Tuan Le wins event that netted him his first WSOP bracelet last year – it’s his first cash since then
1. Tuan Le repeats
We reported yesterday that Tuan Le was chip leader on the final table of the event he won last year, the $10k 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball Championship. We also said it was far from a forgone conclusion that he’d convert that to his second bracelet, but he did it.
Le triumphed over Phil Galfond on the final table for the second year running – Galfond also made the final table of this event in 2014 when he finished sixth and improved to a fourth place finish this time round. It’s the first time anyone has successfully defended a WSOP bracelet since 2009 when Thang Luu won the second of his two $1,500 Omaha High-Low titles.
Le was understandably over the moon with his win, saying: ‘This year’s victory is like ten times as big as last year. When you defend a title, that’s a totally different ball game. It’s a statement. Anyone can get a rush one time and win, but to do it again, makes a statement. For me, last year was about the money. This year was about the bracelet.’ Can he make it a hat-trick in 2016?
2. Heads-up for rollz
The $10k Heads-Up Championship attracted 143 players, with the majority getting a bye through to the second round. 30 players had to play the first round to create a second round of 128, but they were given the compensation of being able to buy-in for $5,000 – the equivalent of playing a heads-up satellite to get into the tournament proper.
Erik Seidel and Doug Polk were two big names that had to play and both were rewarded with safe passage through at a cut price. Doug Polk was also given a Round of 128 match against Jean-Robert Bellande that ended quickly when Polk rivered the nuts and snapped off Bellande’s shove with a flopped set of Nines.
As expected, there were some stellar match-ups in the Round of 128, including Sorel Mizzi v Davidi Kitai, Isaac Haxton v Olivier Busquet, Dan Smith v Jake Cody and Byron Kaverman v Phil Hellmuth. Early causalities included Justin Bonomo at the hands of the UK’s Max Silver, Erik Seidel, Michael Mizrachi and Jennifer Tilly. Other big names to drop included Isaac Haxton, Davidi Kitai, Phil Hellmuth and Jake Cody.
The standout match in the Round of 64 was Jason Somerville v JC Tran, which ended in a classic flip with Queens for Somerville and AK for Tran. An Ace on the flop meant that Somerville wouldn’t be running his stack up in the Round of 32. Polk was also eliminated here by Connor Drinan.
The Round of 32 was the last one for the night and anyone who won would be in the money and guaranteed $26,490. Olivier Busquet defeated Brian Hastings in the heavyweight clash, with ElkY and Dan Smith also falling before the cash.
Playing again today, the final 16 includes George Danzer, Max Silver, JC Tran, Olivier Busquet and Paul Volpe. They’re playing for the bracelet and the $334,430 first prize.
3. Colossus final table set
Adi Prasetyo is the man to beat at the final table of the Colossus. He has the biggest stack of 39,300,000, which is good for over 30% of the chips in play. He busted tenth place finisher Bradley Burns when they both got the money in with A-Ks. Prasetyo had the clubs and flopped the nut flush to leave Bradley drawing dead in a hand he expected to chop.
The big story is that two roommates, former chip leader Ray Henson and Cord Garcia have both made the final table. Henson is doing well with big fields recently having just won the biggest WSOP Circuit event ever – 4,053 players entered the $365 buy-in in January and Henson eventually defeated poker legend TJ Cloutier for the ring and $197,588.
The two roommates are also part of a 91-strong last longer bet, which incredibly also includes the chip leader Prasetyo. Whoever wins that has a very good chance of taking down the largest live event in poker’s history.
The final table starts at 12pm, with the live stream kicking in 30 minutes later, with hole cards and commentary. Watch it from 12.30pm ET here.
4. Event #8, $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold’em; Event #9, $1,500 Razz
Down to the final 15, the $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold’em event will play to a winner later tonight. It could be the most cosmopolitan final table of the series so far, with four nations represented in the top five, including Georgios Sotiropoulos who won EPT Prague in Season 10 back in 2013. William Mitchell from the UK is hanging on with the shortest stack – 172,000 to the chip leader David Eldridge’s 677,000.
The bracelets will be coming thick and fast tonight as the $1,500 Razz is also set to play down to a champion. With 19 players left Chris George is the man to beat, but old-school pro Eli Elezra is back in fifth and Cyndy Violette is doing it for the ladies back in ninth.
5. Nothing going for the Phils so far
Without any bracelet bets to spur him on, Phil Ivey has been conspicuous by his absence at this year’s WSOP. He was last spotted at the opening of the Poker King Club at the Venetian Macau, along with Tom Dwan.
Phil Hellmuth hasn’t been able to capitalise on his closest bracelet rival though, failing to cash in any of the events he’s played in so far. You can add to that list Event #11, the $1,500 Limit Hold’em tournament. Joining Hellmuth on the rail after Day 1 were Antonio Esfandiari, Daniel Negreanu, Jonathan Little, Michael Mizrachi and Jonathan Duhamel. Todd Brunson and Barry Greenstein are safely through, along with 223 other players.
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