This Week in Poker -- Sep. 13-18Get All of Your Tournament Poker News on Fifth Street Each Work Week |
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Check out CardPlayer.com every Friday for a weekly wrap-up of the news from the live poker tournament trail.
Card Player Player of the Year Update
1: Eric Baldwin — 4,588
2: Vitaly Lunkin — 4,337
3: Cornel Cimpan — 3,570
4: Angel Guillen — 3,492
5: Mike Leah — 3,137
6: Brock Parker — 3,132
7: Alexandre Gomes — 3,120
8: Jeffrey Lisandro — 3,018
9: Poorya Nazari — 3,000
10: Jude Ainsworth — 2,840
This Week in Poker
Thomas Bichon Wins WPT Cyprus Classic
The first-ever World Poker Tour Merit Cyprus Classic has crowned a champion, and it is Frenchman Thomas Bichon. The $10,000 no-limit hold’em event attracted 181 players who created a top prize worth $579,165. The top 18 players were awarded prize money at the event, and many top professionals found themselves in the money. They included Tommy Vedes (18th), Anthony Lellouche (14th), Kelly Kim (11th), Layne Flack (10th), Nenad Medic (ninth), Jonathan Little (eighth), and Huck Seed (seventh).
The final table of six players began with Rony Jazzar leading the way in chips, but surprisingly, he was the first to hit the rail in sixth place ($73,535) after bluffing off a huge portion of his stack against Rep Porter. On his final hand, Jazzar moved all in with K-Q against Uri Keidar on a Q-7-5-2 board that held two spades. Keidar held 8
6, and when the 10 fell on the river, Jazzar’s tournament was over. Janar Kiivermees fell in fifth place ($90,835) after he looked down at pocket fives and decided to move all in. Steven Fung called him down with pocket nines, and they held up to win the pot.
Four-handed action came next, and it proved to be the longest stretch of play at the final table. After three hours of battle, Rep Porter (Q
10) decided to pin his tournament hopes on a flush draw against Thomas Bichon on a board of 9 5 3. Bichon called him down with pocket nines, and the board bricked out for Porter, who was eliminated in fourth place ($121,115).
Bichon scored his second elimination when his J-5 dominated the 9-5 of Fung preflop. The board cooperated for Bichon, and Fung busted out of play in third place ($216,275). This hand also made Bichon the overwhelming chip leader with 5.6 million against the 1.6 million of Keidar heading into heads-up play.
That edge was insurmountable for Keidar, who fell on the second hand of heads-up play. Keidar raised to 350,000 preflop, from the button and Bichon reraised all in. Keidar thought for a moment and then made the call. Their cards:
Bichon: 7
7
Keidar: J 10
Board: A K 7 10 3
Keidar was eliminated in second place ($380,645), and Bichon captured the WPT title. Bichon also took home the first-place prize money of $579,615.
Here are the final results:
1st: Thomas Bichon — $579,165
2nd: Uri Keidar — $380,645
3rd: Steven Fung — $216,275
4th: Rep Porter — $121,115
5th: Janar Kiivramees — $90,835
6th: Rony Jazzar — $73,535
Commerce Poker Tournament Attracts Nearly 4,000 Entrants
Author’s Note: Article courtesy of Steve Murphy
Commerce Casino needed three starting days to hold the masses, but by the time the dust cleared, it had made history. The casino hosted the largest non-World Series of Poker live poker tournament ever this past week, welcoming 3,967 entrants to its $220 buy-in event at its new Hold’em Series.
“Commerce was jam packed this past weekend,” said Tournament Director Matt Savage. “It shows that a little creativity and an opportunity for a second chance at hundreds of thousands of dollars can reinvigorate poker. Commerce continues to stay at the cutting edge of the poker world and this remarkable turnout is a fantastic start to the casino’s newest series.”
The “second chance” that Savage is referring to was Commerce’s decision to allow players who busted from the tournament on day 1A or day 1B to pay another $220 to be able to sit down in a subsequent day 1.
The tournament featured a $500,000 guarantee, but it easily surpassed that total — boasting a prize pool of $753,730. Local L.A. player Moshe Mashiah won the event, taking home $164,627. With the robust starting field, 369 players made the money.
Even including WSOP events, the event still ranks seventh all-time in terms of number of entrants for a live poker tournament.
This tournament was the first of 17 events at the Hold’em Series. There are a few other unique events remaining on the schedule.
Commerce will host a $545 heads-up event (with double elimination) on Sept. 22 at 2 p.m., as well as a $335 bounty tournament the same day at 5 p.m.
It will also host a $1,600 Ironman tournament with $10,000 added on Sept. 23. There are a couple interesting caveats with that event — there will be no breaks of any kind, so players may have to jog when they use the restroom for fear of being blinded out, and there will be no deals allowed at the final table, with the winner to receive 50 percent of the prize pool.
The $2,580 main event will kick off Sept. 25.
Looking Ahead
WPT Borgata Poker Open
$3,500 WPT championship no-limit hold’em event schedule
Saturday, Sept. 19: Day 1A
Sunday, Sept. 20: Day 1B
Monday, Sept. 21: Day 2
Tuesday, Sept. 22: Day 3
Wednesday, Sept. 23: Day 4
Thursday, Sept. 24: Final Table
World Series of Poker Europe
Commerce Hold’em Series
Heartland Poker Tour – Onamia, MN
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