Large crowds formed in the back of the Amazon Room Saturday afternoon to watch Doyle Brunson and son Todd Brunson play at the same table of the $10,000 buy-in World Championship Mixed Event during the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP). That was with 20 players remaining. By the end of the night, the crowd had trimmed down as both Brunsons and most of the other big names had been eliminated.
Ville Wahlbeck didn’t seem to mind in the least. Wahlbeck defeated former World Poker Tour (WPT) Championship titleholder David Chiu heads-up for his first WSOP bracelet and $492,375. The 33 year-old from Finland took the chip lead into the final table, lost it to Chiu, and then took it back when he eliminated Scott dorinvandy Dorin in third place.
On the final hand of the tournament, with Wahlbeck holding a sizable chip advantage, Chiu moved all-in preflop during the Omaha High-Low round and Wahlbeck made the call:
Chiu: {Ac}{5c}{Ts}{9d}
Wahlbeck: {Ad}{Qd}{8d}{8s}
Chiu held the best hand by the turn, but a King on the river gave Wahlbeck Broadway and the title. Chiu took home $304,176 for his efforts.
It was Wahbeck’s second $10,000 World Championship final table in less than a week, as he also took third in the Seven Card Stud version (Freddie Ellis was the eventual winner). On Saturday, he became the first Finnish player to win a WSOP bracelet and increased his earnings for the week to over $600,000.
The final results from the $10,000 Mixed Games World Championship were as follows:
1. Ville Wahlbeck – $492,375
2. David Chiu – $304,176
3. Scott Dorin – $199,940
4. Mark Gregorich – $139,159
5. Huck Seed – $102,286
6. James Van Alstyne – $79,181
7. Mike Wattel – $64,373
8. Todd Brunson – $54,854
The $2,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em final table was filled with unfamiliar faces. In the end, it was 28-year-old online poker pro Anthony Harb who took home the coveted WSOP bracelet by defeating Peter Rho. The final hand of the night came when Harb was dealt Q-10 against Rho’s 9-8. After the final board showed K-9-8-J-4, Rho moved all-in with two pair. Harb called with the nut straight and raked in the last pot of the tournament.
Harb’s biggest live cash coming into the tournament came in Event #32 of the 2008 WSOP, a $1,500 No Limit Hold’em contest. In that event, he earned $3,773 for finishing 121st. “The gold bracelet means a lot,” Harb said following his victory. “It means I am here to stay. I made it through this very tough field against all of these pros. I can say that I hung with the best of the best.” He added, “The money helps out a lot. It gives me a big bankroll. It means I have the opportunity to play in a lot more tournaments.”
Rho is now making it a tradition to finish second in major poker tournaments. The Duke University graduate finished as the runner-up in the 2009 Aussie Millions to Stewart Scott for $932,862. Third place finisher Jim Geary joined Wahlbeck as the first two players at this year’s WSOP to make two final table appearances. He also finished seventh in the $1,500 buy-in Omaha High-Low Split event.
Here were the final results from the $2,000 No Limit Hold ’em event:
1. Anthony Harb – $569,199
2. Peter Rho – $350,019
3. Jim Geary – $230,670
4. Adam Adler – $161,768
5. Jonathan McGowan – $116,830
6. Adrian Dresel-Velasquez – $92,867
7. Scott Hall – $76,390
8. Micheal Dyer – $65,905
9. Brent Sheirbon- $59,315
Twenty players will return at 1:00 PT on Sunday to play for a bracelet in the $2,500 buy-in No Limit Hold’em event. Phil Ivey is the biggest name left in the field, but he was crippled toward the end of Day 2. Ivey will have around two big blinds to play with when he takes his seat. Other big names in the field are Roland De Wolfe and Kirill Gerasimov. Gregg Merkow is the chip leader with 932,000
Event #14, the $1,500 Six-Handed Limit Hold’em tournament, will also play down to a winner on Sunday. Eleven of the original 367 players are still alive, with PokerStars Team Pro Daniel Negreanu sitting second in chips. He won his fourth WSOP bracelet in a Limit Hold’em event last year. Barry Schulman and Shawn Buchanan are also looking to scoop up the bracelet and $223,688 prize.
Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for continuing coverage of the 2009 WSOP.
