World Series of Poker 2010 Part II — More Euro Triumphs

As the World Series of Poker 2010 progressed it was clear it was going to be a vintage year for European challengers. In part II of our overview of the most successful WSOP ever – total participation was up 20 percent to 72,966 from 60,875 in 2009 — our reporters on the ground at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino bring you all the significant Euro successes including another slew of bracelets.

Event 25: $10,000 Omaha Eight-or-Better World Championship — Flushy Falls to Farha

Sam Farha hadn’t cashed in a major poker tournament in over a year going into event no. 25, the $10,000 Omaha Eight-or-Better World Championship.

The cash game pro ended the drought with his third bracelet in one of the longest Omaha eight-or-better final tables in history — over 12 hours of tense action.

After four hours of heads-up battle Farha prevented young Brit James “Flushy” Dempsey, winner of event No. 9 ($1,500 pot-limit hold’em), from taking down his second bracelet.

The 2003 main event runner-up now has three WSOP titles in variations of Omaha. With only eight cashes in his career at the summer series, Farha has three bracelets.

Even though Farha’s win puts him in the company of fellow three-time bracelet winners such as Barry Greenstein, Mike Matusow, and Chip Reese, he only worries about numbers that are preceded by a dollar sign.

“I am not competing for bracelets,” Farha said. “If I did, I would play every single event. I pick the events that I like. I am not trying to compete to get 10 bracelets or 11 bracelets. I don’t like tournaments too much.”

The final table results were:

Here are the key elimination hands as featured in Card Player.com’s live updates:

Steve Wong Eliminated in Ninth Place ($44,619)

Sam Farha raised, James Dempsey called, and Dutchman Steve Wong moved all in for 56,000 total. Farha and Dempsey called. The flop came K 6 5, and Farha led out. Dempsey called. The Q fell on the turn, and action went check-check. The 10 hit the river. Farha exposed the A 10 9 3 for a pair of tens. Dempsey mucked, and Wong tabled the A 8 6 3 for a pair of sixes. He was eliminated from the tournament.

Eugene Katchalov Eliminated in Seventh Place ($74,670)

Russian Eugene Katchalov had all his chips in the middle preflop versus Sam Farha and Sergey Altbregin. The flop came K 8 8, and Farha bet. Altbregin called. The 4 fell on the turn, and action went check, check. The K landed on the felt, and Farha checked. Altbregin bet, and Farha called. Altbregin exposed the A K 7 2 and took down the pot.

James Dempsey Eliminated in Second Place ($301,790), Sam Farha Wins Event No. 25 ($488,237)

James Dempsey got his last 200,000 in the middle with the J 8 6 5. Sam Farha called with the J 9 7 4. Farha and Dempsey witnessed the board run out 10 4 3 10 10, completely bricking for Dempsey. Farha won the title and $488,237.

Event 28: $2,500 Pot-Limit Omaha – Five Euros But No Bracelet

Miguel Proulx entered the final day of event no. 28 ($2,500 pot-limit Omaha) at the 2010 World Series of Poker as the chip leader. Although he did not exactly lead wire-to-wire, he ended the day as the only man holding any chips, taking down his first WSOP bracelet and $315,311.

There were 596 players who registered for the three-day event, accumulating a prize pool of $1,370,800. There were 54 places paid with a minimum cash earning $5,304. Five Europeans made the final table.

The final table results were:

Patrick Hanoteau Eliminated in Ninth Place ($25,044)

Frenchman Patrick Hanoteau raised to 70,000 preflop and German Karl Gal was next to act. He bet the pot and the action folded back around to Hanoteau. He made the call, putting himself all in. He turned over A K J 7 and was facing Gal’s aces — A A 9 3. The board ran out 10 7 3 Q 4, offering Hanoteau no help and he was eliminated.

Karl Gal Eliminated in Sixth Place ($54,736)

German Karl Gal moved all in for his last 200,000 and Miguel Proulx made the call. He showed down Q J 10 6 while Gal showed K K 8 7. The flop was good for both players as it came down Q J 2, giving Gal a flush and Proulx two pair. The turn was the A, helping neither player. But the river was the Q, giving Proulx the full house and Gal was eliminated.

Joerg Engels Eliminated in Fifth Place ($72,227)

German Joerg Engels raised to 110,000 from the button and Brit Michael Greco made the call from the big blind. The flop came down 6 6 5 and Greco checked. Engels moved all in and Greco made the call.

Engels showed down A 9 9 4 and Greco showed A 6 3 3.

Greco had trips and improved to a full house when the A fell on the turn. The river was the 7, securing Engels’ fate as he was eliminated.

Stephane Tayar Eliminated in Fourth Place ($96,253)

Frenchman Stephane Tayar raised to 140,000 from under the gun and Miguel Proulx was the only caller. Tayar only had 10,000 behind and threw it into the pot before the flop was dealt. Proulx made the call and showed A K 4 3, while Tayar showed Q J 9 8. The board ran out Q 10 2 2 7, giving Proulx a superior spade flush and Tayar was eliminated.

Michael Greco Eliminated In Third Place ($129,691)

L.J. Klein opened for a raise and Englishman Michael Greco moved all in for his last 485,000. Klein made the call and turned over K J 7 6 while Greco showed A 10 10 5.

The board ran out J 8 6 4 5, giving Klein a straight and knocking Greco out in third place.

Event 30: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’Em – Ellis Eases to Victory

Englishman Mike Ellis arrived at the final table seventh in chips with just over half a million. He made his way to a heads-up match with Christopher Gonzales, who entered the table as chip leader. After a very long back and forth match that saw the chip lead change numerous times, Ellis was able to crack Gonzales’ aces with the nut flush and win the event just after 5 a.m. on a Saturday morning. The night proved that having a final table with no former bracelet winners did not mean that the action would lack excitement. The play was fierce and unpredictable, as indicated by the undulating chip stacks of the final two.

At one point, with three players remaining Gonzales saw his chips drop to just around 400,000, a far cry from the 2.7 million he sat down at the final table with initially. But in three consecutive hands he moved all in and was called, doubling up on each occasion. In a flash, he was up to around 4 million in chips and very close to once again having the chip lead.

When the action got heads up Gonzales had 7.8 million to Ellis’ 2.8 million, but fitting for the rapid rise and fall pace that was seen throughout the night and early morning, Ellis made one last comeback. While 2,394 players entered the event, only one could survive the marathon. And as the sun rose over the Rio, the happiest man inside had to be Ellis, as he won his first WSOP title and the $581,851 prize. Gonzales got $360,906 for his runner-up finish.

The final table payouts were:

Event 31: $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. – Puchkov Pushes for Gold

Russian Konstantin Puchkov won event No. 31 ($1,500 H.O.R.S.E) at the 2010 World Series of Poker after a grueling three-and-a-half hour heads-up match with Al Barbieri. Both players traded the lead several times but there was only one all-in during that span which resulted in Barbieri’s elimination. The win was Puchkov’s first WSOP bracelet and first cash in a WSOP event, netting him $257,134.

The three-day event drew 828 players, accumulating a prize pool of $1,117,800. There were 80 places paid with 80th place receiving $2,869. Notables who cashed in the event include Lex Veldhuis (25th), Jeff Shulman (34th), Pat Pezzin (37th), Maria Ho (42nd), and Jason Mercier (44th).

The final day saw 24 players return to play down to a champion, including the defending champion of this event, James Van Alstyne. Van Alstyne would not repeat as he made his exit in 14th, joining other notables Chip Jett (9th), Allen Kessler (13th) and Jon Turner (24th) as day-three casualties.

Play at the official final table began slowly as it took a couple of hours before Robert Mizrachi became the first casualty of the night. Another hour went by without a single elimination but with the arrival of level 25, the eliminations came swiftly as four players hit the rail including Swede Ken Lennaard. Play then slowed again as it took another two hours to eliminate Dustin Leary in third place.

When heads-up play began, Barbieri held a one million chip lead and he soon expanded it, but Puchkov avoided elimination on more than one occasion with timely pots and he eventually took a big chip lead of his own. It was then Barbieri’s turn to display his stubbornness as he came down from almost 2 million in chips to even up the match.

Finally, just after sunrise, Barbieri was thrown overboard as Puchkov made a boat in seven-card stud eight-or-better to secure his first bracelet.

The final table results were:

Event 33: $2,500 Pot-Limit Hold’em/Omaha – Hollink Can’t Hold’Em

Three of the players who sat down at the final table of event No. 33 ($2,500 pot-limit hold’em/Omaha) have combined for six career World Series of Poker bracelets. As the quick pace started claiming victims, it was those former champions who found themselves three-handed, fighting for yet another WSOP bracelet.

Jose-Luis Velador, who won a bracelet in no-limit hold’em in 2008, maintained a chip lead throughout most of the night and was able to hold on to knock out fellow 2008 bracelet winner, Duthcman Rob Hollink in third place before cruising through four-time bracelet winner David Chiu.

Chiu was able to double up once in the heads-up battle, but the deficit proved to be too much to overcome.

While other final tables this year have lasted long past sunrise, Velador claimed his second WSOP title and the first-place prize of $260,517 just before midnight while recent Irish Open winner James Mitchell from England also cashed in seventh.

The final table results were:

Event 37: $3,000 H.O.R.S.E. – Number Eight for Ivey

Phil Ivey just doesn’t stop impressing the poker community as he continued to cement his reputation as the greatest player in the world by winning his eighth career WSOP bracelet in event no. 37, the $3,000 H.O.R.S.E. event. Ivey took home $329,840 for his victory, but will take much more than that from various high-stakes pros who made bracelet bets with him.

This was easily the toughest final table of the 2010 World Series of Poker as the final eight players were jam-packed with top-flight professionals. Chad Brown, David Baker, Bill Chen, John Juanda, and Jeffrey Lisandro accompanied Ivey at the final table, making Ivey’s victory all that more impressive.

Ivey entered the final table as the chip leader, but took some hits early on to drop him back into the middle of the pack. He was able to tread water and survive until it was threehanded with Chen and Juanda. Chen looked like he was going to run away with the tournament since he had 75 percent of the chips in play at that point.

Ivey, however, was able to knock off Juanda and go heads up with Chen. The heads-up battle was intense and Ivey was able to pull back Chen’s 3-1 chip advantage to even within the first hour of heads-up play. Once he reached that threshold, it seemed like the momentum had completely changed and all the pots seemed to be pushed towards Ivey.

Ivey finished off Chen in a cold deck of a razz hand, where they got all the money in on fifth street with both players having already made a very strong low. Ivey had made a six-low to beat Chen’s seven-low, and Ivey even rivered a wheel to end the tournament in style.

With his eighth bracelet, Ivey moves up the ranks on the all-time bracelet leader board. He moves into a tie with Erik Seidel, and is only behind the likes of Johnny Moss (9 bracelets), Doyle Brunson (10 bracelets), Johnny Chan (10 bracelets), and Phil Hellmuth (11 bracelets).

Bill Chen finished just shy of his third career bracelet, and this was Juanda’s fourth final table of this year’s Series, falling short in his bid for his fifth career bracelet.

The final table results were:

Event 38: $10,000 Pot-Limit Hold’em World Championship – Kwaysser Attack

Hungarian Valdemar Kwaysser won event no. 38 ($10,000 pot-limit hold’em championship) at the 2010 World Series of Poker during a long final table that ended very abruptly. It was Kwaysser’s third cash of the Series and his first career bracelet, netting him a cool $617,214.

Kwaysser entered the day 11th in chips and managed to outlast names like Amnon Filippi, Sandra Naujoks, Allen Kessler, and Amit Makhija to make the final table.

Once the field condensed its last 10 players to one table, it took almost five hours for Sam Stein to hit the rail in 10th place to get down to the official final table which also featured Russian Alexander Kuzmin and German Konstantin Bucherl.

Kwaysser accounted for five of the eliminations at the final table, but they were spread throughout four hours of agonisingly slow play. The final level of the night started with four players and somehow they managed to lose three, with Kwaysser emerging victorious over Matt Marafioti in a brief heads-up battle.

The final table results were:

Event 41: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Eight-or-Better – Brit Jelinek Beats Hellmuth to Bracelet

The buzz surrounding the final table of event no. 41 ($1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Low Split-Eight-or-Better) existed because of its potential for historic firsts.

Amidst 847 entrants, Phil Hellmuth made it to the final nine with the hopes of winning a record 12th World Series of Poker bracelet and his first in a non-hold’em event. Also at the table was Mandy Thomas, vying to become the first female bracelet winner in an open event at this year’s WSOP.

But flying under radar was Briton Steve Jelinek, a man who made the final table of this same event last year. And Jelinek was still looking for a memorable first of his own. After outlasting Hellmuth, Thomas, and the rest of the players at the table, Jelinek found himself in a heads up battle against John Gottlieb.

Finally, after three days of countless chops and scoops, and a year of waiting for another chance, Jelinek scooped one final pot, the biggest of his life, and won himself $245,871, along with his first WSOP title.

The final table results were:

The notable bust-out hands were:
Phil Hellmuth Eliminated in Seventh Place ($30,633)

Phil Hellmuth got all in preflop with his tournament life on the line against John Gottlieb. Their hands:

Hellmuth: A 10 3 2
Gottlieb: A A Q 8

The flop came Q 9 7, offering Hellmuth no help. The turn was the 10 and the river brought the 9. Hellmuth’s record 12th bracelet wasn’t on the cards as he was the 7th place finisher, making $30,633.

Anders Taylor Eliminated in Third Place ($97,913)

Anders Taylor got all in preflop and was called by Steve Jelinek, who had him covered. Their hands:

Taylor: Q Q 4 2
Jelinek: J 9 8 6

The flop was deadly for Taylor, coming 9 6 6 to give Jelinek a quick full house. The 8c turn was meaningless and the K river made sure that Jelinek was moving on to heads up, and Taylor was the 3rd-place finisher. Taylor made $97,913 for his strong finish. Jelinek entered the heads up holding a near 3-1 chip lead over John Gottlieb.

John Gottlieb Eliminated in Second Place ($151,884), Steve Jelinek Wins Event 5 ($245,871).

In the ultimate hand of the event, John Gottlieb was just slightly shy of being even in chips with chip leader Steve Jelinek when a massive preflop raising war got Gottlieb all in with Jelinek calling.

Their hands:
Jetlinek: A A Q 4
Gottlieb: A K 9 5

The board connected with Jelinek’s hand best, running Q 10 8 4 5. It was enough for Jelinek to scoop the pot and eliminate Gottlieb in second place, for which he won $151,884, while Englishman Jelinek took down his first WSOP title and $245,871.

Event 43: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship – Ashby and Katchalov Come Close

Coming into the final day of the $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship, Ian Gordon only had career tournament earnings of $4,345. He was not picked by many, if any, to win the event at the start of the day.

That all changed after 13 hours of poker.

Gordon showed that he was a force to be reckoned with, as he took on many of the game’s best players including Euro challengers Marco Traniello from Italy, Spanish citizen Carlos Mortensen, Russian Eugene Katchalov, and recent bracelet winner Richard “Chufty” Ashby from the UK, and came out on top. As the sun was rising Saturday morning, the Missoula, Montana native won his first career bracelet, along with $611,666 in just his second career WSOP cash.

Coming into the final table, Gordon was more of an afterthought as he was right in the middle of the pack in chips. Matt Glantz had picked up steam and took the final-table lead with almost 2 million in chips from the 7 million-plus in play.

Gordon never seemed to get too short on chips and won a critical pot fivehanded when he backed into the nut flush against Glantz to cripple the top pro. That pot propelled Gordon to the top of the chip counts and he never looked back. He used his stack to his advantage and tore through the competition when it got threehanded.

Gordon’s heads-up match lasted just one hand when his pocket nines won the race against Richard Ashby’s A-J. Ashby was looking to become the second multiple bracelet winner at the WSOP this year, (after Frank Kassella) but fell just short, coming in second.

The final table results were:

Event 48: $2,500 Mixed Event – Sigurd the Swede Tastes Sweet Victory

Sigurd Eskeland won event no. 48 ($2,500 mixed event) at the 2010 World Series Of Poker to take home his first career bracelet and $260,497. It was his third career cash at the WSOP and first ever final table.

Eskeland entered the final table in the middle of the pack with Scott Seiver, Kirill Rabtsov, and Steve Sung there to join him. He battled hard and eventually got heads-up against Sung holding a 2-1 chip lead.

Sung showed his skill by coming all the way back to tie up the match and even take a slight chip lead at one point. It was his seventh WSOP final table and he was in search of his second bracelet.

Sung was in great position to capture his bracelet on the last hand of the night as he held pocket queens against Eskeland’s Ac 9s in no-limit hold’em. Eskeland held a very slight chip lead and would have been crippled if he lost the hand.

But it must have been written in the cards for Eskeland as he hit a backdoor club flush to crack Sung’s queens and take down his first bracelet.

There were 20 players who returned on the final day and it was stacked with notables. Todd Brunson (10th), Alexander Kravchenko (11th), Dario Minieri (14th), Kirk Morrison (16th), John D’Agostino (17th), and Bill Chen (18th) all fell short of making the final table.

The final table results were:

Huck Seed Wins Tournament of Champions

Huck Seed has been a monster in the poker world for over 15 years. Now he can add another title to his name with his victory in the 2010 World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions.

As if he had anything else to prove, Seed already has four bracelets to his name and won the 2009 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship. With the win, his career tournament earnings total just over $5,700,000.

The 1996 main event champion outlasted 27 of the most elite players in the game to take home $500,000 in his first Tournament of Champions victory. He joins the likes of Annie Duke, Mike Sexton, and Mike Matusow as the only winners in the history of this event.

Coming into the final day second in chips, Seed didn’t seem to get involved in too many big pots early on. He was able to stay under the radar and get to the final table without taking too many risks. All while keeping his chip stack around where it was at the day’s start.

He slowly chipped up at the final table and was able to get heads-up with Howard Lederer after playing pots against Johnny Chan when they were threehanded. On a six-high flop, Seed got all of his chips in with 9-6 against Lederer’s pocket tens. Seed was able to back door a straight to double up and stay alive. A few hands later, Seed finished the job to take the title for himself.

The final table results were:

The elimination hands were as follows:

T.J. Cloutier Eliminated in Ninth Place ($25,000)

Daniel Negreanu raised and T.J Cloutier called from the button. Annie Duke joined from the big blind and the flop came K J 5. Duke and Negreanu both checked and Cloutier bet 12,000.

Duke folded and Negreanu called. The turn came the 6 and Negreanu put out enough chips to move Cloutier all in. Cloutier made the call and showed A J.

Cloutier was in deep trouble against the K 10 of Negreanu. The river was the 7 and Negreanu moved up to 240,000 with the knockout.

Annie Duke Eliminated in Eighth Place ($25,000)

Annie Duke moved all in for 33,000 from early position. Barry Greenstein isolated Duke by moving all in over the top. Jennifer Harman tanked for a while before releasing her hand. Duke showed A Q and was way ahead of Greenstein’s A J.

The flop came 8 3 2 and Duke was still way ahead. The turn was the 7, giving her a flush draw, but Greenstein got there on the river with the J and hit his two-outer to take the pot and was then up to 127,000, while Duke was on her way to the rail.

Jennifer Harman Eliminated in Seventh Place ($25,000)

After being severely short stacked, Jennifer Harman tripled and then doubled up, but was still short on chips. She was all-in again and was in trouble against Barry Greenstein. Harman held A 4 and needed an ace against the K K of Greenstein.

The J 6 4 gave her a few more outs, but the J and 5 on the turn and river didn’t give her what she needed and Greenstein sent her home.

Daniel Negreanu Eliminated in Sixth Place ($25,000)

Daniel Negreanu was once the chip leader, but was run over by Johnny Chan throughout the last two levels and dropped under 100,000. We found Negreanu getting all in on a flop of 6 5 2 and was called by Joe Hachem. Negreanu tabled A A, but Hachem showed 5 5, giving him a set of fives. The turn was the 3, giving Negreanu some chop outs, but the 10 on the river kept Hachem’s set in the lead and eliminated the one-time chip leader earlier than he would have liked.

Barry Greenstein Eliminated in Fifth Place ($25,000)

Barry Greenstein raised to 15,000 and Howard Lederer called from the big blind.

The flop came A 8 2 and all of the chips got into the middle. Greenstein held 4 3 giving him a straight and flush draw and Lederer showed A 10, good for top pair.

The turn was the 10, which kept Lederer in the lead and gave him two pair, and the river was the 7. Greenstein missed both of his draws and took home $25,000 for his efforts. Lederer was now up to 340,000 and was the chip leader.

Joe Hachem Eliminated in Fourth Place ($25,000)

Howard Lederer raised from the button and Joe Hachem three-bet to 49,000 from the small blind. Lederer moved him in for his 88,000 total and Hachem made the call.

Hachem showed A 8 and was up against Lederer’s 8 8.

“Ace of spades one time,” said Hachem. “Actually, another time. One more time.”

The board came 9 5 5 J 5 to send the former main event champion home just short of a money jump.

Johnny Chan Eliminated in Third Place ($100,000)

After Huck Seed folded the button, Howard Lederer made a raise from the small blind to put the extremely short-stacked Johnny Chan all in.

Chan made the call after a few moments of thought and tabled 7 5 and was up against the J 9 of Lederer.

The flop was J 8 6 and each player had a piece. Chan had a straight draw and Lederer had top pair. The turn was the A, and the 2 fell on the river to eliminate Chan and leave Lederer heads up with Seed for the title and the $500,000.

Howard Lederer Eliminated in Second Place ($250,000), Huck Seed Wins ($500,000)

A few hands after losing the chip lead, Lederer was down to just 138,000 in chips, moved all in preflop and was called by Seed.

Lederer showed Q 8 and was slightly behind Seed’s A 2. The flop came 7 6 6, which didn’t change much for Lederer, still needing an 8 or a queen. The 9 gave Seed a flush draw and Lederer a straight draw, but the A on the river kept Seed in the lead and gave him the title.

Lederer took home $250,000 after being able to taste victory and Seed will take home a cool $500,000 for his efforts.