2009 has seen the World Series of Poker get off to its best start in history, and things don’t look to be slowing down any time soon either. Plenty of WSOP events have sold out and this is already gearing up to be the biggest WSOP ever. And it’s only fitting that, in what is potentially the biggest WSOP ever, there have been some incredible storylines.
Thang Luu became the first person to win the exact same event two years in a row after taking down the Event #3 Omaha Hi/Low tournament while Phil Ivey captured his sixth WSOP bracelet with a win in the Deuce to Seven Lowball Draw event. Let’s see what other great stories have transpired in the last week.
Event #16: This Seven Card Stud tournament was one of smallest WSOP events in recent memory since the prize pool was only $490,035. Jeffrey Lisandro wasn’t complaining though as he made quick work of the final table and cashed for $124,975 after winning this event.
Event#17: Lisa Hamilton became the first female gold bracelet winner of the 2009 WSOP when she battled her way through a field of 1,060 women to get the win. She defeated Lori Bender in heads-up play and cashed for $195,390 while Bender earned $120,575 for getting second place.
Event#18: The World Championship of Omaha Hi/Low was a true championship as this $10,000 buy-in event featured one of the toughest fields ever. The final table consisted of several bracelet winners including Daniel Negreanu, Annie Duke, and Scott Clements. In the end, it was Daniel Alaei coming out on top as he grabbed his second career bracelet and $445,898.
Event#19: Though he’s had a solid WSOP career with 14 cashes, Brock “t soprano” Parker wasn’t a big name coming into this year’s event. However, that’s all changed now since Parker won his second bracelet of the 2009 WSOP after taking down this 6-Handed No-Limit Hold’em tournament. For the win, Parker picked up another $552,745 and is in serious contention for Player of the Year honors.
Event#20: Erik Seidel was looking to move one bracelet closer to Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan, and Phil Hellmuth with #9 on the line in this Pot-Limit Hold’em tourney. However, John-Paul Kelly stole his thunder in becoming the first English WSOP champion in almost two years.
Event #21: This H.O.R.S.E. tournament featured one of the longest final tables in WSOP history as the players grinded out the final day to see who would take home the victory. Zac Fellows proved to be the marathon man in this case and cashed for $311,899.
Event#22: Yet another event to reach its cap, this No-Limit Hold’em Shootout tournament saw the 1,000 player field quickly cut down to the final 10 players. Jeff Carris came out the big winner here and earned $311,673 with his victory.
Event#23: Another world championship was on the line in this Deuce to Seven Lowball Draw tournament. Seven Sung made a run at his second bracelet of the 2009 WSOP before falling just short in 3rd place while Nick Schulman picked up the win and $279,742. 2008 WSOPE Main Event champion John Juanda also had a solid finish after placing 4th.
Event#24: 2,506 players decided to jump in this $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em tournament which created a big prize pool at $3,420,690. Pete Vilandos beat Andy Seth heads-up to win the biggest chunk of this prize pool at $607,256.
Event#25: People have often regarded Phil Ivey as the best all-around poker player in the world, but he still trailed Phil Hellmuth by 5 WSOP bracelets coming into this Omaha/Seven Card Stud tournament. That lead was cut down to 4 bracelets though after Ivey picked up his second bracelet of the 2009 WSOP and earned $220,538 in the process.
Event #26: This $1,500 Limit Hold’em tourney featured 643 players, but Tomas Alenius was the only one of the bunch who would be taking home a gold bracelet as he earned the victory and $197,509.
Event#27: After John-Paul Kelly won Event #20, we didn’t have to wait long for a second English winner since Roland de Wolfe won this Pot-Limit Hold’em Hi/Low tournament. In winning this tourney, de Wolfe also became just the second player other than Gavin Griffin to win EPT, WSOP, and WPT titles.
Event#28: Rebuys and Add-ons pushed this No-Limit Hold’em event’s prize pool to $3,600,870. Mike Eise and Jeff Chang fought over the $639,331 top prize with Eise pulling away in the end to capture the win.
Event#29: 256 players were willing to ante up the $10,000 buy-in for the World Championship of Heads-up No-Limit Hold’em. Leo Wolpert proved he is among the elite heads-up players in the world since he won this tournament and cashed for $625,682.
Event#30: J.C. Tran won his first WSOP bracelet last year and came back this year with another victory after claiming the win in Event #30. This Pot-Limit Omaha tournament win earned Tran a $235,685 payday.
