Two events that have garnered a lot of attention in this year’s World Series of Poker have finally drawn to a close, and everyone is excited about the main event, which will determine who wins the coveted Player of the Year title. This year, Phil Hellmuth, Ben Lamb, and Brian Rast lead the race, but as George Lind twittered, “I can still pass Hellmuth if I just win the main event.” Although Lind is being facetious (we think), he has a point– the Player of the Year race is still close enough that it will ultimately be determined by how the main event plays out. Here are today’s results:
Event 54: $1K No-Limit Hold’em
Max Lykov started the final day of play in the $1K No-Limit Hold’em event with the chip lead, and he didn’t lose it for even a second, making him the winner of the $648,880 prize and the bracelet for the event. Lykov’s win in this event also puts him on the board for the Player of the Year race, as this event was heavily weighted in the PoY scoring due to its large number of entrants. Lykov personally knocked out the majority of his opponents at the final table, starting with Sebastien Roy and ending with Dror Michaelo, who came in second. Michaelo went all-in pre-flop on the last hand of the game with K5 in his pocket, and Lykov called with AK; when the flop came down AQQ, it looked like it was all over for Michaelo– and it was.
Event 55: $50K Poker Player’s Championship
Event 55 went to a surprise winner: with the other contenders at the table, Brian Rast had been somehow overlooked as a strong contender for the bracelet, but he won it nonetheless. The real surprise of Rast’s win, however, comes with the story that he tells about how he ended up at the final table for the $50K Poker Player’s Championship in the first place. A chance encounter with Antonio Esfandiari brought Rast to the WSOP this year, after Esfandiari was so insistent that Rast play in the $1.5K Pot-Limit Hold’em Tournament that day that he even staked Rast’s play. After winning that event, Rast had enough to buy in to the Poker Player’s Championship, which he did.
Phil Hellmuth, who came in second in the event, already holds 11 WSOP bracelets, all in Hold’em poker, and he played aggressively and had an advantage for most of the game. He ultimately lost when he went all-in while hoping for a flush/straight draw and Rast held the highest possible straight in the game.
Event 56: $1.5K No-Limit Hold’em
The competition for Event 56 has now been whittled down to 42 players, and Ben Volpe, yesterday’s leader, was sent to the rail towards the end of the evening. Gavin Smith, who has already nabbed a WSOP bracelet and a World Poker Tour title, has the lead, but James Boyle, Ryan Goindoo, Matt Lawrence, and Hasan Anter are all close behind as we head into the third day of play in this event.
Event 57: $5K Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-low Split-8 or Better
This last preliminary event has seen its entrants whittled down to the final 25; tomorrow they will try to play down to winners, but with some steep competition, that may not be possible. Nick Schulman is the chip leader today with 772,000 chips, and he has a healthy position at his first table tomorrow. Still left at one of the three tables are Allen Kessler, with 568,000 chips, Phil Laak (319,000), Nick Binger (303,000), David Bach (310,000), Lee Watkinson (111,000), and David Sands (110,000). Kessler, Sands, and Laak are all at the table with Schulman at the start of play tomorrow, while Bach’s fortunate placement at Table 3 leaves him starting tomorrow with a 2-1 chip lead over the rest of his table.