Lee Davy keeps you posted on all the latest news from the World Series of Poker including Ben Keeline’s victory in the Colossus II, Lawrence Berg winning a bracelet in the Dealer’s Choice, and much more.
Ben Keeline came into the Colossus II final table as the favourite on paper, and he used all of that experience to ensure he walked away with the bracelet and the million dollars first prize.
It’s the second gob of gold that Keeline has taken from the World Series of Poker (WSOP) after winning a World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOP) gold ring back in 2013. His biggest achievement before becoming a millionaire was to finish runner-up to Jose Montes in a WSOPC Main Event field in Choctaw picking up $218,762.
Keeline defeated 21,613 entrants, the second largest field in live tournament history. It was a final table that included two players from the Czech Republic and a lot of potential upsets with a field of limited live tournament ITM experience. The exception being Jonathan Borenstein, who clocked it at over half a million dollars thanks to some deep runs in World Poker Tour (WPT) events.
Keeline eventually defeated Jiri Horak from the Czech Republic in heads-up action.
Final Table Results
1st. Ben Keeline – $1m
2nd. Jiri Horak – $618,000
3rd. Farhad Davoudzadeh – $462,749
4th. Richard Carr – $348,462
5th. Marek Ohnisko – $263,962
6th. Chris Renaudette – $201,151
7th. Alex Benjamen – $154,208
8th. Jonathan Borenstein – $118,937
9th. Xiu Deng – $92,291
Other notables to run deep included Amir Lehavot, who finished 36th for $28,479, Ylon Schwartz, who finished 46th for $18,592, and David ‘ODB’ Baker, who finished 66th for $12,452.
Lawrence Berg Wins Event #5: $1,500 Dealers Choice (Six-Handed)
Lawrence Berg has beaten 388 players to become the newest Dealer’s Choice champion. His $125,466 first prize was by far his largest score of his live tournament career. It was only his fourth WSOP cash, and his previous best cash was an 11th place finish in a WPT side event for just under $50,000 back in 2009.
Berg’s success meant more heartache for Yueqi Zhu, who had to settle for the role of bridesmaid for the second time in his career. He also has multiple third and fourth place cashes in a career that spans nearly two decades.
The final table was chocked full of talent. Andrew Brown was making his third final table. He also had a runner-up spot on his CV finishing second to Jan-Peter Jachtmann in the $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha World Championships in 2012. And Paul Volpe was searching for bracelet #2. Volpe won his first bracelet in 2014 and was runner-up twice last year in the $10,000 Pot Limit Hold’em World Championships and the $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em Heads-Up Championships.
It was also the second WSOP event that witnessed the presence of Chris ‘Jesus’ Ferguson. His 19th place finish represented his first cash in an open event since 2010. He last won a bracelet back in 2003 when he picked up two in a performance that would have surely guaranteed him the WSOP Player of the Year (POY) had it been invented.
Congratulations to Berg for managing to glide through that lot.
Final Table Results
1st. Lawrence Berg – $125,466
2nd. Yueqi Zhu – $77,526
3rd. Andrew Brown – $50,250
4th. Paul Volpe – $33,393
5th. Joseph Couden – $22,765
6th. John Templeton – $15,932
Other notables that made a run at the final table included Randy Ohel (8th), Jared Bleznick (17th), and Brad Libson (18th).
The Best of the Rest
The first of many $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em events has hit the ground running. Event #6 attracted 2,016 entrants and at the end of Day 1, Roman Rogovskiy was the chip leader bagging up 188,700 chips and eliminating no other than Phil Hellmuth on his route to becoming the headline act. 321 players survived, and chief among the bigger stacks was Steve Gross (142,800), Mohsin Charania (132,400), and Georgios Zisimopoulos (103,000).
Players in Event #7: $1,500 2-7 Draw Lowball (No-Limit) are close to the money at the end of Day 1. 279 players created a prize pool of $376,650 and Konstantin Maslak leads the final 54 players. Keep an eye on John Monnette sitting in eighth place in that one. The event pays 42 players.
PokerStars Team Pro, Naoya Kihara, leads the final 201 players at the end of Day 1 in Event #8: $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. 778 players entered the event to push the prize money over a million dollars. 117 players will get paid in that one. The winner walks away with $212,604. The British pair of Stuart Rutter and Richard Ashby are at the right end of the chip counts.
