‘E-Fro’ WSOP win

Event #26 was rather confusingly split into two tournaments. Both demanded a $1,500 buy-in, and both were played as Pot Limit Omaha.

However tournament ‘A’ featured single elimination while tournament ‘B’ permitted re-buys, and both carried WSOP gold bracelets as top prizes – as well as the hard cash, obviously.

Tournament A was won by Ralph Perry, the Russian born pro player who now resides in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Perry won $207,817 in prize money, having battled through a field of 525 players.

He certainly knows his way around WSOP poker tables after finishing third in the 2002 Championship Event. “I had a horrible WSOP up until the main event that year,” Perry recalled. “Then, I finished third and won half-a-million dollars. That was the most money I ever had.”

This time around he went two places better, after knocking out Texan player George Abdallah. The Houston restaurant owner has enjoyed several cashes and major tournament wins, including first place in a WSOP Circuit Pot-Limit Omaha event this year, in addition to a fourth-place finish at the WSOP Circuit championship held in New Orleans in May.

The final hand of the tournament was dealt out when Ralph Perry started with K-J-10-2 against Abdallah’s Q-10-4-3. The flop came 10-7-3 giving Abdallah two-pair. He moved all-in and was in the lead as Perry called. A nine on the turn gave Perry a straight draw.

Then, an eight on the river completed Perry’s jack-high straight. Abdallah was forced to settle for second place, which paid $109,644. Despite one of his biggest cashes ever, there was no satisfaction on Abdallah’s face.

Event #26 A
$1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha
Final table results:

1. Ralph Perry $207,817
2. George Abdallah $109,644
3. Brian Kocur $57,330
4. Luzhe Zhang $50,164
5. Ray “Rooster” Lynn $42,99
8 6. Spiro Mitroksotas $35,831
7. Frank Henderson $28,665
8. Jason Newburger $21,499
9. Russell Salzer $14,333

Tournament B was won by Eric ‘E-Fro’ Froehlich, who became the youngest ever winner of two WSOP titles, following his victory last year.

22-year old player from Las Vegas topped a tough field of 158 players and won $299,675. A whopping 472 re-buys pushed the total prize pool close to a million dollars.

Froehlich’s moment of glory came when he was dealt Q-7-7-6 against Afghanistan’s Sherkhan Farnood’s K-K-6-3. Froehlich flopped a set and then made a full-house when the final board of the night showed 10-7-5-J-J.

When asked which of the two victories is sweeter, Froehlich reminisced back to last year’s win. “The first one is sweeter,” Froehlich admitted.

When asked if a second WSOP win puts him into the same class with similar youthful champions such as Ivey, Negreanu, and Cunningham, Froehlich was more modest. “They are all great players,” he said. “Sure, I would like their respect and to be in that class as a player. But I still have a long way to go to earn that.”

Nevertheless, Froehlich says that is determined to make poker history in the years ahead. “I’m looking to pass Johnny (Chan) and Doyle (Brunson) in nine years,” Froehlich said half-jokingly. Chan and Brunson are currently the all-time leaders in most WSOP wins, with ten each.

Event #26 B
$1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha with re-buys
Final table results:

1. Eric “E-Fro” Froehlich $299,675
2. Sherkhan Farnood $165,274
3. Chau Giang $90,810
4. Kevin O’Donnell $72,648
5. Bruno Fitoussi $54,486
6. Matt Overstreet $45,405
7. Richard Freire $36,324
8. Rafi Amit $27,243
9. Ayaz Mahmood $18,162