WSOP 2009. Info, Chip Counts, & & stuff. Feed your wild side.

[tikay]

Bracelet for Ivey?

The $2,500 Deuce to Seven Draw Lowball. What a last 2 Tables that must have been - I wonder if the Billy Big Names see these sort of Events as (relatively) "easy" Bracelet opportunities?



2009 World Series of Poker            
End of Day Two Results            
Event #   8         
Buy In   $2,500         
Game   No Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball         
Date   04/06/2009         
Number of Entries   153         
Net Prize Pool   $388,100          
First Place Prize   $96,367         
Total Spots Paid Out   21         
Players Remaining    7         
            
FINAL TABLE DETAILS            
Name   Chip Count   City   State/Country   Seat #
John Monnette   259,000   Palmdale      3
Raphael Zimmerman   238,000   Missoula   MT   1
Yan Chen   159,000   Irvine      5
Elia Ahmadian   136,900   Fairfax   VA   6
Eric Kesselman   119,400   New York   NY   2
Phil Ivey   106,300   Las Vegas   NV   7
Rodeen Talebi   94,500   Los Angeles      4

In the Money Finishers:            
Name   Prize   City   State/Country   
   $96,367          
   $59,586          
   $38,891          
   $26,757          
   $19,346          
   $14,663          
   $11,627          
Flack, Layne   $8,452    Las Vegas   NV   
Guoga, Antanas "Tony G'   $6,292    Kaunas   Lithuania   
Laszcz, Xavier   $6,292    Saint Cloud   France   
Grey, David   $6,292    Henderson   NV   
Deeb, Kassem 'Freddy'   $4,959    Las Vegas   NV   
Bjorin, Chris   $4,959    London   United Kingdom   
Iversen, Torstein   $4,959    Olso   Norway   
Kamran, Michael   $4,094    Los Angeles      
Weitzman, Mark   $4,094    Las Vegas   NV   
Rousso, Vanessa   $4,094    Las Vegas   NV   
Greenstein, Barry   $4,094    Rancho Palos Verdes      
Mankin, Erle   $4,094    Sacramento      
Lindgren, Erick   $4,094    Las Vegas   NV   
Karabourniotis, Anargyros   $4,094    Boulder City   NV   

[tikay]

Gooooo Praz! Hit Squad Rule?

The Short-Handed Jobbie.

Note that Bruce "Elvis" Atkinson, who does well in Vegas most years, & must be the best part of 80, cashed again. I'd not be at all surprised to see him nominated to the European Poker Hall of Fame.

2009 World Series of Poker               
End of Day One Results               
Event #   9            
Buy In   $1,500            
Game   No Limit Hold'em Six-Handed            
Date   03/06/2009            
Number of Entries   1,459            
Net Prize Pool   $1,991,535            
First Place Prize   $428,259             
Total Spots Paid Out   144            
Players Remaining    105            

Last Name, First Name   City   State/Country   Chip Count   Table #   Seat #
Fox, David   Coram   NY   186,600   60   2
Freire, Richard   Miami   FL   172,100   70   1
Squires, David   Hanson   MA   169,300   65   5
Lipkin, Robert   Buffalo Grove   IL   168,100   74   1
Aldridge, Ken   Pleasant Garden   NC   157,800   64   6
Clavet, Mathieu   Saint Augustin de Desamaures    QC, Canada   152,700   70   3
Lee, Doug   Calgary   AB, Canada   152,300   69   3
Puzantyan, Allan   Montreal   QC, Canada   135,400   68   5
Mackoff, Jones   Vancouver   BC, Canada   131,200   58   3
Gonsalves, Markus   San Diego      129,000   64   4
Slaubaugh, Cody   Rugby   ND   120,600   74   2
Bansi, Praz   London   United Kingdom   115,400   70   5
Waxman, Matthew   Parkland   FL   112,00   66   1
Smith, Jeremiah   Las Vegas   NV   102,900   63   6
Minaya, Manny   Tampa   FL   101,900   69   1
Heroy, Rob   Charlotte   NC   100,800   67   2
Gee, David   Gilbert   AZ   100,000   64   1
Gould, Peter   London   United Kingdom   95,700   74   4
Powell, Joshua   Chilliwack   BC, Canada   90,500   61   2
Sukkar, Edward   Selby Township   MI   89,000   68   2
Kenny, Bryn   Long Beach   NY   87,200   75   2
Toye, Robert   New Orleans   LA   86,000   59   4
Cavella, Carman   Turnersville   NJ   85,700   63   5
Firestone, Bobby   Santa Barbara      84,300   67   4
Ansari, Adil   Odenton   MD   80,600   72   5
Fuller, Thomas   Boulder   CO   79,800   64   2
Daneshgar, David   West Village      77,700   61   6
Robb, Richard   Seneca   SC   77,600   63   2
Peters, David   Toledo   OH   77,300   69   6
Burkholder, Troy   San Diego      76,900   62   6
Zartman, Kyle   Sherwood      76,200   69   5
Ludovic, Lacay   Paris   France   74,100   71   3
Bhatti, Deepak   Long Beach      72,300   73   1
Henke, Ramin   Kornwestheim   Germany   71,300   65   1
Crane, Ward   Bevea   OH   70,600   62   2
Shea, Daniel   Dallas   TX   70,300   62   1
Sheehan, Tim   Decatur   GA   70,200   59   3
Berry, Brent   Port Angeles   WA   69,700   67   3
Bolden, Gary   St. Louis   MO   69,300   66   5
Chen, Bill   Lafayette Hill   PA   68,700   75   3
Fish, Darryll   Las Vegas   NV   67,900   60   6
Gavatin, Mats   Stockholm   Sweeden    67,800   60   1
Busch, Mark   Pittsburgh   PA   65,300   60   3
Casey, Jim   Naperville   IL   65,100   70   6
Witteles, Todd   Las Vegas   NV   64,600   59   6
Densing, Jack   Blue Point   NY   63,300   61   1
Sheng, Paul   San Francisco      62,700   72   3
Yockey, Bryce   Torrance      62,500   75   6
Brown, Allan   Glasgow   UK   61,700   68   6
Stein, Sam   Hidden Hands      59,300   71   4
Clark, Justin   Rocklin      59,100   71   1
Radonjic, Peter   Vancouver   BC, Canada   58,600   62   4
Gilbert, Benjamin   Studio City      57,800   59   2
Finne, Timothy   Fanwood   NJ   57,600   73   4
Furey, Charles   Bridgewater   NJ   57,100   75   5
Hegeman, Kyle   Port Jefferson   NY   56,000   71   6
Fyshe, Adam   Ottawa   ON, Canada   54,900   69   2
Cubeta, Dave   Falls Church   VA   54,100   62   5
Nyffeler, Andre   Mahwah   NJ   52,300   61   4
Scatchard, Dave   Scottsdale   AZ   52,300   66   2
Parille, Joe   Las Vegas   NV   51,900   64   5
Brown, Rodney   Brea      49,900   59   1
Furst, Rafael   Las Vegas   NV   47,400   74   5
Steely, Chase   Williamsburg   KY   42,100   72   2
Sass, Alan   Las Vegas   NV   40,800   70   4
Nguyen, Anh Van   Toronto   ON, Canada   40,000   61   5
Dilda, Eric   San Francisco       38,800   63   1
Mao, Nick   Long Beach      35,400   75   1
Barratt, Ronan   Sydney   Australia   35,200   74   6
Whybrew, Wesley   Lansing   MI   34,500   71   5
Ford, Robert   Johnstown   PA   33,700   67   5
Young, Justin   Henderson   NV   33,300   58   1
Melnick, Jason   Brooklyn   NY   32,900   72   1
Awada, Joe   Las Vegas   NV   32,900   65   3
von Schlemmer, Mark   Lawrence   KS   31,700   69   2
Stevens, Don   Syracuse   NY   31,600   61   3
Blumlein, Frank   Frankfurt   Germany   31,400   73   6
Banks, Jared   Los Angeles      31,400   63   4
Wasick, Matthew   Albion   MI   30,600   66   6
Coetzer, Conrad   Johannesberg   South Africa   30,600   68   1
Abramowicz, David   Sunfish Lake   MN   29,200   74   3
McNally, Steve   Henderson   NV   28,800   73   2
Conrad, Monica   Hemet      28,500   62   3
Fortin, Patrick   Quebec   QC, Canada   28,300   68   4
Wan, Jeffrey   Staten Island   NY   26,800   73   3
Stout, Matthew   Las Vegas   NV   26,400   71   2
Inselberg, David   Long Beach      26,000   67   6
Baker, David   Rochester Hills   MI   25,700   69   4
Mortensen, Carlos   Henderson   NV   25,600   60   4
Israelite, David   Washington     D.C.   25,400   66   4
Cserhati, Zsolt   Budapests   Hungary   24,800   72   6
LaPointe, Troy   Arlington   VA   23,200   60   5
Lord, Stephen   Yorba Linda      22,700   75   4
Yerushalaim, Ben   Las Vegas   NV   22,200   73   5
Haxton, Isaac   Las Vegas   NV   21,700   70   2
Enis, Ryan   Corinth   MS   18,600   58   4
Wilds, Mark   Biloxi   MS   17,800   63   3
Douglas, Shane   Priest River   ID   11,200   66   3
Batell, Michael   Las Vegas   NV   11,100   58   5
Juczenko, Eugene   Kingswood    Australia   10,500   58   6
Sanders, Jason   Simi Valley      10,000   64   3
Maguire, James   Phoenix   AZ   9,400   68   3
Smith, Luke   New York   NY   7,000   65   6
Atkinson, Bruce   Brighton   United Kingdom   6,700   65   4
White, Bruce   Gilbert   AZ   3,600   72   4

[tikay]

That's it - THIS is the Brits game - Round of Each. The remainder of the Field is teeming with Brits, young Guns & Old Skool, even a Flushy horse. Not sure Elky counts as a Brit, but he's good, so we'll adopt him.

   2009 World Series of Poker               
   End of Day One Results               
   Event #   10            
   Buy In   $2,500            
   Game   Pot Limit Hold'em/Omaha            
   Date   03/06/2009            
   Number of Entries   453            
   Net Prize Pool   $1,041,900            
   First Place Prize   $244,862             
   Total Spots Paid Out   45            
   Players Remaining    99            

   Last Name, First Name   City   State/Country   Chip Count   Table #   Seat#
1   Rosen, Jamie   Boca Raton   FL   110,200   96   3
2   Verbakel, Bjorn   Beek en Donk   The Netherlands   103,400   95   9
3   Cousineau, Anthony   Daytona Beach   FL   96,300   78   3
4   Makowsky, Daniel   Zurich   Switzerland   89,900   90   3
5   Vega, Alfredo   Aachen   Germany   86,500   94   8
6   Abdallah, George   Houston   TX   81,400   96   2
7   Arfa, David   Elmwood Park   IL   79,700   77   5
8   Glines, Shawn   Las Vegas   NV   65,400   82   5
9   Kornuth, Chance   Denver   CO   63,900   83   2
10   Mizrachi, Michael   Las Vegas   NV   63,500   84   5
11   Kravchenko, Alex   Tver   Russia   62,800   82   2
12   Santoni, Luis   Aguada   PR   61,400   83   1
13   Grundy, Benjamin   London   United Kingdom   59,200   90   2
14   Solomon, Jarred   Johannesburg   South Africa   57,800   82   9
15   Khan, Hevad   Las Vegas   NV   56,700   77   3
16   Pickering, Jaime   Gold Coast   Australia   56,500   94   4
17   Makhija, Amit   Brookfield   WI   56,200   94   7
18   Vandam, Jeroen   Zandoorh   The Netherlands   55,900   77   8
19   Anirudh, Seth   Las Vegas   NV   55,300   76   5
20   Williams, Jeff   Atlanta   GA   54,500   76   8
21   Chang, Chris   Kelowna   BC, Canada   51,100   82   7
22   Le, Nam   Huntington Beach      50,600   89   6
23   Negreanu, Daniel   Las Vegas   NV   50,200   84   6
24   Naquin, Lester   Houma   LA   50,100   76   3
25   Mckinnon, Tyler   Iron Mountain   MI   50,100   78   2
26   Andrzejwski, Pawel   Park Ridge   IL   49,600   84   2
27   Entin, Jonas   Granada Hills      49,400   95   1
28   Cimpan, Cornel   League City   TX   49,000   82   1
29   Collado, Jan   Oyten   Germany   47,800   90   5
30   Grospellier, Bertrand   London   United Kingdom   47,500   96   1
31   Boyce, George   Greenbelt   MD   45,200   88   7
32   Price, Robert   Bude   United Kingdom   44,400   83   4
33   Rajkumar, Vivek   Seattle    WA   44,100   89   9
34   Hollink, Rob   Groningen   The Netherlands   44,100   90   6
35   Sunar, Surinder   Wolverhampton   United Kingdom   39,800   76   4
36   Tamayo, Jonathan   Humble   TX   38,200   78   7
37   Ashby, Len   Louisville   KY   38,100   94   2
38   Sklansky, David   Teaneck   NJ   37,900   82   3
39   Kelly, John-Paul   Aylesbury   United Kingdom   37,400   96   5
40   Adler, Al   Bakersfield      35,700   95   6
41   Tieman, Josh   Chicago   IL   35,300   89   3
42   Bhasin, Rohit   Sydney   Australia   35,200   76   1
43   Velador, Luis   Corona      33,700   95   7
44   Boukai, Rami   San Diego      32,800   77   1
45   Filippi, Amnon   New York   NY   32,500   78   1
46   Yoos, Cameron   Lethbridge   AB, Canada   30,900   77   7
47   Vengrin, Matt   Henderson   NV   29,800   90   9
48   Kabbaj, John   London   United Kingdom   29,800   88   4
49   Kimber, Jeff   Newcastle   United Kingdom   29,500   84   8
50   Zipf, Robert   Ravenstein   Germany   29,200   96   8
51   Kang, Benjamin   Koln   Germany   28,400   83   5
52   Delvin, Stephen   Omagh   Ireland   27,600   84   9
53   Binger, Michael   Las Vegas   NV   27,300   84   1
54   Whiteway, Trevor   Newton Abbot   United Kingdom   26,700   90   7
55   En, Richard   Langley   BC, Canada   26,700   95   3
56   Berg, Thomas   Chicago   IL   26,300   77   2
57   Wickersheim, Colin   San Diego      26,000   76   2
58   Fischman, Scott   Las Vegas   NV   25,700   89   8
59   Raymer, Greg   Raleigh   NC   25,400   94   5
60   Soulier, Fabrice   Las Vegas   NV   24,500   88   1
61   Fisher, Paul   Northbrook   IL   23,200   83   9
62   Ebanks, Joe   Stow   OH   22,900   90   8
63   Jivkov, Ted   Woodland Hills      22,200   96   4
64   Jalali, Alex   Bochum   Germany   22,200   89   7
65   Block, Andy   Las Vegas   NV   21,900   88   8
66   Ingles, Jared   Baton Rouge   LA   21,500   95   2
67   Ling, Andrew   Sparks   NV   20,900   78   6
68   Daniel, Studer   Steinhausen   Switzerland   20,100   88   2
69   Lehmann, Markus   Mauren   Germany   19,000   88   9
70   Corkins, Hoyt   Las Vegas   NV   18,900   94   3
71   Grzadziel, Christopher   Park Ridge   IL   18,800   82   8
72   Bauerlein, Eugene   St. Petersburg   FL   17,900   77   6
73   Watson, Andrew   Tulsa   OK   17,600   88   5
74   Pierson, Stephen   New York   NY   17,400   90   4
75   Kula, Robert   Stockholm   Sweden   16,300   84   4
76   Sethi, Nitish   Houston   TX   16,100   96   6
77   Channing, Neil   London   United Kingdom   16,000   78   4
78   Beasley, Mike   Hollywood   FL   15,700   77   9
79   Kolstad, Cedric   Mesa   AZ   15,500   82   6
80   Sorensen, Jan   Odense   Denmark   15,400   78   5
81   Haveson, Brian   Garnet Valley   PA   14,900   89   4
82   Cooke, Neal   Loveland   CO   14,800   76   7
83   Bennani, Najib   Ridgefield Park   NJ   13,900   96   9
84   Van Der Berg, Remco   De Meern   The Netherlands   13,600   84   3
85   Saul, Kevin   Forest Park   IL   13,100   83   7
86   Robbins, Jamie   San Diego      13,100   84   7
87   Farina, Valter   Genova   Italy   12,300   77   4
88   Do, Gary   Denver   CO   12,200   83   6
89   Stockinger, Sigi   Linz   Austria   12,200   95   4
90   Littlefield, Jeff   Greenville   TX   11,100   95   5
91   Rodriguez, Julian   Miami   FL   10,300   78   9
92   Kim-Phuc, Pham   Kassel   Germany   10,000   89   1
93   Boyd, Craig   St. Louis   MO   9,500   88   6
94   Heimowitz, Jay   Bethel   NY   8,300   94   1
95   Degilio, Michael   Pt St Lucie   FL   8,200   78   8
96   Pettersson, Thomas   Stockholm   Sweden   6,900   83   8
97   Failla, Will   Smithtown   NY   4,000   76   9
98   Mortaza, Pajoheshnia   Wiesbaden   Germany   3,800   82   4
99   Parker, Paul   London   United Kingdom   2,500   89   5

[tikay]

Result of the $10,000 Stud. Eric Drache finished 2nd, which will surprise Mr Doyle. Little Danny just missed the Final.


2009 World Series of Poker         
Final Results         
Event #   6      
Buy In   $10,000       
Date   03/06/2009      
Game   World Championship Seven Card Stud      
Number of Entries   142      
Net Prize Pool   $1,334,800      
First Place Prize   $373,751       
Players to Cash   16      

Final Results:         
         
Name   Prize   City   State/Country
Ellis, Freddie   $373,751   Brooklyn   NY
Drache, Eric   $231,013   Las Vegas   NV
Wahlbeck, Ville   $152,914   Helsinkin   Finland
Pescatori, Max   $107,958   Las Vegas   Nevada
Habib, Hasan   $80,968   Downey   
Schertzer, Ivan   $64,297   Miami Shores   FL
Mueller, Greg   $53,885   Bramberger   Austria
Phan, Thien 'Tim'   $47,532   Tustin   
Lisandro, Jeffrey   $36,266   Santa Barbara   Italy
Negreanu, Daniel   $36,266   Las Vegas   NV
Dehkharghani, Raymond   $29,152   Huntington Beach   
Judah, Mel   $29,152   London    United Kingdom
Brooks, Eric   $24,480   Bryn Mawr   PA
Glantz, Matt   $24,480   Lafayette Hill   PA
Wong, Fu   $21,343   Chandler   AZ
Landfish, Steven   $21,343   St Albans   United Kingdom

[tikay]

Here's our winner, one for the Old Skool. Looks a bit of a character!

[tikay]

And it turnes out he IS a real character - 74 years old, too. Please read this, it's lovely stuff.

The Winner

 

·        The 2009 World Series of Poker $10,000 buy-in Seven-Card Stud champion is Freddie Ellis, from Brooklyn, NY.  He is the new Seven-Card Stud World Champion.

 

·        Freddie Ellis is a 74-year-old real estate broker.  He is originally from Miami, FL.

 

·        Ellis has lived a fascinating life.  He moved to New York City during the 1950s to pursue a career as a singer.  Ellis sang in many popular nightclubs.  He mostly sang show tunes, and popular music.  Ellis even cut a number of records on the Decca music label.  His dream to become a popular singer ended when he married his wife Barbara (now deceased).  He was not thrilled with traveling around the country and living the life of a struggling musician.  So instead, he decided to invest in New York real estate – which turned out to be a wise decision. 

 

·        Ellis made a fortune in the New York real estate market.  He is semi-retired now.  However, he continues to pursue deals and is a regular poker player in Atlantic City on weekends.

 

·        Ellis usually plays in the $600-$1,200 limit “Mixed Game,” at the Borgata Casino in Atlantic City.  The typical game is an odd mix of Seven-Card Stud, Eight-or-Better, and No-Limit Hold’em.

 

·        Ellis was exhausted immediately following his victory.  Visibly worn-out from the 13-hour final table, he took only a few questions in a post-tournament interview.



·        There is something that is very difficult for me to talk about,” Ellis said.  “You see, my wife would always go with me when I would go somewhere and play poker – whether it was Atlantic City or Las Vegas or wherever.  She just died two years ago.  And I now I could not…..”  Note:  Ellis had to stop the interview and take a break from the emotion of the moment as he was unable to speak about his wife without coming to tears. 

 

·        “Her name was Barbara Ellis,” Ellis said choking back tears.  “You see, if I talk about her….I still haven’t gotten over it.”

 

·        “I’m a singer and I first came to New York to go into show business,” Ellis stated.  “I then got into real estate starting in 1967 and have been very active in that.” 

 

·        “I worked in clubs, but with a family it was hard,” Ellis said.  “So, that is why I got into real estate and settled down.”



·        “I started playing poker just to do something different,” he stated.  “I only started playing in the casino when Atlantic first legalized poker in (1993).  My wife would come down with me on weekends, just to be with me.”

 

·        Ellis has two grown children – a son and daughter.

 

·        This was the first WSOP event Ellis had ever entered.

 

·        “This is the main reason I came to Las Vegas, to play in the World Championship of Seven-Card Stud.”

 

·        Ellis collected $373,751 for first place.  He was also awarded his first WSOP gold bracelet.

 

[tikay]

In fact, the Runner-Up is a character, too, & the combined age of the 1-2 was 140 years. Wow. The Heads-Up lasted 4 hours, too. Stamina is not restricted to Kidz. This looked to be a tremendously charismstic Final Table, populated by real characters. It's not easy to watch endless hours of NLHE, but this seemed to be quite special.

Easily my favourite Result iof WSOP 2009 so far.

Note that Little Danny is desacribed as "popular".

The Players

 

·        The final table was comprised of three former WSOP gold bracelet winners – Max Pescatori, Hasan Habib, and Jeffrey Lisandro.

 

·        The runner up was Eric Drache, from Las Vegas, NV.  Drache is well-known as a Seven-Card Stud specialist.

 

·        It would be difficult, if not impossible, to find two more compelling people to cheer for when the match became heads-up.  Both players attracted large galleries of fans and well-wishers.  The two finalists did not disappoint their supporters, playing two-handed see-saw battle for more than four hours.

 

·        Eric Drache is a living legend.  He served as the WSOP Tournament Director from the mid-1970s until 1987.  His contributions both to the WSOP and to poker have been immeasurable.  Drache was the first poker manager to create satellites, which allowed more players to qualify to major poker tournaments.  He introduced satellite tournaments at the 1982 WSOP and revolutionized the game.  For the first time, casual fans could come to the WSOP and have a chance to play. 

 

·        Drache’s poker stories have achieved an almost mythological status.  He rivals his contemporaries -- including Doyle Brunson, “Amarillo Slim” Preston, Puggy Pearson, and few others -- as one of the game’s most colorful personalities. 

 

·        Drache developed a well-deserved reputation as a fearless, yet reckless poker player and gambler.  One legendary story goes that Drache was once the ninth best poker player in the world.  The trouble for Drache was, he would always insist on playing with the eight players who were better than him. 

 

·        For many years, Drache played in a regular Seven-Card Stud game in Los Angeles which included porno king and freedom of speech advocate Larry Flynt.



·        The match between Ellis and Drache attracted parade of “Who’s Who” in poker.  Just about every well-known poker player at the Rio stopped by to check out the action at various stages.  Ellis certainly had his supporters.  But Drache at age 66, playing for what would have been his first WSOP gold bracelet, received an outpouring of crowd empathy.

 

·        Ellis (at age 74) and Drache (at age 66) meant the total ages of the two finalists was a combined 140 years.  That is believed to be the most senior heads-up match in WSOP history for any open event (the Seniors Championship, not included).

 

·        Ville Wahlbeck, from Helsinki, Finland finished in third place.



·        Fourth place went to Max Pescatori, a.k.a. “The Italian Pirate.”  Pescatori, who holds two WSOP gold bracelets (2006 and 2008) is originally from Milan, Italy.  He won his first gold bracelet on the day his beloved home country of Italy on the 2006 World Cup (soccer).

 

·        Another popular poker pro, Hasan Habib (Downey, ) finished in fifth place.  Habib was determined to win his second gold bracelet, but came up short.  Habib was once a tennis champion in his native country of Pakistan.



·        The sixth-place finisher was Ivan A. Schertzer, from North Miami Beach, FL.  He is an attorney.

 

·        Seventh place went to Greg “FBT” Mueller, the former pro hockey player from Vancouver, BC (Canada).  This was Mueller’s seventh WSOP final table appearance.  He has finished as high as second place two times.  Mueller started playing poker when traveling between hockey games as a player.

 

·        Tim Phan, from Westminster, finished eighth.

 

·        Cosmopolitan former WSOP gold bracelet winner and 2006 WSOP Circuit champion at Lake Tahoe Jeffrey Lisandro (who was born in Italy, lived in Australia, and now tours mostly in the US) finished ninth. 

 

·        Popular poker pro Daniel Negreanu finished in tenth place.

 

·        Former WSOP gold bracelet winner Mel Judah, from London, England finished 12th.

 

·        The defending champion (2008 winner) was Eric Brooks, from Bryn Mawr, PA.  He made it into the money as the 13th place finisher.  An Interesting Side Note:  Two defending champions have already cashed this year, with one (Thang Luu) actually winning the event over two consecutive years.  At last years WSOP, in 55 events – only one former winner managed to cash as the defending champion.

[tikay]

And finally, on the $10,000 Stud.......

Odds and Ends

 

·        This was designated as a “World Championship” event.  While all WSOP gold bracelet events are “championships,” the “World Championship” designation goes only to the $10,000 and up buy-in events. 

 

·        Ten years ago, Seven-Card Stud was the most popular game in casinos on the East Coast, primarily in big markets including Atlantic City and Foxwoods.  In fact, Seven-Card Stud games outnumbered hold’em games several times over.  Some East Coast casinos did not even spread Hold’em, since Seven-Card Stud was the game of choice.  But everything in changed in 2003, most crediting (or blaming) the cosmic shift on Chris Moneymaker’s victory, which instantly created millions of new player curious about No-Limit Hold’em.  Seven-Card stud has been steadily declining in popularity since then.  However, it remains popular enough to merit inclusion on the WSOP schedule.  It’s cousin – Seven-Card Stud High-Low Split, a.k.a. Eight-or-Better, is actually more popular now as a tournament game.

 

·        This tournament ended on Wednesday, June 3, 2009.  On this day, there were seven WSOP tournaments being played simultaneously.  This was the first time in history this has ever happened.  Last year, there were many days when six tournaments were played.  But seven live tournaments taking place in one day – all starting on time and without incident -- is a testament to the extraordinary planning and execution of WSOP Tournament Director Jack Effel and his staff.

 

·        Freddie Ellis, the new champion, is African-American.  He became the fifth African-American in WSOP history to win a gold bracelet -- joining Walter Smiley, Carolyn Gardener, Phil Ivey, and David Williams.  What is relevant about cultural heritage is that all of these champions won their WSOP gold bracelets in Seven-Card Stud events (Note:  Ivey actually has five WSOP titles, but one came in Seven-Card Stud, another came in Seven-Card Stud High-Low Split, and another came in a Mixed game with Seven-Card Stud).  Smiley won the Seven-Card Stud title in 1976.  Gardener won the Seven-Card Stud championship in 1982.  Williams won his gold bracelet in Seven Card Stud in 2006. 

 

 

[tikay]

Just in from Harrah's.

There remains considerable interest in the Seven-Card Stud World Championship event, which concluded late last night.  Eric Drache was the second-place finsiher.  Given his long association with the WSOP during its formative years, and several requests, we are including a photo of Drache for media use.
 

[cambo]

And it turnes out he IS a real character - 74 years old, too. Please read this, it's lovely stuff.

The Winner

 

·        The 2009 World Series of Poker $10,000 buy-in Seven-Card Stud champion is Freddie Ellis, from Brooklyn, NY.  He is the new Seven-Card Stud World Champion.

 

·        Freddie Ellis is a 74-year-old real estate broker.  He is originally from Miami, FL.

 

·        Ellis has lived a fascinating life.  He moved to New York City during the 1950s to pursue a career as a singer.  Ellis sang in many popular nightclubs.  He mostly sang show tunes, and popular music.  Ellis even cut a number of records on the Decca music label.  His dream to become a popular singer ended when he married his wife Barbara (now deceased).  He was not thrilled with traveling around the country and living the life of a struggling musician.  So instead, he decided to invest in New York real estate – which turned out to be a wise decision. 

 

·        Ellis made a fortune in the New York real estate market.  He is semi-retired now.  However, he continues to pursue deals and is a regular poker player in Atlantic City on weekends.

 

·        Ellis usually plays in the $600-$1,200 limit “Mixed Game,” at the Borgata Casino in Atlantic City.  The typical game is an odd mix of Seven-Card Stud, Eight-or-Better, and No-Limit Hold’em.

 

·        Ellis was exhausted immediately following his victory.  Visibly worn-out from the 13-hour final table, he took only a few questions in a post-tournament interview.



·        There is something that is very difficult for me to talk about,” Ellis said.  “You see, my wife would always go with me when I would go somewhere and play poker – whether it was Atlantic City or Las Vegas or wherever.  She just died two years ago.  And I now I could not…..”  Note:  Ellis had to stop the interview and take a break from the emotion of the moment as he was unable to speak about his wife without coming to tears. 

 

·        “Her name was Barbara Ellis,” Ellis said choking back tears.  “You see, if I talk about her….I still haven’t gotten over it.”

 

·        “I’m a singer and I first came to New York to go into show business,” Ellis stated.  “I then got into real estate starting in 1967 and have been very active in that.” 

 

·        “I worked in clubs, but with a family it was hard,” Ellis said.  “So, that is why I got into real estate and settled down.”



·        “I started playing poker just to do something different,” he stated.  “I only started playing in the casino when Atlantic first legalized poker in (1993).  My wife would come down with me on weekends, just to be with me.”

 

·        Ellis has two grown children – a son and daughter.

 

·        This was the first WSOP event Ellis had ever entered.

 

·        “This is the main reason I came to Las Vegas, to play in the World Championship of Seven-Card Stud.”

 

·        Ellis collected $373,751 for first place.  He was also awarded his first WSOP gold bracelet.

 

awesome stuff

[KarmaDope]

Pity they won't name this guy - I'm actually interested to see if it's a well known name or an unknown.

Taken from the Pokernews updates:

"Um... Read the Schedule, Man

We won't give away his name, but a gentleman in a red shirt just realized that no, this event is not a $10K Mixed HOLD'EM event, but a $10K Mixed GAMES event. He is currently attempting to get a refund on his buy-in, despite having played several rounds."

[redsimon]

And finally finally, the Press Release started like this.....

IMPORTANT NOTE TO ALL MEDIA:  Please see at the end of each report (MS WORD) there will be an ERRORS AND OMMISSIONS section.  This will include any previous report corrections, misspellings, and pertinent facts that were not in the original report.  I ask that all media kindly honor our players who make it into the money by trying with us to be as accurate as possible.  However, with so many events being played and so many players, there will be some occasional things which needs to corrected.

And ended like this.....

Errors & Omissions.

None.

Surprised after reading the PLO report. Im pretty sure Prahlad won his bracelet in PLHE not PLO

[Woodsey]

I'm assuming people have seen this live feed link, if not here it is.

http://wsop.pkr.com/

[NoflopsHomer]

Paul Parker and Surinder Sunar are 4th and 5th in the $2.5k PLO/PLH event with 22 left. Ben Grundy, John Kabbaj and Stevie 'Allinstevie' Devlin are also still in. $8k gtd, $244k FTW...

[DaveShoelace]

Paul Parker and Surinder Sunar are 4th and 5th in the $2.5k PLO/PLH event with 22 left. Ben Grundy, John Kabbaj and Stevie 'Allinstevie' Devlin are also still in. $8k gtd, $244k FTW...

Devlin out but Grundy is now 3rd, 18 remain going into the final day, best shot at a UK bracelet methinks