Team PokerStars Pro member Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier has only one cash in the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP), a 91st place showing in a $1,500 No Limit Hold’em tournament. However, he lodged an all-important win in the WSOP Academy Tournament of Champions qualifier, which played out on Thursday.
The freeroll, which will air as part of the WSOP Academy’s revamped website, featured nine of the game’s top pros lacking a bracelet. Tom “durrrr” Dwan skipped the Tournament of Champions qualifier, instead electing to compete for his first WSOP bracelet. Dwan was running deep in the 2-7 Draw Lowball Championship and held the seventh largest stack after Day 1. Perhaps the millions of dollars in side bets and opportunity to snag a bracelet were enough motivation for Dwan to no-show the Tournament of Champions sit and go, which instead featured Gavin Smith.
The action kicked off around Noon PT from the Lightspeed VT Studios in Las Vegas. The first player knocked out was Titan Poker pro Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi. The youngster was all-in with pocket sixes against Full Tilt Poker pro Gus Hansen’s A-3. By the river, Hansen had made a flush and the nine-handed WSOP Academy Tournament of Champions qualifier was truncated to eight.
Any Bloch was the next player ousted. The former MIT Blackjack Team member ran A-J into Smith’s pocket kings. “Iron Man 2” actor Don Cheadle, who pledged to donate any Tournament of Champions winnings to charity, followed shortly thereafter. Cheadle also fell to pocket kings, as the acclaimed actor ran pocket jacks into the superior pocket pair and couldn’t improve.
Paul Wasicka then doubled up at the expense of Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi with A-J against A-Q all-in pre-flop. Then, PokerStars pro Grospellier also doubled with A-J, this time against Hansen’s A-4. The all-ins were fast and furious, as despite Dwan electing to miss the sit and go, a Twitter post made by WSOP Academy officials noted that the structure was designed to accommodate events at the Rio: “Fast structure today at the WSOPA TOC – players have WSOP events this afternoon.”
UB.com pro Liv Boeree, who took down the largest European Poker Tour (EPT) tournament outside of the Bahamas in San Remo earlier this year, busted with K-Q against Smith’s pocket nines. Smith then gave a portion of his stack to Wasicka, who doubled with pocket nines against pocket fours.
Hansen departed in fifth place from the WSOP Academy Tournament of Champions qualifier after running K-9 into Mizrachi’s pocket sevens. Mizrachi then served as the executioner of Smith, whose J-9 could not draw out on A-4. The action slowed considerably three-handed, with Mizrachi, Wasicka, and Grospellier all vying for a seat in the $1 million freeroll that will air as part of ESPN’s coverage of the 2010 WSOP.
Mizrachi doubled up through Wasicka after hitting a set with pocket sixes against K-J. “The Grinder” was still on life support three-handed, only holding 9,000 chips with blinds of 600/1,200. However, Mizrachi survived to the finals after sending Wasicka to the rails with A-7 against A-6. The pot appeared to be headed for a chop, but Mizrachi spiked a seven on the river to eliminate the Victory Poker pro.
Entering heads-up play, Mizrachi held a 2:1 edge in chips, 60,800 to Grospellier’s 29,200. Ten minutes in, Grospellier quickly righted the ship and doubled up, but “The Grinder” still held a 2:1 chip lead. By the time heads-up play reached its first break, Mizrachi and Grospellier were deadlocked at 45,000 chips apiece. Grospellier ultimately opened up a 2:1 lead in chips as the blinds grew higher and the Frenchman’s aggression grew stronger.
“The Grinder” didn’t lay down a die, however, getting all of his chips into the middle with pocket fives against A-10. The wired pair held and Mizrachi was right back in the thick of it. However, Grospellier came out on top after his K-10 drew out on Mizrachi’s A-6 and earned a seat to the 2010 WSOP Tournament of Champions.
In case you’re wondering, the Tournament of Champions qualifier ended at 4:00pm PT, while the 2-7 Draw Lowball event began at 3:00pm.
The Tournament of Champions will feature 27 players and begin on June 27th. Then, the final nine will return to the Rio to play down to a winner on July 4th. Annie Duke, Joe Cada, Barry Shulman, Mike Sexton, and Mike Matusow all have automatic bids and 20 other players will join them based on a fan vote. The final seat will feature a U.K. player who qualified via the WSOP’s for-profit online poker site.