Day seven at the 38th
World Series of Poker saw the $1,000 no-limit hold'em (event eight) final table play out. Jan Von Halle from Germany and Michael Gracz, a Pole living in the US, were the European representatives. It was short stack Von Halle who stumbled first when his ill-fated push on the second orbit of the table with 9
2
ran into the big blind's A
K
. He didn't improve and walked away in ninth place with $34,196.
Gracz lost a couple of pots to bad beats on the fifth orbit of the table, which effectively crippled him, and when he pushed with Q
6
only to run into kings, he couldn't catch up. He was eliminated in sixth place and took home $84,858. Michael Chu went on to win the bracelet and take down the $585,744 first prize.
The $1,500 Omaha eight-or-better (event nine) event was won by Russian Alex Kravchenko, who lifted $228,446 by picking off Bryan Devonshire in the final hand, hitting trip fours on the river.
Event 10, the $2,000 no-limit hold'em, saw a number of Europeans cash but none were able to find sufficient play to reach the final table.
In the money were Dane Christian Togsverd (106th for $3,901), Frenchman Michel Liebgorin (107th for $3,901), Scot Rory Matthews (82nd for $4,676), Scot Philip Starr (80th for $5,851), Englishman John Gale (78th for $5,851), Frenchman Bertrand Grospellier (68th for $6,966), and Brit Michael Greco (30th for $14,350).
There was strong European interest in the $5,000 world championship seven-card stud (event 11), which played down to the final table. Dane Theo Jorgensen, Frenchman Oriane Teysseire, and Italian Marco Tranellio are all in contention for the final push, facing, among others, Phil Ivey and David Oppenheim.
Others to cash in the event were Jan Sorensen ($8,460), Ville Wahlbeck ($8,460), and Thor Hansen ($10,998).
The $1,500 no-limit hold'em six-handed (event 12) attracted 1,427 players and included recent bracelet winner Ciaran O'Leary, David "Devilfish" Ulliott, Thomas Wahlroos, Roland De Wolfe, David Benyamine, and Ben Grundy.
However, most of the widely recognizable Europeans faded before the money bubble burst, but a couple of canny players managed to squeeze out a payday. Swede Johan Lendenius cashed in 83rd for $2,824 and Dane Johannes Steindl went out in 64th for $3,214.
The final 64 players in this event will return on Friday, June 8 to play down to the final table. Friday will also see the culmination of the $5,000 world championship seven-card stud event and the $2,000 no-limit hold'em final table as well as the start of the $5,000 world championship pot-limit hold'em tournament and the $1,500 seven-card stud event.
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