WSOP: Hennigan Rides the $10K HORSE., Addamo Runs Marathon
Friday was a three-bracelet day at the 2018 World Series of Poker. One player took home his fifth piece of WSOP jewellery, while two players claimed their first gold.
There’s plenty of other things to tell you about too, including Day 1 of the $50K Players Championship. For that, and a lot more, here’s a recap of June 15’s action.
John Hennigan Wins Fifth Bracelet, Takes Down $10K HORSE
There is now officially a new member of the five-bracelet club.
It almost happened on Thursday night, when then four-time bracelet winner John Hennigan and two-time bracelet winner David ‘Bakes’ Baker ended Day 3 of Event #27: $10,000 HORSE Championship heads-up, with Hennigan holding a dominating chip lead. After one level of play on Friday, Hennigan finished the job.
It all ended in a Limit Hold’em hand, when Baker was all-in with ace-six off versus Hennigan’s jack-three off. A three hit the flop, and Baker couldn’t catch up.
Hennigan wins $414,692 for his efforts, as well as the fifth bracelet, while Baker banked $256,297. Will Johnny World focus all his attention on capturing bracelet no.6 now?
“We’ll see what happens,” he said afterwards. “I’m not too preoccupied with it, but five does feel better than four.”
Final Table Results:
- John Hennigan – $414,692
- David “Bakes” Baker – $256,297
- Lee Salem – $179,216
- Iraj Parvizi – $127,724
- Randy Ohel – $92,808
- Albert Daher – $68,783
- Daniel Zack – $52,016
- Michael Noori – $40,155
Michael Addamo Wins First Bracelet in The Marathon ($653,581)
Australia’s Michael Addamo has long been a beast on the poker tables, but after Friday he can now call himself a WSOP bracelet winner too.
Addamo, who moved to Thailand for online poker after law changes in his home country prevented him from playing, overcame a tough final table in Event #24: $2,620 The Marathon No-Limit Hold’em, one which included 2014 WSOP Main Event champ Martin Jacobson (5th), bracelet winner and WPT champ Taylor ‘taypaur’ Paur (4th), and Belgium’s Bart Lybaert (3rd).
It was American recreational player Mark Sleet who Addamo met heads-up, and he was complimentary of Sleet’s game. “He was mixing it up, trying to put me to the test, like opening big sizes, doing all sorts of different things, trying to get me off my normal game. I think I adjusted ok but yeah, who knows,” Addamo said.
Holding a big chip lead, the final hand saw all the money go in on a ten-high flop. Addamo had top pair, and Sleet had two overs and a flush draw which couldn’t hit on the turn or river.
The 1,637 total runners were down to nine at the beginning of the day, and the first to depart from the final table were Ihar Soika, Cate Hall, Anton Morgenstern, and Ying Chan.
Final Table Results:
- Michael Addamo – $653,581
- Mark Sleet – $403,870
- Bart Lybaert – $290,315
- Taylor Paur – $210,995
- Martin Jacobson – $155,062
- Ying Chan – $115,244
- Anton Morgenstern – $86,631
- Cate Hall – $65,875
- Ihar Soika – $50,678
Hahn Tran’s the Man, Wins First Bracelet in $1,500 Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw
The second new bracelet winner of the day was Austria’s Hahn Tran, who claimed victory in Event #29: $1,500 Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw for $117,282.
Tran came into Friday’s final table with the chip lead, but it was by no means a smooth ride to the title. The chip lead swung around the table multiple times, but five eliminations later Tran was heads-up against Oscar Johansson. Having whittled Johansson down to just three bets, Johansson tabled a nine-eight but Tran had that beat with a nine-six.
Three-time bracelet winner Brian Hastings fell in fifth, while David Prociak couldn’t capture his second bracelet, finishing in third.
“I’ve come here for eight years but I don’t play many tournaments, I’m more of a cash game player,” Tran said once the win was locked up. “I play cash games in 2-7 and I’m very excited. This is one of my favourite games. I’m just here for vacation, have fun with my friends, and party!”
Final Table Results:
- Hanh Tran – $117,282
- Oscar Johansson – $72,471
- David Prociak – $46,729
- Cody Wagner – $30,926
- Brian Hastings – $21,021
- Yong Wang – $14,687
- Jared Bleznick – $10,555
Gal Yifrach Leads Final Three in $3K Six-Max
It seems like a lot of tournaments this year are going longer than expected. The final table of Event 28: $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em 6-Handed was scheduled to finish Friday night, but with three players still in play was paused and will resume on Saturday.
Gal Yifrach holds the chip lead, with 6,965,000 to James Mackey’s 3,100,000 and Gary Hasson’s 1,960,000. They’ll return at 12pm Saturday with blinds at 60,000/120,000.
Five-time bracelet winner Jason Mercier was among the early exits today, while Tony Dunst bowed out in 13th. another bracelet winner looking for more jewelry, lost with eights versus ace-king to go out in 13th place. Anatoly Filatov, Luiz Duarte, Yorane Kerignard, Ben Palmer (7th), and Ana Marquez (6th) also exited.
Check back tomorrow to find out who wins the bracelet and the $461,798 first-place prize. They’re all guaranteed $193,716.
Day 2 Takes $1,500 PLO Down to 13
Event #30: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha has just 13 of the 799 players remaining, and will play down to a champ on Saturday.
Ryan Bambrick holds the overnight chip lead, with double the amount of his closest competitor, Phil Riley. On the other end of the chip counts, Lexy Gavin and Victor Ramdin are the most at risk.
Throughout the day this one lost the likes of Ryan Riess, Dutch Boyd, Darryll Fish, Thomas Taylor, Scott Davies, Rob Salaburu, and Scott Clements.
There’s $217,123 and the coveted WSOP bracelet awaiting the winner, while all 13 players are guaranteed $9,173 overnight. Play resumes at 12pm Saturday.
Final 13 Chip Counts:
- Ryan Bambrick – 1,727,000
- Phil Riley – 864,000
- Sampo Ryynanen – 633,000
- Jared Ingles – 575,000
- Tim McDermott – 527,000
- Randy White – 437,000
- Jody Fayant – 326,000
- Pushpinder Singh – 266,000
- George Xu – 180,000
- Jeanmarc Thomas – 165,000
- Danny Woolard – 165,000
- Victor Ramdin – 84,000
- Lexy Gavin – 80,000
Ferguson and Lisandro Headline $11,500 Seven Card Stud Finale
There are a whole lotta bracelets between the nine final table players in Event #31: $1,500 Seven Card Stud.
One time bracelet winner Michael Moore (not the documentary filmmaker) holds the chip lead, but he’s followed by six-time bracelet winners Chris Ferguson and Jeff Lisandro, both on the hunt for the elusive seventh bracelet.
The final table is even more star-studded with legendary music producer Steve Albini returning tomorrow fifth in chips. Albini is arguably most famous for his work with Nirvana and Pixies. And rounding out the unofficial final table is two-time bracelet winner Frankie O’Dell.
The bubble burst at 47 players today, and some of those who failed to make the cash include Barbara Enright, Scott Bohlman, Carol Fuchs, Brandon Shack-Harris, Tom McEvoy and Cory Zeidman.
Once they were in the money, we lost the likes of Ben Yu (45th – $2,250), Shirley Rosario (40th – $2,398), Dzmitry Urbanovich (37th – $2,398), Kevin Ioacofano (35th – $2,398), Perry Friedman (21st – $2,982), Jameson Painter (14th – $4,155), and Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier (11th – $5,110).
The guaranteed payout right now is $6,451, but there’s $105,629 up top. Play resumes at 2pm Saturday.
Final Table Chip Counts:
- Michael Moore – 485,000
- Chris Ferguson – 325,000
- Jeff Lisandro – 291,000
- Paul Sexton – 276,000
- Steven Albini – 270,000
- Katherine Fleck – 226,000
- Esther Rossi – 186,000
- Stephen Rivers – 143,000
- Frankie O’Dell – 74,000
The $50K Poker Players Championship Begins, Benny Glaser Leads After Day 1
When people predict success for players prior to the WSOP, Benny Glaser is always a name that comes up. The three-time bracelet winner has proved today why he’s thought so highly of in the mixed-game world, bagging up the Day 1 chip lead in Event #33: $50,000 Poker Players Championship.
There were 77 entries today, and Glaser ended up with 574,900. He’s most closely followed by Anthony Zinno (493,200), Brian Rast (473,900), James Obst (450,100), and John Hennigan (449,000), the latter of which jumped straight into this event having won the $10K H.O.R.S.E. earlier in the day. There are 14 bracelets between that top five.
Only three players failed to make it through the day (Scott Seiver, Frank Kassela, and Kristijonas Andrulis) as we ended with 74 players.
It’s very early days in this one, with a long road ahead. Registration is still open for another four levels tomorrow, when action resumes at 2pm.
Top 10 Chip Counts:
- Benny Glaser – 574,900
- Anthony Zinno – 493,200
- Brian Rast – 473,900
- James Obst – 450,100
- John Hennigan – 449,000
- Naseem Salem – 433,400
- Alexander Kostritsyn – 415,600
- Shaun Deeb – 394,200
- Paul Volpe – 390,800
- David “ODB” Baker – 387,400
Seniors Event Breaks Records on Day 1
Event #33: $1,000 Seniors No-Limit Hold’em Championship attracted a massive 5,919 field, breaking records for this event and making this the largest single Day 1 in WSOP history.
When the bags were brought out for the end of Day 1, 934 players remained. Kevin O’Donnell holds the overnight chip lead, while Neil Blumenfield (134,000), Dave Peterson (123,000), Andrei Konopilko (120,000), Mitchell Garshofsky (73,300), Carol Fuchs (36,800), and Jan-Peter Jachtmann (57,200) will all return.
Greg Raymer, Gregg Markow, Victor Ramdin, Mike Sexton, Kathy Liebert, Ivo Donev and Marcel Luske were among the 5,000 eliminated players today.
This one kicks off again at 11am on Saturday. You’ll find the top 10 stacks below.
- Kevin O’Donnell – 172,100
- Christopher Ocksrider – 157,000
- Frank Cupello – 128,300
- David Peterson – 123,100
- Michael Lang – 121,000
- Andrei Konopelko – 120,000
- James Passas – 118,300
- Frank Berry – 106,000
- Neil Blumenfield – 104,400
- Tommy Townsend – 104,000
Day 1C of THE GIANT Wraps Up
A quick note on Day 1C of Event #6: $365 GIANT No-Limit Hold’em. Mathieu Philbert of France bagged the chip lead, amassing an impressive 1,940,000.
Phil Laak, Benjamin Yu, Kathy Liebert and Canada’s Calen McNeil. Sandeep Vasudevan, Bradley Butcher and Allen Kessler all tried but failed to make it through.
There are two more Day 1 flights scheduled for the next two Fridays before all survivors merge for Day 2 on June 30.
Day 1C Top 10 Stacks:
- Mathieu Philbert – 1,940,000
- Kevin Ninkovich – 1,505,000
- Arkadiy Tsinis – 1,495,000
- Terry Kelley – 1,035,000
- Artan Dedusha – 1,025,000
- Jett Blackwell – 975,000
- Alexander Allegranza – 875,000
- Nipun Java – 872,000
- Jeremy Brown – 820,000
- Peter Eichhardt – 780,000
