WSOP 2010 Thread. Feed your wild side revisited

[TightEnd]

Event 8 result

2010 World Series of Poker
Event #8: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em


Place Winner        Prize (USD)
1    Pascal LeFrancois      568,974
2    Max Steinberg       352,916
3    Kevin Howe       249,351
4    Daniel Wjuniski       179,286
5    David Aue               130,617
6    James Andersen       96,422
7    Kurt Disessa       72,087
8    Joshua Brikis       54,579
9    Saar Wilf               41,843
10    Jose Gatmaitan       32,456
11    Matthew Ezrol       32,456
12    Darin Utley               32,456
13    Scott Vener       25,472
14    Charles Lehr       25,472
15    Phil Hellmuth       25,472
16    Looney Devin       20,257
17    Jared Michelizzi       20,257
18    David Frazier       20,257
19    Raymond Geary       16,275
20    Andrew Cohen       16,275
21    Vinny Pahuja       16,275
22    Richard Geyer       16,275
23    Erich Kollmann       16,275
24    Paul Fehlig               16,275
25    Ronald Eberhard       16,275
26    Ray Foley               16,275
27    Frank Weigel       16,275
28    Jesse Yaginuma       13,241
29    Cherie Beasley       13,241
30    Richard Savage       13,241
31    Samuel Dickson       13,241
32    Michael Stroh       13,241
33    Danny Wong       13,241
34    Agop Rustemoglu    13,241
35    Yannick Tessier       13,241
36    Jason Sackler       13,241
37    William Daymon       10,903
38    Spencer Hudson       10,903
39    Tam Ly               10,903
40    Ross Myers               10,903
41    Nicholas Heather       10,903
42    Johnny Kitchens       10,903
43    Steven Warwick       10,903
44    Orlando Maldonado    10,903
45    Alon Shahar       10,903
46    John McKinney       9,070
47    Eric Lee               9,070
48    Josh Schlein       9,070
49    Francis Anderson    9,070
50    Todd Lepow       9,070
51    David Daneshgar       9,070
52    Timothy Milliron       9,070
53    Matt Stout       9,070
54    Steve Sung       9,070
55    Thomas Taylor       7,648
56    Jeremy Dresch       7,648
57    Bobby Shasta       7,648
58    Pavel Myndrov       7,648
59    Richard Talerico       7,648
60    Khoa Nguyen       7,648
61    Joseph Parrish       7,648
62    Scott O'Leary       7,648
63    John Conaway       7,648
64    Adam Kotler       6,510
65    Frank Bonacci       6,510
66    Daniel Sosa       6,510
67    Renato Maciariello    6,510
68    Ryan Sidor               6,510
69    Kristina Tokeshi       6,510
70    Habib Khanis       6,510
71    Kyle Winter       6,510
72    Louis Crispino       6,510
73    Davin Costa       5,593
74    Daniel Quinn       5,593
75    Cameron New       5,593
76    Bruce Stern       5,593
77    John Esposito       5,593
78    James Hannah       5,593
79    Todd Lundwall       5,593
80    Brian Haveson       5,593
81    Ditmar Winkelmolen    5,593
82    Matthew Stern       4,866
83    Michael Mihelich       4,866
84    James Buckley       4,866
85    Cliff Josephy       4,866
86    Enrico Difranco       4,866
87    Jason Brice       4,866
88    Stacey Nutini       4,866
89    Trevor Pope       4,866
90    Tyler Patterson       4,866
91    Blake E Kelso       4,266
92    Kevin Boudreau       4,266
93    George Karatzas       4,266
94    Bill Jesernig       4,266
95    Roberto Romanello    4,266
96    Tye Babb               4,266
97    Jean-Robert Bellande    4,266
98    Alan Neubauer       4,266
99    Robbie Verspui       4,266
100    Samuel Trickett       3,792
101    Mike Ngo               3,792
102    Jordan Rich       3,792
103    James Petzing       3,792
104    Chadwick Livingston    3,792
105    Vittario Iemolo       3,792
106    Ludovic Agier       3,792
107    Anton Nikaj       3,792
108    Jay Goldstein       3,792
109    Michael Meredith       3,792
110    Steven Fager       3,792
111    Aaron Kanter       3,792
112    Pat Pezzin               3,792
113    Nicholas Binger       3,792
114    Melik Bagdasaryan    3,792
115    Sean Getzwiller       3,792
116    James Keys       3,792
117    Carl Johnson       3,792
118    Chance Steed       3,792
119    Jon Brenneman       3,792
120    Michael Monter       3,792
121    Fabrice Halleux       3,792
122    Steven Dunkelberg    3,792
123    George Lusby       3,792
124    Jonathan Dull       3,792
125    Sean McElroy       3,792
126    Michael Chill       3,792
127    Vinicius Leal       3,792
128    Cory Parent       3,792
129    Donald Yaughn       3,792
130    Anthony Gargiulo    3,792
131    Timothy West       3,792
132    Daniel Reisman       3,792
133    Albert Winchester    3,792
134    Clifford Miller       3,792
135    Justin Kuzmicki       3,792
136    Marc Aubin       3,413
137    Ryan Schmidt       3,413
138    Richard Hoffmaster    3,413
139    William Childs       3,413
140    Patrick O'connor       3,413
141    Marc Mclaughlin       3,413
142    Calvin Anderson       3,413
143    Andrew Teng       3,413
144    Vagan Sudzhyan       3,413
145    Brent Sheirbon       3,413
146    Timothy Woolston    3,413
147    Keith Olsen       3,413
148    John Simunich       3,413
149    Ian Wiley               3,413
150    Cristopher Lasco       3,413
151    Victor Ramdin        3,413
152    Markus Gonsalves    3,413
153    Detlef Pashaus       3,413
154    Champie Douglas    3,413
155    Corey Burbick       3,413
156    Eric Schwartz       3,413
157    Aaron Thomas       3,413
158    Aaron Orourke       3,413
159    Gareth Teatum       3,413
160    Peter Chun       3,413
161    Michael Flores       3,413
162    Hugo Perez       3,413
163    William Massad       3,413
164    Walter Buss       3,413
165    Anthony Gargano    3,413
166    Robert Harcarik       3,413
167    Harvey Larocque       3,413
168    James Anderson       3,413
169    Joseph Ward       3,413
170    Joel Bullock       3,413
171    Michael Jensen       3,413
172    Steven Morra       3,128
173    Robert Flowers       3,128
174    Amnon Filippi       3,128
175    Vincent Graziano       3,128
176    Shawn Meyer       3,128
177    Edward Pellegrini    3,128
178    Allen Gillain               3,128
179    David Whalen       3,128
180    Daniel Adams       3,128
181    Yonghui Jiang       3,128
182    Raymond Amoroso    3,128
183    Gerard Zeitoun       3,128
184    Marc Davis       3,128
185    Martin Hruby    PokerStars Team Pro    3,128
186    Simon Lam       3,128
187    Reagan Leman       3,128
188    Jason Helder       3,128
189    Omar Mehmood       3,128
190    James Keating       3,128
191    Douglas Bruce       3,128
192    Michael Frandsen       3,128
193    Laurence Grodin       3,128
194    Jason Elzinga       3,128
195    Christopher Tennapel       3,128
196    Joshua Hillock       3,128
197    Matthew Vance       3,128
198    John Oshea       3,128
199    Steven Kreinik       3,128
200    Walter Weiss       3,128
201    Matthew Livingston       3,128
202    Joel Erikson       3,128
203    Finley Rodgers       3,128
204    Maxim Sorokin       3,128
205    Maciek Gracz       3,128
206    Wartan Jalnakrian       3,128
207    Mark Newhouse       3,128
208    Eugene Yanayt       2,844
209    Jordan Smith       2,844
210    Roberto Betbese       2,844
211    Eric Von Guttenberg       2,844
212    Craig Restifo       2,844
213    Michael Bisutti       2,844
214    Anders Taylor       2,844
215    Noam Freedman       2,844
216    Richard Spirra       2,844
217    Alexander Kim       2,844
218    David Stefanski       2,844
219    Ryan Snickles       2,844
220    Jason Cluxton       2,844
221    Francisco Hernandez       2,844
222    Zachary Hirst       2,844
223    Jose Pimentel       2,844
224    Christopher Paasch       2,844
225    Tommy Le       2,844
226    Kenneth Terrell       2,844
227    Gregory Mathias       2,844
228    Bernie Yang       2,844
229    Andrew Aguilar       2,844
230    Mark Smith       2,844
231    Tyler Netter-Wainwright       2,844
232    Jason Darow       2,844
233    Brian Benhamou       2,844
234    Ryan Allen       2,844
235    Stephane Croes       2,844
236    Jesse Cohen       2,844
237    Yi Cheng       2,844
238    Sean Lenning       2,844
239    Vince Burgio       2,844
240    Joseph Just       2,844
241    Craig Rudolph       2,844
242    Clayton Mozdzen       2,844
243    Yisidro Bustillos       2,844

Well done, didn't realise he was from Glasgow

[Boba Fett]

Me neither, he is Kasabian online, won the party million a few months ago.

[Dewi_cool]

pocket results for Kevin Howe

http://www.pocketfives.com/poker-scores/scarface2911/

[JaffaCake]

where are all the dazzling facts from this thread last year, how many bracelets are won by pros, facts about the winners, the numbers etc, I read the stuff about flushy on another site but sure it was on here last year.

And surely when one of the guys who's posted here the longest and now owns part of the site ships a bracelet it should be top of the news on the front page for the whole series, never mind a week later....it's even below who was chip leader after day one in the latest dtd tournament....fair enough u need to make the page look fresh but rotate the news under flushy's thing, nothing wrong with blowing your own trumpet, as it were

[The Camel]

where are all the dazzling facts from this thread last year, how many bracelets are won by pros, facts about the winners, the numbers etc, I read the stuff about flushy on another site but sure it was on here last year.

And surely when one of the guys who's posted here the longest and now owns part of the site ships a bracelet it should be top of the news on the front page for the whole series, never mind a week later....it's even below who was chip leader after day one in the latest dtd tournament....fair enough u need to make the page look fresh but rotate the news under flushy's thing, nothing wrong with blowing your own trumpet, as it were

The thought of blowing Flushy's trumpet has put a horrible mental picture in my head.

[DaveShoelace]

where are all the dazzling facts from this thread last year, how many bracelets are won by pros, facts about the winners, the numbers etc, I read the stuff about flushy on another site but sure it was on here last year.

And surely when one of the guys who's posted here the longest and now owns part of the site ships a bracelet it should be top of the news on the front page for the whole series, never mind a week later....it's even below who was chip leader after day one in the latest dtd tournament....fair enough u need to make the page look fresh but rotate the news under flushy's thing, nothing wrong with blowing your own trumpet, as it were

The facts and figures were sent out every day by the WSOP on a press release, some of the feedback was that they sent out too much info and clogged up a lot of inboxes, so they decided not to do it as much this year. I actually thought they were really useful and fun, I presume it was thicko  Americans who complained.

[TightEnd]

I'm not receiving the fact based press releases this year, in fact this was a conscious decision by the wsop not to send them this year. As to flushy, I am delighted as anyone. Did a sweat thread, have asked to interview him, have offered to write up a tournament report for him etc. And news reports on the main site latest news can't be stickied. He will just have to win another one

[JaffaCake]

I read all the facts n figures stuff somewhere this year tho, is it just on the WSOP site? I read the one on Flushy, it was good, saying how many tournies he'd won (cough cough), how much he'd cash etc etc, shame it missed out his WCOOP victory tho, sure whoever uses those facts woulda liked that. Maybe u could take it from there if u wanted? It's still just as long and random.

Shame those things can't be stickied, just have to get the lazy fker to write up that report or do an interview and that can be up there a while. Meanwhile on your sayso Tighty I've booked my flights to go next week and go one better than last year, just to get some more good news on the site Hopefully the Scrote n the BrammDogg can give us something to cheer in the meantime.

[TightEnd]

Good luck with the trip jeff. I'll try and do your bracelet in event 34 justice.   
:_)

[JaffaCake]

(don't think u need to credit this, it's a press release on the WSOP official site)

DEMPSEY KNOCKS OUT COMPETITION TO WIN EVENT 9

by: Nolan Dalla 
 


Three Ladies Finish in Top 13 Spots – a WSOP First
 
James Dempsey Wins First WSOP Gold Bracelet

English Online Poker Pro Collects $197,470 in Prize Money

Rowdy English Crowd Cheers Dempsey to Saturday Night Victory

OVERVIEW
James Dempsey was the winner of the $1,500 buy-in Pot-Limit Hold’em championship (Event #9).  He is one of England’s top online poker pros.  Dempsey lives in Brighton, UK.  He collected $197,470 for the victory plus his first WSOP gold bracelet.

Dempsey topped a field of 650 players and won the game’s most coveted prize.  The tournament began on Thursday June 3rd and ended at 10:40 pm on June 5th.

Dempsey’s win at the Rio in Las Vegas was amplified by the roars of several English supporters.  The cheering section, numbering perhaps 15 to 20 slurring and stammering fans, chanted constantly for eight full hours, making the final table scene resemble a third-world soccer match rather than a poker event.  Things got so loud at one point, Mike “the Mouth” Matusow who was sitting nearby, complained the boisterous fans were too noisy.

English poker players are enjoying quite a strong WSOP through the first nine events.  Dempsey became the second Englishman to win a gold bracelet this week, following Londoner Praz Bansi’s win in an earlier No-Limit Hold’em competition. 

Dempsey also became the second consecutive Brit to win this event, following John-Paul Kelly’s victory in this same competition last year.  Indeed, British players are acknowledged to be strong Pot-Limit players since many of the poker games played in England going back for more than 20 years are played using the Pot-Limit format.

The runner up was Steve Chanthabouasy (Portland, OR), a 36-year-old poker pro who cashed at the WSOP for the first time.  Among those who also cashed were former gold bracelet winners Bob Slezak, Tom McEvoy, and Tom Schneider. 


There were also three female finishers in the top 13 spots.  J.J. Liu (Las Vegas, NV) finished third.  Julie Farkas (Albuquerque, NM) finished tenth.  Longtime poker player Melissa Hayden (Las Vegas, NV) took 13th place.  This is believed to be the first time three female players have ever finished in the top 13 places at the WSOP in any open event.
 
For the official results and Event#9 tournament portal page, click here.


THE CHAMPION – James Dempsey
The $1,500 buy-in Pot-Limit Hold’em champion (Event #9) is James Dempsey, from Brighton, UK.

Dempsey is 27-years-old.   He has been playing poker seriously since 2003.

Dempsey holds a commercial pilot’s license.

Dempsey concentrates mostly on online poker.  However, he had amassed about $200,000 in live tournament cashes prior to this victory.

Dempsey’s favorite poker game is Pot-Limit Omaha.

Dempsey’s first recorded tournament cash was in 2005.

Several fellow British poker players who know Dempsey well remarked that he has had a reputation for playing exceptional tournament poker during the early to middle rounds of tournaments, but then sometimes gets bored and becomes disinterested.  However, his record to this point does not appear to reflect this pattern.  Out of 27 major cashes over the past five years, he now has six wins.

Dempsey has only cashed one time at the WSOP prior to this win.

Dempsey collected $197,470 for first place.  He was presented with his first WSOP gold bracelet.

According to official records, Dempsey now has one win, one final table appearances, and two cashes at the WSOP.   His career WSOP earnings now total $210,137.

WINNER QUOTES
On what winning his first WSOP gold bracelet means:  “It’s great to win a tournament.  But there’s no reason why this should hold any edge over another tournament.  You play for money.  Like someone can come in third in a tournament and make like $300,000 but if you win another event (with a smaller field or lower buy in) you might get first and its $200,000 – that to me does not make any sense at all.  Poker players play for money.  It’s great to win a major tournament.  But I just think there’s too much put onto winning a World Series of Poker gold bracelet.  You want to try and win one, of course.  You win more money.  But you see people playing three events at the same time.  It’s just stupid.”

On allegedly being his own worst enemy at the poker table, sometimes blowing off big chip leads purely out of boredom:  “It’s something I used to do.  But I think I matured a bit.  Like today, I lost two big pots and then I was the short stack.  But I really focused and tried to maintain my head.  It’s definitely something in the past I used to do.  I used to rush some of my decisions.  But today, I gave myself some extra seconds to think it through and it worked out.”

THE FINAL TABLE
The final table consisted of no former WSOP gold bracelet winners, which guaranteed a first-time champion.

Three different nations were represented at the final table -- Canada, Great Britain, and the United States.  One of the Americans (Mark Babekov) was born in Uzbekistan.

The final table began nine-handed.

Final table participants ranged in age from 27 to 52.

In general, many younger players grew up playing No-Limit Hold’em, whereas many older veteran poker players are more conditioned to playing Limit and Pot-Limit games.  The age of players at this final table was arguably a reflection of the existing gap between young players and their older counterparts.  Many No-Limit Hold’em final tables in recent years are dominated by players in their 20s.  However, the youngest player in this finale was 27.  Lowball and Omaha High-Low games also tend to attract a more veteran poker crowd.

This final table featured the first female top-nine finisher at the 2010 WSOP.  J.J. Liu broke up the week-long stag party by becoming the first lady to take her seat in the finale.


The runner up was Steve Chanthabouasy, from Portland, OR.  This was his first time to cash at the WSOP.  He collected $121,963 in prize money.  The heads-up match between Dempsey and Chanthabouasy lasted about two hours.
 
Chanthabouasy is a 36-year-old business manager.  He was born in the Southeast Asian nation of Laos.  His wife is from Cambodia.  Chanthabouasy sat tableside draped in the pre-1975 Cambodian flag.  He was also flanked by two smaller flags hoisted at tableside – representing Laos and Cambodia.   

The third-place finisher was Joanne “J.J.” Liu, from Las Vegas, NV.  She is a tournament regular who was born in Taiwan.  Liu has 95 major cashes dating back to 1994 – 14 of which have taken place at the World Series of Poker.  With her $86,512 cash in this event, she now has nearly $300,000 in career tournament winnings at the WSOP.

The fourth-place finisher was Mark Babekov, from Fairlawn, NJ.  He is a real estate relocation specialist, originally from Uzbekistan.  Babekov cashed for the first time at the WSOP in this event, worth $62,232 in prize money.

The fifth-place finisher was Scott Haraden.  He is a painting contractor from San Diego, .  Haraden earned $45,393.

The sixth-place finisher was Armen Kara, from Brea, .  Kara now has four cashes at the WSOP.  He earned $33,573 in prize money.

The seventh-place finisher was Joseph Williams, from Winnipeg, Manitoba (Canada).  He is primarily a Pot-Limit Omaha cash player.  This marked his first time to cash at the WSOP.  Seventh place paid $25,166.

The eighth-place finisher was Edward Brogdon, from Thorndale, AZ.  This marked his eighth time to cash in a WSOP event.  The farmer and rancher collected $19,120 in prize money.  This was his highest career finish at the WSOP, to date.

The ninth-place finisher was Gregg Wilkerson, from Denver, CO.  He is a 36-year-old businessman.  This marked Wilkerson’s best tournament performance ever.  He earned $14,715.

The final table officially began at 2:30 pm and ended at 10:40 pm.  The final table clocked in at 8 hours and 10 minutes – minus a one-hour dinner break.

OTHER IN-THE-MONEY FINISHERS 
The top 63 finishers collected prize money.  Aside from those who made the final table, former WSOP gold bracelet finishers who cashed in this event included – Bob Slezak (35th), Tom McEvoy (41st), and Tom Schneider (52nd).

With this finish, 1983 WSOP Main Event champion Tom McEvoy now has 43 career cashes, which is 17th on the all-time list.  He is currently tied with Daniel Negreanu and Howard Lederer.

There were three female finishers in the top 13 spots.  J.J. Liu (Las Vegas, NV) finished third.  Julie Farkas (Albuquerque, NM) finished 10th.  Longtime poker player Melissa Hayden (Las Vegas, NV) took 13th place.  This is believed to be the first time three female players have ever finished in the top 13 places at the WSOP in any open event.

Last year’s winner was John-Paul Kelley, from Aylesbury, UK.  The victory marked his first of two gold bracelet wins in 2009.  Kelly also won an event at last year’s 2009 WSOP Europe.  Kelly entered this year’s tournament, but did not cash.


ODDS & ENDS
 
This is the 839th gold bracelet event in World Series of Poker history.  Note:  This figure includes every official WSOP event played, including tournaments during the early years when there were no actual gold bracelets awarded.  It also includes the 11 gold bracelets awarded at WSOP Europe (to date).

Some poker purists consider Pot-Limit to be a greater test of skill than No-Limit.  This is due to Pot-Limit’s emphasis on post-flop play.  Since pots gradually escalate in size in Pot-Limit, the magnitude of every decision is amplified as the hand progresses.  Contrast this with No-Limit, in which players can push “all in” at any time, which tends to create more coin-flip and races, which (some claim) reduces the element of skill.

Pot-Limit means a player can wager only up to the exact amount of what is contained in the pot at any time. By contrast, No-Limit means a player can wager any or all of his/her chips at any time.

The final table was played on ESPN’secondary stage.  This is located near the ESPN Main Stage, which is the site where most of the biggest WSOP events are filmed.  Many spectators prefer the secondary stage, since the setting is more intimate.

The official WSOP gold bracelet ceremony takes place on the day following the winner’s victory (or some hours later when the tournament runs past midnight).  The ceremony takes place inside The Pavilion, which is the expansive main tournament room hosting all noon starts this year.  The ceremony begins at the conclusion of the first break of the noon tournament, usually around 2:20 pm.  The national anthem of the winner’s nation is usually played.  The entire presentation is open to public and media.  Video and photography are permitted by both public and members of the media.

Dempsey indicated he plans to attend the WSOP gold bracelet ceremony.  He requested his national anthem not be played during the presentation.  The WSOP plans to comply with the request.

EVENT HISTORY

Pot-Limit poker made its WSOP debut in 1984, when two Pot-Limit Omaha tournaments were offered.  There were no Pot-Limit tournaments of any kind at the WSOP from 1970 through 1983.

The only Pot-Limit game played at the WSOP between 1984 and 1991 was Pot-Limit Omaha.  Pot-Limit Hold’em action at the WSOP during this period was restricted to cash games.

The first Pot-Limit Hold’em tournament at the WSOP took place in 1992. The game has been a fixture on the WSOP schedule ever since.  During many years, it was one of the first tournaments on the annual schedule.

This event’s inaugural champion was three-time WSOP gold bracelet winner John Bonetti.  The always colorful ex-champ passed away during the 2007 WSOP.

Previous WSOP $1,500 buy-in Pot-Limit Hold’em event winners include:

John-Paul Kelly (2009)
David Singer (2008)   
Michael Spiegel (2007)
Rafe Furst (2006)
Thomas Werthmann 2005)
Minh Nguyen (2004)
Prahlad Friedman (2003)
John McIntosh (2002)
No Event (2001)
No Event (2000)
No Event (1999)
No Event (1998)
No Event (1997)
Al Krux (1996)
Peter Vilandos (1995)
Jay Heimowitz (1994)
No Event (1993)
John Bonetti (1992)

Note about “No Event” years -- Several years (above) included Pot-Limit Hold’em on the schedule, but event buy-ins were higher than $1,500.

The largest live Pot-Limit Hold’em tournament in poker history took place at the 2006 WSOP when there were 1,101 entries.

Last year's event attracted 633 entries. Entries increased by about 2 percent over last year as this tournament attracted 650 players.  This was the fifth of nine WSOP events completed so far which has seen an increase over last year’s numbers.

TOURNAMENT PLAY
The $1,500 buy-in Pot-Limit Hold’em championship attracted 650 entries.  The total prize pool amounted to $877,500. The top 63 finishers collected prize money.

Dempsey’s win was amplified by the roars of several English supporters.  The cheering section, numbering perhaps 15 to 20 slurring and stammering supporters, chanted constantly for eight full hours, making the final table scene resemble a third-world soccer match rather than a poker event.  Things got so loud at one point, Mike “the Mouth” Matusow who was sitting nearby, complained the boisterous fans were too noisy.

When heads-up play began, Dempsey enjoyed better than a 2 to 1 chip advantage.  But he lost a big hand and the lead swung in Chanthabouasy’s favor.  Dempsey regained the edge and closed out the victory   

The final hand of the tournament came when Dempsey was dealt  .  Chanthabouasy was dealt  .  Dempsey pre-flop raised, Chanthabouasy moved all-in and Dempsey called.  The board ran out    which presented some interesting possibilities for the dog hand.  The  fell on the turn and the  came on the river, which snapped off Chanthabouasy’s straight draw.  Dempsey won the tournament and a long night of celebration instantly began. 

2010 WSOP STATISTICS
Through the conclusion of Event #9, the 2010 WSOP has attracted 11,732 total entries.  $20,221,200 in prize money has been awarded to winners.

Through the conclusion of Event #9, the nationalities of winners have been:

United States (4)
Canada (2)
England (2)
Hungary (1)

Through the conclusion of Event #9, the national origin (birthplace) of winners has been:

United States (3)
Vietnam (1)
Canada (2)
England (2)
Hungary (1)

Through the conclusion of Event #9, the ratio of professional poker players to semi-pros and amateurs who won gold bracelets is as follows:

Professional Players (6):  Michael Chow, Michael Mizrachi, Praz Bansi, Josh Tieman, Peter Gelencser, James Dempsey

Semi-Pros (0):  None

Amateurs (3):  Duc Pham, Aadam Daya, Pascal LeFrancois

[TightEnd]

PokerNews

The first week of the 2010 World Series of Poker is in the books, eight bracelets have been awarded, and the 58,000 square feet of additional playing space in the Rio Convention Center’s Pavillion Room isn’t the only reason the WSOP feels a little emptier this year.

Numbers are down nearly across the board, and although the $50,000 Players’ Championship saw a 22% uptick in entries, it was quite a different event than the one held a year ago. Not only was the format changed from H.O.R.S.E. to an 8-game mix, but the tournament was scheduled at the beginning of the WSOP rather than midway through. Additionally, this year’s Players Championship was one of only three events ESPN is taping for broadcast. Pundits and players alike thought the return of the TV cameras could perhaps draw the 140-150 players the event saw between 2006 and 2008, or perhaps even a number closer to the 201 who bought in to last year’s $40,000 NLHE event. However, even the conservative line set by the media on Day 1 of the $50K came in at 125.

As we took a closer look at the 116 players who entered the $50K in 2010, several themes began to emerge. Here are some of the trends we noticed as we broke down the field.

Young players make a strong showing

Turning the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event into an 8-Game championship brought out a powerful contingent of young players, many of whom play in the highest-stakes NLHE and PLO cash games online. Tom Dwan, Phil Galfond, Cole South, Brian Townsend, David “WhooooKid” Baker, Nick Schulman, Isaac Haxton, Mikael Thuritz, David Benefield, Ashton Griffin, Justin Bonomo, Alexander Kostritsyn and Brian Hastings certainly all fall into this category, and a few of them (Dwan, Galfond, Townsend, Kostritsyn and Bonomo) have played in this event for several years now. A number of players better known for their NLHE and PLO tournament results also turned out, including Jason Mercier, Joe Serock, Scott Seiver, Dario Minieri, Tuan Le, Sorel Mizzi, Daniel “djk123” Kelly, Shawn Buchanan, Marco Johnson, and Mike “SirWatts” Watson. This year, the young cash gamers fared better than the young tourney pros. Baker (6th), Thuritz (8th), Schulman (9th) and Kostritsyn (10th) all made the money.

Some younger players who previously gave the $50K a shot and were missing this year? Matt Hawrilenko, Jon “Pearljammer” Turner, James “mig.com” Mackey, David Williams, Joe “Joe Tall” Bunevith, Brian “tsarrast” Rast and Kirill Gerasimov.

Dude, where’s my patch?

Pros sponsored by or affiliated with a major online poker site comprised 46% of the $50K field this year (53 of 116), a slight uptick from 43% of the field (41 of 95) in 2009. Here’s how they break down by site:

Full Tilt Poker– 36 (up from 30)
PokerStars – 11 (up from 6)
Ultimate Bet - 2
Doyles Room – 2
Titan Poker – 1
Party Poker – 1

Notable $50K no-shows

Ville Wahlbeck, Mike Wattel, Ray Dehkharghani, and John Kabbaj all cashed in this event in 2009 but did not play in 2010. Other notable absences included Johnny Chan, Allen Cunningham, Annie Duke, Mike Sexton, David Grey, John Hennigan, Gabe Kaplan, Jason Gray, Ali Eslami, Frank Kassela, Jani Sointula, Jery Buss, Cory Zeidman, Bruno Fitoussi, Max Pescatori, Andy Black, Fabrice Soulier, Rob Hollink, Jim Bechtel, Rafi Amit, and Brandon Adams.

One woman, 115 men

The number of female players in the $50,000 Players Championship reached a high watermark in 2007 when seven women (Jennifer Harman, Annie Duke, Cyndy Violette, Kristy Gazes, Isabelle Mercier, Jerri Thomas, and Maureen Feduniak) bought in. This year, however, only one woman played — Harman.

It's the Economy, Stupid

The $50,000 Players Championship isn’t the only event that drew a lower-than-anticipated number of entrants. Thus far, the fields in the lower buy-in NLHE events are anywhere from 7 to 27 percent smaller than they were in 2009. There are numerous factors at work here that are contributing to the lower numbers. For one, the U.S. economy is still seriously shaky and recreational players have less disposable income to spend on travel and tournament buy-ins. European pros are feeling the crunch, as well. Across the pond, the Euro is tanking, and the Players Championship probably had a lot more appeal when the Euro was trading at $1.58 than the $1.20 it is today — it’s lowest level in more than four years. There's also the simple fact that many international players are just not here yet, choosing to depart for Las Vegas a bit closer to the Main Event. Finally, there are far more $1,000 and $1,500 buy-in events on the docket this year. While there was only one $1K “Stimulus Special” in 2009, there will be six this summer.

Aside from the $50K, the only events that saw a significant increase in field size were two of the higher buy-in tournaments offered this week — the $5,000 NLHE Shootout and the $2,500 2-7 Triple Draw. For all you stats lovers, here’s a more detailed look at the tournament entry numbers through the first ten events:

2010 World Series of Poker tournament entries, Events #1-10

Event #1 – $500 Casino Employees NLHE, 721 players, down 16.7% from 2009 (866 players)

Event #2 - $50,000 Players’ Championship, 116 players, up 22% from 2009 (95 players), down 22% from 2008 **

Event #3 - $1,000 NLHE, 4,345 players, down 27.7% from 2009 (6,012 players)***

Event #4 - $1,500 Omaha 8 or better, 818 players, down 11% from 2009 (918 players)

Event #5 - $1,500 NLHE, 2,092 players, down 25% from 2009 (2,791 players)

Event #6 - $5,000 NLHE Shootout, 358 players, up 27.8% from 2009 (280 players)

Event #7 - $2,500 2-7 Triple Draw, 291 players, up 13.2% from 2009 (257 players)

Event #8 - $1,500 NLHE, 2,341 entries, down 7% from 2009 (2,506 entries)

Event #9 - $1,500 PLHE, 650 entries, up 2.6% from 2009 (633 players)

Event #10 - $10,000 Seven-Card Stud, 150 players, up 5.6% from 2009 (142 players)

this ok for you Jeff? If I get it, I post it

[JaffaCake]

love it, feeding my wild side...

[TightEnd]

The 27th and final seat in the WSOP $1,000,000 Tournament Of Champions will be decided by a one table sit-n-go.

Voting for the WSOP Tournament of Champions closes on June 15th 2010, and the final seat in the 27-player field will be determined in a nine-person tournament on June 10th. The nine players taking part in the tournament June 10th 2010, with the winner playing the $1,000,000 TOC June 27th 2010 are:

Andy Bloch
Liv Boeree
Don Cheadle
Tom Dwan
Elky Grospellier
Gus Hansen
Michael Mizrachi
Sorel Mizzi
Paul Wasicka

[dino1980]

Loving the 'third world soccer match' line that's up there with Dalla's infamous 'literally all hell broke loose' line.

[LeedsRhodesy]

Loving the 'third world soccer match' line that's up there with Dalla's infamous 'literally all hell broke loose' line.

Middy has chips in event 17   22/250  with $818k ftw