WSOP-E 2009, sponsored by Betfair

[the sicilian]

From Betfair

2009 WSOPE Event 1: £1,000 No-limit Hold'em


The first event of the 2009 World Series of Poker Europe is completed and we have crowned the first champion. He ended Day 1 as the chipleader and finished the tournament in the same vein, step forward Mr JP Kelly.


The £1,000 entry-fee appealed to pros and amateurs alike, with Day 1a attracting 295 runners including the likes of Phil Hellmuth, Roland de Wolfe and Dave 'Devilfish' Ulliot with the former being eliminated very early on into proceedings.


After raising preflop, then calling a re-raise from Eddie Hearn, Hellmuth somehow managed to get all his chips in the middle holding 5h6h which gave him an open-ended straight draw. He definitely needed to hit as Hearn held pocket kings, but a turn followed by a river saw 'The Poker Brat' heading for the rail.


The action was thick and fast due to the shallow starting stacks and hour long blinds and by the end of play only 41 players still had chips remaining!


Day 1b showed no signs of slowing down either, despite it been a more pro-heavy day with Phil Ivey, Chris 'Jesus' Ferguson, Annette Obrestad and 2008 WSOPE Main Event winner John Juanda taking to the tables. Out of the 313 that started, only 58 would return for Day 2.


JP Kelly was the overnight chipleader with 99,000 chips but Richard Kellet, Ian Frazer and Fabian Dunlop were all hot on his heels with stacks around the 65,000 mark. Of the 89 remaining players, only 63 would make the money, meaning 26 unlucky players would be going home empty handed.


Robert Lim was the unlucky “bubble-boy”, after being eliminated by Raymond Rahme in 64th position. Rahme raised 'Under The Gun', a raise which Lim called on the button for almost one third of his stack. On a flop reading 6c9h7h Rahme open-shoved only to see Lim instantly call. Rahme showed a pair of nines for top set and was way in front of Lim's pocket aces. No help arrived on the turn or river and Lim walked away with nothing but memories whilst the rest of the 63 players would be guaranteed £2,006.


One by one the players fell by the wayside and with each elimination the dream of a WSOP bracelet came closer to reality. Eventually the 89 players who started has been whittled down to just 10 and they all gathered for the unofficial final table to play ten-handed until the final table bubble burst.


That honour went to the extremely vocal Ganesh Bathmanathan who saw his push from the hijack with As7h called by Richard Allen's AcKd. The board changed nothing and our final table was set, with Fabian Dunlop leading the way with 538,000 chips.


The remaining nine players returned to The Empire the following day but James Tomlin was soon leaving again after pushing his short-stack in the middle with Ac7s only to see William Martin re-shove and Thor Drexel call! Tomlin was in bad shape as both his opponents held Big Slick and when the board ran out JcKc4c4d8s, Tomlin was eliminated with £13,115 for his efforts.


Drexler was next to go when his queens lost a race with Adnan Alshamah's Ace-king and he was quickly joined on the rail by William Martin who's AsJs could not outrun Fabian Dunlop's pocket sevens. 


Dunlop then took his stack to 985,000 when his kings triumphed over Neil Suarez's pair of fours but JP Kelly was trying his best to keep up with him when he eliminated Anthony Roux with a kings versus tens situation, all-in preflop. Play went from four-handed to heads-up in a remarkably short space of time, first Richard Allen's Ace-four came up short against Kelly's pocket nines and then Dunlop's Ah8h turned an ace to beat Alshamah's KhQs which had flopped a king.


JP Kelly started the heads-up battle with a 498,000 to 1,365,000 chip defecit but this was soon wiped out when both players were all-in preflop, Kelly holding AcTc against Dunlop's Ad5d. A flop of Td8sJd brought something for both players but the and fell to ship the pot to Kelly.


After cracking Kelly's slowplayed aces, Dunlop then lost a huge pot when he and Kelly were all-in, both chasing diamond flush-draws, which hit on the turn but Kelly's king-high flush was much better than Dunlop's Jack-high version. This left Dunlop with just 19,000 chips, slightly over one big blind.


Obviously Dunlop was all in blind for the next couple of hands, winning them both but his luck soon ran out when his 4h9h was against Kelly's QdJh on a board reading QhQcTc6sKs. Trip Queens more than enough to beat the nine-high of Dunlop and Britain had it's first-ever WSOPE bracelet winner in JP Kelly.

This was Kelly's second bracelet after he won a $1,500 Pot-limit Hold'em Event in Las Vegas earlier in the year. The £136,803 first prize here was enough to take his career winnings to over the $800,000 mark.

LOL remember when JP use to sit at the table reading Harrington whilst playing £10 rebuy rookie tournament at Luton...never knew whether he was serious or on the wind up...Class act though Sir... Oh and well Blessed OBV....

[TightEnd]

Meet the final five of the WSOPE £2,500 PL Hold'em/Omaha


Play ended late last night in the WSOPE £2,500 Pot-limit Hold'em/Omaha Event with just five players remaining, each of them in with a big shout of taking home a coveted WSOPE bracelet and £104,677.


Men 'The Master' Nguyen was born in Vietnam in 1954 but claimed political asylum in Los Angeles in 1978, before becoming an American citizen in 1986. Almost as famous for tutoring numerous successful poker players, including cousins David Pham and Minh Nguyen, as he is playing, 'The Master' is a feared opponent at the tables. This will be his 66th WSOP cash and a win would be his 7th bracelet and take his career winnings over $9,300,000. My favourite for the win today. He starts the day in third place with 268,000 chips.


Mats Gavatin is the overnight chipleader with 448,000 chips in his stack. The experienced Swedish pro has now cashed nine times in WSOP events, including an impressive four cashes in Las Vegas this summer. At time of writing, Gavatin has live tournament winnings of $653,446 with over half of them coming from his victory in the 2005 EPT Irish Masters tournament.


Richard Gryko is popular figure on the UK poker scene and should have plenty of support from the rail, being on home soil. He starts the day with 329,000 chips, enough to put him in second place, and in a good position to win his first bracelet. This is his third WSOP cash, with his most impressive being in the 2006 Main Event where he finished 50th from 8,773 entrants for $164,932. He's in good form, having won the £1,000 GUKPT Main Event in Luton in August 2009 for a cool £88,850.


Erik Cajelais is another experienced pro, representing Canada. This is his fourth WSOP cash with his best result being a second place finish in a $5,000 Pot-limit Omaha Event back in 2007. In 2006 he took down the $5,000 Five Diamond World Poker Classic for $430,730 which makes up a large percentage of his $1.4 million career winnings. This cash is Cajelais' first of 2009.


Robin Keston is England's second representative at this final table and despite being the short-stack with just 63,000 chips, could cause an upset. An experienced player, this his Keston's 11th WSOP cash, his most recent a 4th place finish in the $10,000 Pot-limit Omaha Event in Las Vegas this summer, good for $196,993. This is also his second WSOPE cash, having placed 7th in the 2008 Main Event.

[NoflopsHomer]

Meet the final five of the WSOPE £2,500 PL Hold'em/Omaha


Men 'The Master' Nguyen was born in Vietnam in 1954 but claimed political asylum in Los Angeles in 1978, before becoming an American citizen in 1986. More famous for tutoring numerous players into chip dumping to him, 'The Master' is a feared opponent at the tables especially by dealers. This will be his 66th WSOP cash and a win would be his 7th bracelet and take his career winnings over $9,300,000. My favourite for the win today though no-one who actually cares about poker would celebrate his success. He starts the day in third place with 268,000 chips.

fyp

gl to the other 4.

[liamxk]

hi folks

is there anywhere online doing a live feed of the wsope

[TightEnd]

hi folks

is there anywhere online doing a live feed of the wsope

Live reporting, rather than a live feed,  here: http://wsope.betfair.com/

[Colchester Kev]

Holy shit batman ... look at the list of early exits!!

81. Phil Hellmuth     0         Busted     
82. Gus Hansen     0         Busted
83. Andy Black    0       Busted    
84. Phil Ivey    0       Busted
85. Tony Cascarino    0       Busted    
86. Erik Cajelais    0       Busted
87. Justin Smith    0       Busted    
88. Julian Gardner    0       Busted
89. Andy Bloch    0       Busted

Tourist bus must have been ready to leave obv.

[TightEnd]

Betfair blog

Canadian Erik Cajelais took the spoils at yesterday's WSOPE £2,500 Pot Limit Hold'em/Omaha tournament. Cajelais faced the likes of Men "The Master" Ngyuen, Richard Gryko and Mats Gavatin as he returned for the final. Despite being heavily out-chipped as the final got underway the man from Quebec fought his way to the front to claim the second bracelet of the 2009 WSOPE.

Cajelais cuts a striking and imposing figure at the poker table. The usual image of a poker player may be one of a person who is not in the greatest shape. Cajelais, on the other hand, sports a physique that would put many top athletes to shame. It seems mind and body are in good order for the man with an impressive list of big tournament results in recent years. Once play reached the heads-up stages yesterday Erik had managed to overturn his chip deficit to become a dominant chip leader over Swedish pro' Mats Gavatin. Gavatin put up a brave fight but the writing was on the wall in that contest some way before the official conclusion.

Cajelais told the WSOP; "I felt like I really, really, really wanted to win. I had to do everything I could to win, and today I played well and the cards came out my way." But he played down his physical fitness by noting; "I think once you reach 50, 60 or 70, then maybe fitness is a factor. But if you are young and in decent shape, it should not be hard to play for long periods."

There wasn't much time for Cajelais to enjoy his new bracelet and £104,677 prize money. He had already registered for the £5,000 Pot Limit Omaha event which began during the latter stages of event 2. Cajelais quickly joined in the action in that tournament, despite being blinded away for the first two levels, in an attempt to re-build his stack. We'll have the news and results from that event here at Betfair very soon.

In the meantime here are the official cashing players from the £2,500 PL Hold'em/Omaha event:

1. Erik Cajelais (£104,677)
2. Mats Gavatin (£64,705)
3. Robin Keston (£47,858)
4. Men Nguyen (£35,412)
5. Richard Gryko (£26,619)
6. Chris Bjorin (£20,106)
7. Hoyt Corkins (£15,302)
8. Ian Frazer (£11,732)
9. Howard Lederer (£9,117)
10. Nikolay Evdakov (£7,643)
11. Dino Brivati (£7,643)
12. Michael Abecassis (£7,643)
13. Allie Prescott (£6,521)
14. Tristan Clemencon (£6,521)
15. Harri Suni (£6,521)
16. Brian Johnson (£5,660)
17. Vitaly Lunkin (£5,660)
18. Sampo Lopponen (£5,600)

[TightEnd]

009 WSOP Europe Presented by Betfair
WSOPE Event Number 3
WSOP Gold Bracelet Number 60
Buy-In £5,000 (=$8,110 USD)
Game Pot-Limit Omaha
Number of Entries 154
Net Prize Pool £770,000
First Place Prize Money £204,048
Total Places Paid 18
Players Remaining 35

End of Day One Report

Total Chips in Play 3,080,000
Average Chip Stack 85,800
Level / Time Start of Level 11
Blinds / Antes 800/1,600 with 200 ante

In the Money Finishers

1st TBD £204,048
2nd TBD 126,134
3rd TBD 93,293
4th TBD 69,030
5th TBD 51,890
6th TBD 39,193
7th TBD 29,830
8th TBD 22,869
9th TBD 17,772
10th TBD 14,900
11th TBD 14,900
12th TBD 14,900
13th TBD 12,713
14th TBD 12,713
15th TBD 12,713
16th TBD 11,034
17th TBD 11,034
18th TBD 11,034

End of Day One Survivors -- With Chip Counts

Chip Count Table Seat Player
304100 1 9 Vilmunen, Jani
184100 1 3 Griffin, Ashton
153700 3 2 Mizzi, Sorel
151800 2 4 Lederer, Howard
151300 2 6 Zaichenko, Andrey
134900 3 5 Kimber, Jeffrey
122200 3 8 Chalton, Niall
114500 1 8 Bloom, Anthony
114500 4 2 Kiveilo, Aarno
112600 4 6 Boeken, Noah
105000 2 9 Williamson III, Robert
103700 2 2 Haavisto, Ville
98200 3 1 Mahrenholz, Karl
95800 3 9 Dalby, Eric
89100 4 1 Hindin, Daniel
87500 4 4 Lopponen, Sampo
79500 2 5 Callaghan, David
79300 4 8 Bilzerian, Adam
72000 1 6 Farnood, Sherkahn
66100 1 2 Jorgensen, Theo
64600 2 8 Deeb, Shaun
59800 4 3 Kabbaj, John
59200 2 7 Romanello, Roberto
55200 4 5 O'Shea, John
50700 1 4 Shak, Daniel
49900 1 7 Ngai, Samuel
46900 2 3 Koskinen, Ilkka
42600 3 7 Rees, Lloyd
40000 1 5 Boatman, Ross
38600 3 4 Dwan, Thomas
35200 4 7 Naujoks, Sandra
34300 3 3 Beevers, Joe
33800 1 1 Bjorin, Christer
26400 2 1 Greenstein, Barry
19100 3 6 Williams David

[Royal Flush]

lol @ how bad i ran in this event.

[GreekStein]

Ashton Griffin is a sicko at PLO.

[TightEnd]

Final table line up

Seat 1: Robert Williamson III -- 64,000
Seat 2: Ville Haavisto -- 249,000
Seat 3: Howard Lederer -- 320,000 (second final table at WSOPE)
Seat 4: Jeff Kimber -- 133,000
Seat 5: Dan Hindin -- 320,000
Seat 6: Aarno Kivelio -- 608,000
Seat 7: Jani Vilmunen -- 899,000 (WCOOP PLO Winner)
Seat 8: Roberto Romanello --.306,000
Seat 9: Ross Boatman -- 180,000

[Betfair Poker Guy]

From the Betfair Blog

Lederer, Boatman and Kimber make WSOPE £5,000 Pot Limit Omaha final

The world's Omaha specialists have been out to play for the last two days at the WSOPE. The £5,000 Pot Limit Omaha tournament was their stage and it's been an eventful lead up to the final. Howard Lederer is once again deep in a WSOPE event following a 9th place finish earlier this week. Alongside him are Barny Boatman, Jeff Kimber and Robert Williamson III. They've all got to get passed chip leader Jani Vilmunen though.

The list of final tablists certainly reads like a list of players you would probably want to avoid. There are bracelets, titles and a wealth of experience on offer from the remaining nine which would leave the average player quaking in their boots.

One player who will feel she should've been in the final is Sandra Naujoks. Naujoks managed to bubble for the final table after being rivered by Jani Vilmunen. Naujoks held ,4s,10c,8s on a tasty looking flop of ,4h,5d. Naujoks bet out with her set of fours only for Vilmunen to make the call. The turn looked like a harmless and, as it was soon to transpire, the card actually strengthened Naujoks position with a flush draw. It also served to encourage Vilmunen who was holding ,3c,7c,8d. Naujoks moved all in and, with what seemed like half of the deck as outs, Vilmunen made the call. Naujoks was in great shape to win the hand until a cruel fell on the river to give Vilmunen the straight.

Some notable players who won't be returning for the final later today include Tom 'durrrr' Dwan, Tony Bloom, Joe Beevers, Barry Greenstein and Noah Boeken after they were all eliminated yesterday. Dwan and Bloom will be comforted by a £12,713 return on their investments.

The final nine will take their seats at 2pm UK time with the following chip counts:

Seat 1: Robert Williamson III -- 64,000
Seat 2: Ville Haavisto -- 249,000
Seat 3: Howard Lederer -- 320,000
Seat 4: Jeff Kimber -- 133,000
Seat 5: Dan Hindin -- 320,000
Seat 6: Aarno Kivelio -- 608,000
Seat 7: Jani Vilmunen -- 899,000
Seat 8: Roberto Romanello -- 306,000
Seat 9: Ross Boatman -- 180,000

£204,048 and a WSOPE bracelet await the winner. Follow all the action on our WSOP Europe Updates and Chip Counts page.

[the sicilian]

From the Betfair Blog

Lederer, Boatman and Kimber make WSOPE £5,000 Pot Limit Omaha final

The world's Omaha specialists have been out to play for the last two days at the WSOPE. The £5,000 Pot Limit Omaha tournament was their stage and it's been an eventful lead up to the final. Howard Lederer is once again deep in a WSOPE event following a 9th place finish earlier this week. Alongside him are Barny Boatman, Jeff Kimber and Robert Williamson III. They've all got to get passed chip leader Jani Vilmunen though.

The list of final tablists certainly reads like a list of players you would probably want to avoid. There are bracelets, titles and a wealth of experience on offer from the remaining nine which would leave the average player quaking in their boots.

One player who will feel she should've been in the final is Sandra Naujoks. Naujoks managed to bubble for the final table after being rivered by Jani Vilmunen. Naujoks held ,4s,10c,8s on a tasty looking flop of ,4h,5d. Naujoks bet out with her set of fours only for Vilmunen to make the call. The turn looked like a harmless and, as it was soon to transpire, the card actually strengthened Naujoks position with a flush draw. It also served to encourage Vilmunen who was holding ,3c,7c,8d. Naujoks moved all in and, with what seemed like half of the deck as outs, Vilmunen made the call. Naujoks was in great shape to win the hand until a cruel fell on the river to give Vilmunen the straight.

Some notable players who won't be returning for the final later today include Tom 'durrrr' Dwan, Tony Bloom, Joe Beevers, Barry Greenstein and Noah Boeken after they were all eliminated yesterday. Dwan and Bloom will be comforted by a £12,713 return on their investments.

The final nine will take their seats at 2pm UK time with the following chip counts:

Seat 1: Robert Williamson III -- 64,000
Seat 2: Ville Haavisto -- 249,000
Seat 3: Howard Lederer -- 320,000
Seat 4: Jeff Kimber -- 133,000
Seat 5: Dan Hindin -- 320,000
Seat 6: Aarno Kivelio -- 608,000
Seat 7: Jani Vilmunen -- 899,000
Seat 8: Roberto Romanello -- 306,000
Seat 9: Ross Boatman -- 180,000

£204,048 and a WSOPE bracelet await the winner. Follow all the action on our WSOP Europe Updates and Chip Counts page.

Highly Unlikely

[GreekStein]

12 big blinds for Dwan, means less for Bloom prob.

[TightEnd]

The 3rd event of the WSOPE came down to a gruelling headsup battle between Jani Vilmunen and Howard Lederer.  Both players fought hard through the early rounds and at one point it looked like it would be an all Finnish finish.  Jani Vilmunen walked away with £204,048.

Vilmunen won the WCOOP Omaha event on Stars recently, so this is a spectacular double  

WSOPE 2009 Event 3 $5000 PL Omaha Poker final standings
1 Jani Vilmunen
2 Howard Lederer
3 Aarno Kiveli
4 Ross Boatman
5 Ville Haavisto
6 Daniel Hindin
7 Roberto Romanello
8 Jeffery Kimber
9 Robert Williamson III

Betfair has been sponsoring the WSOPE this year and they are giving away a free seat to the main event.  You need to play at Betfair and you stand a chance of winning the seat.  New and existing active players are entered into a draw.  You need to be available to play on day 1B.  You have until 5.00pm on Saturday 26th Sept to play a single raked hand on Betfair when the chance to enter the draw ends.

Day1a of the WSOPE Main Event begins Saturday 12pm