,379), Scott Clements (7th place, $24,531) and Ismael Bojang who took 9th place for $14,240.
• Event #16, The $10,000 buy-in Heads-Up NL Hold’em Championship attracted 114 players, and composed a prize pool of over a million dollars. 8 people got paid, with the bracelet and the top prize of $185,965 going to a Colorado based poker pro Justin Bonomo. (Justin later cashed in the Event #20 for over 12k).

WSOP is coming to Chicago in October 2017

This weekend World Series of Poker (WSOP) is having a circuit stop in Hammond, Indiana.  Which is the East Chicago area.  The are having a full schedule of events, kicking off with a $350 buy in, $500,000 guaranteed NL Hold’em on October 12th, and culminating with the $1,675 Main Event which will have a cool 1 million dollar guarantee.

I am going to play the $350 event on Saturday.  They have 3 starting days, and I will drive up to Chicago on Friday, get a good nights sleep, and play the even on Saturday morning.  I will let you know how it turns out.