Two tournaments wrapped up on Monday at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, one being the five-day epic Monster Stack tournament. Hugo Pingray went from the original final table chip lead to the winner’s circle to collect more than $1.3 million. Asi Moshe took home a 2014 WSOP bracelet of his own in a higher buy-in NLHE event.
The Big One for One Drop continued to delight fans, media, and players with its playdown toward the money. Big names, including defending champion Antonio Esfandiari, exited the field with nothing to show for their $1 million buy-ins, and the night ended on the money bubble with nine players, only eight of them who are to be paid.
The excitement of the One Drop tournament will only increase exponentially today, so keep it locked here for all of the details tomorrow!
Event 51: $1,500 NLHE Monster Stack (Day 5 of 5)
The five-day deepstack tournament finally came to an end on Monday, but it originally got underway with these numbers:
Entries: 7,862
Prize pool: $10,613,700
Places paid: 792
The fifth and final day brought nine players back to the table to play for the win. Original chip leader Hugo Pingray stayed strong throughout the action, but took more than a 2-to-1chip deficit into heads-up play against Joseph McKeehen. But Pingray fought back and emerged as the winner.
1st place: Hugo Pingray ($1,327,083)
2nd place: Joseph McKeehen ($820,863)
3rd place: Sean Drake ($619,521)
4th place: Claas Sebegrecht ($468,594)
5th place: Thayer Rasmussen ($356,620)
6th place: Lynne Beaumont ($273,090)
7th place: Bobby Byram ($210,469)
8th place: Zachary Gruneberg ($163,238)
9th place: Joshua Hillock ($127,264)
Event 55: $1,500 NLHE (Day 3 of 3)
One of the recent $1,500 NLHE tournaments started with solid numbers:
Entries: 2,396
Prize pool: $3,234,600
Place paid: 243
Day 3 brought 17 players back to the two tables, and early exits included Tim West and Marc-Etienne McLaughlin. Georgios Kapalas was eventually ousted in tenth place for $33,219, and the final table played forward.
Asi Moshe took over when former chip leader David Jackson departed in fourth place, and despite a tough heads-up match against Michael Ferrer, Moshe took it down.
1st place: Asi Moshe ($582,321)
2nd place: Michael Ferrer ($361,207)
3rd place: Aaron Massey ($255,209)
4th place: David Jackson ($183,498)
5th place: Bobby Poe ($133,686)
6th place: Henrik Hecklen ($98,687)
7th place: Marc-Etienne McLaughlin ($73,781)
8th place: Timothy West ($55,681)
9th place: Brian Kennedy ($42,826)
Event 56: $1K NLHE (Day 2 of 3)
The latest of the $1K NLHE offerings brought these numbers into view:
Entries: 2,525
Prize pool: $2,272,500
Place paid: 270
First place prize: $403,483
Day 2 returned with 206 players, all of whom were in the money, and eliminated the majority of the field throughout the night. Some who cashed included Alexandre Gomes, Perry Friedman, and Loni Harwood. After Craig Rombough departed in 17th place with $14,407 in prize money, play stopped.
Of the 16 remaining players, Matt Salsberg was among them, but the top five on the leaderboard were:
1. Raymond Henson (897,000)
2. Steve Gross (859,000)
3. Richard Milne (827,000)
4. Andrew Egan (731,000)
5. Robert Merulla (529,000)
Event 57: $1M Big One for One Drop (Day 2 of 3)
There is no other tournament like it at the WSOP, or in poker in general. The $1 million buy-in Big One for One Drop had the fanfare and interest to prove it. Though the tournament had six fewer players than the previous event, the numbers were still mind-blowing:
Entries: 42
Prize pool: $37,333,338
Place paid: 8
First place prize: $15,306,668
Day 2 brought 31 players back to the tables and in front of the ESPN cameras, but names like Guy Laliberte, Greg Merson, Erik Seidel, Erick Lindgren, Sam Trickett, and Phil Ivey fell. Phil Galfond exited in 13th place, followed by Gabe Kaplan and Brandon Steven.
At midnight, defending champion Antonio Esfandiari had a massive chip stack and sat in second place on the leaderboard behind Tom Hall. But he lost ground and ultimately risked his last chips with A-5 against the A-J of Tobias Reinkemeier to exit in tenth place. With only eight players paying, action continued with double-ups for Paul Newey and Scott Seiver.
Ultimately, play stopped with those nine players with these chip counts:
1. Rick Salomon (23,575,000)
2. Tobias Reinkemeier (22,825,000)
3. Daniel Colman (22,625,000)
4. Daniel Negreanu (20,700,000)
5. Cary Katz (9,125,000)
6. Scott Seiver (8,250,000)
7. Tom Hall (7,775,000)
8. Christoph Vogelsang (7,075,000)
9. Paul Newey (4,050,000)
Event 58: $1,500 NLHE Mixed Max (Day 1 of 3)
The mixed max format has become popular enough that it warranted a low buy-in event this year, and it garnered these registration figures:
Entries: 1,475
Prize pool: $1,991,250
Place paid: 162
First place prize: $405,428No corresponding 2013 event.
The first day of play thinned the field down to just 181 players, a few places outside of the money. The official chip counts reported these as the top five on the leaderboard:
1. Shashank Jain (130,300)
2. Brandon Cantu (122,300)
3. Josh Schoonover (114,500)
4. Rupest Pattni (112,800)
5. Jared Jaffee (109,300)
Event 59: $3K Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 (Day 1 of 3)
This Omaha event offered a reasonable showing for the late-afternoon tournament:
Entries: 457
Prize pool: $1,247,610
Place paid: 54
First place prize: $286,976
The first day eliminated a great many players, with only 180 bagging chips at the end of the night. Of them, the top five stacks were listed as:
1. Marvin Rosen (75,300)
2. Brian Rast (61,600)
3. Ronald Mcmillan (60,600)
4. Gary Neese (59,400)
5. George Danzer (51,600)
On Tap for July 1
Events 56 and 57 will continue to and through their final tables.
Events 58 and 59 will attempt to reach their final tables.
Event 60 ($1,500 NLHE) will begin at noon, and Event 61 ($10K Seven Card Stud) will kick off at 4pm.
Editor’s Note: Cardschat.com reporter Jennifer Newell is on site in Las Vegas, and will be offering daily news recaps throughout World Series of Poker 2014. Check back here daily for a detailed accounting of events, exclusive interviews, and anything of interest regarding WSOP.
