WSOP Day 4: European Player RoundupEuropean Poker Players Display Panache at World Series of Poker - One Bracelet Winner, Two Final Tables, and a Handful of Contenders |
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Day four saw a European breakthrough at the World Series of Poker as Irishman Ciaran O'Leary won the $1,500 no-limit hold'em bracelet, Andy Black and Ben Grundy tore up the $5,000 pot-limit Omaha game, Italian Marco Traniello made the $1,500 pot-limit hold'em final table, and Frenchman David Benyamine stormed to the final nine in the $2,500 Omaha/seven card stud eight-or-better tournament
O'Leary, an Irishman living in Seattle, Washington, won the third bracelet at the 38th World Series of Poker, beating out 2,977 players to lift the first prize of $727,012 in the $1,500 no-limit hold'em tournament (event three).
O'Leary got his chips in ahead with K
10
on a flop of K
6 2
against Paul Evans who held 6 3 in the final hand.
The K turn handed him trips but also dangled a flush in front of Evans. A benign river card, 9, sealed his fate and O'Leary joins eminent Irish bracelet holders Donnacha O'Dea and Noel Furlong in the Irish hall of fame.
German Andreas Krause came sixth in the event picking up a bankroll-boosting $94,122.
The $1,500 no-limit hold'em tournament (event four) played down to the final nine, which included Marco Traniello. The suave Italian, who was railed by his wife, "big game" player Jennifer Harman, reached the final table in good shape with $277,000 in chips, slightly above average.
David Benyamine, the high-stakes Frenchman, made the final table of the $2,500 Omaha/seven card stud eight-or-better tournament sitting just below the chip average on $177,000 in chips.
Andy Black had started the day in the tournament at a table with Paul Darden, Greg Raymer, and Jennifer Harman but ended the day among the chip leaders in another game, the $5,000 Omaha rebuy (event seven).
Black was joined by fellow Europeans Ram Vaswani, Robin Keston, Max Pescatori, Patrik Antonius, Dave "Devilfish" Ulliott, Gus Hansen, Roland De Wolfe, Thomas Wahlroos, and Ben Grundy.
The European contingent made up almost 10 percent of the field of 145 players. With rebuys allowed when a player was at or below $10,000 in chips for the first three hours, there was an unsurprisingly huge 450 rebuys, which guaranteed the winner a hefty $868,745 payday.
The rebuy nature of the event filtered out all but the biggest of hitters in poker and the tables were some of the toughest in WSOP history.
At one point Black found himself seated with Daniel Negreanu, John D'Agostino, Erik Lindgren, Patrik Antonius, and Toto Leonidas, while Devilfish had Chip Reese, Phil Ivey, and Max Pescatori on his beat.
Hansen, De Wolfe, and Wahlroos didn't make the end of play but Black pitched up among the chip leaders with around $230,000 in chips.
The European assault remained sincere. At the end of play for the day Grundy ($160,000 in chips), Vaswani ($110,000 in chips), Devilfish ($80,000 in chips), Keston ($51,800 in chips), Pescatori ($44,000 in chips), and Antonius ($40,000 in chips) were among the 50-odd players left in contention for the 18 payouts.
Day four was a great day for the European challenge and with hundreds of Europeans yet to travel to Vegas for the event, the screws are likely to be turned even tighter as the World Series of Poker continues.
Monday's unfinished tournaments continue on Tuesday, which also sees the $1,000 no-limit hold'em rebuy tournament and the $1,500 Omaha eight-or-better game.
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