The World Series of Poker Europe has a hectic day scheduled on Saturday as two tournaments reach their conclusions (and award bracelets) while the €10,450 Championship Event is set to take center stage for the rest of poker’s denizens in Cannes, France.
Event #5 – €10,450 Mixed Max No Limit Hold’em – Day Three
The “mixed max” event – where players start off on a normal, nine handed table, play a “six max” table the next day and finish the tournament with a series of heads up matches – was down to the final sixteen players when the cards hit the air on Friday. Brandon Cantu was a man possessed during the six-handed tables, amassing over a quarter of the chips in play heading to the heads up tables, while Faraz Jaka, Konstantin Puchkov, Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Jennifer Tilly, Jason Mercier, Jonathan Aguiar and Mike “SirWatts” Watson looked to play catch up.
Cantu didn’t draw easy for his first heads up match. Sitting across from the table from him to start the day was none other than Phil Hellmuth, who has been having an outstanding run at the 2012 WSOP-E and even has found the time to entertain tables and railbirds with his typical Hellmuthian antics. Sitting on a short stack, Hellmuth would find a double up early on as, facing Cantu’s A-J with an A-2, Hellmuth sucked out on a 2-J-2 flop to pick up some chips.
As these two battled it out, short stacks Joe Kuether and Watson were eliminated from the tournament by Martin Jacobson and Kristijonas Andrulis, respectively. Mercier and Grospellier would also find the door soon after that, Mercier falling to Aguiar after flopping a set of Kings only to see Aguiar turn the nut straight and Grospellier dropping to Puchkov. Once Cantu took care of a frisky Hellmuth in 12th place, three more heads up matches remained before the tournament could move on.
Marvin Rettenmaier would take down Tilly to claim one of those three slots while Jaka and 2012 WSOP-E bracelet winner Roger Hairabedian would take over the other two to set the “Elite Eight.” Hairabedian would make quick work of Paul Tedeschi to move on to the Final Four and he was joined by Jaka, Aguiar and Cantu as the clock ticked past the midnight hour. Instead of playing one more match to leave the final for today, the foursome decided to come back this afternoon in the Majestic Barriere to determine the champion:
Roger Hairabedian (702,500) vs. Brandon Cantu (1,067,500)
Faraz Jaka (526,000) vs. Jonathan Aguiar (586,500)
Event #6 – €1650 Six Handed Pot Limit Omaha – Day Two
Of the 206 players that stepped up for this tournament, only 26 would find their way back to the felt for Day Two action. Leading the way of those players was Jacob Dahl, who faced challenges from a host of recognizable pros. David Benyamine, Andrew Lichtenberger, John Monnette, Daniel Negreanu, Mike McDonald, Ana Marquez and 2012 “Octo-Nine” member Greg Merson all were in pursuit of Dahl as the call to the tables was made.
With only 21 players receiving anything for their efforts in this tournament, bubble play went on for a lengthy period. It would be Benyamine who would claim the dubious distinction of “bubble boy” when he was eliminated by Antoine Pacaud, guaranteeing the remainder of the field a minimum payday of €3752. Once the bubble burst, the shorter stacked players began flooding from the tables and towards the cash out cage.
The eliminations of Jamie Pickering, John Eames and Negreanu would bring the field down to three tables and, about two hours later, Dan Shak’s elimination would call for a redraw to two tables. At this point, Nikolay Volper held the lead over Petteri Kalenius, but Andy Frankenberger, Marquez, Lichtenberger and McDonald were still in the race.
The hour was growing late and, with this in mind, WSOP officials decided to play down to the final six players and calling it a night instead of playing the tournament out to conclusion. Instead of stopping at six, however, the players were able to play long enough to make it five handed when they came back today:
1. Andy Frankenberger, 256K
2. Francisco Da Costa Santos, 233K
3. Aku Joentausta, 202K
4. Ana Marquez, 176K
5. Petteri Kalenius, 62K
Once the champion is determined today, that fortunate player will walk off with the WSOP-E bracelet and a €83,275 payday.
Set to start today is the WSOP-E Championship Event and, with the multitude of top names in Cannes for the run of this year’s event, it promises to be a star-studded affair. While the numbers may not reach last year’s dizzying heights (593 players, a record), it still promises to be an excellent display of poker as the World Series of Poker Europe reaches its conclusion.