In another action-filled day at the Amazon Ballroom in the Rio All Suites Hotel and Casino, the World Series of Poker rolled along with six tournaments that were in play.
Perhaps the top story of the day was Event #8, the $2500 No Limit Deuce to Seven Lowball tournament. The 147 players that started the day on Tuesday comprised some of the biggest names in poker today playing what is considered one of the toughest games for a poker player to wrap their mind around. The seven player final table featured former bracelet winners Eric Kesselman and Phil Ivey, but there were other players on the felt who were looking for their first WSOP win.
Over the first seven hours, the field whittled down to Ivey and fellow professional John Monnette. The duo then locked into a three- hour battle to determine the champion of Event #8. After two and a half hours, Monnette pulled out to a 4:1 lead over Ivey before the Full Tilt Poker pro went on a heater that allowed him to claw his way back into the match. Ivey finally put away Monnette when Monnette paired on the final hand, earning Ivey his sixth WSOP bracelet and the $96,361.
In the other final table played Event #7, the $1500 No Limit Hold’em tournament, saw Travis Johnson steamroll the final table on the way to his victory. The field started out at a huge 2791 players field and, as the final day started, 33 players still had a chance at victory. When Jacob Kalb was eliminated in tenth place just before the dinner break, the final table was set and returned to play after dinner.
Johnson came to the final table with the chip lead and never relinquished it throughout the six hours of play. His play was highly aggressive and it never appeared that his opponents could pick up any information on him, as he used both excellent cards and aggressive play to run roughshod over the table. It took less than an hour for Johnson to take care of the heads up battle against Steve Karp and to take away $666,853 in first place money along with the cherished WSOP bracelet.
Two tournaments played out their second days but were cut off before they could reach their respective final tables. A new rule instituted at this year’s World Series is that play in any tournament – unless it is set for internet or television broadcast the next day – is stopped at 3AM, presumably to allow for players (and other casino and media personnel) to rest. As a result of this rule, several of the tournaments over the first week have hit the 3AM curfew.
The two tournaments – the $1500 No Limit Hold’em Short-Handed (Event #9) and the $2500 Pot Limit Omaha/Pot Limit Hold’em (Event #10) will continue play this afternoon. Event #9 will continue on with eight players remaining from the 1459 original starters; 2006 WSOP bracelet winner Praz Banzi is chasing down chip leader Charles Furey for the $428,259 first place prize. Event #10 has 29 players remaining from the 453 player field with such notable names as Surinder Sunar, WPT champion Cornel Cimpan, Ben Grundy, Amit “amak316” Makhija and short stacked Hevad “Rain” Khan still in contention.
Two other events opened up action in the Amazon Room, a $2000 No Limit Hold’em tournament (Event #11) and the $10000 World Championship Mixed Event (Event #12).
In Event #11, 1646 players dropped the entry fee to take part and, by the end of the first day of action, 243 players remained in contention. When the tournament restarts at 2PM this afternoon, some of the top players still alive include T. J. Cloutier, Captain Tom Franklin and Phil Hellmuth.
As expected for the $10K World Championship tournaments, the 194 players who took part made it a tremendously pro laden field. Daniel Negreanu is leading a pack of contenders that include two time bracelet winner Eric Froehlich, Jimmy “gobboboy” Fricke, Vanessa Rousso, Nick Shulman, 2009 WSOP “Stimulus” champion Steve Sung, David Singer and 2008 WSOP bracelet winner Dario Mineri. This tournament restarts at 2PM also in the Amazon Ballroom.
Two more tournaments open for play today. Event #13, the $2500 No Limit Hold’em tournament, will start at noon and Event #14, the $2500 Limit Hold’em Short Handed event, will start at 5PM. Both tournaments should see a great deal of action as the World Series of Poker works its way deeper into its second week.
