Lee Davy provides you with a round up of the 47th Annual World Series of Poker including a return to action for Chris ‘Jesus’ Ferguson, the Colossus II fails to eclipse the achievements of its predecessor, and Christopher Sands wins the Casino Employee Event.
With most eyes focused on the gargantuan Colossus II, one of the most prominent profiles in the history of poker quietly walked into the area reserved for Event #3 $10,000 Seven Card Stud World Championship.
After a six-year absence from the game, Chris ‘Jesus’ Ferguson is back. We haven’t heard a peep from the man since the Full Tilt debacle. Unless he wins one of these events, one doubts we ever will. PokerNews Marty Derbyshire plucked up the courage to ask him a few questions only to be met with “I’m just here to play poker.” And he didn’t do much of that after an early elimination.
The smart money was on a WSOP return for Howard Lederer after the former Full Tilt ring leader issued a public apology via the personal blog of Daniel Negreanu. Now we have seen Ferguson make an appearance I think it’s only a matter of time before Lederer also shows up.
Shall we forgive them?
I need some time to think.
Be sure to check out full photo coverage from today’s events at @PokerPhotoArciv #WSOP pic.twitter.com/YF9ElDFnVH
— Drew Amato (@drew_amato) June 5, 2016
87 players entered the event. The winner will pick up $242,662, and 14 players will cash. 33 players are remaining at the end of Day 1. Steve Weiss has the chip lead with 301,500 and these bright sparks finished in the Top 10.
• Jean-Robert Bellande (2nd) – 282,500
• 2014 WSOP Player of the Year George Danzer (3rd)- 274,000
• Calvin Anderson (6th) – 209,000
• Frank Kassela (7th) – 199,000
• Stephen Chidwick (9th) – 175,000
• Jason Mercier (10th) – 154,000
Phil Hellmuth is still in with a shout of winning bracelet #15. He bagged up 65,000.
The Colossus II Fails to Live up to Expectations
I know that’s a strong headline, but the WSOP pulled out all the stops in an attempt to send last year’s record to the light of the flames, and they fell short.
Last year, Lance Garcia defeated 22,374 entrants to set a new world record for a live tournament attendance. This year, they increased the number of flights from four to six, and 21,613 participants made sure it was the second largest live tournament ever held in the history of poker.
It doesn’t have the same ring to it, does it?
That aside, it does mean the WSOP open events start with a $10,806,500 prize pool, and $1m reserved for the winner. Colossus II did set a new world record after 3,245 players received a little reward for their troubles. All Day 1 survivors guaranteed at least $832.
There were 11,713 unique entrants and 9,900 re-entries.
Here is the rundown of bullet numbers:
• 5,191 re-entered twice
• 2,525 re-entered three times
• 1,296 re-entered four times
• 620 re-entered five times
• 268 re-entered six times
Only 5.9% of the field were female (1,270), the average age was 41.35 years old, and the oldest competitor was Norman Spivock, 92, from Santa Rosa, CA. 18,704 of the entrants were American.
Here are the numbers flight-by-flight:
• 1A: 3,249
• 1B: 2,153
• 1C: 3,770
• 1D: 3,099
• 1E: 4,855
• 1F: 4,487
956 dealers tossed about 4,398 decks of cards.
846 players made it through to Day 2. The chip leader is Norman Michalek, who topped Flight 1F with 531,000 chips. It was a great tournament for players from the United Kingdom. They provided the third most competitors of any nation with 408 and the likes of Tom Middleton (379,000), David Vamplew (325,000), Ben Dobson (317,000), Louis Salter (310,000), Craig McCorkell (296,000), and Max Silver (281,000) sailed through the first day.
Marvin Rettenmaier (307,000), Justin Zaki (290,000), and Harrison Gimbel (254,000) are also in contention.
Christopher Sands Wins Casino Employee Event
The combined news of Ferguson’s return and the size of the Colossus II means the first gold bracelet story of the summer comes last in this little round-up.
A 35-year old sports book writer and Caesars Palace cashier, Christopher Sands, has taken the first of 69 bracelets in Event #1: $565 Casino Employee Event (With Single Re-Entry).
Sands topped a field of 731 entrants in the two-day event. He defeated his heads-up opponent London Hippodrome’s Head of Poker, Kerryjane Craigie after 20-minutes of squabbling. He is now $75,157 the richer and dedicated the bracelet to his later mother who taught him to play when he was 13-years old.
Final Table Results
1st. Christopher Sand – $75,157
2nd. Kerryjane Craigie – $46,420
3rd. Michael Coombs – $32,249
4th. Spencer Bennett – $22,753
5th. Brian Mikesh – $16,308
6th. Tom Ratankul – $11,877
7th. Nicolas Sliwinski – $8,792
8th. Tiankang Xing – $6,616
9th. Robert Ostler – $5,063
