John Beauprez has overcome a stacked final table to pick up his first major title in Event #4: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em (NLHE) – Six-Handed. $324,764 now sits in the pocket of American after beating the German Manig Loeser in heads-up action. The former World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champion, Joe Cada, was chasing his second bracelet, after coming so close with a runner-up spot in a $1.500 event last year, but once again he had to settle for fourth place proving just how difficult it is to win repeatedly at the biggest tournament in the world.
The first non Hold-em bracelet went the way of Mike Gorodinksy, and that means that four out of the first five bracelets have stayed in the land of the stars and stripes, with only Charles Sylvestre breaking that bond.
Gorodinsky took $216,958, and the hardware, after defeating Kristopher Tong heads-up in Event #5: $2,500 Omaha/Seven-Card Stud Hi-Low 8-or-Better. George Danzer, who finished runner-up in this event last year, once again made the final table but had to settle for sixth. Daniel Negreanu extended his lead at the top of the WSOP Player of the Year (POY) leader board with a 16th place finish.
There are five open events in one stage or another as the WSOP heads into its seventh day of action. The Millionaire Maker Event #6: $1,500 NLHE has steamrolled into a fourth day of action. Over 6,300 entrants made this tournament the largest one-day field, besides the WSOP Main Event, in WSOP history and only 10-players remain. Benny Chen holds the chip lead, but it’s the form of the former WSOP bracelet holder Dan Kelly that’s got most of the tongues wagging. Kelly finished in sixth in Event #2 and so this is his second final table in just seven days of WSOP action. He starts the day second in chips.
Event #7: $1,000 NLHE has played down to an ‘unofficial’ final table of 10-players and what an exciting prospect the viewers of the live stream have in store with Amit Makhija, Brent Hanks, Jason Koon, Eric Baldwin and Matt Waxman having reserved their seats on the table that holds a golden bracelet for the winner.
Event #8: $2,500 Eight-Game Mix attracted 388-players and after two-days of action only 20-remain. Marco Johnson has the chip lead and he will be desperate to convert this into gold after two previous runner-up finishes at the WSOP. Josh Arieh and Robert Mizrachi are two of the better-known Americans still in the mix, Dario Alioto and Benjamin Pollak are showing that the Europeans can play the mixed games and Greg Mueller is hoping to advance by one spot after finishing in second place in this very event last year.
Fans of the shootout format will have been excited to see Event #9: $3,000 NLHE Shootout kicking off. 60-players remain from a starting field of 477-players as the second day passes into the recesses of peoples minds. The World Poker Tour (WPT) POY Matt Salsberg and One Drop winner Antonio Esfandiari just two of the famous faces left in the one table winner format.
Finally, Event#10: $1,500 NLHE has played out its first day of action. 645-players started; 177-players finished and the WSOP Octo-Nine member Steve Gee is amongst the chip leaders where Kevin MacPhee and Eric Froelich join him. Daniel Negreanu also remains alive and well.
