WSOP Day #15 Round Up: Daniel Alaei Joins Ungar, Cunningham and Berland With 5 Bracelet Wins

WSOP Day #15 Round Up: Daniel Alaei Joins Ungar, Cunningham and Berland With 5 Bracelet Wins

Lee Davy takes you step by step through the 15th day of the 46th Annual World Series of Poker, including a fifth bracelet for Daniel Alaei, Christian Pham hoping to go wire-to-wire, and much more.

WSOP Day #15 Round Up: Daniel Alaei Joins Ungar, Cunningham and Berland With 5 Bracelet WinsDaniel Alaei has only played one tournament at the 46th Annual World Series of Poker (WSOP). It was Event #21: $10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship. The landscape of this event is familiar to him. In 2009, he beat 179 players, including a final table boasting the likes of Scott Clements, Daniel Negreanu and John Monnette.

In 2015, he won it again.

Once again Clements was at the final table. Once again he was joined by an array of stars, gold bracelet winners, and titleholders. Clements finished 4th, WSOP bracelet holder Ken Aldridge 5th, World Poker Tour (WPT) Player of the Year (POY) Anthony Zinno 6th, and the former November Niner Jeremy Ausmus 9th.

Alaei’s victory over Kyle Miaso was impressive for many reasons. Not only did he overcome a 6:1 chip deficit, but the father of three earned his fifth gold bracelet, and that means he joins such luminaries as: Stu Ungar, Berry Johnston, Scotty Nguyen, Gary Berland, John Juanda, David Chiu, Chris Ferguson and Allen Cunningham.

It was Alaei’s 31st WSOP cash and his 8th final table, meaning he has a 62% success rate once he reaches the final battleground. He has now earned over $4.1m in WSOP cashes, and at just 30-years of age, one suspects he will be one of the star names of the WSOP for many years to come.

Final Table Results

1st. Daniel Alaei – $391,097

2nd. Kyle Miaso – $241,691

3rd. Jeffrey Vaughn – $175,088

4th. Scott Clements – $129,235

5th. Ken Aldridge – $97,122

6th. Anthony Zinno – $74,262

7th. Mike Wattel – $57,748

8th. Tobias Hausen – $45,661

9th. Jeremy Ausmus – $36,688

Ben Zamani Leads Event #20: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em

The 2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) Main Event final table participant, Benjamin Zamani, is making an early claim for the WSOP POY title. Zamani was runner-up to Barry Hutter in Event #14: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em Shootout, earning $174,771, and 262 POY points, and he leads the final five players in Event #20: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em.

1,844 down to five, now that’s an impressive run of form when you consider Zamani waded through a field of 1,000 players in his Shootout event. Natasha Barbour is hoping to become the first female champion of the WSOP, and European Poker Tour (EPT) champion Kevin MacPhee still has hopes of winning his first bracelet settled in fourth.

Chip Counts

1st. Benjamin Zamani – 4,535,000

2nd. Natasha Barbour – 3,770,000

3rd. Paul Ephremsen – 2,695,000

4th. Kevin MacPhee – 1,720,000

5th. Wenlong Jin – 1,115,000

Final tablists that didn’t make it this far include Kevin Benoit finishing 9th for $33,781, Simon Deadman’s wife Oluwashola Akindele finishing 8th for $43,888, Jared Griener finishing 7th for $57,729 and Garrett Beckman finishing 6th for $76,922.

Jay Dragland Leads Event #22: $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em

Event #22: $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em has reached the third day of action. There is 20-players left from a starting field size of 1,915. Jay Dragland holds the lead, but keep an eye out for the likes of Sam Greenwood (272,000), Jose Barbero (268,000), and Stephen Chidwick (159,000).

Top Five Chip Counts

1st. Jay Dragland – 946,000

2nd. James Dorrance – 812,000

3rd. Sean Rice – 808,000

4th. Rod Dingler – 724,000

5th. John Myung – 648,000

Christian Pham Leads Event #23: $1,500 No-Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball

Christian Pham is hoping to go wire-to-wire in Event #23: $1,500 No-Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball. He has the chip lead with just three players remaining, as he did at the end of the first day of action: Andrey Zhigalov 4th for $22,634, Huck Seed 5th for $15,852, Aleksandr Denisov 6th for $11,385 and Mike Leah 7th for $8,381 were the other not so fortunate members of the final table.

Chip Counts

1st. Christian Pham – 695,000

2nd. Daniel Ospina – 680,000

3rd. Matthew Smith – 271,000

Event #24: $1,500 H.O.R.S.E

The baby H.O.R.S.E event has started. Attendance is up 4%. 772 players entered, and there are 272 left at the end of Day 1. There is a million dollars in the prize pool, and Chris Boedeker leads the field going into a second day of action. Other notables at the top end of the counts include Maria Ho (54,000), Mike Watson (38,700), and Mike Matusow (27th).

Top Five Chip Counts

1st. Chris Boedeker – 67,800

2nd. Brian Tate – 64,100

3rd. Tim Reusch – 60,700

4th. Samuel Ngai – 56,700

5th. David Williams – 54,400

Dan Smith Leads Event #25: $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em 8-Handed

What a star-studded field the $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em 8-Handed produced. I waded through the tables last night, and they were chocked full of superstars.

493 players entered, down 10% on last years field, and there are 198 players left at the end of the first day. Dan Smith is the chip leader. Other notables at the top end of the chip counts include Shaun Deeb (163,300), Anthony Zinno (151,400), and Sergey Rybachenko (143,500).

Top Five Chip Counts

1st. Dan Smith – 191,400

2nd. Brandon Shane – 188,200

3rd. Grayson Ramage – 183,900

4th. Valentin Vornicu – 182,100

5th. Ronald Minnis – 165,100