Even without the Main Event in the books, we can be rest assured that this has been another highly successful year for the WSOP. Several records have been broken for attendance and millions of dollars worth of prize money has been generated for the winning tournament players.
Of course the World Series of Poker isn’t over quite just yet and we’ve got more events to report on including the heralded H.O.R.S.E. Championship where only the best poker players in the world gather to participate in Hold’em, Omaha, Razz, Stud, and Stud Eights or Better.
Event #46: Derek Raymond had never even cashed in the WSOP before playing this Omaha Hi-Lo tournament. However, he changed all that in a big way when he beat Mark Tenner heads-up for the $229,192 top prize and the win.
Event #47: 2008 4th place Main Event finisher Ylon Schwartz has fared much better than his fellow final table mates in this year’s WSOP. Shwartz was able to place third here and earn $112,967 while Bahador Ahmadi took first and earned $278,804 in addition to winning his first gold bracelet.
Event #48: Both Lee Watkinson and Brandon Cantu have had very successful poker careers, yet both only hold 1 WSOP bracelet. This Pot-Limit Omaha event guaranteed that one of them would earn a second bracelet since they faced off in a heads-up final to see who would emerge the victor. It turned out that the cards fell Cantu’s way and he pocketed $228,867 in addition to grabbing his second WSOP bracelet.
Event #49: Only the best of the best ante up the $50,000 buy-in for the World Championship of H.O.R.S.E. Unfortunately, many of the best must have stayed in their hotel rooms since only 95 players entered this tournament. Erik Seidel fell short in his attempt for a 9th bracelet after busting out in 8th while Huck Seed also made a run at the title before being knocked out in 5th. In the end, David Bach came out on top in this prestigious tourney and earned $1,276,806 in addition to major bragging rights.
Event #50: 17 events after winning his first gold bracelet, former professional hockey player Greg Mueller earned number 2 after defeating Marc Naalden in another matchup where the winner was eying a second bracelet. After besting the 571 player field Mueller earned $194,909 while Naalden took home $120,614.
Event #51: It was clear that whoever won this No-Limit Hold’em event was going to need some luck since 2,871 players signed up. With a huge $3,796,065 prize pool on the line, Joh Carsten rose to the challenge to get the biggest piece of it as he earned $664,436 for winning.
Event #52: The big story of this Triple Chance No-Limit Hold’em tournament was that players here were treated like second-class citizens since the final table had to be bounced around because of Main Event preparations. Everything worked in Jorg Peisert’s favor though since he was able to pocket $506,800 for winning.
Event #53: Dr. Max Stern was in the hunt for bracelet number four, but fell just short after finishing in 3rd place. This was all the better for David Halpern as he took the win here and the $159,390 first place prize.
Event #54: This $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em tournament brought in a huge crowd at 2,818 players with few notables able to make their way towards the top spots. At a final table full of virtual unknowns, Tony Veckey was the best of the bunch and earned $673,276 for winning.
Event #55: Abraham Mosseri led going into the final table and was able to take this momentum all of the way towards a first place finish. The win netted him a payday of $165,521.
Event #56: The last bracelet event before the Main Event had a massive $4,361,000 prize pool. This enabled the eventual winner, Matthew Hawrilenko to eclipse the $1 million mark after he earned $1,003,218 for taking first place.
