Fourteen players returned for the final day of play in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) $2,500 buy-in Mixed Games event, but it took less than twelve hours for only one to be left standing as the latest bracelet winner. The final fourteen had several familiar faces including Kill Phil author Blair Rodman, The Mathematics of Poker co-author Jerrod Ankenman, Full Tilt Pro Jon “PearlJammer” Turner, online pros Jimmy “gobboboy” Fricke, recent WSOP bracelet winner Rami “arbianight” Boukai, Eric “jakz101” Crain and Chris “SLOPPYKLOD” Klodnicki as well as Dario Alioto and Layne Flack. In the end it was Ankenman who finally picked up his first bracelet after eight prior final table finishes, including two second places.
The stacked field reconvened at 2PM to play down to a winner and it didn’t take long for a short-stacked Blair Rodman to head for the door with Boukai right on his heels. Even though the eight-game rotation that comprised the Mixed Game event included predominantly Limit games, the action went quickly as players did their best to either double up our ship out.
The unfortunate bubble boy of the 8-handed final table was Fricke, who came into the day with the least amount of chips. He had so little faith about mounting a comeback that he also registered in the $10,000 buy-in Pot Limit Hold’em event that kicked off at noon. Fricke went from short stack to top three in chips, but just missed the official final table in 9th place.
When the official final table began Klodnicki, Alioto and Flack were all in desperate need of chips. Alioto was picked off first by Turner and Flack was the next to fall at the hands of Crain. Then it was Crain who subsequently lost huge back-to-back hands in the No Limit Hold’em round to go from big stack to 6th place finisher. The round of No Limit Hold’em that devastated Crain involved a number of monster pots in which two players at the six-handed table picked up aces, kings, or ace king. Klodnicki, who was short stacked most of the final table, got a much-needed double-up when his aces held against Jeff Tims’ kings to keep him in contention for the bracelet.
While the other players were getting knocked out, Turner, who was one of the bigger stacks when the final table began, was taking hits left and right in several instances in which he ended up with the second best hand. He got the remainder of his dwindling stack in during one of the Limit Hold’em hands but his [As][Jd] failed to hold against Ankenman’s [Kc][9s] and he was sent home in fifth. This is Turner’s second WSOP final table this year. He finished in 5th in the $10,000 Stud Hi/Lo Championship last week.
Tims fell next in fourth place and three-handed play didn’t last long before Klodnicki’s luck ran out. After managing to double several times throughout the day to stay alive, Klodnicki got it all-in during a Pot Limit Omaha round holding a flopped two pair to Ankenman’s overpair and straight and flush draw combination. The flush hit on the turn and last year’s 12th place Main Event finisher had to settle for third place.
In the end it came down to Ankenman and Altbregin for the bracelet. Both had formidable groups of supporters on the rail. Ankenman’s co-author PokerStars Pro Bill Chen, former WSOP Main Event winner Greg Raymer and Triple Crown winner Gavin Griffin were all on hand while Altbregin was able to turn to Alex Kostritsyn and Full Tilt Pro Vitaly Lunkin. While Altbregin began with the chip advantage, Ankenman was able to gradually chip away at him during the five limit games before finishing his opponent off during a No Limit Hold’em hand in which he flopped top pair and a straight draw holding [5s][6c] on a [6d][4s][3c] board. Altbregin’s [Jd][4d] failed to improve as Ankenman hit a [7c] on the turn to make his straight and secure his first WSOP victory.
After the win Ankenman spoke very highly of his opponent as well as the presence of Mixed Games at the WSOP. “I really like the Mixed Games format because it really shows off your chops as a good all-around player, instead of just all these tournaments everywhere else where they playing nothing but Hold’em”, Ankenman explained. “The WSOP is the last bastion of these kinds of games. Most of the other tournaments around Las Vegas and everywhere else it always is no-limit, no-limit, no-limit, no-limit.” This is only the third Mixed Games Event in WSOP history. The eight-game Mixed Game Events were added to the WSOP schedule just last year.
Elsewhere around the Rio, a couple of other non-Hold’em games were going. Despite having to pause play briefly after “Miami” John Cernuto collapsed during a hand from what was rumored to be internal bleeding, the $2,500 buy-in Razz event managed to whittle the field down to just 13 runners who will return tomorrow to play for the bracelet. Two players who are vying for WSOP Player of the Year, Jeffrey Lisandro and Ville Wahlbeck, are both still in the event. Lisandro returns Wednesday as the chip leader while Wahlbeck is the extreme short stack.
The other non-Hold’em game going Tuesday was the $2,500 buy-in Omaha H/L event, which drew 424 entrants. Less than half the field, 196 players to be precise, survived the day. Omaha H/L expert and two-time WSOP bracelet winner Thang Luu finished the day second in chips while online pro Kyle Bowker and Mickey Appleman ended up with top ten chip stacks at the conclusion of Day One.
The prestigious $10,000 buy-in Pot Limit Hold’em event began on Tuesday. Only 85 players in the small field of 275 survived Day One and will return at 2PM PT on Wednesday to try to play down to the final table. Several high profile names remain in the tournament including Toto Leonidas, recent WSOP bracelet winner Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin, Isaac Haxton, Full Tilt Pro Eric Seidel, Burt Boutin and Nenad Medic.
The $1,000 buy-in Seniors No Limit Hold’em event finished its second day of play with 28 players still in contention for the bracelet. Tom Thomas leads the field with 916,000 chips. Those players will return Wednesday to play down to a champion.
