Event 56: $1.5K No-Limit Hold’em
Try as they might, the 42 players remaining in the $1.5K No-Limit Hold’em just couldn’t play down to winners, and the hard stop rule once more interrupted final table play at the 2011 World Series of Poker. The rule, which was put into effect in 2011 to prevent games from running over, has been the subject of a great deal of criticism and was, during the $10K HORSE event, even booed by the spectators. This event becomes one of many that was stopped during the final table when only a few (three, in this case) players were left. Critics say that the hard stop rule has its place, but that place is during the first couple of days of an event, not during the final table, as it can greatly disrupt the momentum of the players.
The final table has been whittled down to Hasan Anter, the chip leader with 8,385,000 chips, and Nemer Haddad and Andy Philachack, both of whom have around 3.4 million chips. James Boyle also drew some attention for his conduct during a hand with Smith and Nathan; it was Boyle’s turn to bid, and he refused to look at his hand until he made sure that the server who had brought his drink had given him the correct change. Other players called the clock on him, and Boyle folded after glancing at his cards, making the rest of the table wonder why he couldn’t have done that in the first place.
Event 57: $5K Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-low Split-8 or Better
David Bach, who started Day 3 at a fortunate table that allowed him to drastically increase his chip count, and Nick Binger, who started the day with a table that was considerably more even in chip distribution, are now head-to-head at the final table of Event 57. Per the hard stop rule, play will stop for today and begin again tomorrow, causing yet more people to complain about the questionable nature of this rule. Binger closes the day with 3,230,000 chips, while Bach isn’t far behind with 2,055,000; this game could still belong to either player. The two players, one a 2009 bracelet winner and the other still wondering what it feels like to win one, will come back tomorrow to continue head-to-head play and finish off the last preliminary event of the season. Given that tomorrow’s game could be over in a matter of minutes, one really has to question the efficacy of the hard-stop rule in this case.
Event 58: $10K No-Limit Hold’em Championship
Day 1A of the main event has drawn 897 entrants, with many more to be expected during the next three days, as players have a choice of starting their game any day Thursday-Sunday. The initial flock of Day 1A has been culled to 556, an elimination nowhere as steep as we’ve seen in other events thus far this year.
Some big name players have hit the rail already: Doyle Brunson, Greg Raymer, and Jerry Yang, who have all won bracelets for the main event before, as well as Vanessa Selbst, Chip Jett, and Randy Lew. Plenty of professionals are still in the running for this event, however– Annette Obrestad, Jason Alexander, Sebastian Ruthenberg, and Mickey Appleman, to name a few. Fred Berger is the chip leader at the end of Day 1A with 209,500 chips, and he is followed by Shame Sigsbee with 182,600 and Kyle Burnside at 159,050.