The first two starting days of the World Series of Poker Europe Main Event are now over, and record attendance numbers proved that Cannes, not London, is indeed the proper home of the WSOPE. A total of 593 runners paid their buy-ins on either Day 1a or Day 1b, crushing the previous attendance record of 362 set in 2008.
Lari Sihvo of Finland capped out Day 1b as the chip leader with nearly 145,000. Hot on his trail are Tommy Vedes, Constant Rijkenberg, Antonio Palma and Alex Kostritsyn, all of whom have at least 121k chips.
Day 1b attracted some of the most talented players in professional poker, with names such as Filippo Candio, Erik Cajelais, James Akenhead, Jonathan Duhamel, Graeme Putt, Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier and Benny Spindler all competing, sometimes even from the same table.
Unfortunately for Michael Mizrachi, the momentum from his win in WSOPE Event 5 did not carry over to the Main Event. Mizrachi hit the rail in the early stages of Day 1b, although his brother Robert remains in the runnings. Despite being seated at a table with poker experts including Sandra Najouks, Bryan Devonshire, Sorel Mizzi and Dominik Nitsche, Robert Mizrachi was able to briefly take the overall chip lead.
A number of talented pros were eliminated on Day 1b, including online poker phenom Viktor Blom. Other players destined for the rail were Sam Trickett, Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Dan Kelly, Steve Billirakis and Marvin Rettenmaier. A list of some even bigger names fell late in the day: Daniel Negreanu, Jonathan Duhamel, Sorel Mizzi, Andrew Feldman and WSOP Main Event final table competitor Matt Giannetti. John Tabatabai, who previously finished runner-up in the WSOPE Main Event, hit the rail as well.
Bruno Benveniste held the lead around the dinner break, booting James Mitchell shortly before, but Sihvo ultimately hold the most chips after the last level of play. A total of 328 players will reconvene for Day 2 on Monday.
Event 4 of the World Series of Poker Europe, a Shootout with a 3,200 Euro buy-in, is now over. Tristan Wade of the United States took home the title along with a first-place prize worth over 182k Euro.
With 10 players remaining on the final day of the tournament, Wade and other players requested and were granted a push-back of the blinds, allowing him to stay out of danger in the day’s early stages while observing his opponents. The move obviously proved to be a wise one.
John Armbrust, also of the U.S., was the first player to face elimination. He was caught in a bluff and crippled by Max Silver, and then knocked out a few hands later from the A-7 of Taylor Paur. Armbrust failed to improve his 6-6 on the board.
About an hour and a half later, James Dempsey was eliminated by Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, holding 8-8 against 9-9. Emil Patel then hit the rail in 7th place, followed shortly by Steve O’Dwyer. Patel and O’Dwyer received 28k and 36k Euro, respectively, for their performances.
Wade continued to gradually build his momentum, letting his opponents knock each other out and crossing the million-chip point before anyone else. Grospellier and Max Silver were then eliminated in 5th and 4th places, earning 48k and 63k Euro respectively, after a schooling from Michael Watson. Wade was responsible for the elimination of Richard Toth (84k Euro), and heads-up play ensued.
Wade had to face a minor chip deficit initially, but was able to grind down Watson’s stack, doubling up when he could and winning minor battles whenever possible. On the final hand, Watson pushed all-in with A-5 against Wade’s J-J. The board provided no help to either player, giving Wade the victory, the bracelet and over 182k Euro. Runner-up Watson scored 112k Euro of his own.
Oct 14 2011
Hellmuth’s last minute changes to Caesars Cup Team
written by: Steve Comments: Comments Off
Phil Hellmuth has been busy on Twitter over the past two days, as the captain of the Caesars Cup American Team scrambled to replace one of poker’s living legends in Doyle Brunson after learning that Doyle would not be making the trip to Cannes after all.
Totally bucking his earlier picks (which seemed more like a Hall of Fame list than an All-Star roster) Hellmuth bounced three names around, Jason Mercier, Ben Lamb, and Tom Dwan. In the end Hellmuth went with Mercier, who is perhaps the best tournament poker player over the past three years.
Another change was made to team America moments later when Hellmuth learned that another one of his picks, Huck Seed, would also be unavailable for the tournament. This time around Hellmuth went with Ben Lamb, and even though Seed is one of the best heads-up players in poker the American Team seems to be more formidable with the addition of the two younger players.
Here is a look at the new lineup of Team America:
- Phil Hellmuth
- Johnny Chan
- Daniel Negreanu
- Ben Lamb (replaces Huck Seed)
- Jason Mercier (replaces Doyle Brunson)
Team America will have its hands full with Team Europe captained by Bertrand “ElkY” Grosspellier who put together a very game lineup to throw against Hellmuth’s squad:
- Bertrand Grosspellier
- Max Lykov
- Jake Cody
- Gus Hansen
- Dario Minieri
Action is heating up quickly at the World Series of Poker Europe, where Andrew Hinrichsen of Australia just received a bracelet and almost 150,000 Euro for winning Event 2. The WSOPE’s second event featured an NLHE format and a 1,090 Euro buy-in, creating a rich payout schedule for the final table.
Unfortunately, Hinrichsen’s win also meant that Roberto Romanello, who earned WPT and EPT titles earlier in the year, would not be getting the coveted poker Triple Crown, at least not from this event. Although the Triple Crown is technically just for bragging rights, only four players have accomplished the feat in the past, and Romanello is undoubtedly kicking himself over his mistakes today.
Hinrichsen started the day with a strong chip stack, although it was a distant second to that of Gianluca Speranza of Italy. Speranza used his formidable chip pile to push Gregory Lejolivet and Eric Baudry out in 9th and 6th places, respectively. The knock-outs gave him over half of the tournament’s chips with a total of 5 players remaining.
Romanello was next to hit the rail when he was largely forced all-in with A-2. Bernard Guigon showed A-K on a garbage board, and Romanello headed to the cage to collect his 5th-place prize of just under 38k Euro. Guigon himself was next to fall, collecting over 50k Euro.
Hinrichsen’s momentum actually faltered significantly after the dinner break in three-handed play, until he finally scored a fairly lucky flush bringing 9-10 of hearts to showdown against the A-10 offsuit of Speranza. Hinrichsen continued to build his stack with another all-in push, this time improving 10-8 on the board against the pocket fives of Speranza.
On the final hand, both players held a pair of kings, but Hinrichsen had the better kicker with the ace of spades. Speranza was visibly disappointed despite receiving a second-place prize of over 91k Euro. Hinrichsen’s winnings came to just over 148k Euro.
Here is a look at an interesting E-Mail that just appeared in my inbox:
Something exciting is happening at DoylesRoom, and as a result, our software will require a scheduled downtime from 3:00am ET until 7:00am ET tomorrow Wednesday October 11th. When we’re back online, you’ll notice a transformation that’s going to change the poker landscape for the better.
DoylesRoom is becoming Americas CardRoom and the future is going to be amazing. Americas CardRoom and DoylesRoom are proud to announce the acquisition of DoylesRoom along with the rights to the player and affiliate database, the DoylesRoom software, staff, and player liability. But first, let’s talk about what won’t change:
- October’s Big Promos—everything remains intact
- Great Software—it’s exactly the same as before, except for some new colors and a brand new logo
- Your Login Credentials—sign in to the new software just as you would to DoylesRoom
- Your Account Assets—Information like hand histories, player notes, FPPs, bonuses, and more will remain intact
- Your Account Balance—it will remain 100% intact
- The Dedicated Staff—all the day-to-day people behind the scenes will remain on board
Apparently Americas CardRoom (first I’m hearing of this outfit, but apparently they were part of the first wave of online poker rooms in the early 2000’s and just relaunched) has purchased everything Doyles Room! It would appear that everything from player accounts to the entire staff of Doyles Room will now simply be rebranded as Americas CardRoom (no word yet if the “America” in Americas CardRoom means they will be accepting US players or not).
The E-Mail went on to explain the new features players will find at Americas CardRoom, which include:
- A $65,000 Points Race—that’s up from this month’s $50k
- A New Online Poker Super Series—it’s called ACROSS and it’s going to be unlike anything you’ve experienced before. End of November.
- An innovative loyalty program—coming very soon our VIP program that will crush any program in the industry
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