In this World Series of Poker round-up, we bring you the news of a great heads-up clash between Chris Vitch and Benny Glaser in the $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8-or-Better Championship, and some bits and bobs.
For the second successive summer, Chris Vitch, has won a World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet after taking down Event #48: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8-or-Better Championship.
The 34-year-old, mixed game specialist overcame a stacked final table that included a former World Champion in Jonathan Duhamel, one of the world’s best mixed cash game players in Alex Luneau, and the moronic motherfucker spouting Phil Hellmuth Jr.
Vitch, who bubbled the final table of the $10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo Championship, and finished fifth in the $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo event, battled with the British pro, Benny Glaser, for four hours before securing his second title.
After eliminating the $10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo Champion, Abe Mosseri, in third place, Glaser entered heads-up with a 2.3m v 3.9m chip disadvantage, but Vitch would go on a heater that gave him Napoleonic-like authority in the shape of a 15:1 chip lead.
But Glaser is a three-time WSOP bracelet winner, and he used every ounce of that experience to battle back, winning six crucial all-ins, to retake the chip lead. Holding and losing a 15:1 chip lead would have forced a few people to drink water out of the Thames – not Vitch.
Vitch maintained his composure, fought back like all true champions, and eventually won his second bracelet. It was his sixth WSOP final table. It was the first time Glaser had ever lost when heads-up for the main prize.
The event attracted 125 players, 9% fewer than last year when George Danzer took the title.
1. Chris Vitch – $320,193
2. Benny Glaser – $197,838
3. Abe Mosseri – $138,608
4. Jameson Painter – $99,342
5. Jonathan Duhamel – $72,876
6. Andrew Kelsall – $54,748
7. Brock Parker – $42,146
8. Alex Luneau – $33,265
9. Phil Hellmuth – $26,938
Other star players who carved out a niche on this particular Totem Pole were the man who can make money out of nothing, Dan Shak (10th), the man who can cut a carrot in half with a playing card Chris Ferguson (12th), and the man who has a coronary watching the carrots dying, Daniel Negreanu (18th).
The Best of the Rest
Day 2 of the $1,500 MONSTER STACK has ended with 234 players in contention for the $1m+ first prize, and the American Scott Baumstein bagged the biggest chip stack of 1,592,000.
Other impressive chip towers belong to the World Poker Tour (WPT) Champions Club member, Adrien Allain (1.5m), two-time bracelet winner, Paul Volpe (1m), and bracelet winner Scott Montgomery (880k).
Event #49: $3,000 Pot-Limit Omaha 6-Handed has also reached the end of Day 2, and Chino Rheem leads the final 19 players with $362,185 up top. Joining Rheem in the hierarchy of chip power is the four-time bracelet winner, Jeff Madsen, and Triple Crown seeker, Roberto Romanello.
Will Berry leads the field after Day 1 of Event #50: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em BOUNTY. 1,927 players entered, and Berry leads the final 264. Other notables to make Day 2 include the two-time bracelet winner Brandon Cantu (216,500), the 2017 Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) Main Event runner-up Harrison Gimbel (188,800), and the former Nov Niner Joseph Cheong (138,700).
And, finally, Event #51: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship reached Day 2 with 116 of the 207 entrants remaining. The smouldering Italian Dario Sammartino has the chip lead in that one (294,300), and joining him are the two-time bracelet winners Josh Arieh (212,500), and Scott Clements (193,600).
