Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi was unable to make history Monday evening. Mizrachi was attempting to claim victory in the same event that his brother Rob won last year, the $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha World Championship, but his goal fell short as took home third place for $331, 279.
Instead, it was Irishman Marty Smyth who won the bracelet in what turned out to be the largest Pot Limit Omaha prize pool in poker history. He defeated Peter Jetten heads up, and what a dramatic final hand it was. On a board of Q-10-9 with two clubs, the two got all of their chips in the middle ñ both with a straight to the king, but Smyth had a redraw to the straight flush. Both cheering sections exploded as the turn brought the meager 7 of diamonds, and Smythís section began chanting Club!Club!Club!
Low and behold, the 6 of clubs fell on the river and an outburst of emotion came over all of those in attendance. Smyth earned his first ever WSOP bracelet along with $859,532. It was only the fifth bracelet won by an Irishman in World Series history.
Jetten earned $528,257 for his runner-up finish. Other notables at the final table were the enjoyable Peter Argyros and fourth place for (268,605) Kido Pham (sixth place for $170,116)
Outside of the ESPN Final Table Arena, where the Omaha Championship was being played, Phil Hellmuth was vying for his 12th WSOP bracelet in the $1,500 H.O.R.S.E event. The table drew the largest crowd to that section that weíve seen so far this year, as fans crowded around behind the “poker brat” as soon as he sat down.
Hellmuth began the day second in chips and even gained the chip lead at one point during the day, but it wasn’t meant to be in the end as the biggest name in poker was eliminated in third place by eventual runner-up Tommy Hang in the Omaha-8 Round.
The winner when all was said and done was James Schaaf, who won the first prize of $256,412. Schaaf defeated Hang in the Stud-8 Round in front of a much thinner spectator section, which assuredly took some pressure off of them and allowed them to focus on their game. Hang took home $158,933 for second place.
The victory was also Schaafís first cash in a WSOP event. He also managed to pull off one of the most amazing comebacks in the history of the World Series. Schaaf had only 200 chips midway through Day 1 and managed to double up a few times a build a stack sufficient enough to make it into Day 2. By winning the tournament he accumulated nearly 2.41 million chips.
The $1,500 No Limit Hold ëem event made its way down to nine players early Tuesday morning after a wild final two tables. Pros Matt Matros and Dave Daneshgar headline the final table and sit second and fourth in chips, respectively. Corwin Cole is the chip leader with 1.67 million, and got most of those from Scott Sitron when Coleís pocket queens bested Sitronís pocket aces after all the money went in preflop. Sitron still managed to overcome that blow and make the final table. He is eighth of nine in chips with 504,000.
Unlike earlier shootouts in this yearís World Series, Monday’s $1,500 Limit Hold ëem Shootout was concluded after 12 rounds on Day 1. In the past, play didn’t end until all tables were complete, which led to early mornings and cranky dealers and players. Round 2 action will resume Tuesday afternoon. Some early chips leaders currently include Jonathan Tamayo, Jean-Robert Bellande, Mike Wattel and Danny Wong. It will most likely very a very late night Tuesday as it is mandatory for the event to be played until a champion is crowned. And with 72 players still alive, we could be looking at a marathon.
