Two more World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets were handed out early Saturday morning at the Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas as Events #30 and #31 came to an end. Mike Ellis won the $1,500 No Limit Hold’em Event #30, while Konstantin Puchkov took down the $1,500 HORSE Event #31, rewarding each player with his first bracelet.
Ellis, a 45-year-old financial trader from London, bested a field of 2,394 players to win $581,851 in Event #30. He defeated Christopher Gonzales in a marathon heads-up match that saw each player go back and forth holding the chip lead. Finally, after 5:00am local time, Ellis got the best of the California native. Ellis raised on the button, Gonzales re-raised, and Ellis made the call. On the Jd-7s-6d flop, Gonzales overbet the pot and Ellis called. The 5d fell on the turn and Gonzales moved all-in. Ellis called immediately and tabled Ad-Td for the nut flush, leaving Gonzales drawing dead with pocket aces. Gonzalez earned $360,906 for his second place finish.
Ellis became the fourth English player at this year’s WSOP to win a gold bracelet. The other champions were Praz Bansi, James Dempsey, and Richard Ashby. This is Ellis’ second major win on the poker circuit, the first coming in 2007 at the GUKPT Grand Final, where he collected £197,600 ($407,700). Saturday’s win gives him more than $1,000,000 in live tournament earnings.
WSOP Event #30 Results:
1. Mike Ellis – $581,851
2. Chistopher Gonzales – $360,906
3. David Wilkinson – $254,996
4. Martin Jacobson – $183,345
5. Billy Griner – $133,574
6. William Kakon – $98,605
7. Jason Hallee – $73,719
8. Chris Kastler – $55,814
9. Jeff Cohen – $42,790
Russians had come close to winning bracelets several times at this year’s WSOP and they finally earned one Saturday morning. Moscow’s Puchkov was crowned the winner of the $1,500 buy-in HORSE event, earning $256,820 and the coveted gold bracelet. The 58 year-old horse breeder topped a field of 828 players to win the title.
The final table included a handful of highly talented players, including Robert Mizrachi, Blake “Balla-B13” Cahail, and Ken Lennaard. Puchkov began heads-up play at a slight chip disadvantage to Al “Sugar Bear” Barbieri and suddenly found himself crippled down to 200,000, with Barbieri holding 3.5 million. But Puchkov crawled his way back into the match, making a valiant comeback over the course of three hours and put his opponent away by making a full house in the Seven Card Stud High-Low round. Barbieri, who made a final table earlier this year and took third in an event last year, will have to wait to get his first WSOP bracelet.
WSOP Event #31 Results:
1. Konstantin Puchkov – $256,820
2. Al Barbieri – $158,647
3. Dustin Leary – $107,849
4. Ken Lennaard – $75,058
5. Hani Awad – $53,321
6. Andrew Revesz – $38,651
7. Blake Cahail – $28,569
8. Robert Mizrachi – $21,525
Saturday will be an exciting day at the Rio as two of poker’s biggest names are dangerously close to winning bracelets. Phil Ivey headlines a fantastic field of 14 remaining players in the $2,500 Pot Limit Hold’em/Omaha Event #33, which will play down to a winner. Joining Ivey will be Kevin “ImaLuckSac” MacPhee, Victor Ramdin, David Chiu, Josh Tieman, Rob Hollink, and chip leader Jose- Lius Velador, who has 455,000 chips going into the final day. Players will reconvene at 3:00pm local time and the winner will receive $260,517.
Erick Lindgren will also be vying for a bracelet, his second, in the $5,000 Six-Handed No Limit Hold’em Event #32. With 12 players still alive, Lindgren is second in chips, trailing only Mark Radoja. Taylor “El Mastermind” McFarland, Jeff Papola, and a short-stacked Men “The Master” Nguyen will also be playing for the massive $667,433 payday. Play gets underway at 3:00pm.
Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the continuous updates from the 2010 WSOP.
