Top 10 Storylines of the First Half of the 2010 WSOP Part 2 of 2Ladies Event Controversy and Bracelet Bet Amongst Top Stories |
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In terms of bracelets, the 2010 World Series of Poker is more than halfway complete.
Yesterday, we talked about how the 2010 WSOP is starting to look like “The Year of the Brit,” while highlighting the first five top stories of the summer. Today, we will feature the rest of the greatest stories so far in the 2010 World Series of Poker.
5. The Return of Farha
Sam Farha played the perfect villain in 2003.
He was Chris Moneymaker’s final victim en route to his unlikely main-event win, the final pro which the amateur had to overcome.
Since that runner-up finish, the poker world has gotten to know the Lebanese gambler a bit better thanks to his memorable appearances on the popular High Stakes Poker on GSN. Never one to shy away from the action, Farha wasn’t afraid to put chips in the middle, often creating some fireworks for the viewing public.
However, he has mostly stayed away from tournaments, preferring to play cash games. Going into the 2010 WSOP, he hadn’t even so much as cashed in a tournament in over a year.
But in this year’s $10k Omaha eight-or-better championship, Farha showed everyone that he’s still got it as he defeated the elite 212-player field to collect $488,237 and his third bracelet.
4. Men Nguyen Wins His Seventh Bracelet
With his win in the $10k seven card stud championship this year, Men Nguyen added a seventh WSOP bracelet to his collection. Now, only five players — Phil Hellmuth, Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan, Johnny Moss, and Erik Seidel — stand before him and the all-time lead.
The win ended a long drought for Nguyen at the World Series. After collecting his fifth and sixth bracelets in 2003, “the Master” struggled to win one in the modern era.
He had come close a few times in the past seven years — a fourth place in a 2009 WSOPE event, a fourth place in 2006 deuce to seven event, an eighth place and a seventh place in two 2005 WSOP events, and a third place in a 2004 seven card stud event — but all of his notable victories had come away from the Rio.
Despite it being nearly seven years between bracelets No. 6 to No. 7, it was nearly two weeks before he captured bracelet No. 8 as he fell just short in the $5k six-handed event.
Nguyen remains a controversial figure in the poker industry due to allegations that he has benefited from collusion and chip dumping in tournaments in the past, claims of which Nguyen vehemently denies.
3. Mizrachi Redeems Himself with Players Championship Title
Michael Mizrachi had made the headlines for all the wrong reasons.
The Grinder, who won Card Player’s Player of the Year award just four years ago after an incredible stretch of results, was reported by a Florida newspaper just last month to owe $340,000 in back taxes and facing foreclosure.
Despite his financial struggles, Mizrachi was able to secure a buy-in for the $50k Players Championship and certainly made the most of it, winning the prestigious event and $1.56 million for his first career bracelet.
“To win Chip Reese’s Trophy is really special to me,” said Mizrachi. “I hope to be able to honor him in the way he deserves.”
Mizrachi has parlayed that victory into an incredible successful Series so far, as he has also final tabled both the $10k seven card stud championship and the $10k limit hold’em championship.
2. Men Ignore WSOP’s Request and Enter Ladies Event
The annual WSOP Ladies Event always stirs up debate, but this year’s tournament featured a full-fledged controversy when approximately 10 men ignored Harrah’s request to skip the event and decided to play, as was their legal right to do so.
While some pros, like Annie Duke, voiced support for the renegade men, the majority of the poker community seemingly disapproved of the men’s decision. WSOP tournament organizers were downright angry, apologizing to the women of the event and promising repercussions for the men who entered.
“We can’t prevent anyone from entering a ladies tournament. If they’re scumbags, they’re scumbags,” said Seth Palansky, the WSOP communications director. “The good news is at the World Series of Poker, we have the right to refuse service to anyone at any time at any point that we deem, as operators of the event.”
Right now, the incident represents a black eye for an otherwise successful Series. But if the WSOP follows through on its promise to punish the players involved in order to protect the sanctity of the ladies event, this story may be far from finished.
1. Dwan Misses Out on Bracelet and Millions in Side Bets
It seems absurd to think while there have been 32 champions at the 2010 World Series of Poker so far, the biggest story of the summer concerns a guy who came in second place in a $1,500 no-limit event.
But it’s hard to argue otherwise, after Tom Dwan stunned the poker community and terrified a number of high-stakes gamblers by making a run at his first bracelet just a couple weeks after announcing a series of huge bracelet bets.
Although Dwan ultimately came up short in his quest, losing heads-up to Simon Watt, he proceeded to make more than a few pros nervous in the process.
Mike Matusow told Card Player that Dwan was playing for a prize similar to the main event with all of his side action.
“[Dwan] was playing for the main event title right there,” said Matusow. After Watt was victorious, Matusow declared jubilantly: “They are going to put [your picture] on the Bobby’s Room wall. Here is Simon, saved everyone from going broke.”
The formation of this list and the opinions within are that of the author, and not necessarily Card Player Media.
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