WSOP Day 5 recap sees Tuan Le and Kyle Cartwright winning their first World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets on a day that saw Phil Hellmuth, and the Millionaire Maker Event setting all sorts of records.
Could Kyle Cartwright take his game to the next level?
After seven World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) victories, set over a two-year span (2011–2012), included two six-figure Main Event scores, it remained to be seen if he could transfer that form onto the world stage.
Well the wondering is over.
Kyle Cartwright has just carved his way through a field of 2,222 opponents to take the £360,435 first prize, in Event #4: $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em (NLHE), taking his total live-tournament earnings over a million dollars.
Of the nine final table participants, it was the name of Ylon Schwartz that stood out from the crowd. With over $4.7m in live tournament earnings, spread over the last decade, including a WSOP bracelet, he was the one to be watched but had to settle for third after Cartwright dispatched him to the stands 99>44.
The heads-up encounter came down between Cartwright and Jason Paster, with the WSOPC grinder holding a 2:1 chip lead. When the final hand was dealt pocket fours once again stood between Cartwright and glory. This time Cartwright held [Ac] [Qd] and two ladies appeared on the flop, and river, to hand Cartwright his first WSOP bracelet.
Final Table Standings
1. Kyle Cartwright – $360,435
2. Jason Paster – $223,518
3. Ylon Schwartz – $157,926
4. Daniel Dizenzo – $113,550
5. Matthew O’Donnell – $82,726
6. Jeremy Dresch – $61,068
7. Robert Kuhn – $45,656
8. Ken Weinstein – $34,567
9. Michael Sortino – $26,501
Tuan Le wins Event #5: $10,000 Limit 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball Championship
Not many people have smashed their way onto the front pages of every poker media outlet like Tuan Le did, over a decade ago, but that’s a long time in poker.
Le has cashed 39 times in live tournament poker, and ever since his very first—which took place in a Limit Hold’em (LHE) event—all of his cashes have been in No-Limit Hold’em (NLHE) events.
That is until now.
Le has decided to stamp his mark, back on the world scene, by taking the title of the first $10,000 Championship of this series—Event #5: $10,000 Limit 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball.
Phil Galfond led the field coming into the final day of action but had to settle for a sixth place berth on a very impressive final table that included the likes of George Danzer, Nick Schulman, Eli Elezra and Le’s heads-up opponent Justin Bonomo.
It was Le’s third major title of his career and first WSOP bracelet, as he banks $355,324 for his efforts.
Final Table Standings
1. Tuan Le – $355,324
2. Justin Bonomo – $219,565
3. Eli Elezra – $144,056
4. Nick Schulman – $99,015
5. George Danzer – $70,308
6. Phil Galfond – $51,538
And The Best of the Rest
In other news, Event #6 $1,500 Shootout has reached its last two tables of six-handed action and it’s the names of Josh Arieh, Jared Jaffee and Dimitar Danchev that leap out of those particular pages.
Jaffee, in particular, is feeling the heat after coming off the back of a superlative World Poker Tour (WPT) season that saw him claim a victory, and fourth place finish, in Main Event action.
It was a record-breaking day for Phil Hellmuth in Event #7: $1,500 Seven Card Razz. His 101st cash, and 50th final table, are both records, and he comes into the final table second in chips, and who will back against him winning his 14th gold bracelet.
Not me.
Standing in his way are Greg Pappas, David Bach, Brandon Cantu, Ted Forrest, Brock Parker, Yuebin Guo and Kevin Iacofano.
Another record has been broken in Event #8 $1,500 Millionaire Maker. Day 1A attracted 4,722 players, breaking the record for the largest single starting day field in the history of poker.
The re-entry rule meant the queues for the Day 1B starting flight were so long, the event had to be postponed by an hour so everyone could get registered.
In the end, the final figure was 7,977 players making it the second largest WSOP in their 45-year history, with only the 2006 WSOP Main Event attracting more players (8,773).
One man who used the re-entry to great effect was Andrew Seidman. The highly sought after coach and author of the great book Easy Game proved that’s what it can be like when he busted Day 1A only to return for the second flight and rack up an impressive 137,700 in chips.
But even that huge haul is not enough for a chip leading position. According to PokerNews that honor rests with Kyle Ho who bagged and tagged 140,500 chips.
Day Two starts at the later time of 2pm (PST) with 1,466 players remaining.
