Lee Davy gives you the lowdown on the 26th day of the 46th Annual World Series of Poker, including a fourth bracelet victory for Max Pescatori, the loudest rail of the series thus far, and an appearance from the legendary Doyle Brunson.
Max Pescatori enhanced his stature as the most successful Italian poker player of all time, after topping a tough final table in Event #41: $10,000 Seven Card Stud 8 or Better.
It was the Pirate’s 50th World Series of Poker (WSOP) cash, his ninth final table, and his fourth victory. He not only became the second player this year to win two bracelets, but joins the likes of Bobby Baldwin, Jeff Madsen, Mike 
Matusow, Amarillo Slim and Walter “Puggy” Pearson in the four bracelet club. Madsen also won his fourth bracelet this year.
Interestingly, when the play reached the three-handed stage, the Milanese born Las Vegas resident was the favorite to win, despite opponents as tough as Stephen Chidwick and Daniel Negreanu. Chidwick was confident of finally winning his first bracelet, and Negreanu also tweeted that he felt confident that this was the time for bracelet number seven. But Pescatori had never lost a WSOP final table when three-handed. That record still stands.
Pescatori told the WSOP that Stud was his best game. His Razz victory was nice, but this was the one Pescatori felt he had a better chance of winning, and he did so after being as low as three big bets during the four-handed action. It seems the Poker Gods sent a little love to the Italian just when he needed it most.
Pescatori now joins Paul Volpe, and Brian Hastings in a closely contested challenge for the 2015 WSOP Player of the Year award.
Final Table Results
1st. Max Pescatori – $292,158
2nd. Stephen Chidwick – $180,529
3rd. Daniel Negreanu – $113,062
4th. Aleksandr Denisov – $81,865
5th. Gary Benson – $63,981
6th. Thomas Butzhammer – $51,022
7th. Richard Sklar – $41,433
8th. Alan Ledford – $34,192
Other notables that cashed included Mike Leah (14th), Huck Seed (15th) and Phil Galfond (16th).
Thiago Nishijima Wins Event #38: $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em
There were many people who headed to EDC this weekend. The atmosphere is said to be electric. But the Rio had a little carnival of its own yesterday.
Event #38: $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em spilled over into a fourth day of action. Brazilian Thiago Nishijima held the chip lead, and the following that filled the Mothership was something else. The Brits are known for their feverish rails, but the Brazilians brought the BOOM box.
It was, without doubt, the loudest rail of the series, and Nishijima used them as a second man to propel him to victory. It wasn’t easy either. The Brazilian was facing 3-time Asia-Pacific Poker Tour Player of the Year Samad Razavi, former WSOP Main Event runner-up Jesse Sylvia, and the Greek star Sotirios Koutoupas.
Nishijima finally saw off the challenge of Koutoupas, in heads-up action, to become only the third player from his country to win a WSOP bracelet. Koutoupas has now made final tables in all three major poker tours, and has a European Poker Tour (EPT) title on his resume.
“It was like I had the whole country behind me.” Nishijima told WSOP reporters after his win.
It sounded like it as well.
Final Table Results
1st. Thiago Nishijima – $546,843
2nd. Sotirios Koutoupas – $338,414
3rd. Jesse Sylvia – $211,731
4th. Samad Razavi – $153,682
5th. Yun Fan – $113,452
6th. Alexander Freund – $85,049
7th. Alexander Keating – $64,691
8th. Duncan McCallum – $49,868
Other notables that cashed included Steve Brecher (9th), Ankush Mandavia (12th), Eric Baldwin (15th) and Ryan Riess (19th).
Scott Seiver Leads the $50,000 Poker Players Championship
The $50k Poker Players Championship (PPC) is arguably the most prestigious WSOP event to win outside of the Main Event. But this year, the event has been bogged down in controversy, after a portion of players acted angrily after the WSOP decided to add Badugi and No-Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball to the list of games.
Speaking to PokerNews, Allen Kessler said he believed the event would have the lowest turn out in the history of the event, because of these changes.
Kessler was proved right, although we will never truly know if the additions of those two games were the sole contributory factor. Only 77 players entered Day 1, and by the end of registration (the start of Day 2), that figure had risen to 84, making it the lowest attended PPC since David Bach beat 95 players to win the event back in 2009.
Controversy aside, Scott Seiver finished Day 1 as the chip leader, and only three players fell by the wayside in the shape of Adam Owen, James Obst and 2011 winner Brian Rast.
Top Five Chip Counts
1st. Scott Seiver – 350,700
2nd. David Oppenheim – 279,000
3rd. Justin Smith – 273,300
4th. Abe Mosseri – 267,910
5th. Randy Ohel – 250,000
Travis Barker Leads the Event #40: $1,000 Seniors No-Limit Hold’em Championship Final Table
Travis Barker leads the final table of the Seniors event with close to 5m in chips. The action has reached the final table. WSOP bracelet winner Steve Gee is still in the field. There is $613,466 reserved for the winner.
Final Table Chip Counts
1st. Travis Barker – 4,935,000
2nd. Stephen Nussrallah – 4,060,000
3rd. Jim Hopperstead – 2,835,000
4th. Justin Tseng – 1,950,000
5th. Carl Torelli – 1,640,000
6th. Lee Budin – 1,630,000
7th. Shane Goldsmith – 1,600,000
8th. Steve Gee – 1,455,000
9th. Michael Smith – 855,000
Henry Hannigan Leads Event #43: $1,000 Super Seniors No-Limit Hold’em
Henry Hannigan leads the Super Seniors field at the end of Day 1. It’s a new event. Players have to be aged 65+ to enter the event, and 1,533 players did. The biggest surprise being the attendance of the 10-time WSOP champion Doyle Brunson. Texas Dolly received a standing ovation, but ultimately failed to make it through to Day 2.
There are a little over 250 players left at the time of writing. Dan Harrington, Barry Shulman and Pierre Neuville are a few of the big names that will be returning on Day 2.
Top Five Chip Counts
1st. Henry Hannigan – 115,000
2nd. Robert Galinson – 110,200
3rd. Dennis Waterman – 103,600
4th. Bob Keegan – 99,300
5th. Jesse Jackson – 91,300
Yevgeniy Timoshenko Leads Event #42: $1,500 Extended Play No-Limit
1,914 players began the Extended Play event, and 114 have made it through to Day 3. This one is developing into a very interesting contest with the likes of Yevgeniy Timoshenko, Antonio Esfandiari and Patrick Leonard amassing stacks capable of making a deep run.
Top Five Chip Counts
1st. Yevgeniy Timoshenko – 405,400
2nd. Antonio Esfandiari – 368,000
3rd. Damian Salas – 363,700
4th. Patrick Leonard – 354,600
5th. Anthony Diotte – 306,700
