The final two $10,000 World Championship events at the 2015 World Series of Poker – other than the Main Event, that is – have been the focus of much of the attention around the Amazon Room over the past couple of days. In one event, Andrew Barber was able to overcome a tough final table to emerge as the champion and there are still a dozen players left in the Dealer’s Choice that have some work to do before they can cast their eyes on the Main Event, which begins today.
Event #63 – $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. World Championship
20 players came back to the felt for the final day of Event #63, all with the hopes of winning the bracelet in the $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. World Championship. Barber was at the helm of the field to start the day with his 574,000 in chips, but such players as former World Champion Joe Hachem, former WSOP Player of the Year Frank Kassela, 2015 WSOP bracelet winner Eli Elezra and tough Russian pro Viacheslav Zhukov were all lurking in the pack. With the tough field assembled and the two split pot games in the H.O.R.S.E. mix, it was expected to be a long day and it turned out to be such.
Phil Hui would make the first elimination of the day, taking out Jens Lakemeier in 20th place in Razz when Hui made an eight-low after Fifth Street and Lakemeier not even sticking around to see what were his two remaining cards. WSOP bracelet winner Brandon Shack-Harris ended the day of Randy Ohel in 19th place during Omaha Hi/Lo when Shack-Harris had a Broadway straight to outpip Ohel’s King-high straight. The beneficiary of these knockouts was Matt Glantz, who came in on a severely short stack to start the day and was able to parlay that into an 18th place finish after being eliminated by Arash Ghaneian.
Shack-Harris’ run at the title would be cut short after a clash with Hui. In Limit Hold’em, Shack-Harris called a three-bet out of Hui and check-called another bet from Hui on an innocuous 7-3-2 flop. The turn would bring another seven but, with only 85K in chips in front of him, Shack-Harris oddly chose to fold to a single turn bet from Hui. Without adequate ammunition, Shack-Harris would be knocked out in 16th place by George Rechnitzer in the same discipline a few hands later.
Now down to two tables, the players redrew for seats and continued the drive towards the final table. Over the span of 2½ hours, such players as Brock Parker, Georgios Sotiropoulous, Mark Gregorich, Rechnitzer, Barry Greenstein, Hui and Daniel Ospina would find their way to the rail (in positions 15th through 10th, respectively). When Elezra was topped by Barber in Seven Card Stud, Barber’s Seventh Street Queen making trips while Elezra couldn’t improve on his tens up, to send Elezra out in ninth place, the final table was set with the remaining eight players tightly bunched on the leaderboard.
Zhukov, Kassela and Hachem would shuffle chips amongst each other in the early going, but it was Barber who made the massive charge. He would chop Poker Hall of Famer Scotty Nguyen down in Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo and beat up on several players to take a nice lead with his 1.66 million in chips. Hachem and Barber continually battled it out, not content to sit back with their chip stacks and wait for others to be eliminated, but Barber would eventually work his way out to a lead that would prove to be untouchable while Hachem left in fifth place.
On the final hand of the tournament, Barber was in a dominating position over Zhukov (after starting heads-up play with more than a 3:1 lead) in Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo as Zhukov committed the remainder of his chips to the center after five streets had been dealt. Barber could only muster an Ace-high from his five cards (A-4-7-Q-6), but Zhukov’s Jack-high was even worse from his five (7-3-8-10-J). Barber would earn half the pot on the turn with a five on Sixth Street (making his 7-6 low) and Zhukov could only pick up a King to improve to King-high. The final cards came face down and, after Zhukov squeezed out another five to leave him with no half of the pot, Barber was the victor in the $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. tournament.
1. Andrew Barber, $517,766
2. Viacheslav Zhukov, $319,989
3. Don Zewin, $210,629
4. Jared Bleznick, $153,638
5. Joe Hachem, $114,308
6. Frank Kassela, $86,541
7. Scotty Nguyen, $66,579
8. Arash Ghaneian, $51,986
Event #67 – $10,000 Dealer’s Choice World Championship
Although a great deal of attention will be paid to the opening of the $10,000 World Championship Event this afternoon in the Rio All Suites Hotel and Casino, the finale of Event #67 will have its own fair share of eyeballs as it concludes this afternoon.
Twelve men – the only players to take any payday from the 108 player field – will settle into their seats in the Amazon Room this afternoon, looking to crown the World Champion in this tournament. The player with the best shot at taking the title is Rep Porter, who sits with 558,500 in chips heading into this afternoon’s play. Not letting Porter get too far away from the field is Jeff Madsen, who already has a bracelet during the run of the 2015 WSOP but would like to add a second. Madsen and his 455,500 in chips are primed to make a run at the final table.
There are some other dangerous players in the $10K Dealer’s Choice. After his stellar run in the $10K H.O.R.S.E., Lakemeier is driving deep in this tournament as well; he will begin the day in fifth place with 325,000 in chips. David Benyamine is right ahead of him with 379,000 chips while David Chiu (127K) and Paul Volpe (70,500) have their work cut out for them if they are to make an even deeper run in this tournament.
Action resumes at 2PM (Vegas time) in the Amazon Room, with the eventual champion taking home the Dealer’s Choice World Championship bracelet and the $319,792 first place prize.
“The Main Event” Begins Today
While it may seem like the 2015 WSOP just started a few days ago, we’ve reached the point where the start of the $10,000 World Championship Event is upon us. “The Main Event” (a moniker coined by television for the crowning jewel of the WSOP) will hold the first of three Day Ones starting at high noon in Las Vegas today.
To this point of the 2015 WSOP, the field sizes for the preliminary events have been mostly flat. The prior events have hovered right around their numbers from 2014 (save for new events such as “The Colossus” and the online/live hybrid tournament), so a big turnout for the Championship Event would be a welcome sight for some around the Rio.
The biggest change to the 2015 WSOP Championship Event will be the payout structure of the tournament. In 2014 (as a part of the 10th Anniversary celebration of Caesars Entertainment’s purchase of the WSOP), first place was guaranteed a $10 million payday. Originally that was the plan for 2015 but, after discussion with players, that was ditched in favor of paying out more entrants. Thus, 1000 players will receive a cash from the 2015 WSOP Championship Event versus the 693 players that earned a return last year.
Some of the stories that will be front and center for the 2015 WSOP Championship Event are:
1) Can Mark Newhouse Hit The Trifecta? – After making two straight “November Nines,” Mark Newhouse has the opportunity to turn a trick that hasn’t been seen since Johnny Chan’s run in this tournament in the late 1980s. Chan was the last to make the Championship Event final table in three consecutive years (1987-1989) and Newhouse, if he is able to do it again this year, would match Chan’s feat. The big difference? Where Chan had to go through fields of 152, 167 and 178 players, Newhouse (should he pull off the trick) would have gone through fields of 6352, 6683 and probably a field of at least 6750 players, arguably a much more difficult proposition. While it may seem impossible for it to happen, don’t bet against Newhouse, who seems to thrive on the Championship Event adrenaline.
2) Can Ronnie Bardah Cash Again? – Bardah has been able to cash in five consecutive Championship Events, finishing as high as 24th (in 2010) during this five year run. While it is likely that his record will be untouched, Bardah can continue to add onto it by making the money again this year in the event.
3) Can Martin Jacobson Repeat? – It’s been a quiet 2015 WSOP for the defending champion of the Main Event. Jacobson has only put together two cashes to this point of the WSOP, topped by a 55th place finish in Event #51, the $3000 Six-Handed No Limit Hold’em tournament. Jacobson doesn’t appear to be affected by this, however; in 2014, Jacobson also only had two cashes before capturing poker’s World Championship.
It will all be played out over the next two weeks. There are still some loose ends to tie up – especially the Dealer’s Choice event – prior to the start of the Championship Event, however. Regardless, the next two weeks in poker’s greatest tournament are set to begin.
