It was a busy Monday of action around the Rio All Suites Hotel and Casino as the 2016 World Series of Poker awarded two more bracelets and set the final table for two other events.
Event #2 – $565 “Colossus II” No Limit Hold’em
78 players were back on the grind on Monday in “Colossus II,” with the goal by the end of the night to be at the final table of nine. Holding the lead at the end of Flight C and Day 2, Ben Lindemulder was in the best position of making the final table with his 5.325 million in chips, but players such as Richard Carr (3.55 million) and Vincent Moscati (3.3 million) were waiting for him to falter. Although everyone was guaranteed at least a $10,289 payday (not too shabby for a $565 investment), all eyes were on the million dollar guaranteed first place check and the WSOP bracelet.
Many of the short stacks came into the day looking for the proverbial “double up or go home,” leading to a flurry of activity within the first couple of hours. Such names as David ‘ODB’ Baker and former November Niner Ylon Schwartz were a part of the parade to the cage as the action quickly reached three tables. Lindemulder would lose a big race against Marek Ohnsiko at this point, his pocket fives falling to Ohnsiko’s A-J on an A-9-6-3-6 board, and the resulting 10 million chip pot pushed Ohnsiko into the lead; Lindemulder would depart soon afterwards in 27th place.
After Lindemulder’s departure, the action slowed significantly but was still able to reach two tables before the dinner break with the elimination of Moscati in 19th place. It was at this point that Jiri Horak took over the tournament, getting a big double up through Lawrence Adams to creep close to the 20 million chip mark. He would blast past that mark, eventually racking up more than 25 million chips to hold the chip lead after Alex Benjamin eliminated Hayden Glassman in 10th place to set today’s final table:
1. Jiri Horak, 25.425 million
2. Benjamin Keeline, 19.9 million
3. Richard Carr, 14.4 million
4. Alex Benjamen, 14.275 million
5. Marek Ohnisko, 10.55 million
6. Jonathan Borenstein, 7.4 million
7. Xiu Deng, 6.0 million
8. Farhad Davoudzedeh, 5.925 million
9. Christopher Renaudette, 4.25 million
Cards will hit the air at the final table at 2PM (Pacific Time) this afternoon on their way to crowning the champion of “Colossus II.”
Event #3 – $10,000 Seven Card Stud World Championship
If you asked the question “Which Mizrachi brother has the most bracelets,” there would have been a tie before last night. The tiebreaker turned out to be the $10,000 Seven Card Stud World Championship on Monday as Robert Mizrachi earned his fourth bracelet (brother Michael has three) against a very tough field.
Six of the eight men at the official WSOP final table came back on Monday to continue the battle with Mizrachi holding a slight edge over Matt Grapenthien, 1.371 million to Grapenthien’s 1.157 million. Day 1 leader Steve Weiss, Ted Forrest, David Benyamine and George Danzer rounded out the field, but it was a short stay for Benyamine. He saw his chips slide through his fingers first to Forrest and then to Weiss to fall to 50K in chips and was eliminated only an hour after the final table play had begun.
Mizrachi and Greapenthien got a serious threat out of Danzer, who moved into the lead after chopping chips out of both men’s stacks. In what would turn out to be a “family pot,” Mizrachi emerged as the victor in the hand, with the added chips putting him back in command as the players went to a break. In eliminating Weiss in fifth place, Forrest in fourth and ultimately Danzer in third, Mizrachi solidified his lead going to heads up play against Greapenthien.
Down less than 700K to Mizrachi, Grapenthien went on the attack and took over the lead only 30 minutes into heads up play. The lead would then go back and forth between the duo, with neither seemingly able to put the other away. At the dinner break, Mizrachi had a slim 400K lead, but Grapenthien took it away just after dinner. Ten minutes later, however, Mizrachi climbed back in the driver’s seat and wouldn’t let it go again.
On the final hand, Grapenthien brought in with a four and, after Mizrachi completed the bet, raised the stakes. Mizrachi three bet the action and, after a call from Grapenthien, kept the pressure on at Fourth and Fifth Streets, betting out and seeing Grapenthien call. Showing a 4-2-9-Q after Sixth Street, Grapenthien moved his chips in and an excited Mizrachi made the call, turning up hidden Aces for a set. Grapenthien, with only a pair of fours, was drawing dead and Mizrachi had captured his fourth WSOP bracelet.
1. Robert Mizrachi, $242,662
2. Matt Grapenthien, $149,976
3. George Danzer, $103,230
4. Ted Forrest, $72,971
5. Steve Weiss, $53,012
6. David Benyamine, $39,611
7. Bill Chen, $30,466*
8. Calvin Anderson, $24,142*
(* – eliminated on Sunday, part of official WSOP final table)
Event #4 – $1000 “Top Up” Turbo No Limit Hold’em
In what will go down as the quickest final table in WSOP history (naturally because of its Turbo nature!) at slightly more than two hours, longtime live pro Kyle Julius picked up his first WSOP bracelet in winning Event #4 on Monday afternoon.
Karl Held was at the helm of the ship at the start of the final table, with Julius sitting in the middle of the pack with 2015 WSOP bracelet winner Ben Yu and a short-stacked Vinny Pahuja counting as the “professional” experience at the table. Held and the other men were all at their first WSOP final table and everyone was looking to take home the WSOP gold and the $142,972 first place prize money.
Because of the Turbo nature of the tournament, players didn’t sit for long. On the very first hand, Pahuja would push all in with an A-J against Held’s pocket Kings and fall in ninth place. Only four hands later, George Dolofan would be dismissed by Christian Blech and, on Hand 13, Julius got a key double up through Yu that gave him the lead. Yu would stay relevant, however, knocking off Nitis Udornpim in seventh place in a frantic first hour.
Many thought it couldn’t get any more frantic, but indeed it did. Bart Lybaert took down Blech in sixth place, Julius would eliminate Hugo Perez in fifth and Yu dumped Held in fourth within 15 hands to bring the action to three-handed play. After what would be viewed as a “lull” in the tournament, Julius eliminated Yu in third place, his K-J standing against Yu’s Q-10, and on the very next hand (only Hand 67) Julius ended Lybaert’s tournament in what would be a dramatic hand.
Julius pushed in from the button and Lybaert made the call, showing a K-9 off suit that was actually in decent shape against Julius pocket fours. A K-10-2 flop moved Lybaert into the lead and an Ace on the turn kept him there. Needing one of the two fours remaining in the deck to win the tournament, Julius saw the 4♣ come, giving him a rivered set and the victory in the tournament.
1. Kyle Julius, $142,972
2. Bart Lybaert, $88,328
3. Ben Yu, $61,137
4. Karl Held, $43,001
5. Hugo Perez, $30,742
6. Christian Blech, $22,345
7. Nitis Udornpim, $16,518
8. George Dolofan, $12,422
9. Vinny Pahuja, $9,506
Event #5 – $1500 Six Handed Dealer’s Choice
Day 2 is in the books for the Dealer’s Choice event, with the final nine combatants coming back to the felt this afternoon. When they reconvene, Lawrence Berg will be holding the reins of the stallion, but his lead is a slim one over Paul Volpe.
85 players were back in the saddle on Monday, looking to be among the 59 survivors that would earn a WSOP cash and a line on their resumes for their efforts. There were several notable names that failed in this endeavor, including the welcome return of Mike Matusow, Barry Greenstein, Stephen Chidwick, Andy Bloch and David Sklansky, who had come into the day in the Top Ten. After the bubble popped with the elimination of Jameson Painter in 60th place, players such as Richard Ashby (58th place), Jeff Madsen (44th place), Eli Elezra (38th place) and Day 1 chip leader Svetlana Gromenkova (21st place) picked up their share of the $525,150 prize pool.
The tournament has yet to reach six players yet, so there are two tables in action on Tuesday. Berg will have to entertain Yueqi Zhu and two more short stacks at his table, while Volpe has Randy Ohel to look at on his patch of felt. Here’s how they’ll line up with the restart on Tuesday:
Table 1
Seat 1: Empty
Seat 2: Empty
Seat 3: Yueqi Zhu, 418,500
Seat 4: Daniel Habl, 106,000
Seat 5: John Templeton, 215,500
Seat 6: Lawrence Berg, 836,500
Table 2
Seat 1: Andrew Brown, 250,000
Seat 2: Joey Couden, 192,000
Seat 3: Paul Volpe, 674,500
Seat 4: Empty
Seat 5: Randy Ohel, 99,500
Seat 6: Ryan Himes, 125,500
At 2PM, the cards will once again hit the air as the Dealer’s Choice event determines a champion. The eventual winner will take home the WSOP bracelet and the $125,466 winner’s payday.
