There were 256 players that came out for this one and they were all looking for the elusive gold bracelet along with a place in WSOP history. However, in the end there can only be one. This time it was Joe Cassidy.

Many names had made it far in the event, but all would bow out eventually. One of the biggest stories of the WSOP thus far is Phil Ivey. He entered the day with the chip lead and kept it most of the day, eventually making his third final table this year. Also in the hunt was 1998 Main Event champ, Scotty Nguyen. Mike “the mouth” Matusow also made the final table, but would be eliminated in 8th. After Gregory Jamison was eliminated in 5th place, there was a long battle with the remaining 4 players.

The final four consisted of:

• Meng La
• Phil Ivey
• Joe Cassidy
• Scotty Nguyen

La would be railed next and the final three continued the battle. Ivey seemed to be pulling away from his opponents and was looking for his 9th career bracelet. However, after the break he lost all his momentum and was beginning to let his stack slip away. Ivey was down several times to about nothing, but managed to build it back up with miracle hands. Although it was not to be as he was finally taken out by Cassidy when his two pair of Queens and 8′s was beaten by Cassidy’s Kings and Jacks.

Nguyen and Cassidy would return the next day to finish the battle. Going into heads up play Cassidy had a good sized chip lead. At one point Cassidy must have been frustrated as he believed he had the tournament wrapped up, but couldn’t vanquish the chip straved Nguyen. Nguyen would counter however and build his stack up to nearly even with Cassidy’s. From there Cassidy would cripple Nguyen again and the 5 time champ would be out when his two pair was beaten by Cassidy’s straight on the river. Sorry “baby,” no bracelet this time! This was Cassidy’s first WSOP win and he took home $294,777 in prize money.

So much more to come at the 2012 WSOP stay tuned.

Mike “Daggum” Krisle – Beat Writer – AGP