In the finale of Event #24 of the 2012 World Series of Poker (WSOP), $5,000 Omaha High-Low Split Eight or Better, former Main Event champion Scotty Nguyen (pictured) fell short of his sixth career bracelet. Instead, Joe Cassidy prevailed and booked a $294,000 payday. Cassidy is from Las Vegas, grew up in Wyoming, and attended George Washington University.Coverage found on WSOP.com detailed Cassidy's early poker exploits: "Cassidy diverted a career path once set to become a lawyer when he began playing poker regularly in Atlantic City, a four-hour drive from his dorm in the nation's capital. Once Cassidy discovered a penchant for the game and an aptitude for success, he began concentrating on cash games, where he spent most of his playing time over the past eight years as a pro."
The final eight players in the Omaha High-Low Split tournament consisted of several heavy-hitters in poker. For example, joining Nguyen and Cassidy was eight-time bracelet winner Phil Ivey, who reached his third final table of the 2012 WSOP after sitting out last year's festivities. Eighth place belonged to Mike Matusow, who holds three bracelets and made the final table of the 2005 Main Event for $1 million.
Heads-up play between Cassidy and Nguyen lasted about two hours. Here were the final table results:
1. Joe Cassidy - $294,777
2. Scotty Nguyen - $182,213
3. Phil Ivey - $136,046
4. Meng La - $102,260
5. Gregory Jamison - $77,342
6. Elie Doft - $58,873
7. Bart Hanson - $45,084
8. Mike Matusow - $34,748
9. Ryan Lenaghan - $26,940
We'd be amiss if we didn't talk about Event #28, $2,500 No Limit Hold'em Four-Max. This brand new tournament on the WSOP docket began on Thursday with 750 players and after one day, the field has been slashed to 88. As you'd expect, members of the PocketFives community can be found in droves, including World Poker Tour personality Tony Bond18 Dunst (pictured), who sits in third place entering Day 2 with a stack of 162,000, trailing chip leader Steven Weiss' 171,000 and bracelet winner Brian tsarrast Rast's 168,000.PocketFives' WSOP coverage is brought to you by HogWild Poker. Next Thursday, June 21, HogWild Poker is holding a special U.S.-friendly PocketFives Open. There's no cost to buy in and we're giving away a Kindle Fire, $250 in cash on DraftDay, 250,000 HogBucks, and a special prize package from the Napa Valley Casino. Mark your calendars for next Thursday, June 21, at 9:00pm ET. Register for HogWild Poker here.
We're six eliminations away from the money bubble in Event #28 and a first place prize of nearly $400,000 is on the line. One of the late casualties of Thursday's play was Bertrand ElkY Grospellier, whose name we seem to be mentioning every day in our WSOP recaps here on PocketFives. The Frenchman Tweeted his demise: "Brutal bust-out, top two vs underpair, all-in turn and I get 2 outed lol. #sosick #nextiguess."
Also trending downward as Thursday ground to a close in Event #28 was inaugural WSOP Europe Main Event winner Annette Annette_15 Obrestad (pictured), who had an opponent on the ropes with jacks against K-J. A flop of 10-9-5 gave her foe a gutshot, which hit on the river. Nevertheless, Obrestad survived to see Day 2 with a stack of 33,200 and is seeking her second in the money finish of the 2012 WSOP. She reached the quarterfinals of Event #3, $3,000 Heads-Up No Limit Hold'em/Pot Limit Omaha.Mohsin chicagocards1 Charania was also in action in the Four-Max event and doubled up courtesy of poker pro Gavin Smith on Day 1 after getting his chips in ahead with A-Q against A-9. The board ran out A-J-6-6-5, giving Charania aces-up with a queen kicker. He ended the day with a stack of 16,500.
Here are the top 10 chip stacks in Event #28 after one day of play. When play stopped on Tuesday, the blinds were at 400-800 with an ante of 100:
1. Steven Weiss - 171,000
2. Brian tsarrast Rast - 168,000
3. Tony Bond18 Dunst - 162,800
4. Sam KingKobeMVP Stein - 154,200
5. Shankar Its nap time Pillai - 150,000
6. Jason JAKoon1985 Koon - 139,000
7. Brendon BrendonR Rubie - 126,000
8. Darryll DFish Fish - 125,700
9. Lex RaSZi Veldhuis - 102,200
10. Joe Tehan - 96,600
Other members of PocketFives remaining with at least 50,000 in chips include:
Matt Plattsburgh Vengrin - 90,000
Jake neverbluff67 Cody - 85,000
Davidi legrouzin Kitai - 80,000
David DavidP18 Peters - 65,000
Josh brikdog24 Brikis - 56,000
Steve MrTimCaum O'Dwyer - 50,000
Stay tuned to PocketFives for the latest WSOP news.
