The round up from the second day of the 46th Annual World Series of Poker sees Brandon Barnette winning the first bracelet of the series, and a true hero leading the $5k No-Limit Hold’em event with 20-players remaining.
True to form, the first World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet of 2015 has been handed to a casino employee.
Brandon Barnette’s pocket eights rivering a full house to sink the pocket fours of his heads-up opponent Greg Seiden, handing him victory and $75,704 in prize money.
According to Hendon Mob this was Barnette’s first live tournament score. His virginal tournament win was a wise choice. Barnette wasn’t the only player to reach the final table with very little experience. Only Phi Tran, Thomas McFadden Jr, and Chris Jones came into the final with larger scores than they eventually settled for.
The event attracted 698 entrants, 27% down on last year’s field size.
Final Table Results
1st. Brandon Barnette – $75,704
2nd. Greg Seiden – $46,735
3rd. Zachary Seufert – $30,382
4th. Gary Kochalka – $22,315
5th. Michael Kahn – $16,622
6th. Aiping Xue – $12,542
7th. Thomas McFadden Jr – $9,573
8th. Phi Tran – $7,389
9th. Christopher Jones – $5,762
Heroes Galore as Event #2 Reaches Last 20 Players
There are 20 players left in the hunt for the bracelet reserved for Event #2: $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em. The field contains so many heroes, but none of them are more deserving of that award than the man currently leading them all.
Carl Westcott, 75, is a member of the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, an honor bestowed to people who have displayed outstanding achievements in the realm of higher education. He is in fine company. Members include Buzz Aldrin, Bob Hope, Johnny Cash, Dwight Eisenhower, Herbert Hoover and Oprah Winfrey.
Not many of them have dipped into the Rio for a game of poker, but Westcott likes to from time to time. In 2007 he made the final table of the $5,000 Ante Up for Africa Charity Event, and finished third behind Dan Shak and Brandon Moran.
422 entrants started this event, Darryl Ronconi led the 171 that survived the first day’s action, and the likes of Andy Frankenberger (25th), Jeremy Ausmus (27th), Brian Hastings (29th), Tony Gregg (31st), and Mark Radoja (36th) cashed before hitting the rail.
There is $1,983,400 in the kitty, and over $466,000 will go to the winner. Both Artur Koren and Jason Wheeler are in fine form, Greg Merson loves this place, and David Sands is one of the finest players in the world yet to win a bracelet. Could this be his year?
Action resumes at 2pm, and they will play down to a final table of nine.
Top 5 Chip Counts
1st. Carl Westcott – 1,066,000
2nd. Artur Koren – 1,062,000
3rd. Greg Merson – 800,000
4th. David Sands – 704,000
5th. Jason Wheeler – 683,000
Event #3 $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better
The first Omaha event of the season produced a field of 918 entrants. Last season it produced 1,036 entrants. That means for the third event in a row the field size has fallen.
358 players survived the first day of action, and Tony Ma leads the way with 57,800. Other notables in the top 20 are Calvin Anderson (38,300), John Monnette (36,800), Jeff Shulman (31,400), Jeff Madsen (30,100), and Allen Cunningham (30,100). Phil Hellmuth and James Woods took part, but fell by the wayside.
There is $1,239,300 in the prize pool, $251,022 up top, and 117 players get paid.
Top Five Chip Counts
1st. Tony Ma – 57,800
2nd. Taylor Paur – 56,000
3rd. Eric Crain – 55,600
4th. Steve Lustig – 55,600
5th. Khamar Xaytavone – 55,300
Event #4: $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em Shootout
The first Shootout event of the series attracted 308 entrants, and after the first day of action only 40 remain. It was another drop in field size. Kory Kilpatrick defeating 389 players to win the title last season, and he didn’t want to let go of that title. Kilpatrick was the final player eliminated after losing a six-hour heads-up marathon against Corey Lieblein.
Top Five Chip Counts
1st. Giacomo Fundaro – 122,500
2nd. Doug Polk – 119,900
3rd. Brian Lemke – 119,700
4th. Loni Harwood – 119,100
5th. Matthew Schwarmann – 119,000
Other notables in the top 20 are David Peters (118,700), Nick Petrangelo (118,600), Jake Balsiger (118,600), Craig McCorkell (118,200), Sam Stein (118,100), and Carlos Mortensen (118,100).
