Wednesday at the 2016 World Series of Poker was a day in which there was only one bracelet handed out, despite the factor that several events were in their final throes. In that one event, Ryan D’Angelo achieved his career highlight in winning a WSOP bracelet while three other events are waiting until Thursday for completion.
Event #6 – $1500 No Limit Hold’em
The 2016 player field had been cut to the final 36 players for Wednesday’s action, meaning that – despite the plans of WSOP officials – the final table was probably going to have to be pushed to Thursday for completion. That didn’t seem to bother the competitors, especially chip leader Justin Young, who was just under a million chips as the day started (997,000, to be exact). Joined by Timothy Farrelly (870K), nine-time WSOP Circuit champion Alex Masek (744K) and Michael Addamo (724K), the field merrily went to work Wednesday afternoon trying to determine a champion.
To be honest, the players did try to complete the tournament on Wednesday. They came out of the gate fast, knocking off 16 players in the first three hours of play. Surprisingly, Young was one of the casualties. After doubling up Farrelly to be left with only 330K in chips, he would lose those to James Buckley to finish in 22nd place. After explaining his demise over Twitter, all Young could say was, “Numb.”
Young had plenty of company with that feeling. Day 1 chip leader Roman Rogovsyki, David Tuthill and Masek would also fall by the wayside, with Masek’s demise coming cruelly at the hands of Anthony Zinno. Zinno, perhaps pushing an all-in bluff after a raise from Masek, could only turn up a 10-9 against Masek’s pocket eights. When a ten came on the turn, Zinno’s hand was good and Masek was down to 50K in chips, departing a few hands later.
The final two tables were determined mid-afternoon, but that’s where the brakes were thrown on the tournament. After eliminating half the field (18 players) within three hours of the start of action, the next four hours would only bring the tournament to the final 10 players (one short of the “official” final table). Once Ray Phu eliminated Adam Geyer in tenth place following the dinner break, the final nine men could actually add a WSOP final table finish to their resumes.
At this point in the tournament, Addamo had seized control of the tournament as the only player over the three million mark in chips. His closest threat was pro John Racener, who held a formidable 2.4 million stack of his own. About the only player who wasn’t in contention would have bene Peter Eichhardt, who was on the short stack with his 460K in chips.
Addamo, however, seemed to want to help his opponents out. Throughout the day on Wednesday, Addamo would build a stack, only to turn around and double up a “shorty” and have to rebuild. That happened early at the final table as, holding only Q♥ J♥, his all-in raise from the button against Bruno Borges’ mid-position bet was met with a call by Borges. Borges had the goods, holding pocket Kings, and the nine-high board never threatened those Cowboys. In doubling up Borges, Addamo lost the lead and continue his yo-yoing stack.
Addamo continued to play fast and loose, with it occasionally working for him. He would eliminate Richard Dubini in ninth place when his Big Slick caught Dubini’s pocket eights by making a flush. This pushed Addamo back over the four million mark in chips and back into the lead.
Even with such action, the eliminations came slowly. Zinno departed in eighth place when his pocket Jacks lost a race to Borges’ Big Slick and Phu departed in seventh at the hands of Davis Aalvik. Addamo would take out Borges in sixth and Farrelly in fifth place, respectively, before midnight, but they would be the last eliminations before the WSOP curfew kicked in with four players remaining:
Michael Addamo, 6.595 million
Davis Aalvik, 3.63 million
Peter Eichhardt, 2.64 million
John Racener, 2.47 million
At stake for these contenders will be the WSOP bracelet and $438,417 in first place money. The tournament will restart action at noon in the Amazon Room at the Rio.
Event #7 – $1500 No Limit Deuce to Seven Draw Lowball
While Event #6 dragged through the day, Event #7 was a rapid-fire final table that was done before the seats at the baize even got warm. The unofficial final table of eight kicked off action at 2PM in the Amazon Room and, within four hours, the tournament was completed.
Ryan D’Angelo held a slight lead over John Monnette when the cards hit the air, but that would be short lived. Monnette eliminated Joao Vieira only minutes after the opening bell to take over the lead, but D’Angelo would fire back in taking a pot off of Alex Dovzhenko to regain the lead. After a level up increased the blinds and antes, the floodgates would open on eliminations.
In the span of 25 minutes, Dovzhenko, Todd Barlow, Konstantin Maslak and Dan Kelly would hit the rail in seventh through fourth places respectively, with three of those eliminations performed by Monnette in taking over the lead. After “Captain” Tom Franklin doubled through him – and Franklin gave a chunk of chips to D’Angelo on the next hand – D’Angelo regained the lead. The three handed battle would go on with this type of action until D’Angelo finally was able to vanquish Franklin, standing pat on his offering while Franklin drew one card. D’Angelo’s 10-9 low wasn’t great, but neither was Franklin’s J-9, putting him out in third place and sending D’Angelo to heads up with Monnette holding a 6:1 lead.
With such an advantage, it didn’t take long for D’Angelo to finish the tournament. It also didn’t help that Monnette couldn’t avoid pairing up, losing a big pot that left him on fumes. Although he was able to double a couple of times, Monnette stood pat on the final hand with a 10-9-8-7-3 after moving all in before the deal. D’Angelo had a 10-7-6-4 and drew one, with a wealth of outs good for him (nines, eights, fives, threes and twos). Squeezing his draw card, D’Angelo triumphantly stated, “Got it!” as he turned up a trey to take down his first WSOP bracelet.
1. Ryan D’Angelo, $92,338
2. John Monnette, $57,061
3. “Captain” Tom Franklin, $38,582
4. Dan Kelly, $26,632
5. Konstantin Maslak, $18,775
6. Todd Barlow, $13,524
7. Alex Dovzhenko, $9,959
Event #8 – $1500 H.O.R.S.E. and Event #9 – $10,000 Heads Up No Limit Hold’em World Championship
There’s plenty of action left to go in two events, which should award their bracelets on Thursday evening.
In the $1500 H.O.R.S.E., 20 players will return to vie for the WSOP bracelet and a $212,604 first place payday. Currently in the best position to take those accolades is Ben Bonzio, who has built up a 837,000 chip stack to rule over the roost. Justin Bonomo is a distant second with his 559,000 in chips, while Ismael Bojang (362,000), Ian Johns (317,000), former World Champion Scotty Nguyen (270,000), former Ladies’ Champion Svetlana Gromenkova (256,000), Andre Akkari (the manager of the Global Poker League’s Sao Paulo Metropolitans, 236,000) and poker legend Maureen Feduniak (100,000) will provide definite challenges.
Action will resume at noon in the Rio, with the WSOP bracelet awaiting the champion.
In Event #9, the Heads Up World Championship has whittled the field down from 153 entries to the Final Four. These men will battle it out beginning at noon today, with one person who earns two more victories taking down the WSOP bracelet:
Olivier Busquet vs. Alan Percal
Alex Luneau vs. John Smith
By far the favorite of the Final Four would have to be Busquet, who has $1.4 million in total career earnings at the WSOP without a bracelet win. A sentimental favorite might be Smith, the 69-year old who has dabbled with poker for decades (his first WSOP cash dates back to 1991) and, with a runner-up finish or better, would crack the $1 million mark in career earnings. Luneau is a French professional who has made a name for himself in Europe, while Percal is the “wild card,” with only about $40K in career tournament poker earnings.
The eventual champion takes home $320,574 in prize money and the cherished WSOP bracelet.
