Wednesday was a busy day at the World Series of Poker (WSOP), one that began with Phil Ivey being awarded his eighth career bracelet and ended with three more players collecting hardware of their own. Events 36, 39, and 40 crowned winners in the Amazon Room, with a pair of familiar faces standing on top at the end of the night.
Full Tilt Poker pro Scott Montgomery picked up his first piece of WSOP hardware on Wednesday by winning the $1,000 No Limit Hold’em Event #36. Montgomery, who was a member of the original WSOP November Nine in 2008, bested a field of 3,102 players to win the gold bracelet.
Montgomery admittedly ran hot just to reach the final table on Tuesday and his scorching run of cards continued on the final day. He began the final table eighth in chips, but his aggression fueled him to the top of the leaderboard and ultimately the $481,760 first prize. Montgomery took a huge chip lead into heads-up play against Mick Carlson and sent the Indiana native to the rail in just 15 minutes. On the final hand, a short-stacked Carlson moved all-in with Kd-2s and Montgomery called with Ad-7h. The board didn’t help Carlson and he earned $297,996 for his runner-up finish.
Montgomery, meanwhile, became the fourth Canadian to win a bracelet at the 2010 WSOP, joining Miguel Proulx, Aadam Daya, and Pascal Lefrancois. He eclipsed the $4,000,000 mark in career live tournament earnings.
1. Scott Montgomery – $481,760
2. Mick Carlson – $297,996
3. Adam Richardson – $210,892
4. Daniel Fuhs – $152,655
5. Sebastien Roy – $111,783
6. John Dolan – $82,804
7. Peter Dufek – $62,033
8. Timothy Beeman – $46,985
9. Michael Michnik – $35,986
Frank Kassela, Maxwell Troy, Vladimir Schmelev, Jennifer Harman, and Stuart Rutter all made repeat appearances at a final table when the $2,500 Seven Card Razz event reached its final eight players Wednesday evening. After 12 grueling hours of play, Kassela defeated Troy for the title, becoming the first player to win two bracelets in 2010.
Kassela, a father of five from Memphis, Tennessee, earned $214,084 in prize money, but battled from start to finish getting there. Kassela worked with a short stack for most of the tournament, crawling his way up the pay ladder before going on a rush early on Wednesday and entering the final table third in chips. From there, Kassela picked his spots wisely and overcame a 2:1 chip disadvantage to defeat Troy for the victory.
1. Frank Kassela – $214,085
2. Maxwell Troy – $132,229
3. Melville Lewis – $85,284
4. Vladimir Schmelev – $61,795
5. Mikko Pispala – $45,433
6. Jennifer Harman – $33,890
7. Stuart Rutter – $25,646
8. Chris Bjorin – $19,686
The $1,500 No Limit Hold’em Shootout played from 14 players down to one on Wednesday and, with notables Annette Obrestad and J.C. Tran vying for the title, gained a fair amount of interest going into the final day. Obrestad built a giant stack early on, but lost a pair of coin flips to cripple her and she eventually followed Tran to the rail before the final table was formed.
Jeff King eliminated Justin Scott in ninth place, propelling him to a chip lead that he would hang onto for most of the night. However, it was a 21 year-old pro from California that stepped up and claimed victory on Wednesday. Steven Kelly dominated in the late stages of the final table and took a significant chip lead into heads-up play against King. Then, at around 1:40am local time, King moved all-in for his last 1.5 million chips with Ks-Qd and Kelly made the call with Ah-9d. The board ran out Js-9c-3s-2c-3h and Kelly was instantly $381,922 wealthier.
1. Steven Kelly – $381,922
2. Jeff King – $236,819
3. Derric Haynie – $161,117
4. Dustin Dirksen – $112,214
5. Reagan Leman – $78,361
6. Brett Shaffer – $56,446
7. Paul Varano – $40,887
8. Michael Cooper – $30,119
9. Justin Scott – $22,575
Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the continuous updates from the 2010 WSOP.