There were two exciting final tables happening in the Amazon Room at the Rio on the night of June 16. Many took an interest in the tournaments, especially the $10K NLHE Six-Handed event that offered the chance to watch several big names compete.
In that $10K championship event, two players who knew what it was like to take center stage in the poker world battled for a highly coveted title, and 2009 WSOP Main Event champion Joe Cada broke through to claim it. He became the first WSOP Main Event champion since the poker boom to win another bracelet since that big win.
Brett Shaffer took down the other final table of the night, doing something that most players only dream of. He won a high-payout NLHE tournament for a bracelet, just a year after winning his first. Two bracelets in two years is quite the accomplishment, especially for an up-and-coming pro.
As we proceed with the WSOP over the halfway hump, join us for all of the action at the Rio … or keep it here for the daily updates to keep you as informed as possible.
Event 31: $1,500 NLHE (Day 3 of 3)
This particular $1,500 NLHE event at the 2014 WSOP started with these figures:
Entries: 1,631
Prize pool: $2,201,850
Places paid: 171
After Day 2 thinned the field from 187 to just 15 players, Day 3 took care of the rest. Jonnie Kedj was the first to exit on Monday, taking home $18,583 for the 15th place finish, and the tenth place bustout of Steven McNally for $23,317 set the final table.
RJ Sullivan started as the chip leader but trailed Brett Shaffer going into heads-up play. It only took 13 hands for Shaffer to grab the gold, his second one in two years.
1st place: Brett Shaffer ($418,435)
2nd place: RJ Sullivan ($258,695)
3rd place: Matt Stout ($170,247)
4th place: Peter Gould ($122,731)
5th place: Aleksandr Gofman ($89,835)
6th place: Robert Schmidt ($66,176)
7th place: Rob Wazwaz ($50,246)
8th place: Jim Jakobsen ($39,356)
9th place: Jason Vanstrom ($29,658)
Event 32: $10K NLHE Six-Handed (Day 3 of 3)
The short-handed championship event brought an impressive field to the Rio:
Entries: 264
Prize pool: $2,481,600
Places paid: 30
Day 2 reduced the number of players from 97 to 13, all of whom returned on Day 3 to play for the bracelet. Layne Flack was the first to bust for $28,414, and he was followed by Lee Markholt, Scott Clements, Hiren Patel, George Danzer, and Kyle White. The elimination of Martin Jacobson in seventh place for $66,382 set the final table.
Action moved forward through the night, and the third place exit of Max Silver set off heads-up play with Jeremy Ausmus leading Joe Cada. The latter came on strong and chipped up as the two battled back and forth. Finally, Cada doubled through to 7.38 million chips, and short-stacked Ausmus doubled but then tried again with jacks only to meet the queens of Cada. The 2009 WSOP Main Event champion captured his second bracelet.
1st place: Joe Cada ($670,041)
2nd place: Jeremy Ausmus ($414,104)
3rd place: Max Silver ($273,646)
4th place: JC Tran ($185,971)
5th place: Erick Lindgren ($129,192)
6th place: Dario Sammartino ($91,670)
Event 33: $1K NLHE (Day 2 of 3)
One of the mid-Series $1K NLHE events drew this field and payout numbers:
Entries: 1,688
Prize pool: $1,519,200
Places paid: 170
First place prize: $288,744
Day 2 brought 115 players back to the felt, all of whom were in the money and guaranteed at least $2,369 for their efforts. Some who cashed throughout the afternoon and evening were Mickey Appleman, Victor Ramdin, Pierre Neuville, Todd Terry, Dan Kelly, and Martin Finger.
Faraz Jaka ultimately busted in 11th place for $16,088, leaving just 10 players at the unofficial final table for the last day of play. They were:
1. Will Givens (1,217,000)
2. Steven Norden (910,000)
3. Dutch Boyd (812,000)
4. Paul Cogliano (576,000)
5. Vinny Pahuja (461,000)
6. David Omsted (251,000)
7. Chad Dixon (240,000)
8. Gabrial Nassif (231,000)
9. Pok Kim (194,000)
10. Christopher Sensoli (156,000)
Event 34: $1,500 Seven Card Stud (Day 2 of 3)
A low buy-in Stud event proved quite popular and registered these numbers:
Entries: 345
Prize pool: $465,750
Places paid: 40
First place prize: $118,785
Day 2 had only 60 players when it started and thinned the field to the money bubble. Cashes began in the afternoon hours with players like Robert Mizrachi, Cyndy Violette, Marcel Luske, John D’Agostino, Vladimir Shchemelev, Robert Turner, Phil Laak, and Bryan Campanello exiting in the money.
Daniel Negreanu finished tenth and Steve Sung ninth, each taking home $8,504, and the final table was set Bryn Kenney at the top of the leaderboard. Play moved forward as David Prager and Mallory Smith took to the rail, and the night ended with these six players remaining:
1. Aleksandr Denisov (668,000)
2. William Thompson (415,000)
3. Bryn Kenney (165,000)
4. Eric Buchman (164,000)
5. Alex Kravchenko (104,000)
6. Nabih Helmi (36,000)
Event 35: $5K NLHE Eight-Handed (Day 1 of 3)
A higher buy-in NLHE tournament offered an eight-handed format for players looking for a challenge just past the midway point of the Series. When registration closed, the stats were as follows:
Entries: 550
Prize pool: $2,585,000
Places paid: 56
First place prize: $633,3412013 entries: 481
2013 prize pool: $2,260,700
The first day saw quite a few players leave the field and only 170 to bag their chips when play stopped. Without official chip counts released, the top notables in the field were listed as:
1. Sam Trickett (172,000)
2. Dan Smith (144,000)
3. Steven Kerr (122,900)
4. Fred Kulikowski (122,500)
5. Noah Vaillancourt (119,000)
Event 34: $1,500 No Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball (Day 1 of 3)
With so many mixed game players coming up in the game, this seemed like a good event for schedulers to add for 2014. The low buy-in 2-7 tournament drew a fair amount of interest:
Entries: 241
Prize pool: $325,350
Places paid: 28
First place prize: $89,483No corresponding 2013 event.
There were only 38 players still holding chips when play stopped for the night, and the official chip counts revealed these at the top of the leaderboard:
1. Brian Rast (62,950)
2. Joseph Cheong (54,475)
3. Samuel Touil (50,525)
4. Scott Blackman (50,000)
5. Bryce Yockey (49,625)
On Tap for June 17
Events 33 and 34 will play through their final tables.
Events 35 and 36 will try to set their final tables or get as close as possible.
Event 37 ($1,500 PLO) is expected to be a big one and begins at noon, and Event 38 ($10K Seven Card Stud Hi-Low) will launch into action at 4pm.
Editor’s Note: Cardschat.com reporter Jennifer Newell is on site in Las Vegas, and will be offering daily news recaps throughout World Series of Poker 2014. Check back here daily for a detailed accounting of events, exclusive interviews, and anything of interest regarding WSOP.
