In today’s World Series of Poker round-up Peter Eichardt wins the first European event of the summer, Alan Percal creates an upset in the heads-up, and Ian Johns beats Justin Bonomo to the H.O.R.S.E title.
Peter Eichardt becomes the first Swedish poker player to win a World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet since Martin Jacobson ended up on top of the world.
Eichardt, 50, from Stockholm, is a part-time fiction writer, and he couldn’t have penned a more glorious happy ending than the one he played through in Event #6: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em.
2,016 entrants created a prizepool of $2,721,600, and Eichardt, who has an 8th and 10th place finish in European Poker Tour (EPT) Main Event’s on his CV, ploughed through the lot to take home the $438,417 first prize.
It was the first time in 40-years that Eichardt had reached the final table of a WSOP event, and he made sure it counted. On paper, it looked a tough one with John Racener and Anthony Zinno making the final table. However, Eichardt said the event was a lot softer than he imagined and the only player who gave him any bother was the Australian Michael Addamo.
Eichardt first visited the WSOP in the early 1990s.
Final Table Results
1st. Peter Eichhardt – $438,417
2nd. Davis Aalvik – $270,842
3rd. Michael Addamo – $196,202
4th. John Racener – $143,563
5th. Tim Farrelly – $106,115
6th. Bruno Borges – $79,241
7th. Raymond Phu – $59,787
8th. Anthony Zinno – $45,582
9th. Richard Dubini – $35,121
Ian Johns Wins Event #8: $1,500 H.O.R.S.E
Justin Bonomo came into the 47th Annual WSOP on a high. At the start of the year, he made ‘a big change’ to his game and the results were good with a side event win at the EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo for €110,600 followed by chopping a $50,000 Super High Roller at The Aria for $600,000.
So it wasn’t a surprise to see him taking on Ian Johns, in heads-up action, for the first H.O.R.S.E bracelet of the summer. Unfortunately, it also wasn’t a surprise to see Bonomo coming up short. For the fourth time in his career, the pink-haired warrior had to settle for second place.
Both Johns and Bonomo came into this one with one bracelet each. Johns now has two. It was his 18th cash and third final table, far fewer than the excellent Bonomo, but sometimes the cards don’t fall your way.
778 entrants created over a million in prize money.
Final Table Results
1st. Ian Johns – $212,604
2nd. Justin Bonomo – $131,412
3rd. Christopher Vitch – $92,374
4th. Noah Bronstein – $65,866
5th. Georgios Sotiropoulos – $47,651
6th. Andre Akkari – $34,984
7th. Svetlana Gromenkova – $26,070
8th. Scotty Nguyen – $19,724
9th. Jean Montury – $15,154
Alan Percal Wins the $10,000 Heads Up No-Limit Championship
When we left you yesterday, Global Poker League (GPL) stars Alex Luneau, and Olivier Busquet were about to clean up in their semi-final matchups against their inexperienced competitors.
And that didn’t go quite to plan.
Vietnam Vet, John Smith, defeated Luneau to make it to the final where he faced Alan Percal who managed to dispose of one of the world’s greatest heads-up players in Busquet.
153 entrants created a total prize pool of $1,188,200, and the 23-year old Percal won the top prize of $320,574, after beating all seven people that the WSOP put in front of him, including Smith in the final.
Percal was competing in only his second heads-up tournament of his life. He seems to be pretty good at it. After getting lucky to have a bye in Round 1, he beat Brian Rast, Alan Wehbi, Konstantin Ramazanov, Benjamin Geisman, Olivier Busquet, and then finally, Smith.
It was his first-ever WSOP cash, and his first-ever final table.
What a life.
The Best of the Rest
1,477 players entered Event #10: $1,500 Six-Handed No-Limit Hold’em and there are 22 players left at the time of writing (three more hands to go until the end of Day 2). Daniel Strelitz holds the chip lead with 1.4m; Paul Hoefer (420k), Jesse Yaginuma (380k), Hans Winzeler (320k), Pierre Neuville (180k), and Fedor Holz (175k) still in contention.
118 players entered Event #11: $10,000 Dealers Choice Six-Handed Championship. At the time of writing only 15 players remain heading towards the end of Day 2. Mikhail Semin, James Obst, Jean Gaspard, and Dan Smith lead the chip counts in that one. Jennifer Harman, John Monnette, and Richard Ashby are still in with a shout.
Day 1 of Event #12: $565 Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO) is in the books, and Ahmed Alexander leads the final 80 players in the smallest PLO event you will find at the WSOP. 2,483 entrants created a total prizepool of $1.2m. The winner will take home just shy of $200,000. David ‘ODB’ Baker, Kyle Walker, and Darryll Fish are at the top of the chip counts.
461 entrants have created a prizepool of $622,350 in Event #13: $1,500 Seven Card Razz. Brendan Taylor leads as the final 160 players heading into the final level of Day 1. Fabrice Soulier, Daniel Negreanu, and Anthony Zinno look solid in that one.
