- Highlights of the action at the WSOP.
Event #19: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em
Over 2,000 entries took the prize pool to $2.8m, ensuring that the winner of this staple event of the World Series would pick up over half a million dollars.
The day started with twelve players remaining, and it took a few hours of cautious play before the final table was set. At that point, Ted Gillis was comfortable in the upper middle of the pack.
Gillis total live earnings prior to this event were just $10k, and he faced opponents with a history of multiple WSOP cashes. One was Mustapha Kanit, who survived to take fifth place.
Also at the table was John Hennigan who has two bracelets, and a third place finish in last year’s $50k buy in Poker Players Championship, earning a payout of just under $700k. Hennigan’s experience took him through to heads up play, but by then Gillis had amassed a two to one chip lead.
It took only 27 hands for Gillis to turn his lead into a bracelet and $514k—the dream of a retired US Marines sergeant had come true.
Event #20: $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em Shootout
{il:misc/wsop-2014-event-20.jpg:Kory Kilpatrick, WSOP 2014:medium-right} The second Shootout event of the Series saw Phil Galfond make a bid for his second bracelet. He came close last year with a second place finish in the $25k No-Limit Hold’em 6 max event.
Phil’s sixth place finish will have been disappointing for him, but two players who weren’t disappointed were the eventual winner and runner up.
Kory Kilpatrick and Eric Wasserson both made their largest ever live tournament score. Kory, who hails from Georgia, was the one who walked away with gold glittering on his wrist.
The prize fund just made it over the $1m mark, and Kory picked up almost $255k for his victory.
Events Still Running
Event #21: $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em
The ever popular Belizean businessman Bob Bounahra has the chip lead with sixteen players remaining. Behind him sits Thayer “THAY3R” Rasmussen who, despite his internet tournament success, has yet to make a mark on the live poker scene.
Eric Seidel and JC Tran both started the day with strong chip stacks, but failed to get near the final table.
Event #22: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E.
The money bubble has burst in the H.O.R.S.E championship event, with Chris Klodnicki and Greg Mueller the first to fall with a payout safety net. Klodnicki picked up nearly $3m at last year’s WSOP after finishing second in the $111,111 No Limit Hold’em One Drop.
Their departure leaves other high rolling players such as Bertrand Grospellier, Daniel Negreanu, new bracelet winner Justin Bonomo, and David Benyamine well in contention with 21 players left.
Event #23: $1,000 Turbo No-Limit Hold’em
Doug “WCG Rider” Polk has made the final table of the first Turbo event of this year’s WSOP. The high stakes internet cash game player beat Ben “Sauce123” Sulsky in an online heads up challenge last year—to show Tom “Durrrr” Dwan how it’s done—so isn’t short of confidence.
He is also running hot at the top of the cash game winnings leaderboards—and has already managed a deep run in Event #10: $10,000 Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better, where he finished in 11th.
There is no easy route to a bracelet, and there are eight players left who will do their best to stop him. In second place in chips is Andy Philachack, a Chiropractor, who has managed to accumulate over $1m in WSOP & Circuit winnings.
