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.