- Highlights of the weekend’s action at the 2014 WSOP.
Event #60: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em
The long weekend in Vegas was a busy one for poker as four bracelets were awarded, the first coming belatedly in Event #60 which continued into Day 4.
At the end of Day 3, Salman Jaddi and Brandon Hall called a halt after almost four hours of play failed to produce a winner.
It took another hour and a half before amateur player and business owner Jaddi was finally declared the winner.
“It’s a story for all amateurs,” said Jaddi. “I’m a business owner. I love playing the game of poker. Anyone has a shot to win this thing.”
Jaddi made it all the way through the largest $1,500 No Limit Hold’em field of the series. 2,563 players entered, making Jaddi’s first prize a very desirable $614k.
Brandon Hall had by far the most experience, having cashed five times already in this year’s WSOP. In the end it took a runner runner flush to break Hall’s straight and send him home with $381k, but no first bracelet.
Event #62: $1,111,111 The Little One for One Drop
{il:misc/13662-winner-photo.jpg::medium-right}The Little One for One Drop was not so little, with 4,496 players doing their bit for charity.
Of the nine players who started the final day, Eric “BaseBaldy” Baldwin was the only one with previous WSOP final table experience. Baldwin won a bracelet in 2009, and made final tables in 2009, 2012 and 2013.
Baldwin started with the second largest stack, but after getting short, he shoved 2-2 into Q-Q and headed home in fifth.
The good news went to a country in dire need of it—*Igor Dubinskyy* of the Ukraine was the eventual winner. His only previous cash in the WSOP was a 192nd place finish in last year’s Main Event.
The heads up pair added up to the oldest final two so far in the series—48 year old professional gambler Dubinskyy faced off against amateur poker player and professional film maker 52 year old Ted Driscoll.
The century match may not have been the match of the century—it took only 20 minutes for the Ukrainian to win all the chips after a flop which gave Driscoll trip 3s. On the river Dubinskyy check raised, and Driscoll then shoved.
Dubinskyy had a well concealed straight to his 6-5 of hearts and a shocked Driscoll recovered quickly to take his second place check for $394k.
Dubinskyy won his first bracelet and $637k, telling the assembled journalists via a translator, “I do not have the right words to express my feelings about winning.”
Event #63: $1,500 10-Game Mix Six Handed
{il:misc/13663-winner-photo.jpg::medium-right}*Bryn Kenney* has finally got the bracelet he wanted.
He has cashed four times in this WSOP and made three final tables. He started the final day with the second largest stack, and quickly improved to be the chip leader, a position he maintained right to the end.
Randy Ohel made the final table, and with one bracelet to his account last year, was looking to repeat the feat here. He had the misfortune to run into quads after rivering a full house, and exited in 6th.
Andrey Zaichenko had 22 WSOP cashes to his name and was also on the bracelet trail, but he followed Ohel to the rail.
It was Czech player and the day’s initial chip leader Jan Suchanek who survived to fight it out heads up. Suchanek has five previous cashes in five different WSOP event formats, including one in the 2011 8-Game Mix event—but Suchanek over-played a flopped pair of twos on a board where Kenny turned trip nines, and it was over quickly.
Kenney earned $153k and Suchanek $98k.
Event #64: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha
{il:misc/13664-winner-photo.jpg::medium-right}A field packed with stars saw Pat Walsh’s sun come up and all of them faded away. The online cash game grinder won over $923k for entering the first of the only two events he intends to play this year—the other being the Main Event.
“I don’t play many tournaments, so when you get here you have to make the most of it,” said Walsh.
Matt Marafioti had booked the most in WSOP winnings from those who made the final table, but everyone there had cashed in previous events.
Isaac “WestMenloAA” Baron was the winner of the first Card Player Magazine Online Poker Player of the Year Award in 2007. He also has 18 WSOP cashes to his name, but this was only his second WSOP final table.
Walsh was up against British player and Cambridge graduate Javed Abrahams when it came down to decide the bracelet.
Abrahams briefly took the chip lead and even had a chance to win when all the chips went in with Walsh holding the top straight against an 18 out wrap and flush draw. All the outs missed, Walsh doubled up to re-take the chip lead and never looked back.
The last $10k event before the Main Event generated a prize pool of over $3.9 million. Abrahams’ share was $570k, ten times his previous largest WSOP cash in the 2010 Main Event.
Event #65: $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event
The biggest event in the poker world calendar has started with the first of four Day 1s. For the first time, there is a $10 million guarantee for first prize.
The first starting days usually attract fewer players than the last two, and so it is this year. WSOP organizers are hoping to beat last year’s turnout of 6,352, when Ryan Riess triumphed to win $8.3 million.
At 2,915 entries for the first two days, the total is 30 players more than last year, so today will determine if there will be a boost in Main Event entrants.
The poker kiss of death is to be chip leader of the Main Event on Day 1, and at the moment that dubious honor goes to Trey Luxemburger with 193k chips.
As every year, the celebrities and stars of the poker world have turned out in force. Day 1b even saw two former Main Event winners drawn to sit next to each other.
