Event 33 – $1,000 No-Limit Hold ‘em

It took three days for this one to conclude. The tournament featured 2,795 players and after the final day was completed, Max Steinberg would walk away with the title. Steinberg won the tournament by making great calls when he needed them, persevering through the ups and downs of the tournament and out playing his opponents on the final table. He won the tournament when his pocket 10′s outlasted the pair of 4′s of Samuel Gerber. Steinberg takes home $440,000 and his first WSOP bracelet.

Event 34 – $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha 6/handed

In one of the hottest streaks at this year’s WSOP, Naoya Kihara took home gold in event 34. There might have been 419 players looking for a win when this all started, but Kihara was too much for everyone. He was catching all the right cards at the right times to find himself the final one standing by day 3. He went on to eliminate 4 of the 5 at the final table to secure the victory. On the final hand Kihara held K-J-6-Q and Chris De Maci held 5-4-3-2. The board gave Kihara two pair and the victory. With the win Kihara takes home his first bracelet (which is also Japan’s first bracelet in WSOP history) and over $512,000 in prize money.

Event 35 – $2,500 Mixed Hold ‘em Limit/No-Limit

The attendance was down in this event from last year, only producing 393 entrants as compared to the 580 of last year. However, that did not deter some big names from showing up to play. Phil Ivey, Dan Harrington, Huck Seed, Barry Greenstein, Antonio Esfandiari and Daniel Negreanu all showed up along with several more poker stars. Of those it would be Phil Ivey who would make the final table. It was his 5th final table of the year, tying the record. However, in the end it was Chris Tryba who would win the tournament. Tryba played steady in the limit rounds and pressed in the no limit rounds. That formula seemed to work on the final table as he finally won his first WSOP bracelet which adds to his impressive poker resume that includes over a $1 million in tournament earnings worldwide. He won the tournament when he rivered a straight flush, eliminating Erik Cajelais who had made a straight.

Event 36 – $3,000 No-Limit Hold ‘em Shootout

In a shoot out tournament the object is to win your table. Then win another table and another until eventually you win the final table and the tournament. It’s like several little tournaments in one big tournament. In the end it was Craig McCorkell who would win all of his little tournaments to take home the big tournament and his first ever gold bracelet. Antonio Esfandiari and Jeremiah Fitzpatrick would make it difficult. In fact, Esfandiari had over 75% of chips in play at one point before succumbing in 3rd place. Fitzpatrick had a 3 to 1 chip lead going into heads up, but lost a few big hands and was eliminated when his 5-2 was outran by McCorkell’s 8-5. McCorkell also took home $368,593 in prize money.

A lot more to come at the WSOP, stay tuned.

Mike “Daggum” Krisle – Beat Writer – AGP