Day nine at the 38th
World Series of Poker saw the largest number of people ever to sit down and play poker in one place (3,009) and the European contingent continued its strong showing.
The $5,000 world championship pot-limit hold'em tournament (event 13) played down to the final table with the sole European representative, Italian-domiciled Jeff Lisandro, in a commanding position as chip leader on $982,000 in chips.
With twice the average stack, Lisandro in seat nine is the button to Allen Cunningham's big blind and with Humberto Brenes and Gavin Griffen also at the table will not get an easy ride.
He has already finished 13th in the $5,000 pot-limit Omaha event this year. He has plenty of experience at this level and is unlikely to get many better opportunities than this to bag his first bracelet.
Jan Von Halle from Germany finished in 18th place in the event for $17,771. Alex Kravchenko from Russia was eliminated in joint 27th place for $15,900, Kirill Gerasimov from Russia went out in 33rd for $14,030, and Lex Veldhuis from the Netherlands busted in 35th place for $14,030.
Michael Keiner from Germany entered the final table of the $1,500 seven-card stud tournament (event 14) as chip leader but faced stern competition, including former world champion Greg Raymer and "big game" stalwart Barry Greenstein.
He continued to dominate the table and eventually found himself heads-up against Nesbitt Coburn. The gracious German triumphed after 15 exhausting hours of play and took down the bracelet and $146,987.
Event 15, the $1,500 no-limit hold'em tournament, saw Frenchman Fabrice Soulier finish fourth in chips at the end of play, as 161 players remain from a starting field of 2,628. Other Europeans guaranteed a payday include Welshman Iwan Jones and Frenchman Bertrand Grospellier, while Any Black and David "Devilfish" Ulliott crashed and burned outside the money.
The $2,500 H.O.R.S.E tournament (event 16) was the largest ever of its kind, boasting 381 hopefuls. Among the Europeans who will return for day two are Andy Black, Max Pescatori, and John Gale.
American Jason Warner won the $1,500 no-limit hold'em short-handed (event 12) event beating 1,426 other players to land a payday of $481,698.
Sunday, June 10, will see the final table of the $5,000 world championship pot-limit hold'em, day two of the $1,500 no-limit hold'em event, day two of the $2,500 H.O.R.S.E tournament, as well as the start of the $1,000 ladies world championship no-limit hold'em event and the start of the $5,000 world championship limit hold'em game.
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