Category: Live Poker Tournaments

After a relatively slow Day 35 of the World Series of Poker 2011, Day 36 proved to be action-packed as two new events (the $1.5K No-Limit Hold’em and $5K Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Low Split 8 or Better) were introduced and the field was whittled down to the final tables in Events 54 and 55, giving spectators some real insight into who may be the new bracelet winners in these two events.

Event 54: $1K No-Limit Hold’em

The $1K No-Limit Hold’em had a record number of entrants this year, becoming the second-largest WSOP event of all time (the first being the Stimulus inaugural event from 2009). At the end of Day 3, the 4,576 entrants had been whittled down to nine and the final table has been set, and the Americans hold such an small number of spots that one would think that this was the European Poker Tour. Dror Michaelo, Douglas Mackinnon and Joshua Evans are the three US players at the final table, while Russia’s Maxim Lykov has the chip lead and fellow Russian Stanislav Alekhin has a shorter stack and a reputation as a fierce player, thanks to his heads-up game against John Juanda in the 2008 Main Event.

Event 55: $50K Poker Player’s Championship

Some fierce competition in one of the favourite events at the World Series of Poker tries to knock the players down to the final table, but nine players were still hanging on when they called it a night. Minh Ly, who has the chip lead with 5,215,000 chips, but will still have to face both Phil Hellmuth (2,245,000 chips) and Ben Lamb (1,180,000 chips), both of whom are chasing a Player of the Year title. Ly, who has had 12 WSOP cashes but has yet to nab a bracelet, has just as much on the line and is sure to put up a fierce fight.

Going into Day 4, table positions and chip amounts are as follows:

• Seat 1 Brian Rast 2,660,000
• Seat 2 George Lind 2,315,000
• Seat 3 Phil Hellmuth 2,245,000
• Seat 4 Owais Ahmed 1,425,000
• Seat 5 Scott Seiver 725,000
• Seat 6 Minh Ly 5,215,000
• Seat 7 Ben Lamb 1,180,000
• Seat 8 Jason Lester 920,000
• Seat 9 Matt Glantz 2,535,000

Event 56: $1.5K No-Limit Hold’em

The body count on day one of $1K and $1.5K events is always gruesome, but a few notable names of professional players eliminated in the first day of action for this event stand out: Antonio Esfandiari, Liv Boeree, Vanessa Selbst, and Nacho Barbero. With 3,389 players signed up for the last low-money event of 2011, one can expect a lot of big names to fall throughout the game. Today’s first day of play knocked the field down to 465 players, among whom Ben Volpe took an early strong lead which will give him the chip lead tomorrow in Day 2.

Event 57: $5K Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-low Split 8 or Better

Near chip leader Gary Bolden (98,300) after this first day of action in the last preliminary event of the 2011 World Series of Poker are Max Pescatori (72,000), who has won two WSOP bracelets before, and Brazilian Alexandre Gomes (70,400), known for holding a WSOP bracelet and a World Poker Tour title, as well as coming in second in the European Poker Tour’s PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in 2009. The 189 players left also include Mike Matusow, Huck Seed, Allen Kessler, Erik Seidel, and David Sands, so Event 57 is still anyone’s game.

Day 34 of the 2011 lacked the constant element of surprise that was present the previous day, which likely came as a relief to many players who could now focus on their game. One more event closed, and another two plowed forward, eliminating all the players who didn’t make the cut. Here’s the recap for today’s events:

Event 53: $1K Ladies No-Limit Hold’em Championship

The 2011 WSOP Ladies No-Limit Hold’em Championship has been the center of a lot of discussion this year, in part due to the presence of Jonathan Epstein, the singular man who made it to the last day of play in this event. To the delight and relief of the vast majority of spectators, Epstein was knocked out first in today’s play, and the Ladies Championship returned to its status as a celebration of women in poker. The play and eliminations were impressively well-rounded, with each of the players making some stunning plays and fierce eliminations throughout the final table. Marsha Wolak, a relative newcomer who credits her time spent training with Annie Duke back in 2009 as part of the reason for her unexpected win, would take first place, beating out an American-dominated final table for the bracelet and the $192,344 first place prize. Karina Jett came in second place, having been defeated by Wolak after only a single hand of head-to-head play (Wolak had a 3-to-1 chip lead at the time).

Event 54: $1K No-Limit Hold’em

The last of the $1K events for 2011 has turned out to be bigger than anyone imagined, especially given that its timing coincides with the play of the $50K Poker Player’s Championship, which certainly gets more attention. Event 54, as it turns out, has had more registrants than any other event in the history of WSOP, save for one– the 2009 kick-off “Stimulus” event. Day 1B saw the competition whittled down to 380 players from the original 2,644; they will join with the 275 players who survived Day 1A for Day 2 tomorrow. Paul Volpe had an impressive chip lead yesterday, but Eric Afriat has ended today’s competition with more than enough chips to give Volpe a run for his money throughout the remainder of the event. Many of the poker giants have fallen during the 1B action, including Galen Hall, Liv Boeree, David Williams, Jonathan Duhamel, and Michael Mizrachi.

Event 55: $50K Poker Player’s Championship

The list of players still remaining in Event 55 of the 2011 World Series of Poker reads like a laundry list of professional poker players; while the last $1K event has the largest turnout of players overall, the $50K Poker Player’s Championship certainly has the largest turnout of pro players. Benjamin Lamb, who won his first WSOP bracelet in Event 42 this year, tops the Player of the Year race and the chip count after Day 2 of this event. Lamb has made a name for himself in this year’s WSOP, but he’s followed in chips immediately by Gus Hansen, Sebastian Ruthenberg, and David Oppenheim, so he’ll have his work cut out for him if he wants to take home another bracelet. Still in the running for this event are David Benyamine, Erick Lindgren, Abe Mosseri, Phil Hellmuth, Jennifer Harman, and Steve Sung, just to name a few. The $50K Poker Player’s Championship, which switches types of poker every level (between Limit Hold’em, Omaha Hi-Low Split 8 or Better, Seven Card Razz, Seven Card Stud, Seven Card Stud Hi-Low Split 8 or Better, No-Limit Hold’em, Pot-Limit Omaha, and 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball) to lead up to a final table of No-Limit Hold’em, is still anyone’s game.

Jonathan Epstein didn’t join the Ladies No-Limit Hold’em Championship game to make waves. He just wanted to play in one more tournament before he left Vegas and went home to LA. Make waves, however, is exactly what he’s done, bringing to the forefront a heated issue.

Epstein wasn’t the only male who entered the ladies championship; every year, many men do. Some claim that they’re “rebelling against discrimination,” which is often code for “I think women are less skilled, so I’m going to play in the tournament because it’s an easy win” or “Hey, look at me, I’m so funny– I’m a man in a women’s tournament!” For those who genuinely think that they’re standing up to the man by entering a tournament designed for women, one has to wonder about the exact nature of the statement that they’re making. Women now have women-only basketball, football, and hockey leagues (not to mention rugby leagues and wrestling, fencing, and martial arts tournaments), precisely because there’s an unspoken understanding throughout society that the sports leagues that aren’t designated “women-only” are, of course, men-only.

Poker has been, for the longest time, an activity dominated by men. The sociological reasons for this are plentiful but largely situation-dependent: women make less money than men, therefore having less income to spend on non-essential activities; women are expected to prioritize family, such that if they have a career (and therefore the money to spend playing poker), the expectation still remains that their free time will go to home and children. In a society where women do not have the privilege that men do, saying that one is bucking the system by competing in a womens-only event is like saying that you’d like to join the Black Panthers just because you think that it’s unfair of them to exclude you for being white.

Epstein has had a hard time in the three days that he’s been playing in the event; despite solid poker playing, he is consistently booed and ridiculed by the spectators and WSOP officials alike– WSOP Media Director Seth Palansky attempted a slight at the men who had entered the event by saying that they “are not men.” One has to wonder if Palansky realizes that by saying the equivalent of “if you entered this tournament, you’re a bunch of girls,” where “girls” is an insult, is really just perpetuating a larger problem.

So then, where do we stand? If Epstein wasn’t trying to make a statement and really just wanted to play some poker after suffering some staggering losses elsewhere in the World Series of Poker, and he was just listening to the advice of his friend, who suggested the Ladies event (and, as he claims, it fit with his schedule), should he be persecuted for being in the wrong place at the wrong time? If it was legitimately an honest mistake, is the ceaseless harassment and bad sportsmanship (albeit not from the players– from the spectators) really the best way to handle the situation? Or is it enough to have to compete against some of the most incredible poker players in the world today, like Liv Boeree, Vanessa Selbst, Susie Isaacs, and Evelyn Ng? Women’s tournament or not– these are players that pretty much any rookie player would be terrified of facing. Perhaps this year’s spectators could learn to handle disappointment and disapproval with a little more grace, accepting that more good would come from cheering on the women playing than from verbally assaulting the lone man at the table.

Nevada law has changed, and the new legislature states that casinos can now ban men from competing in women-only events. By this time next year, we can expect not to relive this issue. The state of Nevada doesn’t seem to think that this is an issue of discrimination, so WSOP 2012 will have Ladies events where the final tables are full of ladies.

Day 33 of the 2011 World Series of Poker has been one surprise after another. Here’s the recap:

Event 50: $5K Triple Chance No-Limit Hold’em

Eric Froehlich was a shoe-in for Event 50, but his short stack at the start of the day caused him to be knocked out early, something that none of the spectators anticipated. Antonin Teisseire of France, who called Froehlich when he went in with two million pre-flop, not only knocked the favourite out of the game but also took home his first WSOP cash– a hefty $825,604 for the first place win.

Event 51: $1.5K Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better

When David Singontiko sat down at the final table for Event 51, he, fellow American John Reiss, and Brazil’s Marco Oliveira were the only players who had not cashed at the WSOP before. While none of the other final players had won a bracelet before, it was still a surprise when the recent college graduate who had to ask his father for a week off of work to compete in the tournament for the very first time, won first place and $268,235. Singontiko racked up the majority of the eliminations at the table (including second place finisher Michael Yee), with some help from Jeffrey Gibralter, who came in third.

Event 52: $2.5K Mixed Hold’em (Limit/No Limit)

Matt Matros became the only repeat performer of Day 33 by snagging a second WSOP Bracelet in Event 52. His first WSOP win came a year earlier at last year’s $1.5K Limit Hold’em event, and since he’s been making final tables at the World Series of Poker since 2005, it came as no surprise that Matros was a serious contender for these two wins. Matros, a poker coach and author of a book on poker, has almost two million dollars in live tournament winnings, and today’s event added another $303,501 to that total. Matros beat out a final table full of players with several WSOP cashes under their belts (although he was the only one to have won a bracelet before), including Noah Boeken and Jonathan Lane.

Event 53: $1K Ladies No-Limit Hold’em Championship

The Ladies No-Limit Hold’em Championship ended on Day 33 in a bout of upheaval, as one of the 14 players remaining in this event is a man. Jonathan Epstein is one of about a dozen men who have decided to take advantage of the fact that a change to Nevada’s laws, which will make it legal for casinos to ban men from entering women’s tournaments, has yet to go into effect, even though it’s made it onto the books. In a sport largely dominated by men, women struggle to make a name for themselves, so in the event that Epstein, who currently sits in 7th place with about half the chips of Valerie McColligan, currently in first place with a hefty lead, were to win this tournament, he could rest assured that there would be many people who would not be amused by his audacity.

Event 54: $1K No-Limit Hold’em

This final $1K No-Limit Hold’em event managed to pull in almost 2,000 entrants, despite coinciding with the play for the infinitely popular $50K Poker Player’s Championship. Hoyt Corkins, Andy Black, Dan Heimiller, Men Nguyen, Brian Cantu, and Antonio Esfandiari were among the biggest names to enter the event, but at the end of Day 1a, only two-time bracelet winner Cantu was among the 275 entrants still standing.

Event 55: $50K Poker Player’s Championship

Professional players flock to the $50K Poker Player’s Championship, creating a small field (128 players) of some of the most impressive poker players in the world. After 10 hours, only five players were eliminated, including Phil Laak and Eli Elezra. This five-day event is anyone’s game at this point, but the competition has been (and will continue to be) absolutely fierce.

Three events came to a close on June 29th, 2011, Day 29 of this year’s World Series of Poker, while an additional three events saw their players push a little closer to a WSOP bracelet.

Final Results

Event #44- $2.5K Seven Card Razz

Ralph (Rep) Porter took the bracelet for the Razz tournament at the 2011 WSOP, making this his second bracelet– the first was in 2008 for $1.5K Six-Handed No-Limit Hold’em– and increasing his lifetime WSOP earnings to very close to a million dollars. Porter beat out other former bracelet winners Robert Williamson III and Chris Bjorin for the title. Porter’s accomplishments are particularly noteworthy because his past and present wins are for games with very little in common, as Razz is based on the idea of having the worst hand, as opposed to the standard poker rules of Hold’em.

Event #45- $1K No-Limit Hold’em

Ken Griffin, an amateur poker player and full-time defense contractor from Texas, surprised everyone when he took the forty-fifth event at the 2011 WSOP and went home with both the bracelet and $455,356. This was only Griffin’s third entry in a WSOP event, and it’s not only his first win, but also his first final table and his first cash. Griffin beat out former gold bracelet winner Antonio Esfandiari, who came in seventh, for the win, as well as the other 2,888 competitors for this large event.

Event #46- $10K No-Limit Hold’em/Six-Handed Championship

Griffin wasn’t the only one to walk away with his first bracelet today– Brazilian Andre Akkari walked away with $675,117 and first place, despite odds that seemed stacked against him. In fact, at one point in the heads-up match with American Nachman Berlin, his opponent had a 3-1 chip lead against him, but Akkari rallied on Day 4 and finally moved ahead with a strong double-up, only to win the tournament shortly thereafter. This makes Akkari only the second Brazilian to win a WSOP bracelet (the first being Alexandre Gomes in 2008).

Games in Progress

Event #47- $2.5K Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi-Low-8 or Better

Michael Mizrachi held the chip lead at the end of Day 2 of Event 47 with a hefty 407k. His nearest competitor, Abe Mosseri, trails with 303k. They will be joined by Gregory Jameson and his 283,500 chips at table 281 for the final day of action as Day 3 begins. Barry Greenstein, Scotty Nguyen, and Antony Lellouche are still in the running for this event, however, and none of them trail by too much, so this event remains anyone’s game.

Event #48- $1.5K No-Limit Hold’em

Alex Bolotin of Brooklyn, NY has the chip lead after the first day of action in Event 48 of the 2011 WSOP. While two other players are within 10,000 chips of Bolotin’s 129k, he will start Day 2 of the event at table 346, where he has a minimum 3 to 1 chip lead over the other players.

Event #49- $2.5K 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball (Limit)

Jimmy Fricke leads the action in the 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball with 69,700 chips, with Eli Elezra not far behind with 57,100. Fricke will have at least a 3 to 1 chip lead over the other players at his table at the beginning of Day 3, while Galen Hall, who has already proven himself with a 2.3 million dollar first place in at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Tournament earlier this year, will have the chip lead at his table.

It’s time once again for another Asian Poker Tour event held at City of Dreams in exotic Macau, fast becoming one of the new poker capitols of the world.

The 2010 Asian Poker Tour Macau will take place November 6th – 14th, with the Main Event scheduled for November 10th – 14th. Every Saturday, starting now, Celeb Poker will be giving away seats in this upcoming APT Macau 2010 Main Event via special satellites tournaments.

These APT Macau Super Satellite Tournaments can be bought into directly for $250 + $18, or players can enter one of CelebPoker’s many satellites taking place throughout the week prior to each big event in the form of ongoing Sit & Go tournaments and win their way into the super satellite.

The last 2010 APT Macau Super Satellite will be held on October 30th.

Celeb Poker reminds players that they must be 18 years old minimum in order to participate and that, by registering, they are implicitly assenting that they can indeed attend and play in the 2010 APT Macau Main Event, should they win a seat.

Celeb Poker will not do any refunds, transfers, or any cash-out of the equivalent value, but rather any player who wins a 2010 APT Macau seat and cannot attend forfeits their prize. Remember that travel documents are one of these crucial prerequisites.

Each Celeb Poker prize package into the 2010 APT Macau Main Event is worth $7,000 and includes the $4,180 + $320 ticket into the APT Macau 2010 Main Event, $900 to apply toward the necessary 7 nights of accommodations at the City of Dreams (November 9th – November 14th), a stipend of up to $1,500 to apply toward air travel and/or other expenses as each winner sees fit, and $100 to use for the necessary registration fees.