Cord Garcia wins his first WSOP bracelet with his first WSOP cash – and it’s the big one
1. Roommates almost chop The Colossus
The largest live tournament of all time is in the bag and roommates Ray Henson and Cord Garcia pulled off an incredible double. Both players made the final table, where Henson parlayed his short stack into third place for $308,761. Garcia, his friend and roommate, went two better, winning his first bracelet, along with his first ever WSOP cash – $638,880.
Garcia also pocketed an extra $23k for winning a 91-man last longer bet, struck before the start of the tournament, which also included Henson and the final table chip leader Adi Prasetyo. It was a disappointing day for Prasetyo though – he started well, playing aggressively and controlling the table, but fell after a series of hands in sixth place for $140,956. Where else can you end up disappointed for turning $565 into $140k?
A quick run through the numbers again… 22,374 entries included 14,284 unique players from 98 countries – a WSOP record for a single event. More importantly, 5,664 players had never played a WSOP event before. The oldest player was 96 and the youngest 21 years and one day. The event used 362,425 physical poker chips, 982 dealers and 4,480 decks of cards. We counted over 130,000 bad beat stories too.
2. Run good/win bracelet
Austrian Paul Michaelis had some fantastic advice for players wanting to know how to convert a final table appearance into a WSOP bracelet: run good. After winning the $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold’em event, defeating Tom Marchese heads-up, Michaelis had the following to say: ‘I was running insane basically. I had a straight flush against a nut flush, I had a couple sets. My bluffs worked out. Everything worked perfectly actually.’
3. Forza Italia!
After the Austrian win in Event #8, Italian pro Max Pescatori added to the European haul, shaking the US monopoly on bracelets. Pescatori won the $1,500 Razz event, with Eli Elezra finishing fifth and Cyndy Violette ninth. It’s Pescatori’s third gold bracelet and his first since victory in a PLO event in 2008. It was good for $155,947.
4. Heads you win
Paul Volpe has made the final of the $10k Heads-Up Championship after squeaking into the field on Day 1. Volpe tweeted this just before registration was due to close:
‘How late can I reg 10k hu?’
He was told to get to the line straight away and hope he was in time. Volpe made it and he’s now guaranteed $206,620. If he wins his dash will be worth a gold bracelet and $334,430. Standing between him and his second bracelet is Keith Lehr and a best of three match-up which starts at 1pm today. The live stream will kick in half and hour later – if you want to see a heads-up masterclass then tune into the action here.
5. And the action keeps coming…
Event #11, the $1,500 Limit Hold’em event is down to 35 players from 660 at the time of writing this. Kevin Song is chip leader, with Brandon Cantu close behind. First prize is $196,055.
Also still playing is Event #12, the $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em 6-Handed. The UK’s Iaron Lightbourne is currently second in chips, with Scott Seiver in sixth, Antonio Esfandiari in eighth and David Benyamine in 12th.
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