Wednesday was one of the busiest days in the history of the World Series of Poker (WSOP), as not only was the official Tournament of Champions lineup released, but also three tournaments played down to a champion at the Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Among the winners was Jeff Tebben, a medical supplies salesman from Missouri, who beat Poker News Daily’s J.D. McNamara heads-up to win his first bracelet in the $1,000 No Limit Hold ’em Event #24.
McNamara took the chip lead into the final day with a stack of 2,393,000, with Kiet Tran directly on his heels with 2,311,000. Tebben entered the final table ninth in chips with 466,000, but grinded his way back and took the lead when play was three-handed. He took a sizeable advantage into heads-up play after sending Tran home in third. The short-stacked Tran moved all-in preflop with Qc-9c and was called by Tebben with pocket nines. The board ran out Tc-Ts-3c-6s-Jd and Tebben stacked up 6,970,000 chips to McNamara’s 2,900,000.
The rest of the tournament was decided in less than 25 minutes. On the final hand, McNamara raised to 280,000 on the button and was called by Tebben. Both players checked the Ks-Ts-8d flop and the Kd came on the turn. Tebben bet 350,000 and McNamara called. The river was the 7c and Tebben checked. McNamara bet 325,000 and Tebben moved all-in. McNamara took almost no time in calling, but his pocket jacks were trumped by Tebben’s Kc-2s for trip kings, and Tebben was awarded his first WSOP bracelet.
1. Jeff Tebben — $503,389
2. J.D. McNamara — $310,248
3. Kiet Tran — $223,665
4. Denis Murphy — $162,568
5. David Cai — $119,410
6. Blake Kelso — $88,654
7. David Tolbert — $66,513
8. Greg Pohler — $50,410
9. Michael Gross — $38,629
In the $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo Event #25, David Warga picked up his second career WSOP bracelet and $208,682 by besting a field of 643 players and a final table that included David Levi, Karina Jett, and Allen Bari. Warga won his first bracelet in the 2002 Limit Hold’em Casino Employees Event and became the first player to ever win a casino employees event and an open event at the WSOP.
Warga, a 41-year-old former real estate investor-turned poker pro, played Maxwell Troy for the title early Thursday morning. Troy led the field entering the final day of play, but Warga eliminated Levi in third place to take a 5-1 chip advantage into heads-up play. It proved to be too much to overcome, as Warga removed Troy from the table in less than a half-hour.
1. David Warga — $208,682
2. Maxwell Troy — $129,253
3. David Levi — $87,400
4. Karina Jett — $60,588
5. Christopher George — $42,913
6. Jonathan Bascom — $31,046
7. Chris Tryba — $22,926
8. Allen Bari — $17,274
Wednesday proved to be the day of the underdog, as William Haydon battled back from being short-stacked to win the $2,500 Six-Handed No Limit Hold’em Event #26. Haydon, who entered the final table last in chips, defeated online poker pro Jeff “jpapola” Papola to win his first bracelet and $630,031.
The event, which attracted 1,245 players on Day 1, saw several big names fall just short of a shot at the bracelet, including Justin “Boosted_J” Smith (8th), Daniel Negreanu (16th), David Benefield (20th), and Sorel Mizzi (25th). In the end, it was Haydon who clinched his shot at glory when his A-J held up against the A-6 of Papola after all the chips went in pre-flop.
1. Will Haydon — $630,031
2. Jeff Papola — $391,068
3. Joe Baldwin — $248,265
4. Eddy Scharf — $163,649
5. Jarred Solomon — $110,903
6. Steve Cowley — $77,228
On Thursday, a winner will be crowned in the prestigious $10,000 Limit Hold’em Championship. The event started with 171 players on Tuesday and whittled down to 13 before play ended Wednesday evening. Kyle Ray leads the way with 643,000 chips, but among those still vying for the title are David Baker, Brock Parker, Michael Mizrachi, and David Chiu.
Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the continuous updates from the 2010 WSOP.
