After the flurry of bracelets won by Canadian players over the past few days, Saturday saw another deep run by Owen Crowe in pursuit of Canada’s fourth bracelet of the 2011 WSOP. Sunday’s attention will be on the Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo World Championship, where defending World Champion Jonathan Duhamel has gotten off to a good start.
Event #28 – $1500 No Limit Hold’em – Final Day
Two Canadians were a part of the 28 men who returned to action in Event #28 on Saturday seeking a WSOP championship bracelet. One of the gentlemen, Montreal’s Gabriel Rouleau, was eliminated by Stephen Falcon in eighteenth place, while Halifax’s Owen “ocrowe” Crowe was very active in the early going. By the time the final table was determined, Owen had worked his way into the fourth place position, almost two million chips behind chip leader Steven Merrifield.
After a break for dinner, Crowe’s attempt to climb the leader board was derailed by Merrifield. The duo battled on every street of a 3-A-4-J-6 board, with Merrifield taking the pot with his rivered set of sixes (Owen mucked his cards, but it can be logically figured that he held A-x) and knocking Crowe onto life support. He delayed the inevitable, but Owen finally ran out of chips in the tournament when he was eliminated by Andy Frankenberger.
Frankenberger came to the final table second in chips behind Merrifield and, using the chips from Crowe, continued to slowly ascend the leader board. Down to heads up action against Joshua Evans and behind in chips, Frankenberger found a key double up when he flopped Broadway against Evans’ A-10 to seize the lead. Soon after that hand, Frankenberger ended the tournament when he flopped two pair (J-7) against the J-10 of Evans on a 5-7-J board. Once no ten came to the rescue, Andy Frankenberger was crowned the champion of Event #28, taking home the $599,153 first place prize and the WSOP bracelet.
Event #29 – $2500 Six Handed Ten Game Mixed Event – Final Day (Suspended)
It was going to be a difficult task, but the nineteen men who came back on Saturday for the Ten Game Mixed Event were supposed to determine a champion. Following the full allotment of ten rounds of play, three men will come back on Sunday to wrap up the tournament.
Leading the triumvirate will be Chris Lee (1.4 million), who will be facing off against Brian Haveson (997K) and Travis Pearson (813K) for the title. At stake for these three on Sunday will be the $254,955 first place prize and the WSOP bracelet.
North York’s Septimiu Popescu (12th place) joined Shawn Buchanan as the only two Canadians who cashed in the event.
Event #30 – $1000 Seniors’ No Limit Hold’em Championship –Day 2
Only 37 runners remain from the massive 3752 player field that started this tournament on Friday, and only one Canadian, Welland’s Donald Belanger, remains in the event. Belanger has a great deal of work to do if he wants a shot at the WSOP bracelet, however, as he currently sits in 33th place with 113,000 in chips (chip leader Craig Koch currently sits with 915K).
There were several over-50 Canadians who took home money from the 396 players who cashed in the event. Hamilton’s William Hamilton (45th), Richmond’s Ronald Nutt (59th), St. Albert’s Edward Balchen (97th), St. Catherine’s Calogero Maltese (103rd), Edmonton’s Dwight Koch (111th), Sorrento’s Francesco Costa (205th), Winnipeg’s Gregory Jackson (219th), Ladysmith’s Glen Beaudin (242th), Pierrefonds’ Robert Taylor (246th), Kenora’s Timothy Gauthier (274th), Oakville’s Sherry Ripa (288th), Coquitlam’s Chung Liang (337th) and Rene Angelil (371st) all can now say they have cashed in a WSOP event.
The championship is supposed to be decided today, with the victor receiving the $557,435 first place prize and the title of WSOP Seniors’ Champion.
Event #31 – $3000 Pot Limit Omaha – Day 2
26 players will come back to the felt today to determine the champion of the $3000 Pot Limit Omaha tournament. With its 685 player field, 63 players took home a return on their investment, with Vancouver’s Chris Back (36th), Edmonton’s Sonu Sharma (48th) and Woodbridge’s Joe Gualtieri (54th) all earning a WSOP cash for their poker resumes.
When the cards fly on Sunday, Canada’s lone survivor, Mississauga’s Andrew Chen, will look to move up from his thirteenth place position (189K in chips). Leading the field is Sam Stein with 843,000 in chips, and Day 1 leader Ben Lamb is in second. Other notables on the leader board including Christian “charder30” Harder, two time WSOP bracelet winner Brock Parker, Adam Junglen and Tex Barch. The champion of this first ever $3000 PLO event will take the WSOP bracelet and the $420,802 victory check.
Event #32 – $1500 No Limit Hold’em – Day 1
2828 hopefuls came to the tables for the Day 1 action in the latest $1500 NLHE event. By the early morning hours of Sunday, only 362 remained alive to continue to play later in the day. The field has some work to do today, determining the 293 players who will cash in the tournament and (perchance) determining the final table for Monday. In all likelihood, there will be several tables left by the end of action on Sunday
Event #33 – $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo World Championship – Day 1
An impressive field of 168 players turned up for the latest World Championship battle at the WSOP. Every table featured notable pros, making for a difficult day for the Joe Everyman who decided to step up in this event, and by the end of the day there were only 127 players remaining.
Defending World Champion Jonathan Duhamel has made his mark in the early going, steadily working his chip stack up to 56,000 from its starting level of 30K. Other Canadians in the field include Pat Pezzin, Sorel Mizzi and Gavin Smith, but Sorel and Gavin are in need of some chips if they are to continue the fight on Sunday. Continuing what has been, for him, a dismal WSOP to this point (one cash), Daniel Negreanu was eliminated during Day 1 play.
The runner up to Duhamel in last year’s WSOP Main Event, John Racener, has seized the chip lead on Day 1, but there is a long way to go in this tournament. Originally scheduled as a three day event, the (fanciful?) idea is for the final table to be determined today, with the championship determined tomorrow. At stake is the latest World Championship crown, the WSOP bracelet and $442,183 in first place cash.
STARTING TODAY: Event #34 – $1000 No Limit Hold’em
The latest $1000 NLHE event steps to the felt at noon today and it is likely that this lowest buy-in event of the WSOP will push the limits of the Rio’s poker arena. While Event #8, a previous $1000 buy-in tournament that drew 4178 and was won by Sean Getzwiller, may be a precursor to today’s tournament, there is a major difference. Event #8 was a five day tournament with two Day Ones, while today’s event is a three day tournament. Still, expect a sizeable field around 3750 for this massive battle.
The third weekend of action at the 2011 WSOP is coming to a close. More than half the events have either been completed or are in play at this moment, but there is still a tremendous amount of action left to come over the next month of tournaments on the 2011 World Series of Poker schedule, including the penultimate $10,000 Championship Event beginning on July 7th.
