Lee Davy brings you up to speed with the main news stories on Day 7 of the 46th Annual World Series of Poker, including an amazing back-to-back victory for LA’s Tuan Le.
Tuan Le stepped beneath poker’s dazzling glare, when as a 27-year old he captured two World Poker Tour (WPT) Main Event titles in a matter of a few mesmerizing months.
That was back in 2004, when WPT Main Event winners were banking seven figure scores for fun. Le was no exception, picking up $1.5m for his first victory, and $2.8m for his second. I don’t care what kind of backing deal Le had, or if he had any at all, that kind of money hands you a poker bankroll for life.
Then Le steps away from the light instead preferred the shadows of the Commerce Casino. Night after night Le takes his seat and plays his cash games. The young man who once won over $4m on the WPT.
Then last year, he stepped back under that light. He entered Event #5 $10,000 Limit 2-7 Triple Draw at the World Series of Poker (WSOP), and defeated 120 entrants to take the first prize of $355,324, and his first bracelet.
A $10,000 buy-in comes with its complexities, namely a ton of superb poker players. On his way to victory, Le had to defeat Justin Bonomo, Eli Elezra, Nick Schulman, Philip Galfond, Sergey Rybachenko, and the eventual WSOP Player of the Year George Danzer. It was some win.
When the 46th Annual WSOP rolled into town, Le had no intention of defending his crown. When you consider that nobody had successfully defended a title since Thang Luu won back-to-back $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha (PLO) Hi/Lo titles in 2008 & 2009, you can understand why Le wasn’t too bothered.
In the end a friend persuaded Le to enter the event. It was the best gentle nudge he has ever had. Le cut his way through a field of 109 entrants, and once again came face-to-face with a final table brimming with quality: WSOP bracelet winners Philip Galfond, Rep Porter, and Calvin Anderson, leading 2014 WSOP casher Ismael Bojang, and SCOOP star James Obst.
But it would be a Commerce Cash game king who would produce the biggest threat for Le.
“When it was heads-up I didn’t want to see Max {Casal},” Le told the WSOP after his win. “He plays great heads-up, and knows all the situations.”
There was no one left at the final table that knew Le’s game better than Casal. That showed as Casal evened up a match that Le was running away with. But Le knows Casal’s game equally as well, and with the experience of last year buoying him on, it was enough for Le to win his second successive $10k 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball win.
“This year’s victory is like ten times as big as last year,” Le said afterward. “When you defend a title, that’s a totally different ball game. It’s a statement. Anyone can get a rush one time and win, but to do it again, makes a statement. For me, last year was about the money. This year was about the bracelet.”
Final Table Results
1st. Tuan Le – $322,756
2nd. Max Casal – $199,438
3rd. Ismael Bojang – $130,851
4th. Philip Galfond – $89,939
5th. James Obst – $63,863
6th. Rep Porter – $46,813
7th. Calvin Anderson – $35,389
Hallaert Headlines Colossus Final Table
After four days of hard slog the largest tournament field in the history of live poker has managed to whittle its way down from 22,374 to a final table of nine.
World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) winner, and WSOP final tablist, Aditya Prasetyo, leads the way, but it’s a Tournament Director from Belgium who takes the starring role.
Kenny Hallaert, has won close to a million in live tournament earnings, and has final tables appearances at European Poker Tour (EPT) and Master Classics of Poker (MCOP) on his resume. Hallaert will start the day second in chips.
Ray Henson also sneaks into that final table with 2.4m. The WSOPC gold ring winner is looking for his second major WSOP win of the year.
You can catch all of the action on the WSOP.com Live Stream.
Final Table Chip Counts
1. Aditya Prasetyo – 39,300,000
2nd. Kenny Hallaert – 18,575,000
3rd. Bradley McFarland – 14,250,000
4th. Paul Lentz – 10,475,000
5th. David Farber – 8,725,000
6th. Lance Garcia – 7,275,000
7th. Garry Simms – 6,850,000
8th. Anthony Blanda – 4,600,000
9th. Ray Henson – 2,475,000
Event #8: $1,500 Pot Limit Hold’em
The first Pot Limit Hold’em (PLH) event of the series has condensed itself down to 15 players.
David Eldridge leads the way with 677,000 chips, but there are some top quality players lurking over his shoulder. WSOP bracelet winner Tristan Wade is sitting on 249,000 chips, high roller reg Tom Marchese has 258,000, and the irrepressible Kyle Bowker has 235,000. The European challenge comes from Artem Metalidi (201,000), and Andrey Gulyy (201,000).
639 players created a $862,650 prize pool, and $189,818 is reserved for first.
Top Five Chip Counts
1st. David Eldridge – 677,000
2nd. Michael Leibgorin – 667,000
3rd. Paul Michaelis – 562,000
4th. Hillery Kerby – 455,000
5th. Georgios Sotiropoulos – 278,000
Event #9: $1,500 Razz
There will be no repeat of the Hellmuth v Forrest heads-up encounter that raised the profile of this event worldwide, but there is still the possibility of another memorable battle.
Chris George leads the final 19-players. The mixed game reg is searching for his sixth WSOP final table in the past five years. He is yet to close one down. Perhaps, this is his year?
If it does prove to be George’s time to shine, he will have to beat a decent looking field. Two-time bracelet winner, Eli Elezra, is sitting fifth in the chip counts, and Bart Hanson (245,000), Cyndy Violette (201,000), and Max Pescatori (197,000), are still in contention.
The Razz prize pool is $623,700, and the first prize is $155,947.
Top Five Chip Counts
1st. Chris George – 356,000
2nd. Matthew Smith – 307,000
3rd. Jason Schwartz – 279,000
4th. Orjan Skommo – 261,000
5th. Eli Elezra – 251,000
Event #7: $10,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold’em Championship
Post Colossus attendances continue to rise as 143 players entered the second $10,000 Championships of the summer. It was time for the heads-up specialists to shine, and shine they did.
16 players remain in contention for the $344,430 first prize, and here is the next stage of matches.
Andy Philachack v Matthew Cooper
Timothy Adams v Simon Lam
Paul Volpe v Barry Hutter
Isidro Sufuentes v George Danzer
Jake Schindler v Keith Lehr
Byron Kaverman v Valeriu Coca
Olivier Busquet v JC Tran
Max Silver v Dee Tiller
It’s envisaged that the competition will continue until there are two players remaining, and they will return tomorrow to fight it out for one of the most prestigious titles of the year.
Event #11: $1,500 Limit Hold’em
660 players entered the first Limit Hold’em event of the year, a slight increase on the 654 players who entered when Dan Kelly took the bracelet in 2014.
After the end of Day 1 there are 222 players in contention, with the Belarusian Vasili Firsau leading the way with 65,200 chips. Firsau is the player who lost an enormous heads-up chip lead to Mohsin Charania to lose the Season XII World Poker Tour (WPT) Grand Prix de Paris, and then went on to finish runner-up to Julian Thomas at WPT Prague in the same season. The man knows how to play.
There is $891,000 in the prize pool, and $196,055 reserved for first.
Top 5 Chip Counts
1st. Vasili Firsau – 65,200
2nd. Francois Vigeant – 59,900
3rd. Tynan Sammatarohutchins – 53,500
4th. Jim Karambinis – 49,600
5th. Chris Tryba – 48,000
