2007 WSOP Overview, June 20th — Corkins in a Runaway, Heads-Up Final Eight Set
The June 20th schedule for the WSOP indicated that two bracelets would be awarded on the day. In fact, only one was, with lengthy play pushing the other into an unplanned Day Three. The event that did wrap up, however, was worth a headline all its own, as Hoyt 'The Alabama Cowboy' Corkins made it a leader board sweep, following his position as the Day One and Day Two chip leader in Event #30, $2,500 No Limit Hold 'Em Six-Handed.
Corkins' rush to a barely challenged title saw him never lose the lead during final table play. Nor, after an early large collision with second-place Alan Sass, was Corkins seriously threatened. Sass eventually departed in fourth place as Corkins amassed nearly three-fourths of the chips in play, then held off a late rush by Terrence Chan for the win. Corkins' victory, his second WSOP bracelet after a 15-year drought, was worth $515,065.
Event #32, $2,000 Seven Card Stud, saw a large field at the start of the day's play — and a slower than expected rate of eliminations — necessitate creating a third day of play for the event. Jeffrey Lisandro and Daniel Negreanu are the leaders at a final table that will begin early today.
Another final day's action will draw just as much attention, if not more. Event #30, the $5,000 Heads-Up No Limit Hold 'Em tourney, played Rounds Four through Six to winnow the field from 64 to eight. Many big names fell during the day, though all 64 were guaranteed to cash. The eight players remaining will battle through the final three rounds of action today to determine the champion. The Round Seven pairings are: Toto Leonidas vs. Daniel Schreiber; Shannon Shorr vs. Vanessa Selbst; Steve Sarrafzadeh vs. Keith Block; and Mark Muchnik vs. Jared Davis. The winner will receive $425,594.
Event #33, $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha (w/ Rebuys) featured the crazed early action that's becoming the norm in big-venue rebuy tourneys. The 293 players added in 890 more rebuys and add-ons before calmer play prevailed, with 49 players surviving to today's second day and scheduled to play all the way to the bracelet. Matt Glantz leads Alex Balandin and Michael Binger here, but the board is peppered with big names and the chip counts are compressed; it's quite literally anyone's tourney to win among the players still alive.
Event #34, $3,000 Limit Hold 'Em, also kicked off on Wednesday. This field played from 296 to 110 on Day One, with significant action yet to go before reaching the 27-player money bubble and final table today. Alexander Borteh currently leads the event over Greg 'FBT' Mueller and J.C. Tran.
Two more events get underway today. The early start (noon) goes to Event #35, $1,500 No Limit Hold 'Em, while the late kickoff (5pm) is reserved for Event #36, $5,000 Omaha High/Low Split. With six events running it'll be a busy day at the Rio, so check in with PokerNews.com's 'Live Reporting' for all the latest happenings.
