There was no rest for players on Sunday in the Amazon Room at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, as the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) drives into its third week of competition.
One final table on Sunday featured the survivors of the $1,500 Limit Hold’em tournament, Event #26 on this year’s WSOP schedule. After fighting through the original field of 643 players, 15 players came back to the felt to divvy up the lion’s share of the $844,000 prize pool and determine the latest bracelet winner in Sin City. The players went to work immediately and, with the high blinds, determined the final table within the first hour of play when Full Tilt Poker’s Richard “Quiet Lion” Brodie was the final table bubble boy in 10th place.
Leading the pack into the final table was veteran poker professional Al “Sugar Bear” Barbieri, who started the day’s play with the chip lead and added to it by eliminating three of the six players who left prior to the final table. He was followed on the leader board by Glenn Englebert and Tomas Alenius, who were within striking distance of Barbieri.
From the start, play was frenetic, as the field was cut to five players within the first hour of final table action. Barbieri maintained his lead, but was now being chased by Jason Tam and the aforementioned Alenius. After “Sugar Bear” dropped a few hands in a row, Alenius seized the lead and put more distance between himself and the remaining players by eliminating Englebert in fourth place. Down to three-handed action, the remaining players – Tam, Alenius and Barbieri – were separated by a mere 120,000 chips.
After the dinner break, Barbieri was eliminated in third place. Tam held nearly a 3:1 lead over Alenius as heads-up play began, but the Swede began to chip into that lead almost immediately. Thirty minutes into heads-up play, Alenius took the chip lead, only to see Tam seize it back on the very next hand. The two would swap the lead between each other until, after nearly an hour of play, Alenius rivered a full house against Tam that crippled him and gave Alenius a 3:1 advantage.
On the last hand, Tam got his chips into the center pre-flop when he capped the betting and showed [Qs] [5c]. Alenius was more than willing to gamble with [As] [4c] and, once the board blanked for both players, Alenius won the $1,500 Limit Hold’em title. For his efforts, the Swede banked a payday of $197,488 and his first WSOP bracelet.
Two tournaments will play down to their champions on Monday with Day Three action in Event #28, a $1,500 No Limit Hold’em contest, and Event #29, the $10,000 World Championship Heads-Up No Limit Hold’em. In Event #28, 27 players remain from the 2,638 who started the tournament on Saturday. Joe Simmons, who has six cashes in his WSOP career, has the chip lead and is the only player over a million in chips. His closest competitor is Jason “JP_OSU” Potter, who is stacked with 929,000 chips.
While this tournament is battling to its final table, much of the attention of the fans in the Amazon Room may be taken by Event #29. After 12 hours of play, eight players remain from the original 256 player field and WSOP history could possibly be in the making. Legendary professional Johnny Chan is one of those remaining in the Elite Eight, looking to earn his record-tying 11th WSOP bracelet. The field will be tough, however, as the brackets match up as such when play continues this afternoon:
Leo Wolpert versus Dustin “Neverwin” Woolf
Jamin Stokes versus Johnny Chan
Nathan Doudney versus Bryan Pellegrino
John Duthie versus Steve O’Dwyer
Of the remaining players in Event #29, Duthie and Woolf have the most professional experience other than Chan. Duthie is a legendary European pro with a lengthy track record and Woolf brings 15 cashes in his WSOP career to the battle. The action will kick off at 2:00pm Pacific Time.
Two tournaments pick up this afternoon after finishing their Day One proceedings early Monday morning. In Event #30, a $2,500 Pot Limit Omaha tournament, 63 players remain from the original starting grid of 436. Such pros as Barry Greenstein, 2008 WSOP Player of the Year Erick Lindgren, Katja Thater, and Daniel Negreanu will not be around for Day Two play, but 2008 WSOP Europe champion John Juanda, Hendon Mobster Ross Boatman, and 2009 WSOP double bracelet winner Phil Ivey are still in the hunt. The field will crack the 45 player money bubble this afternoon and may be down to the final table before the 3:00am WSOP curfew.
Event #31, the $1,500 HORSE tournament, drew a surprising 770 players for its Day One action. Per the nature of the game that is said to be the test of a poker player’s abilities, approximately 240 survived to play down to the final table. At this point, Ireland’s Andy Black is the chip leader.
Two more tournaments are scheduled for their Day One premieres on the WSOP stage. Event #32, the $2,000 No Limit Hold’em tournament, and the $10,000 World Championship Limit Hold’em (Event #33) will both kick off today in the Amazon Room. Play begins in these tournaments at Noon Pacific Time.
The WSOP is ready for the potential for history to be made once again. Can Chan tie Phil Hellmuth for the all-time WSOP bracelet lead? Poker News Daily will have reports on not just Chan’s pursuit, but all of the WSOP action as it happens.
