WSOP: David Peters Wins First Bracelet; Mizrachi Makes $50K Final Table
Three players won their first career bracelet at the2016 World Series of Poker on Tuesday, but none will get more attention than the one that walked out of the latest $1,500 No Limit Hold’em event. David Peters, with wins all over the world over his career, finally broke through to capture the first bracelet of his career. And while Justin Bonomo has the final table chip lead in the $50,000 Poker Players Championship, he’s not the player everybody is talking about right now. Michael Mizrachi is still in with a shot at winning the event for the third time in its 11-year history. Mizrachi is right behind Bonomo with just six players remaining.
Event #55: Michael Mizrachi Gunning for Third $50,000 Poker Players Championship Title
One player winning any one particular WSOP event three times is a rare enough feat as it is. Doing it against arguably the toughest tournament field of the year is another story altogether. Thats’s what Michael Mizrachi is on the verge of though. Mizrachi finished with the third biggest stack in the $50,000 Poker Players Championship on Tuesday and now headlines a final table that could become one for the history books.
Leading the final six players is Justin Bonomo with 7,750,000. Sandwiched between Bonomo and Mizrachi, who finished with 5,535,000, is Lamar Wilkinson with 7,045,000. Eric Wasserson, Brian Rast and Ray Dehkharghani round out the six-handed final table.
Day 4 of the event began with 13 players still in contention for the bracelet, Chip Reese Memorial Trophy and $1,296,097 first place prize money. Reigning champion Mike Gorodinsky was eliminated in 13th place. Right behind him, Daniel Negreanu went out in 12th. Former PocketFives #1-ranked player Paul Volpe was then eliminated in 10th.
Daniel Alaei, who had cashed in this event twice before, added a third score to his total, finishing in eighth place.
The final six players return to the felt at 2 PM PT and the final table will be streamed on WSOP.com.
Final Table Chip Counts
- Justin Bonomo – 7,750,000
- Lamar Wilkinson – 7,045,000
- Michael Mizrachi – 5,535,000
- Eric Wasserson – 3,800,040
- Brian Rast – 3,185,000
- Ray Dehkharghani – 395,000
Event #56: David Peters Wins $1,500 No Limit HOld’em Event for Bracelet #1
Every year it seems one or two players scratch themselves off of the “Best Player Without a WSOP Bracelet” list. On Tuesday, David Peters did that just that by winning the $1,500 No Limit Hold’em event for $412,557. Peters, who now has over $12 million in lifetime earnings, actually won a $25,000 buy-in high roller event at Aria Resort & Casino on Saturday, the day before this WSOP event began.
Peters was happy to finally get that first bracelet – even if it took him longer than he expected.
“I was definitely surprised it took me as long as it did (to win),” Peters said. “There were a lot of close calls. I came in almost every place at the final table, except first. I knew it was coming, so it definitely feels amazing to get it.”
One of the most respected tournament players in the world, Peters did his best to block everything out as other players at the table kept busting.
“I tried not to let myself think about that,” Peters said. “Everything was going good, and the vibes were good, and I tried to keep my focus. I tried not to think about the gold bracelet or anything. It worked out.”
Peters beat Cathal ‘Shinerrr’ Shine heads-up. The Irish poker pro entered this event straight after recording a cash in the $888 Crazy Eights event. Matt Affleck finished third for $184,456.
Final Table Payouts
- David Peters – $412,557
- Cathal Shine – $254,890
- Matt Affleck – $184,456
- Muhammad Abdel Rahim – $134,845
- Zachary Okin – $99,592
- Brendan Sheehan – $74,321
- Takuya Suzuki – $56,044 Minatoku
- Kilian Kramer – $42,711
- David Patterson – $32,900
Event #57: David Nowakowski Wins $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Lo
David Nowakowski moved overseas after Black Friday to continue playing online poker. Earlier this year he made the decision to move back to the United States to continue his education. First, he wanted to play some WSOP events. On Tuesday night he won the $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Lo event for a little over $200,000 – money he plans to use to pay for school.
“I just decided to move back to the U.S. recently,” Nowakowski said. “I plan on returning back to school and finishing up my degree in the fall, so this win definitely helps.”
Nowakowski beat Timothy Vukson heads-up for the bracelet. Two-time bracelet winner Marco Johnson finished third for his fourth cash of the summer.
After his win, Nowakowski admitted to not having much experience playing Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Lo.
“I played rush Omaha online, but haven’t played a lot of PLO High-Low recently,” Nowakowski said. “I definitely wanted to win this. It’s a dream come true. It’s still all a bit surreal to me.”
Former Main Event runner-up Martin Staszko finished eighth.
Final Table Payouts
- David Nowakowski – $203,113
- Timothy Vukson – $125,507
- Marco Johnson – $87,192
- James Alexander – $61,519
- Kenneth Po – $44,094
- Colin Gelker – $32,114
- Stephen Johnson – $23,772
- Martin Staszko – $17,890
- Matt Lefkowitz – $13,691
Event #58: Corey Thompson Wins $1,000 Turbo No Limit Hold’em
Nine months ago Corey Thompson topped a Heartland Poker Tour event in Daytona Beach, FL for the biggest score of his career – $131,720. On Tuesday he beat that by a almost $90,000, winning his first WSOP bracelet in the $1,000 Turbo No Limit Hold’em event.
“It’s been a huge year,” Thompson said. “I don’t play cash games that much. I’ve been playing more tournaments. The HPT win was really huge. I really caught fire since then. I started coming out here (to the WSOP) four years ago, but mostly played just a few smaller events. This win was huge.”
The win more than doubles Thompson’s lifetime earnings to $438,700. Most WSOP final tables somehow find a way to include at least one former WSOP bracelet winner – but not this one. The final nine players were all seeking their first WSOP bracelet.
The event featured 30-minute levels with players playing 20 levels each day instead of the standard 10.
Final Table Payouts
- Corey Thompson – $221,163
- Enrico Rudelitz – $136,651
- William Liang – $97,811
- Darren Terazawa – $70,821
- Ankit Ahuja – $51,878
- Terry Fan – $38,452
- Matthew Chang – $28,842
- Ryan Pochedly – $21,897
- Benjamin Reinhart – $16,827
Event #59: Jason Helder Leads $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em
A total of 863 players came out for Day 1 of the $5,000 No Limit Hold’em event with just 359 advancing to Day 2. Jason Helder leads the pack with 228,300 heading into Day 2. Only two other players, Christopher Park (205,200) and Jayakrishnan Nair (201,000), finished above 200,000.
Two members of the 2015 November Nine managed to finish Day 1 with top 10 stacks. Pierre Neuville finished with 155,100 whil Zvi Stern ended with 149,000.
Other notables that advanced to Day 2 include Liv Boeree, Sorel Mizzi, Joe Kuether, Chris Hunichen, Toby Lewis, Joao Simao, Ismael Bojang, Maria Ho and Fedor Holz. One player who didn’t advance was Jason Mercier. After collecting two bracelets early in the Series, Mercier has been unable to get a third and cause all kinds of pain for those who bet against him.
Busted the 5k NL. I’ll spare the details
On to the 1500 stud8
Running out of tournaments#PeacefullyGrinding
— Jason Mercier (@JasonMercier) July 6, 2016
The remaining 359 players return at Noon to play another 10 levels.
Top 10 Chip Counts
- Jason Helder – 228,300
- Christopher Park – 205,200
- Jayakrishnan Nair – 201,000
- Tai Nguyen – 179,000
- Keith Lehr – 163,300
- Pierre Merlin – 159,000
- Daniel Lee – 158,100
- Pierre Neuville – 155,100
- Justin Adams – 152,000
Event #60: Jimmy Fricke and Calvin Anderson in Top 10 of $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo
Jimmy Fricke and Calvin Anderson ended Day 1 of the $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo event with top 10 stacks, but they’re not the only notables still remaining in the field. Fricke finished with 82,200, just one spot behind chip leader Jesse Hampton‘s 87,500. Anderson ended with the sixth biggest stack of 64,900.
Corey Zeidman (59,800), Bryan Devonshire (59,000), John Monnette (56,100), Yuval Bronshtein (55,200), David Chiu (49,500), Andrey Zaichenko (47,700) and defending WSOP Main Event champion Joe McKeehen (42,800) all ended with above average stacks.
Benny Glaser, Todd Brunson, Scott Clements and Dan Kelly were among the notables that entered but failed to advance to Day 2. Mercier also entered and was eliminated.
Top 10 Chip Counts
- Jesse Hampton – 87,500
- Jimmy Fricke – 82,200
- Yen Wu – 80,000
- Curtis Ikeuchi – 76,700
- Phillip Penn – 66,500
- Calvin Anderson – 64,900
- Dana Kellstrom – 64,000
- Michael Ross – 63,200
- Kevin Cote – 62,300
