WSOP 2011: Round Up

The opening ten days of this year’s WSOP have belonged to the Brits. Out of 12 events, homegrown talent has claimed no fewer than two bracelets, bagged over $1 million in winnings and even secured an elusive Triple Crown.

Once the obligatory $500 Casino Employees Only event was out of the way (Sean Drake won for those of you who care), Jake Cody stamped his name on the history books with a win in the stacked $25k Heads-Up Championship.

The Rochdale youngster now has a WPT title, EPT title and WSOP bracelet to his name, making him only the third player ever to win poker’s Triple Crown alongside fellow Brit Roland de Wolfe and Gavin Griffin.

But if you thought Rochdale’s moment in the sun ended with Cody’s bracelet, think again. Only a few poker-filled days has passed before Cody’s BFF and childhood friend Matt Perrins bagged his first bracelet in the $1,500 Deuce-to-Seven Lowball Single Draw for $102,000.

Perrins admitted to barely knowing the rules before taking his seat, but he must be a quick learner, as the youngster saw off past bracelet winners and fellow final tablists Jason Mericer and Chris Bjorin en route to his first major title.

And after a few Grudge Matches to celebrate days gone by, it was back to the real action. In between Cody and Perrins’ success, Americans Francesco Barbaro and Allen Bari took down the $1,500 Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 of Better and $5,000 No-Limit event respectively, before tournament star and PCA Super High Roller winner Eugene Katchalov won his first bracelet in $1,500 Seven Card Stud event for $122,909 (Brit Jonathan Spinks finished fourth).

Harrison Wilder was next up in the $1,500 Limit Hold’em event for $205,065, followed swiftly by Amir Lehavot’s $573,456 victory in the always memorable $10,000 Pot Limit Hold’em Championship. The Brits were once again out in force in this one, with online whizz Stephen ‘stevie44’ Chidwick and Nicholas Levi making a final table appearance.

Next, Sean Getzwiller claimed another bracelet for the host nation in the low-buy in $1,000 NLHE event next for a whopping $611,185, before Geffrey Klein bagged one more for Team USA in Event #10 – the always popular $1,500 six-max – for $544,388 (EPT London winner David Vamplew finished fourth).

Ten down, two to go. And once the always easy to pronounce Viacheslav Zhukov had booked Russia’s first win of the series in the $10,000 Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better Championship for $465,216, David Diaz rounded off the week with victory in the $1,500 Triple Chance No-Limit for $352,808. Phew, time for a breather.

Next week sees the conclusion of the $1,500 No-Limit Shootout and 2-7 Draw Lowball Championship book ending Limit and Pot Limit hold’em events, and as always, don’t forget to check back with PokerPlayer throughout this year’s WSOP for all the big stories.

2011 WSOP Winners:

Event #1: $500 Casino Employees NLHE – Sean Drake ($82,292)
Event #2: $25,000 Heads-UP NLHE Championship – Jake Cody (851,192)
Event #3: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better – Francesco Barbaro ($262,283)
Event #4: $5,000 NLHE – Allen Bari ($874,116)
Event #5: $1,500 Seven Card Stud – Eugene Katchalov ($122,909)
Event #6: $1,500 Limit Hold’em – Harrison Wilder ($205,065)
Event #7: $10,000 PLHE Championship – Amir Lehavot ($573,456)
Event #8: $1,500 NLHE – Sean Getzwiller ($611,185)
Event #9: $1,500 2-7 Draw Lowball – Matt Perrins ($102,105)
Event #10: $1,500 NLHE Six-Handed – Geffrey Klein ($544,388)
Event #11: $10,000 Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better Championship – Viacheslav Zhukov (465,216)
Event #12: $1,500 Triple Chance NLHE – David Diaz ($352,808)